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Rachel Alana Handler | |
|---|---|
| Born | Philadelphia, PA, US |
| Other names | Rachel Handler |
| Occupation | Actress / Singer / Motivational Speaker |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Website | http://www.rachelahandler.com |
Rachel Alana Handler is an American actress, singer and motivational speaker who is best known for playing Chunks in the 2016 horror movie Smothered .
Handler was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Raised in Linwood, New Jersey, she is a graduate of Mainland Regional High School. [1] She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the Westminster Choir College. In her early career she performed with Kelli O'Hara at Carnegie Hall in “The Best of Lerner and Loewe” [2] and had made appearances in Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions.
She did months of rehab from a car accident, [3] [4] [5] [1] and now walks with prosthesis and has become an advocate for actors with disabilities.
In 2015, she was honored as part of Atlantic City Weekly's "Top 40 Under 40" [6] Handler's contributions and interviews on her personal experiences and inclusion of disabled actors in the arts have been featured on Quora , [7] Disabled World, [8] Little Bits of Good, [9] and Backstage.com. [10] Her recent article "Stop Excluding Actors With Disabilities" was posted to the front page of Backstage. [11]
Her acting credits include an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , an episode of Blue Bloods , as "Denise Todd" (uncredited) in Elementary , and starring in the Christa Wells video "Shine". Her appearance as Chunks in Smothered has been well received by the horror community. [12] [13] [14] She has starred in independent films, including Disabilidates, a short film in which she played an amputee going on a first date, [15] [16] Two and Twenty Troubles [17] and Only Those Who Limp Allowed. [18] Her theater credits include Tess Samuels in "The Bipartisan" at the Thespis Theatre Festival, Resident Actor in "The Bats" at The Flea Theater and Hannah in Measure for Measure at Frog and Peach Theatre Co. Handler also appeared in Nicu's Spoon Theater Company's production of Richard III as Lady Anne. [19] [20] Handler also wrote and starred in Inspiration Whore, a one woman show in which Handler, fresh from her accident and recovery, constantly hears people tell her that she is an "inspiration" and works through her conflicted feelings on the topic, ultimately finding the "inspiring spark" inside herself. [21] [22] In 2016 she created an Angie Tribeca spin-off and parody created and written by Handler titled Becky Nolita which features actors with disabilities. [23]
In 2017, Handler filmed a supporting role in the film The Upside , starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. Handler was also profiled in a March 2017 broadcast of Chasing News titled "Dancing Her Heart Out". [24] She is currently working on a screenplay loosely based on her life, as well as filming guest starring roles in Goliath and NCIS: New Orleans . Her appearance in NCIS: New Orleans was met with praise from the online publication The Mighty: "I kept expecting the character’s disability to suddenly become key to the story, but it never did. They didn’t fall into any of the stereotypes of disability we usually see on TV. They never went into detail about her amputation, and it was completely unrelated to why she was in danger. Although she did need to be rescued by the team, she was not depicted as more vulnerable because of her amputation. Nor was it mentioned as an added reason to find her — she needed help because she was a whistleblower trying to expose corruption, not because she had a disability." [25] Handler is also a two time participant of the Easterseals (U.S.) Disability Film Challenge which gives filmmakers – with and without disabilities – the opportunity to collaborate and tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms and support Easterseals’ goal to change the way the world defines and views disability, so everyone can reach his or her potential. [26]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Shufflemania | Young Girl | |
| 2013 | Elementary | Denise Todd | "On the Line" (uncredited) |
| 2014 | Disabilidates | Rachel | Best Actor Award |
| 2014 | Two and Twenty Troubles | Rachel | Self |
| 2015 | Blue Bloods | Veteran | "Baggage" |
| 2015 | Getting it Wrong | Rachel | |
| 2016 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Jury Foreperson | "Star-Struck Victims" |
| 2016 | Smothered | Chunks | |
| 2016 | Becky Nolita | Becky Nolita | |
| 2017 | The Housewarming | Alli | Hollywood Hills Awards Winner for Best Comedian [27] |
| 2017 | The Upside | Proctor | |
| 2018 | NCIS: New Orleans | Molly Lindell | "Empathy" |
| 2018 | Goliath | Flor | Episode #2.4 |
| 2018 | New Amsterdam | Circulating Nurse | "Righteous Right Hand" and "Your Turn" |
| 2021 | So You Wanna Be An Actor | Addy | |
| 2018 | Andy & Kaliope | Jamie | |
| 2018 | Best Foot Forward | Maria | Halloween |
| 2022 | Interview with the Vampire | Peg Leg Doris | "In Throes of Increasing Wonder" and "After the Phantoms of Your Former Self" |
Body integrity dysphoria (BID), also referred to as body integrity identity disorder (BIID), amputee identity disorder or xenomelia, and formerly called apotemnophilia, is a rare mental disorder characterized by a desire to have a sensory or physical disability or feeling discomfort with being able-bodied, beginning in early adolescence and resulting in harmful consequences. BID appears to be related to somatoparaphrenia. People with this condition may refer to themselves as transabled.
Amy Michelle Purdy is an American actress, model, para-snowboarder, motivational speaker, clothing designer and author. Purdy is a 2014 Paralympic bronze medalist, 2018 Paralympics silver medalist, and co-founder of Adaptive Action Sports.
Maurice William Elias, known professionally as James Stacy, was an American film and television actor who starred in the late 1960s TV western Lancer.
Attraction to disability is a sexualised interest in the appearance, sensation and experience of disability. It may extend from normal human sexuality into a type of sexual fetishism. Sexologically, the pathological end of the attraction tends to be classified as a paraphilia. Other researchers have approached it as a form of identity disorder. The most common interests are towards amputations, prosthesis, and crutches. As a sexual fetish, attraction to disability is known as devotism, and those with the fetish are known as devotees.
Cameron Clapp is an American athlete. As a triple amputee, he has become a motivational speaker, mentor to young amputees, and amputee activist. He is also an actor.
Nicu's Spoon is an inclusion-oriented off-off-Broadway theater company in New York City. The company works with actors regardless of age, ability, gender, color or ethnicity and seeks to challenge stereotypes and expectations. Nicu's Spoon was the first fully inclusive company in New York City. Nicu's Spoon are also co-founders of the Disability in Cinema Coalition (DCC).
Aimee Mullins is an American athlete, actress, and public speaker. She was born with a medical condition that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs beneath the knee. She is the first amputee to compete against nondisabled athletes in National Collegiate Athletic Association events, and competed in the Paralympics in 1996 in Atlanta. In 1999, she began modeling, and, in 2002, she began an acting career. She has periodically spoken at conferences, including TED Talks.
Amy Palmiero-Winters is a below-knee amputee who currently holds eleven world records in various events. In 2010, she was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States and the ESPN ESPY Award as the top female athlete with a disability in the world.
Disability in the arts is an aspect within various arts disciplines of inclusive practices involving disability. It manifests itself in the output and mission of some stage and modern dance performing-arts companies, and as the subject matter of individual works of art, such as the work of specific painters and those who draw.
Kurt Yaeger is an American actor, writer, director, disability advocate, and professional athlete, who is also a below-the-knee amputee. Recent work includes varying roles on the CBS series NCIS, the HBO/Cinemax series Quarry, Netflix series Another Life, and many other television appearances. Kurt gathered notoriety appearing in season five of the FX series Sons of Anarchy as Greg "the Peg" and in the Rudimental music video for the UK hit single "Waiting All Night" featuring vocals from Ella Eyre.
T42 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to athletes with single above the knee amputations or a disability that is comparable. This class includes ISOD classified A2 and A9 competitors.
T43 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to athletes with "Double below knee amputation or similar disability." It includes ISOD classified athletes from the A4 and A9 classes.
T44 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to "Single below knee amputation or an athlete who can walk with moderately reduced function in one or both legs." It includes ISOD A4 and A9 classes.
Amputee sports classification is a disability specific sport classification used for disability sports to facilitate fair competition among people with different types of amputations. This classification was set up by International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD), and is currently managed by IWAS who ISOD merged with in 2005. Several sports have sport specific governing bodies managing classification for amputee sportspeople.
A3 is an amputee sport classification used by the International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD) for people with acquired or congenital amputations. A3 classified sportspeople have both legs amputated below knee. Their amputations impact their sport performance, including having balance issues, increased energy costs, higher rates of oxygen consumption, and issues with their gait. Sports people in this class are eligible to participate in include athletics, swimming, sitting volleyball, archery, weightlifting, badminton, lawn bowls, sitzball and wheelchair basketball.
A1 is an amputee sport classification used by the International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD) for people with acquired or congenital amputations. This class is for sportspeople who have both legs amputated above the knee. Their amputations impact their sport performance, including having balance issues, increased energy costs, higher rates of oxygen consumption, and issues with their gait. Sports people in this class are eligible to participate in include athletics, swimming, sitting volleyball, archery, weightlifting, badminton, lawn bowls, sitzball and wheelchair basketball.
Beryl Potter was a British-born Canadian disability rights activist. She was involved in many disability rights organizations in Ontario including the Trans-Action Coalition, the Scarborough Recreation Club for Disabled Adults, the Ontario Action Awareness Association, and the Coalition on Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities (CEEPD). Potter was a triple amputee and was blind in one eye as a result of complications due to a fall at work.
Madison Blaine McLaughlin is an American actress. She is known for playing Evelyn Sharp/Artemis on the CW superhero television series Arrow.
Jenna Kanell is an American actress, director, writer and stunt performer. She gained recognition for her portrayals of Tara Heyes in Terrifier (2016) and Kim Hines in The Bye Bye Man (2017)—both horror films in which she performed her own stunt work. Her film career has since expanded to a variety of genres such as the political drama The Front Runner (2018), the horror-comedy Renfield (2023), and the action comedy Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024).
Long Journey Back is a 1978 made-for-TV coming-of-age drama film based on the Gilchrest Road, New York crossing accident in which a Nyack High School bus was struck and sliced down the middle by a train, killing 5 people and injuring more than 40 others. The film stars Stephanie Zimbalist as main character Celia, who struggles with life as an amputee and with brain damage following the accident. Co-stars include Cloris Leachman and Mike Connors. The film also features a live singing of the song "Day by Day" from the musical Godspell. Zimbalist's character, as well as Katy Kurtzman's, were based on real-life sisters Irene and Joan Ferrara, who were severely injured in the accident.
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