Hide | Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter

Stuttering Foundation’s 24th Annual Media Awards Competition

For Immediate Release 
Contact: Greg Wilson 
greg@curleycompany.com
(571) 239-7474

Annie Glenn

When you hear about famous people who stutter, you often hear stories about the struggles they faced as a young child, before they outgrew or overcame their stuttering. Annie Glenn had a different story to tell. The wife of John Glenn, the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth, Annie Glenn lived a very public life with a severe stutter for more than 50 years. She passed away on May 19, 2020.

Ed Sheeran

Award-winning singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran shares about his stuttering during an AIS event June 8th in New York City.

While Sheeran may be famous now, he used to just be a bullied kid with a debilitating stutter, he shared. But one thing helped him overcome that stutter and a troubled childhood: Music.

Herschel Walker

Click here for list of Famous People Who Stutter

David Mitchell

David Mitchell is an award-winning novelist from England, known for best-selling works such as Ghostwritten, Number9Dream, Cloud Atlas, and the semi-autobiographical novel about his struggle with speaking, Black Swan Green.

Johnny Damon

Johnny Damon, a two-time all-star major league baseball player, has won two World Series championships with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Damon is well versed in talking to reporters and gave hundreds of interviews in the clubhouse after games, so it may come as a surprise to many to hear that he also struggled with stuttering.

What Do I Tell People About My Child's Stuttering?

An excerpt of Chapter 4 by Dean E. Williams, Ph.D., from the book Stuttering and Your Child: Questions and Answers

How can I talk to my child about talking?

Tiger Woods

Eldrick “Tiger” Woods is one of the most successful golfers of all time. Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at two years old. At age three, Woods shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, Calif., and at age 5, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC's That's Incredible.

Stuttering Foundation Celebrates Stuttering Awareness Week By Honoring Entrepreneurism

For Immediate Release

Contact: Greg Wilson

greg@curleycompany.com

571-239-7474

President Joe Biden

During a CNN town hall, President Joe Biden discussed stuttering. Here are some of his remarks from the event:

Pages

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

John Melendez

He is a talented musician, actor, and comedian. Listen to a podcast.

Mel Tillis

Mel Tillis, born Lonnie Melvin Tillis, was an influential figure in country music, both as a songwriter and a performer. His journey to fame was marked by overcoming personal challenges, including a stutter that he turned into a defining part of his public persona.

Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor has been on the Stuttering Foundation'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.

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.