It's been a pretty interesting week for all the movie buffs out there as the Golden Globe Awards are announced. It's literally all that we've been thinking, reading, and breathing. Just as this annual celebration of international cinema has caught everyone's attention sending all of us in a celebratory mood, it has been yet another win for the international disability community.
The 80th Golden Globe Awards which took place on January 10 in California this year saw Tyler James Williams bag the award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Abbott Elementary, beating John Lithgow, Jonathan Pryce, John Turturro, and Henry Winkler. Created by Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary is a documentary television series about the lives of educators in an elementary school of the same name. In this, Williams essayed the role of Gregory Eddie, a first-grade substitute teacher.
"I love y'all. It's an honour to work with you every day," said the ecstatic 30-year-old actor while accepting his first Golden Globe trophy! He dedicated the award to his character in the series and hoped for more such stories to come up, those that are yet to be told. The reason this marks a crucial milestone in the history of disability inclusion is that Williams lives with Crohn's disease — a chronic condition causing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, and resulting in severe abdominal pain. It is a rare medical condition, affecting less than 1 million people in India every year. Born in 1992, Williams got diagnosed with Crohn's in 2017 after living with its symptoms for three long years.
Earlier this month, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was in the news for fostering a culture of lack of diversity. Hence, Williams' achievement is even more commendable for he's the first Black disabled actor to be conferred with an award at the Golden Globes!
The American actor started acting as young as four years of age as a dubbing artiste for the character Bobby in the TV show Little Bill. However, he turned an overnight star for his work as Chris in the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005 ) and became the youngest recipient of the prestigious NAACP Image Award at the age of 14!
Some of Williams' other praiseworthy work includes Cyrus DeBarge in the film Let It Shine (2012), a saxophonist Lester Young in the musical drama The United States Vs Billie Holiday (2021), a young analyst Edgar Standish in action comedy Whiskey Cavalier, and Owen Lewis alongside Matthew Perry in Go On! Williams was also seen in the fifth season of The Walking Dead (2010), which is hailed as one of the best zombie TV series.
Born to parents who are supportive of the arts, Williams' talent can be traced down to his genes for his mother, who is a counsellor, was also a performer and songwriter. Williams also has two younger brothers — Tyrel and Tylen — who are actors themselves. Williams's father is a retired police sergeant.
While 2023 took off on a supremely positive and hopeful note, the year gone by scripted history as Oscars nominations had a male deaf nominee — Troy Kostur for the first time. Kostur was preceded by Marlee Matlin who became the first ever deaf actor to have been nominated for an Academy Award. She won for her role in the movie Children of a Lesser God (1986). Apart from Matlin, Harold Russell — a disabled actor — is also a recipient of the prestigious accolade for his work in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
In addition, the year 2021 also brought with it a revolutionary change as an accessible stage was built to accommodate actors with disabilities, who featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary Crip Camp for the first time in the history of Oscars! This was also paired up with closed captioning for the broadcast to give a truly inclusive experience.
Appreciation, support, and applause for artistes hailing from marginalised communities is a much-needed move, which fosters inclusion and greater representation of members of these communities. In years to come, we hope for more disabled people to win even more awards, setting an example for others and making a mark for themselves in the global arena.
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