 Mullins in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 (age 48–49)[1] Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Spouse | |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
Event(s) | Long jump,sprinting |
| College team | Georgetown University |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Paralympic finals | 1996 Paralympics |
Aimee Mullins (born 1976)[1][2][3][4] is an Americanathlete,actress, andpublic speaker. She was born with a medical condition that resulted in theamputation of both of her legs beneath the knee. She is the first amputee to compete against nondisabled athletes inNational Collegiate Athletic Association events, and competed in theParalympic Games in1996 in Atlanta. In 1999, she began modeling, and, in 2002, she began an acting career. She has periodically spoken at conferences, includingTED Talks.
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Mullins was born in 1976 inAllentown, Pennsylvania, to an Irish father Bernard Mullins fromCrusheen,County Clare, Ireland and mother Bernadette Mullins. She was born withfibular hemimelia (missingfibula bones). As a result, both her legs were amputated below the knee when she was one year old. Her parents were told she would likely use a wheelchair for the rest of her life and never walk, but by the age of two she had learned to walk with prosthetic legs. She took up sports and acting at an early age.
In 1993, Mullins graduated fromParkland High School[1] inSouth Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.
She attended theWalsh School of Foreign Service atGeorgetown University on a full scholarship, where she competed against nondisabled athletes inNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division Itrack and field events. She is the first female amputee in history to compete in the NCAA and the first amputee in history (male or female) to compete in NCAA Division I track and field.
Mullins competed in the1996 Summer Paralympics inAtlanta, where she ran the T42-46 class 100-meter sprint in 17.01 seconds[5] and jumped 3.14 meters in the F42-46 classlong jump.[6] She retired from competitive track and field in 1998.
She was elected to represent American female athletes from 2007 to 2009 asWomen's Sports Foundation president; the organization was founded by sports pioneerBillie Jean King. She remains a member of both its board of trustees and its athlete advisory panel for theWomen Sports Foundation.[7]Sports Illustrated magazine named her one of the "Coolest Girls in Sports".[when?] Mullins was included as one of the "Greatest Women of the 20th Century" in the Women's Museum inDallas prior to the museum's closure.
Along withTeresa Edwards, Mullins was appointedChef de Mission for the United States at the2012 Summer Olympics and2012 Summer Paralympics in London.[8]
In 2012, she was appointed by then-Secretary of StateHillary Clinton to the State Department's Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports.[9]
In 1999, she modelled for British fashion designerAlexander McQueen, opening his London show on a pair of hand-carved wooden prosthetic legs made from solidash, with integral boots. She is able to change her height between 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) by changing her legs.[10] She was on billboards in the U.S. as part of the "25 Years of Non-Uniform Thinking" campaign byKenneth Cole in 2009. She was a face ofL'Oréal Paris and was appointed a globalL'Oréal ambassador in 2011.[11]
In 2002, she starred inMatthew Barney's art filmCremaster 3 as six different characters, including a cheetah woman. Her other film and television credits include roles inWorld Trade Center,Poirot (S9:E1Five Little Pigs),Naked in a Fishbowl,Quid Pro Quo, andMarvelous. In theRiver of Fundament, she continued collaboration withMatthew Barney, starring asIsis in performances both live and filmed since 2007 and released in early 2014. She has performed roles inYoung Ones,The Being Experience,Rob the Mob, and the debut featureAppropriate Behavior. She acted inCrossbones, an NBC television show, and in theNetflix seriesStranger Things.
She appeared onThe Colbert Report on April 15, 2010, and declared having 12 pairs of prosthetic legs, including some "in museums".[12]
Mullins appears periodically as a speaker on topics related to body, identity, design, and innovation. HerTED conference talks have been translated into 42 languages. She is credited as being one of the speakers that inspiredChris Anderson to purchase the TED conference fromRichard Saul Wurman.[13] She was named a TED "All-Star" in 2014.[14]
Mullins began dating English actorRupert Friend in 2013.[15][16] The couple married in 2016.[17]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Cremaster 3 | The Entered Novitiate | |
| 2006 | Marvelous | Becka | |
| World Trade Center | Reporter | ||
| 2008 | Quid Pro Quo | Raine | |
| 2013 | In the Woods | ||
| 2014 | Rob the Mob | Carrie | |
| Young Ones | Katherine Holm | ||
| Appropriate Behavior | Sasha | ||
| River of Fundament | The Ka of Norman / Isis | ||
| 2015 | In Stereo | Trisha Bontecou | |
| 2018 | Unsane | Ashley Brighterhouse | |
| 2019 | Drunk Parents | Heidi Bianchi | |
| 2023 | Asteroid City | Actor / Student |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Cremaster 3 | The Entered Novitiate / Oonagh MacCumhail | |
| 2003 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Lucy Crale | Episode: "Five Little Pigs" |
| 2011 | Naked in a Fishbowl | Nance | Episode: "The Bold and the Bucious" |
| 2014 | Crossbones | Antoinette / Woman in White / The Woman-In-White | 4 episodes |
| 2015 | The Mysteries of Laura | Connie Baker | Episode: "The Mystery of the Exsanguinated Ex" |
| Power | Ellen Wenrich | Episode: "Ghost Is Dead" | |
| 2016 | Limitless | Dr. Peri | Episode: "Hi, My Name Is Rebecca Harris" |
| 2016–2017 | Stranger Things | Teresa / Terry Ives | 6 episodes |
| 2017 | Odd Mom Out | Annabelle Hughes | Episode: "Homo Erectus" |
| 2019 | Bull | Alice Yarrow | Episode: "Billboard Justice" |
| 2020 | Devs | Anya | 3 episodes |
| MacGyver | Jess Miller | Episode: "Thief + Painting + Auction + Viro-486 + Justice" | |
| 2023 | Extrapolations | Secretary of State Garrett | Episode: "2059: Face Of God" |
In 2017, she was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame.[18]
On May 4, 2018, she received an honorary degree and gave the commencement address atNortheastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.[19]
Aimee Mullins ... who attended Georgetown University after graduating from Parkland High School in 1993 ... the same doctor who had delivered Mullins in 1976
Aimee Mullins, 23
Mullins, 39
The 47-year-old former sprinter
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |