TVXOHOF, JUNE 2018 - HELEN KELLER & ANNIE SULLIVAN

Fifty years ago yesterday, Helen Keller passed away at the age of 87.  On June 27 ("Helen Keller Day" nationally since 1980), she would have been 138 years old.  Her teacher and companion, Anne Sullivan, passed away in 1936 at the age of 70.

From Wikipedia:
Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker. Her birthplace in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, is now a museum and sponsors an annual "Helen Keller Day". Her birthday on June 27 is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was authorized at the federal level by presidential proclamation by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, the 100th anniversary of her birth.

A prolific author, Keller was well-traveled and outspoken in her convictions. A member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, she campaigned for women's suffrage, labor rights, socialism, anti-militarism, and other similar causes. She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1971 and was one of twelve inaugural inductees to the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame on June 8, 2015. Keller proved to the world that deaf people could all learn to communicate and that they could survive in the hearing world. She also taught that deaf people are capable of doing things that hearing people can do. One of the most famous deaf people in history, she is an idol to many deaf people in the world. 

Johanna Mansfield Sullivan Macy (April 14, 1866 – October 20, 1936), better known as Anne Sullivan, was an American teacher, best known for being the instructor and lifelong companion of Helen Keller.  At the age of five, she contracted trachoma, a highly contagious eye disease, which left her blind and without reading or writing skills.[2] She received her education as a student of the Perkins School for the Blind where upon graduation she became a teacher to Keller when she was 20.

The summer following Sullivan's graduation, the director of the Perkins Institution, Michael Anagnos, was contacted by Arthur Keller, who was in search of a teacher for his 7-year-old blind and deaf daughter, Helen. Anagnos immediately recommended Sullivan for this position and she began her work on March 3, 1887, at the Kellers' home in Tuscumbia, Alabama. As soon as she arrived there, she argued with Helen's parents about the Civil War and over the fact that they used to own slaves. However she also quickly connected with Helen. It was the beginning of a 49-year relationship: Sullivan evolved from teacher to governess and finally to companion and friend.
Sullivan's curriculum involved a strict schedule with constant introduction of new vocabulary words; however, Sullivan quickly changed her teachings after seeing they did not suit Keller. Instead, she began to teach her vocabulary based on her own interests, where she spelled each word out into Keller's palm; within six months this method proved to be working when Keller had learned 575 words, some multiplication tables, as well as the Braille system. Sullivan strongly encouraged Helen's parents to send her to the Perkins School where she could have an appropriate education. When they agreed, Sullivan took Keller to Boston in 1888 and stayed with her there. Sullivan continued to teach her bright protégé, who soon became famous for her remarkable progress. With the help of Anagnos, Keller became a public symbol for the school, helping to increase its funding and donations and making it the most famous and sought-after school for the blind in the country. However, an accusation of plagiarism against Keller greatly upset Sullivan: she left and never returned, but did remain influential to the school. Sullivan remained a close companion to Keller and continued to assist in her education, which ultimately included a degree from Radcliffe College.

Ms. Keller and Annie Sullivan are not being inducted as members of the League of Themselves.  As portrayed by others, they are a multidimensional.  Many of those portrayals were set in the alternate TV dimension known as Toobstage, that dimension in which theatrical plays are replayed over and over again.  This is thanks to the William Gibson play "The Miracle Worker" which began as a TV production.

From Wikipedia:

"The Miracle Worker" is a cycle of 20th-century dramatic works derived from Helen Keller's autobiography "The Story of My Life". Each of the various dramas describes the relationship between Helen, a deaf,blind and initially almost feral child, and Anne Sullivan, the teacher who introduced her to education, activism, and international stardom.

Its first realization was a 1957 'Playhouse 90' broadcast written by William Gibson and starring Teresa Wright as Sullivan and Patricia McCormack as Keller. Gibson adapted his teleplay for a 1959 Broadway production with Anne Bancroft as Sullivan. The first movie, also starring Bancroft, was released in 1962. Subsequent made-for-television movies were released in 1979 and 2000.

TOOBSTAGE

'Playhouse 90'
"The Miracle Worker" (1957 episode) 
Teresa Wright as Annie Sullivan 
Patricia McCormack as Helen Keller

Anna dei Miracoli (1990 TV movie)
Anna Proclemer as Anne Sullivan
Cinzia de Carolis as Helen Keller

'Estudio 1'

"El Milagro de Ana Sullivan" (1978 episode)
Tina Sainz as Ana Sullivan

Nuria Gallardo as Helen Keller

The Miracle Worker (1979 TV movie) 
Patty Duke as Annie Sullivan 
Melissa Gilbert as Helen Keller

Anna dei Miracoli (1990 TV movie)

Mariangela Melato as Annie Sullivan

The Miracle Worker (2000 TV movie) 
Alison Elliott as Annie Sullivan 
Hallie Kate Eisenberg as Helen Keller

(The portrayals by Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan and Patty Duke as Helen Keller, perhaps the best-known versions, are excluded because the Broadway play belongs in some theatrical metaverse and the movie belongs in the Cineverse.)

There are other portrayals of Keller and Sullivan in other TV dimensions.

"Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues" (1984 TV movie)
Blythe Danner as Annie Sullivan
Mare Winningham as Helen Keller

"Monday After The Miracle" (1998 TV movie)
Roma Downey as Annie Sullivan
Moira Kelly as Helen Keller

And then there are her depictions in the Tooniverse, which is a "Borderland" of all forms of animation.

'Wonderful Story'
"Annie Sullivan & Helen Keller"

'American Hero Classics'
"Helen Keller"

'Muffin Stories'
"Helen Keller"

It is in that dimension where animation from the movies as well as TV are blended together.  And the inhabitants don't normally recognize the difference in their animation styles.

But it is her portrayal in an episode of 'Murdoch Mysteries' which is the official portrait for Earth Prime-Time.

TOOBWORLD

'Murdoch Mysteries' (2017 episode)
"8 Footsteps"

From the CBC program description:
A recording device made by Alexander Graham Bell assists in the investigation of a murder at a dinner honoring Helen Keller.

From the "Murdoch Mysteries" Wiki:
A recording device made by Alexander Graham Bell helps Murdoch's investigation into a murder at a dinner honouring Helen Keller.

There is a charity event at the Windsor House Hotel, where William Murdoch and Julia Ogden live. The guest of honour is Helen Keller. The guests dine in total darkness so that they can experience what it’s like being blind, but not everyone makes it through dinner.

Severn Thompson as Annie Sullivan Macy
Amanda Richer as Helen Keller

As herself, she does show up in Docu-Toobworld, thanks to documentaries and appearances in episodes of 'Biography'.

Technically all of these portrayals are considered one-shots, despite most of them being based on the same script.  But the Toobworld portrayal gets preference because both televersions interact with previously established fictional characters.  (For example, Dr. Ogden has been corresponding with Anne Sullivan prior to their meeting.)

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