Biography
Who is Lauren Ridloff?
Early life and real name
Lauren Ridloff Teruel was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 6, 1978. Her father worked as a counselor and musician, while her mother was an artist. She grew up within the Hyde Park area of Chicago. Her parents initially suspected a developmental delay before realizing she was deaf by the time she reached age two. They embraced sign language and enrolled her in a local Catholic school alongside hearing children. At age thirteen, she chose to stop using her voice in order to prevent others from judging her intelligence based on vocal sounds.
She later attended the Model Secondary School for the Deaf located in Washington, D.C. During these school years, she engaged in ceramics, drama, and cheerleading, performing as Dorothy in a production of The Wiz. She chose to attend California State University, Northridge because of its substantial deaf and hard-of-hearing student population. She majored in English with an emphasis in creative writing, completing her studies in 2001. She also went on to earn a master degree in education from Hunter College in 2005.
How Lauren became famous
Lauren initially worked as a teacher of kindergarten and first grade in Manhattan. Before her acting career took off, she won the title of Miss Deaf America. She also worked as an American Sign Language tutor for director Kenny Leon during preparations for a Broadway revival of Children of a Lesser God. Impressed by her reading during rehearsals, the director cast her as the female lead character Sarah Norman. This performance earned her a nomination for a Tony Award in the category of Best Actress in a Play.
Following her theater success, she secured a role as Connie in the ninth season of the television series The Walking Dead. Her profile expanded further when she was cast as Makkari in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals. This role made her the first deaf superhero to appear in a major Marvel film production.
Career highlights
After her breakthrough on Broadway and television, Lauren continued taking on diverse film and television roles. She appeared in the film Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes and worked as a consultant on Wonderstruck. She also took a role in an episode of the anthology drama series Accused, which was directed by Marlee Matlin and aired on the Fox network.
Her contributions to representation in entertainment have earned her several honors. She received the Harold Russell Award from SAG-AFTRA at the Media Access Awards. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts also recognized her as a breakthrough performer. Also, she was honored by New York Women in Film and Television at their annual Muse Awards.
Family and personal life
Lauren married Douglas Ridloff, whom she met during her college years at California State University, Northridge. The couple shares two children, both of whom are boys and also deaf. After working for nine years as a teacher, she left her position to care for her children. The family lived in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York until they relocated to Austin, Texas.
Birthday and age
Lauren Ridloff was born on April 6, 1978, which makes Lauren 48 years old today. That birthday falls under the Aries sign. Lauren shares the date with 21 other famous people.
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