Early life and career

Originally from Buffalo, New York, she is most famous for her role of Geri Tyler on the television program The Facts of Life from 1980 to 1984. This role made her the first person with a disability to have a regular role on a prime time series, as well as the first actor with cerebral palsy to be featured on a TV series. She began her career doing stand up comedy at The Comedy Store in 1978. In 1980, she performed at the 2nd Annual Media Access Awards, when she was introduced to Norman Lear by producer, Fern Field.

Jewell appeared as the recurring character "Jewel" on the HBO original series Deadwood from 2004—2006.

Awards

She has been the recipient of many awards, including the 1992 Founders Award, the 2005 Independent Living Legacy Award, and a National Rehabilitation Hospital Victory Award (in 2006).

Personal life

Her autobiography I'm Walking as Straight as I Can was published in 2011 by ECW Press. The title refers to the facts that she has cerebral palsy and is a lesbian.

Jewell's original autobiography, Geri, published in 1984, talked about her personal and professional life.

“

It did help children get comfortable dealing with a person who has a disability, and taught them the value of a good sense of humor, so I’m not going to knock the whole book. But it was such lighthearted fluff given that I was struggling so much at the time. Like I said, I had a manager who was a crook. People in my life were manipulating me and taking advantage of me. Then The Facts of Life did not renew my contract. Years later, they offered me one episode during the fifth season, and my new manager, Richard Lippin, who was trying to fix all the previous manager’s mistakes, turned it down. He felt that after everything that I’d done for Facts, it was a slap in the face that they would only offer me one show. If I had had it my way, I would have accepted it anyway. But I don’t blame him, because he was right. The problem was that he thought I was indispensable, and they didn’t. He figured that they would come back with something better. And—oops!—they never did. He told me not to worry about it, that I was going to find other work because I was very talented, and I was the first person with a disability to break ground in a series.

”

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Nice Dreams	Mental Patient	Uncredited
1982	Two of a Kind	Irene	Television film
2006	The Night of the White Pants	Aunt Lolly

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980-1984	The Facts of Life	Geri Tyler	12 episodes
1989	The New Lassie	Dr. Rita Francis	Episode: "Slumber Party"
1990	21 Jump Street	Officer Rebecca Scanlon	Episode: "Unfinished Business"
2004	The Young and the Restless	Rose	9 episodes
2004-2006	Deadwood	Jewel	23 episodes
2005	Strong Medicine	Holly	Episode: "Promising Treatment"
2012	Alcatraz	Geri Tiller	Episode: "Cal Sweeney"
2014	Glee	TV Producer	Episode: "The Back-Up Plan"

Books

• Jewell, Geri; Stewart Weiner (1984). Geri. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-02452-1.
• Jewell, Geri (2011). I'm Walking as Straight as I Can. Toronto: ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-883-8.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]