Every person in the film that portrayed a deaf person is deaf in real life.
Composer Michael Kamen was so inspired by the story told in this film that he started a non-profit organization dedicated to providing musical instruments to underprivileged students, callled the Nordoff-Robbins trust.
Julian Lennon, the son of The Beatles John Lennon, whose music is featured prominently in the film, sings the film's main theme, "Cole's Song" on the soundtrack.
When Cole is sitting on the speaker while playing records, he and his father have an exchange in sign language. Cole signed "show me more," and Mr. Holland signs back "I would love to show you more."
Though not mentioned by name, the job offer Cole writes of in his letter home near the end would have been Gallaudet University, which is the world's only university with all programs and services specifically designed for deaf/hard of hearing students. It was founded in 1864 by an Act of Congress, signed into law in 1864 by President Abraham Lincoln, and is the only college whose diplomas have the signature of the U.S. President, not the university's president.
Forest Whitaker: As the elder Bobby Tidd in 1995. Whitaker's younger brother, Damon Whitaker, played the younger Bobby Tidd, a student in Mr. Holland's Music Appreciation class in the early 1970s.