A new episode of long-running US cartoon The Simpsons is set to feature a deaf actor for the first time in its 33-year history. The episode, titled The Sound Of Bleeding Gums, will see Lisa Simpson discover that the son of her musical mentor and saxophone player, Bleeding Gums Murphy, was born deaf.
Lisa will help Monk, played by deaf actor John Autry II, get a cochlear implant. The episode will also be the first time that American Sign Language (ASL) has been used on the show.
It was written by Loni Steele Sosthand who grew up with jazz music and has a brother who was born deaf. Autry previously told US media outlet Variety the episode was “part of history”.
