Famous Names You’d Never Guess Overcame a Stutter

Out of all the speech impediments in the world, stuttering may be the most common.

The symptom of stuttering can be described as broken speech or repeating the first consonant of a word before completing the rest of the word.

In other words, when you try to speak words, a person will stumble on certain letters, and sound them out repetitively before they can finish the word.

It is estimated that over 70 million people throughout the globe have some level of stuttering in their speech. This averages to one out of 100 people in the world who have a stutter.

Therefore, it should be no surprise that many famous celebrities had a stutter at some point in their lives. They were fortunate enough to overcome their stutter before they became famous. Otherwise, it probably would have held them back from the same level of success.

Marilyn Monroe

The beautiful blonde sex symbol and icon of the 1950s and 1960s was an unforgettable actress, who starred in many classic films. But no one would ever guess that she had a stuttering problem as a child during the 1930s and 1940s.

Monroe overcame her stuttering for the most part, but it would occasionally happen during interviews when she became nervous.

She learned to control her voice and soften her tone to avoid anxious or fast-paced talking. For the most part, Munroe let her beauty do the talking!

James Earl Jones

Everyone knows James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader from the popular Star Wars franchise. He also provides a voiceover for CNN.

However, it is well known that Jones has been battling a speech impediment his whole life.

Though there were plenty of times as a young man that Jones might have doubted his ability to perform and find success in the entertainment industry, Jones persisted in the belief that he could keep his voice under control through relaxation and plenty of vocal exercises.

His discipline and determination have paid off and have given us one of the most recognisable and iconic voices in film history.

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson is known for popular films like Pulp Fiction and Die Hardwith a Vengeance.

Stuttering was something he struggled with throughout his early life, and he even had to see a speech therapist because of it.

The speech therapist encouraged him to become an actor, as a way of forcing himself to work on his speech impediment. That turned out to be a very wise decision for more reasons than one.

Jackson admits that his often coarse language was one of the ways he warded off the irritating stutter. And that line we are all so familiar with when it comes to anything, "jackson-esque", "Mother-F#!&", has emerged in his vocabulary and has become synonymous with the actor's brand.

Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time, known for such films as the Die Hard series, The Sixth Sense, and Sin City.

Before he became a famous actor, he suffered from a stuttering problem throughout his childhood.

When Willis went to Montclair State University, he took speech-therapy classes which helped him control the stutter. As a result, he was able to become a successful actor.

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was a two-time British Prime Minister. His first term was between 1940 and 1945, while his second term was between 1951 and 1955. He was also a Nobel Prize winner for his historical literary writings.

But it was obvious that Winston was battling a stutter, even while running Great Britain.

When reporters interviewed him during World War II, they noticed he had trouble with the “S” in words.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden, former Vice President of the United States, had a stuttering problem as a child and was regularly bullied because of it.

At 12 years old, Biden wrote a letter to himself telling him that he had to do something about the stuttering because the “bullies are vicious.”

It wasn’t until he was in his 20s that he finally overcame his stutter, by reciting poetry for hours every day in front of the mirror.

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was known as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. He was one of the most popular music icons of the 20th century. Before then, he struggled with a stutter throughout his childhood.

When Presley was five years old, a doctor told his mother that he should start singing as a way to improve his speech.

So, his mother entered him into a local singing contest. Although he still had a stuttering problem throughout high school, Presley kept on singing and soon became a legend.