Geri Jewell

In 1980, Jewell was offered a role on The Facts of Life. The show ended up being one of the longest-running TV sitcoms in the 1980s. The Facts of Life was a spin-off from Diff'rent Strokes, which featured Edna Garrett, the housekeeper in the Drummond household. Garrett was written into the new show as a housemother, and later a dietitian, at the fictitious Eastland private school. Jewell first appeared in the show's second season. Her role as Geri Tyler, the cousin of Blair, was groundbreaking. She was the first disabled actor to have a recurring role on a TV series;.[11] She was on The Facts of Life for twelve episodes and her contract ended in 1984. Not only was Jewell fired from The Facts of Life, but her then-manager was also arrested for embezzlement and securities fraud. Jewell was left broke and without professional representation.[5] In her first autobiography, Geri, published in 1984, Jewell wrote of the situation,

...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.[12]

The years immediately following the show were dark for Jewell, and included an addiction to sleeping pills. A biography about her written by Stewart Weiner, also titled Geri, was published without her authorization. She never believed it illustrated her life as well as her autobiography.[13]

Jewell was asked to speak at the White House about her disability in 1985. She began her speech: “Love and fear cannot exist at the same time. One cannot exist in the presence of the other...[people are] not born into the world with prejudice; prejudice is a learned behavior. Fear is what stops us from loving genuinely”. Jewell told the audience at the White House to face their fears and uncertainties first in order to love others.[14] This speech helped lead her to her next chapter as a motivational speaker.

In 1986, Jewell said her new role as an advocate for the disabled allowed her to pick up the pieces of her life, and to find purpose. She also found success as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies on creating better accommodations and more inclusive culture for the disabled workforce.

In 2011, Jewell published her autobiography, I’m Walking As Straight As I Can: Transcending Disability in Hollywood and Beyond, which later won a 2013 Golden Halo Award, and the 2013 UCP Life Without Limits Award. She discussed the frustration of constantly being cast solely for her disability. Although representation is important, she said, she would have liked Hollywood to see her as an actor who could play roles not specifically written for someone with cerebral palsy.[13] She also wrote about her 2002 divorce from husband Richard Pimentel and came out publicly as a lesbian. The title, I'm Walking as Straight as I Can referred both to her cerebral palsy and sexual orientation.[1][2]

Jewell appeared as the recurring character Jewel on the HBO original series Deadwood from 2004 to 2006 and in its 2019 film continuation.

Keynote speaker Geri Jewell takes questions from the audience.

In an interview with Adrienne Faillace for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, Jewell explained how she co-created her character on Deadwood with the creator David Milch. Jewell described her first meeting with Milch and his writers, and how after their meeting, Milch asked her to “forget everything that happened." When Milch told her this, Jewell said, she believed that she was no longer being considered for the role. But in a turn that surprised her, Milch told Jewell he wanted her to tell him about her insights on the character, and to tell him what she believed would accurately represent a person with cerebral palsy in the 19th century. She said she appreciated his respect for her talents as a writer and actor.