Famous People With Disabilities

Michael J. Fox started showing symptoms during the filming of Doc Holiday.

Franklin D. Roosevelt is associated with polio. He contracted the disease in 1921 and was left paralyzed from the waist down. Despite his physical limitations, Roosevelt went on to become the 32nd President of the United States and served for four terms. He established the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which later became the March of Dimes, to fund research for polio treatment and prevention. Roosevelt's personal struggle with polio and his efforts to raise awareness and support for the disease made him a prominent figure in the fight against polio.

Beethoven lost his hearing around the age of 26. He continued to write music by the feel of the vibrations.

Ray Charles lost his sight between ages of 5-7 probably from glaucoma.

Albert Einstein had delayed speech, problems reading, school challenges and difficulty with employment.

A teacher said he "would never be able to do anything that would make any sense in this life."

Einstein did not pass the college exam the first time he took it.

Professor Stephen Hawking is a well-known example of a person with MND, and has lived for more than 40 years with the disease. Stephen Hawking: The internationally renowned Physicist, has defied time and doctor's pronouncements that he would not live 2-years beyond his 21 years of age when he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The symptoms are very similar to those of CP, Hawking cannot walk, talk, breathe easy, swallow and has difficulty in holding up his head. Hawking, 51, was told 30 years ago, when he was a not-very-remarkable college student

Magic Johnson was diagnoses with AIDS in 1991.AIDS is recognized as a disability by the Americans with Disability Act due to the fact that it's a lifelong condition which qualifies it as a disability.

On October 2, 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with nonseminomatous testicular cancer. The cancer had already spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain.

is an American actress whose TV and film credits include Dark Angel, Honey, Sin City, Fantastic Four, Into the Blue, Idle Hands and 2007's Good Luck Chuck. Alba's early life was marked by a multitude of physical maladies; she suffered collapsed lungs twice, had pneumonia 4-5 times a year, a ruptured appendix, and a cyst on her tonsils. She has also acknowledged suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder during childhood. Her health improved, however, when her family moved to California.

Sheen had started being an actor at the age of 9 alongside his father in a TV movie named ''The Execution of Private Slovik ''. His film career began in 1984 where he took part in many minor supporting roles for several films such as ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'', ''Red Dawn'' and finally his first major role in the hit movie ''Platoon''. He has also starred alongside Clint Eastwood in the action film ''The Rookie''. Outside his career Charlie Sheen has suffered from both OCD and drug abuse.

Julius was documented with a number of seizures.

is an American actress best known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB TV series Charmed, and the cult-classic The Doom Generation. She has also appeared in several major Hollywood films, with leading roles in Scream, Jawbreaker, and the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse. McGowan is currently the co-host of TCM's film-series program, The Essentials. Rose has agoraphobia and OCD

She announced her diagnosis in 1992 to combat rumors of alcoholism.

Neil Young is a Canadian songwriter, singer, pianist, guitarist and film director. Neil is involved in many different styles of music including jazz, swing, rockabilly, electronic music, and blues being known for his deep lyrics and good musician skills as a guitarist with a few other instrumental capabilities. In youth Neil Young had to survive polio, epilepsy, diabetes.

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor who garnered world wide fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic. Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed he suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The 'Titanic' star says he has to force himself not to step on every chewing gum stain when walking along and fight urges to walk through a doorway several times, because he doesn't want his condition taking over his life.

John Mellencamp, also known as John Cougar and John Cougar Mellencamp, (born October 7, 1951) is best known for being an American rock singer-songwriter. As a child in Seymour, IN, Mellencamp had suffered a number of setbacks, including being born with a neural tube defect called spina bifida that necessitated a lengthy hospitalization as a baby. As a teenager, he was rebellious, often getting in trouble with the law. He formed his first band at the age of 14, and continued to play throughout his teens

Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American pop singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Justin Timberlake came to fame as one of the lead singers of pop boy band 'N Sync. In 2002, he released his debut solo album, Justified. Timberlake's second solo release, FutureSex/LoveSounds, was released in 2006 with the U.S. number-one hit singles "SexyBack", "My Love", and "What Goes Around... Comes Around". According to an interview that Timberlake gave Timberlake said he has a "complicated" mix of OCD and attention deficit disorder. Like the British soccer star David Beckham, Timberlake states that he has to make sure that things are lined up perfect and also makes sure that the fridge is stocked only with certain foods. Although he struggles with OCD and ADD Timberlake says he still loves to perform and it doesn't stop him from living.

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940 - December 10, 2005) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. He is also regarded as the most important stand up comedian of his time. Pryor grew up in his grandmother's brothel, where his mother, Gertrude L. Thomas, practiced prostitution. His father, LeRoy "Buck" Pryor (a.k.a. Buck Carter) was a former bartender, boxer, and World War II veteran who worked as his wife's pimp. In 1991, Pryor announced that he had been suffering from multiple sclerosis since 1986. In response to giving up drugs after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he said: "God gave me this M.S. sh*t to save my life".

Walt Disney was among other things remembered for his dyslexia, and in a cover story in Time Magazine, a story to which the Walt Disney Family Museum responded:

Harriet Tubman suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate slave owner threw a heavy metal weight at her, intending to hit another slave. The injury caused disabling seizures, headaches, and powerful visionary and dream activity, and spells of hypersomnia which occurred throughout her entire life.

Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress and former fashion model. She is perhaps best known for her roles in popular blockbuster movies such as The Mask, There's Something About Mary, My Best Friend's Wedding, Charlie's Angels, Shrek, and Gangs of New York. Cameron Diaz suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and has publicly admitted she habitually rubs doorknobs so hard before opening doors to clean them that the original paint on the doorknobs fades afterwards. She says, she washes her hands "many times" each day and uses her elbows to push open doors. Diaz has perhaps modified her fears somewhat, saying on May 10, 2007, "I think I've made my peace with it."

Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is a Golden Globe Award-winning American actor, director, producer and author. He is perhaps most famous for his role as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the popular sitcom Happy Days (1974-1984). Winkler attended the McBurney School and received his bachelor's degree from Emerson College in 1967 and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama in 1970. In 1978, Emerson gave Winkler an honorary doctorate of humane letters. Winkler has also received a Doctor of Humane Letters from Austin College. Having struggled throughout his school years with unidentified dyslexia Winkler, at age 31, finally understood what he'd been grappling with all his life, when making a documentary about dyslexia, Winkler himself found that he was dyslexic

Samuel L. Jackson is an American academy award winning actor and is well known for many of his movies. He is mostly involved in serious roles where his character is both strong and intelligent. Most of his career's success began with Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction movie, from there most of his movies were instantly a hit and only a few of his performances were not well known or liked by the public. Whenever this would happened he would always regain the spotlight with more successful projects. As a boy, he was afflicted with a debilitating stutter, and Jackson initially took up acting only at the urging of his speech therapist.

Winston Churchill had a terrible journey through school. He overcame dyslexia to become one of the greatest leaders in British and World history.

Tiger Woods (born Eldrick Tiger Woods, December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Tiger Woods had stuttering problems at childhood but he got past it through hard work and practice. He admitted doing everything possible to conquer his speech disorder including talking to his dog until he would fall asleep. He did have a lot of help from his family, especially his mother. He then became one of the most successful golfers the world has ever known.

Donald McNichol Sutherland (born July 17, 1935) is a prolific Canadian actor with a film career spanning over 40 years. A sickly child, he battled rheumatic fever, hepatitis and caught polio as a child. Sutherland developed a love of reading while bedridden. He went on to become an accomplished actor, and has appeared in over 130 films

Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo (born January 28, 1936) is a five-time Emmy Award-winning, six-time Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award-nominated American actor. He is perhaps most famous for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the television series M.A.S.H. Alda contracted polio, aged 7, during an epidemic. His parents administered a painful treatment, developed by Sister Elizabeth Kenny, where hot woolen blankets were applied to the limbs and the muscles were stretched by massage. This treatment, though brutal, allowed Alda to recover much movement.