National Stuttering Awareness Week, May 10, 2004

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (May 1, 2004) — John Stossel, James Earl Jones, Carly Simon, Mel Tillis, Alan Rabinowitz, Robert Merrill, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Ken Venturi, Bob Love, John Updike, King George VI, Frank Wolf, Lewis Carroll, Bill Walton, Annie Glenn… all famous and successful. And all stuttered.

They share something else: they didn’t let their stuttering stop them. And if you’re one of over three million Americans who stutter, don’t let it stop you.

National Stuttering Awareness Week
In May 1988, the U.S. Congress passed a Joint Resolution designating the second week of May as National Stuttering Awareness Week.

National Stuttering Awareness Week is a special nationwide commitment...

to educate people about this complex disorder
to work toward the prevention of stuttering in children
to let people know that help is available
to promote research to find the causes of stuttering

The Stuttering Foundation has been working towards these goals–since 1947! Visit us at www.stutteringhelp.orgor call toll-free 1-800-992-9392.

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Carly Simon

Carly Simon began stuttering severely when she was eight years old.

King George

In November 2010, worldwide movie audiences were presented with a most interesting and unusual movie release with The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as King George VI and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, history may have forgotten the courageous and inspiring story of Prince Albert who stuttered badly and never dreamed that he would ever be king when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abruptly abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

Jack Paar

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.

Emily Blunt

Actress Emily Blunt struggled with stuttering early in her life. A teacher encouraged her to act in a school play at age 12 despite her stuttering.

Blunt’s name is prominently featured on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter.