Geraldine Ann "Geri" Jewell (born September 13, 1956) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, diversity consultant, and motivational speaker, noted for roles on the 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life and the mid-2000s western Deadwood. She is known as being one of the first people on a TV sitcom with cerebral palsy, and she has helped advocate for the disabled throughout her career. She has also been an advocate for the LGBTQ community since publicly coming out as lesbian in her 2011 autobiography. Biography From Buffalo, New York, Jewell was born to Olga and Jack Jewell. She has two brothers, David and Fred; her sister Gloria passed away in 2016. Due to a car accident Jewell's mother was in while pregnant with her, Jewell was born three months early. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at eighteen months old. Growing up, Jewell's parents were determined not to raise her differently from rest of their children, lest she think she wasn't as capable as her siblings. Geri said she is thankful that they encouraged her to pursue her passions. After her diagnosis of cerebral palsy, Jewell and her family moved to Orange County, California so that she could have access to better care as well as schools that could accommodate her needs. Jewell attended a private school for children with cerebral palsy and remained there through first grade. After first grade, she attended a special education program at a public school, where she faced discrimination. Jewell described her school life as lonely and sheltered; she said she never had a best friend growing up, and was never able to practice her social skills. Geri explains that this led her to be emotionally immature for her age. However, she claimed that, overall, she had a good childhood due to her parents and teachers who believed in her and encouraged her talent for comedy. Jewell was inspired by Carol Burnett and wrote Burnett a letter when she was just thirteen, asking her for advice since she too wanted to be a comedic actress. Burnett wrote back to her, telling her to “keep putting one foot in front of the other until [she] gets where [she] wants to go”, which Jewell did. Later on in life, Jewell went with a friend to see Carol Burnett perform. She got to sit in the front row and met her childhood idol afterward. Although she always knew