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An Almost Famous Singer

While the SFA’s Web site list of Famous People Who Stutter includes many high-profile names, we like to think that every person who stutters is unique in their own right.

One person who stutters who unfortunately never became famous was Rory Storm.

An Interview with Actor Eric Roberts

Q: At what age do you remember first being aware that you spoke differently?
A: I can’t remember not being aware. In school, when we used to go around the table, each reading a paragraph, I’d count ahead and try to memorize my paragraph.

Blues Legends Have Many Things in Common

B.B. King

B.B. King and John Lee Hooker have much in common. Born in Mississippi only a few years apart, both are considered among the best blues guitarists of all-time. Both King and Hooker have been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, what the public may not know is that they have another thing in common: stuttering.

BTO's Song is Unique

Editor’s Note: The author is a person who stutters. For many years he has been a collector of “stuttering” songs – the good and the bad!

I Kid You Not! Paar is an Inspiration to Others

While Jack Paar is among the most prominent of the entertainers on the Stuttering Foundation’s list of Famous People Who Stutter, he deserves special recognition as he was among the first to openly address his stuttering in public. As host of “The Tonight Show” from 1957-1962, he spoke of his difficulties as a stuttering child and teenager, giving hope to young people.

Eric and Julia Roberts Share Many Things: Including Stuttering

Eric and Julia Roberts are a brother-and-sister act that is unique in the world of acting. They are only the third brother-and-sister act to be both nominated for Oscars for acting. Eric was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his 1985 role in Runaway Train. His sister Julia won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Erin Brockovich in 2001, after receiving previous nominations in 1989 and 1990, for Steel Magnolias and Pretty Woman, respectively. Only two other brother/sister combos have done the same thing.

Singer Withers Overcame Stuttering

While Bill Withers has long been on the SFA list of “Famous People Who Stutter,” many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away March 30, 2020.

The April/May 2006 issue of the magazine Waxpoetics sheds some light on the brilliant career of the famed singer and songwriter.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.

Former Hockey Player Inspires On and Off the Ice

Dave Taylor has been on the SFA’s list of “Famous People Who Stutter” for many years, but probably few people know all of the unique accomplishments of this former hockey great who was born on December 4, 1955, in Levack, Ontario.

Movie Star Talks about Stuttering

In the final week of March 2009, the public at large may have been surprised to learn that actress Emily Blunt struggled with stuttering early in her life when an article from the newswire circulated around the world about how the actress is grateful to her teacher for encouraging her to act in a school play at age twelve despite her stuttering. Also, Blunt’s March 25 appearance on the Ellen show in which she spent the first six minutes of the interview discussing her childhood stuttering received some coverage as well.

Oprah, Forbes Feature Stuttering Foundation

The Stuttering Foundation's Memphis office was flooded with calls after the April 9th issue of Forbes featured a full-page public service ad on page 103. ThenOprah Magazine ran a full-page PSA on page 99 in the May issue to trumpet National Stuttering Awareness Week. Ads also ran in AARP, Seventeen, andRedbook

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.

Byron Pitts

Byron Pitts has brought much attention to stuttering with his memoir, Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges, released in September, 2009. The book not only details his speech difficulties, but also his illiteracy until age 12 and his unstable family life. Pitts overcame the odds to become the chief national correspondent with ABC News.

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.

Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.