History Main / DeafComposer

* Pete Townshend lost a good deal of his hearing over years of touring with [[TheWho one of the most famously loud rock bands ever]]. He now takes various precautions to keep his remaining hearing strong and to prevent himself from going entirely deaf, [[CoolOldGuy and he still tours]].

* The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges went blind later in life and his most celebrated work was during that time. He even makes a fictionalized version of himself that is also blind to act as a narrator in almost all his short stories!

* The Spanish classical composer Joaquìn Rodrigo was blind from pretty much infancy. It didn't stop him from creating the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRKUoU55Ghc Concert of Aranjuez]], among other classical pieces.
* The Puerto-Rican guitar player/singer Josè Feliciano was blind from a very early age. It hasn't stopped him from having a career that's almost 50 years long.

* Not a fully blind artist, but apparently the director of the original ''HouseOfWax'', André de Toth, had only one eye, and thus couldn't see any of the film's 3-D sequences.

** The Puerto-Rican guitar player/singer Josè Feliciano is also blind from a very early age. It hasn't stop him from having a carrer that's almost 50 years long.

* ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortilla_Soup Tortilla Soup,]]'' starring Hector Elizando rather than Edward James Olmos. An Ethnic Remake of ''EatDrinkManWoman'', but I don't know whether or not the same psychosomatic symptom is present there.
** It is.

->"Deafness doesn't prevent composers hearing music. It prevents them hearing distractions."

This trope is named in honor of LudwigVanBeethoven, who in the later years of his life continued to compose despite becoming mostly deaf ([[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy being an alien spy probably helped]]).

->'''Sparkle''': "Just as Beethoven was a great composer because he was deaf!"
->'''Bender''': "And Rembrandt was blind and had wooden hands."
-->--''{{Futurama}}''

Contrast CreativeSterility, where a character is unable to create art (or procreate) not because they lack the corresponding senses but out of a lack of creative spark.

* In ''TheChroniclesOfAmber'', Random's wife Vialle is a talented sculptress who happens to be blind.

* One ''Series/BattlestarGalacticaClassic'' and ''RedDwarf'' crossover fanfiction had the Cylons reprogrammed into avid bakers set on providing the galaxy with quality baked goods. Since they lack taste receptors, they force Baltar to be their taste tester. [[HumiliationConga Their bread is horrible.]]

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* In the third ''EmpireOfTheAnts'' novel, the protagonist's mentor was a blind composer. After an experimental surgery gave him his ears back, he discovered how dissonant the world really was and was DrivenToSuicide.

* Leonhard Euler, the 18th century mathematician, went blind later in his life. It is interesting to note, however, that his eidetic memory prevented any substantial stifling of his prolific output.

* As mentioned in the trope description, Beethoven suffered from deafness later in his life. The cause of this disability has been argued, with such possibilities as lead poisoning, syphilis or even his habit of dunking his head in cold water to stay awake being cited. Didn't stop him from creating masterpieces, however.

* Bender in ''{{Futurama}}'' is a robot with no taste receptors, yet he avidly enjoys cooking and sharing his creations with his biological friends (much to their dread).

* The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges went blind later in life.