Lou Fant
Lou Fant | |
|---|---|
| Born | Louie Judson Fant Jr. December 13, 1931 Greenville, SC |
| Died | June 11, 2001(aged 69) Seattle, WA |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, author, coach |
| Known for | Sign language education and consulting |
| Notable work | Ameslan: An Introduction to American Sign Language, The American Sign Language Phrase Book |
Lou Fant(December 13, 1931 – June 11, 2001) was a pioneering teacher, author and expert onAmerican Sign Language(ASL). He was also an actor in film, television, and the stage. Natively bilingual in ASL and English, he often played roles relating to sign language and the deaf.[1]
His life centered on advocacy and teaching for the deaf.
Personal life and education
[edit]Fant was born December 13, 1931, in Greenville, South Carolina. He was the only child of deaf parents Louie Judson Fant and Hazeline Helen Reid. Though hearing, he learnedASLas a native language from his parents. They moved to Dallas in 1944 where he graduated fromBaylor University,and later received his M.A. in Special Education fromColumbia University.[2]
At Baylor, he met and married Lauralea Irwin. They moved to New York, and later to Washington D.C. where he taught atGallaudet College.They had four children[3]and remained married until her death in 1988.[4]Fant later married Barbara Bernstein, and was married to her until his death in Seattle of pulmonary fibrosis.[5]
Career
[edit]He began his career teaching at theNew York School for the Deaf,then atGallaudet Universityin Washington, D.C.
In 1967, Fant helped establish theNational Theater of the DeafinWaterford, Connecticutand theRegistry of Interpreters for the Deaf.[6]
Fant was also a sign language poet, using creative alterations in space and time of ordinary signs to create a type of sign language performance art.[7]
Fant led theSeattle Central Community CollegeInterpreter Training Program from 1989 to 2000, until his retirement.
Hollywood career
[edit]In the 1970s Fant relocated to Southern California to pursue his acting career. Fant took part in numerous television productions, includingGeneral HospitalandLittle House on the Prairie,and in film, such asLooking for Mr. Goodbar.[4]He was also sign-language coach for some well-known actors, includingHenry Winkler,Diane Keaton,Robert YoungandMelissa Gilbert.He coached actors in the use of sign language forChildren of a Lesser God.He also appeared in television commercials. While in Southern California, he also co-hosted a talk show, "Off Hand," with Herb Larson, a deaf instructor at California State University Northridge, where Fant also taught ASL classes.[8]GREEN
Publications
[edit]Fant published nine books, and contributed to eight films promoting use of sign language. HisAmeslan: An Introduction to American Sign Language(1972)[9]was the first book designed to teach ASL as a unique language rather than as a mere lexicon of signs.[citation needed]
Filmography
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Pete 'n' Tillie | Party Guest | Uncredited |
| 1974 | Airport 1975 | Needlepoint Woman's Husband - Passenger | Uncredited |
| 1976 | The Pom Pom Girls | Principal | |
| 1977 | Looking for Mr. Goodbar | Teacher | |
| 1980 | Resurrection | Harvey | |
| 1981 | Amy | Lyle Ferguson | |
| 1985 | Tuff Turf | Mr. Croyden |
References
[edit]- ^"Lou Fant heard the deaf with his heart".The Seattle Times.Seattle Times. June 18, 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-12-12.Retrieved18 June2013.
- ^"Louis Fant Jr".deafroadrunner. June 18, 2001.Retrieved18 June2013.
- ^Fant, Alfred (Feb 2, 1990).Fant genealogy: comprising 2809 individual entries, noting available biographical facts.Fant, 1975. p. 171.ISBN9785882912009.Retrieved2010-10-07.
380. FANT, LOUIE JUDSON (deaf): a son of (377) was born March 1, 1895. He married Hazeline Helen Reid (deaf) who was born March 20, 1907. They had one child (381). 381. FANT, LOUIE JUDSON, JR.: a son of (380) was bom December 13, 1931. He married Lauralea Irwin, who was born January 7, 1931. They had four children, (382), (383), (384), (385). Lou and all his family were born and raised in South Carolina. He and his parents moved to Dallas in 1944. He left Texas after completing studies at Baylor, and marrying a Dallas girl. They went to New York where Lou took training to teach deaf children. After teaching for 13 years in both New York and Gallaudet College, he became an actor in the National Theatre of the Deaf.
- ^ab"Lou Fant Biography".Imdb.Retrieved2014-10-07.
- ^"Louis Fant, Who Helped Start the National Theater of the Deaf, Dies at 69".The New York Times.Associated Press. June 25, 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-09-02.Retrieved2014-10-07.
- ^"The RID Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) Task Force"(PDF).Views.Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Summer 2012. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2013-05-31.Retrieved2013-06-18.
- ^Klima, Edward;Bellugi, Ursula(1979). "Chapter 13: Wit and Plays on Sign".The Signs of Language.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p.335.ISBN9780674807969.Retrieved2014-10-07.
In a rendition of a children's comic poem, Lou Fant, an accomplished actor-signer, makes elaborate use of this way of playing with his hands as signs and hands as hands. In the poem "Eletelephony" by Laura Richards, the wordselephantandtelephonebecome entangled in various ways, as the title indicates.
- ^"Archives".Los Angeles Times.22 August 1988.
- ^Fant, Lou (1972).Ameslan: An Introduction to American Sign Language.Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf