Mel Tillis

Country music star Mel Tillis entertained audiences around the world.

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.

Darren Sproles

Darren Sproles, now a running back for The Philadelphia Eagles, made history with the San Diego Chargers in 2007 when he became the first player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt for his first two NFL touchdowns in the same game.

After that game, Sproles was approached more often for interviews, which exacerbated his stuttering. “I had to talk to the media a lot, and once they put a camera in my face that's when it got bad," Sproles said. 'I just had to work on it. I couldn't really stress about it, because that's just me."

Lewis Carroll

The recent Disney version of Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland, garnered a great deal of media hype. Even though the mainstream media has not made mention that Carroll was a person who stuttered, his family history gives credence to the discovery of the genetic link to stuttering. Carroll was born to parents who were first cousins; almost all of their eleven children, three girls and seven boys, struggled with stuttering past childhood.

Mel Tillis

Country music star Mel Tillis entertained audiences around the world.

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.