I did my first movie,a movie called Whiffs, which very few people ever saw. Richard Masur More Quotes by Richard Masur More Quotes From Richard Masur I know deaf people. I have discussed the issues with them I've also thought about them a lot so I have some insights that go a little further than people who haven't had contact with the deaf community. Richard Masur issuescommunitypeople But people who think they can project themselves into deafness are mistaken because you can't. And I'm not talking about imagining what a deaf person's whole life is like I even mean just realizing what it is like for an instant. Richard Masur talkingmeanthinking For example, the first time McDonald's put a deaf person in a commercial they saw a jump in sales. I think that happens with other kinds of disabilities and products and that is something that is being realized more and more. Richard Masur being-realmcdonaldsthinking I'm one of the handful of survivors of the guys I came up with. Richard Masur handfulsurvivorguy You have to give access to people with disabilities but there is no requirement to hire them. What I mean by affirmative obligation is that producers must take the necessary steps to include opportunities for people with disabilities and a vast majority of them do. Richard Masur opportunitymeanpeople Most profoundly deaf people have speech that is very difficult to understand. Richard Masur deafspeechpeople Spelling is very easy to practice yourself whereas signing is not. So I would sit on the subway riding around New York and I would spell whatever I would see. When I watched a movie I would spell words as they came up. Richard Masur ridingnew-yorkpractice I moved out to L.A. in July and Hot L Baltimore started in September or October. So I had done a few things. I'd done a Mary [Tyler Moore]. I'd done a Waltons. I hadn't done a Rhoda yet I don't think. Richard Masur julyhotthinking You have to give people the opportunity to prove themselves. Richard Masur opportunitygivingpeople There is no relation to sound for deaf people. It is a totally different mental process. Richard Masur differentsoundpeople I did a film many years ago called The Man Without A Face.Gaby [Hoffmann] was in with Mel Gibson. That was his directing debut. He did a great job. Richard Masur jobsmenyears I still to this day maintain that in that million-and-a-half feet of film [Heaven's Gate] that we shot, we thought we were making a great American film. I honestly believe that Michael [Cimino] was under a tremendous amount of pressure, and Michael's response to pressure from what I saw was to double down and to get more aggressive and to get more kind of arrogant, but I don't think it was real. I think it was the response to pressure. Richard Masur realbelievethinking I would never ever, ever, ever, ever do it again [All My Children]. It was the scariest thing I've ever done. I have such respect for people who do it, who can do it. What happened was they caught me at a good moment. I could use the money and this came along and it was with Susan and I thought, "Susan Lucci. I have to do this. Richard Masur usechildrenpeople If people don't actively knock the scenery over and they get the words out in something approximating the right order, you're moving on. Richard Masur orderpeoplemoving I mean God knows I've done tons of schlock during the course of my career and stuff that's been very low budget and really pressed for time, but I've never had an experience like this. I kept saying to people, "How do you do this?" I said to Susan [Lucci], "How do you do it?" I don't recall exactly what she answered me but it was something like "Close my eyes and think of England. You just do it." Richard Masur eyemeanthinking She [Susan Lucci] was extraordinary. She wouldn't look at the scene until you walked in to rehearse it. It was amazing to me. That's the impression I got anyway. Richard Masur impressionscenelooks I'm grateful I got the opportunity to do it because I know this now. If anybody ever asked me to do a daytime show again I would go no, no. I can't do that. Not because it's beneath me. It's above me. It's beyond my resources. Richard Masur resourcesgratefulopportunity The difference between deafness and any other disability is that there is no way to put yourself in a position of knowing what it would be like because you can't stop yourself from hearing your own breath or your own heartbeat. You can not remove sound entirely from your life. You can get a sense of what being blind is like by closing and covering your eyes which provides a source of empathy because we can all project ourselves to that. But people who think they can project themselves into deafness are mistaken because you can't. Richard Masur eyepeoplethinking I consider anybody who has been able to make a living in this business [movie business] without having to do something else for a living for any period of time let alone 43 years would be a miracle. Richard Masur miraclewould-beyears In a very real way Norman [Lear] godfathered me into my career. He was the best mentor anybody could have ever had. Richard Masur mentorcareersreal
