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born  Brooklyn, New York on November 9, 1951

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born  Brooklyn, New York on November 9, 1951

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Became deaf from sickness & bullied in school.

Soon after he was born he suffered from a series of ear infections, which caused him to lose 75% of his hearing.¹ This hearing loss was not diagnosed until Ferrigno was 3 years old and he began wearing hearing aids at age 4. The hearing aids only helped improve his hearing marginally. He learned to understand what others were saying by lipreading. He said because “aids weren’t as advanced in those days, I developed very defective speech. That was harder to deal with than the hearing loss, because people assumed I was dumb when they heard me talk. I had difficulty making myself understood. That’s why I didn’t talk much, just enough to get what I needed.” 3

He went to public school and said his dad “made sure that at home I spoke the best I could, and he never gave me special attention. He treated me as though I was normal and my brother and sister accepted me that way. Dad was determined that I be normal, even if I wasn’t. That’s why I had to work twice as hard at everything.” 3

He couldn’t hear when he was in class, but was too shy to ask any of his teachers if he could sit up front where he could hear and didn’t let anyone know about the problem. He tried to isolate himself from his classmates. 3 “They used to call me ‘deaf Louie,’ ‘deaf mute,’ because of my hearing and because of the way I sounded.”⁵ He was teased and bullied, sometimes resulting in schoolyard fights that he would lose.7

RREFERENCE:

https://www.signingsavvy.com/article/237/Living+Loud%3A+Lou+Ferrigno+%E2%80%93+The+Incredible+Hulk+of+acting+bodybuilding+fitness+training+and+motivational+speaking

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Lou won his first major titles in 1973 – IFBB Mr. America and IFBB Mr. Universe – during which, he lived in Columbus, OH. Lou was only 21 when he won his first Mr. Universe title, a Guinness Book world record that stands to this day. In 1974, he came in second on his first attempt at the Mr. Olympia competition. He came in third the following year, which was documented in 1975s documentary, Pumping Iron.

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Lou won his first major titles in 1973 – IFBB Mr. America and IFBB Mr. Universe – during which, he lived in Columbus, OH. Lou was only 21 when he won his first Mr. Universe title, a Guinness Book world record that stands to this day. In 1974, he came in second on his first attempt at the Mr. Olympia competition. He came in third the following year, which was documented in 1975s documentary, Pumping Iron.

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The Incredible Hulk Opening and Closing Credits and Theme Song

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1977 brought the release of the now-iconic bodybuilding documentary, Pumping Iron, and the attention of television producer Kenneth Johnson (Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, V, Alien Nation), who was seeking the right person to portray the larger-than-life comic book superhero, The Incredible Hulk. With his 6′ 5″, 285 lb. frame, Lou was the biggest professional bodybuilder at the time. He auditioned for the part of the green-skinned Goliath, winning the part over fellow bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Lou was cast in the title role opposite Bill Bixby, who played his meek scientist/alter ego. Although Lou and Bixby did not share lines on camera (except for one episode, “King of the Beach”�), the two were friends, with Lou describing Bixby as “a mentor� and a father figure”� who took Lou under his wing. Lou continued playing the Hulk role until 1981, although the last two episodes were not broadcast until May 1982. The Incredible Hulk was a huge ratings success and spawned several TV movies after the initial TV series completed its run

Lou continued to remain busy after the end of The Incredible Hulk. His subsequent films included Hercules (1983), Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989) and Cage (1989).

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On May 3, 1980, he married psychotherapist Carla Green, who then also began serving as his manager and later became a personal trainer herself. They have three children: Shanna (1981), Louie (1984), and Brent (1990).

In February 2006, Lou was sworn in as a Los Angeles County, California reserve sheriff deputy and in November 2010, Lou was sworn in as a member of a Maricopa County, Arizona volunteer sheriff posse, which also includes actors Steven Seagal and Peter Lupus, in order to help control illegal immigration in the Phoenix Valley area.