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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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Hip Hop Rap Artist Finds His Voice
An interview with Travis Kruck
Look Who's Talking*
*Bruce Willis starred in the 1989 movie Look Who's Talking as the voice of baby "Mikey."

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.
Stuttering Didn't Silence the News
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 a national correspondent with CBS News.

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

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.

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.

James Earl Jones

Actor James Earl Jones, a Broadway, television and movie star, is well-known for his voice as Darth Vader in Star Wars and his book Voices and Silences. Jones has spoken some of the most memorable lines in the history of American film, but the man known for his voice was once afflicted with a severe stutter.

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.

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.