1Tom Cruise: Dyslexic Actor
Tom Cruise was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 6, and he graduated from high school as a functional illiterate. He relied on his sister for help with schoolwork. He appeared in movies like "Taps" and "Risky Business" before learning to read in 1986, when he became a Scientologist, coinciding with the release of "Top Gun."
2. Comedian Mike Birbiglia has been diagnosed as a sleepwalker, and he once jumped through a second-story window while dreaming that a missile was about to hit his hotel. To restrain himself, Birbiglia sleeps in a sleeping bag and wears mittens at night.
3. Billionaire Richard Branson struggled with dyslexia and was a poor academic student who only attended school until he was 16. On his last day, his headmaster told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire.
4. Actor and former WWE superstar Dave Bautista used to hide inhalers under wrestling rings to cope with his asthma during matches.
5. Lady Gaga suffers from fibromyalgia, which causes widespread muscle pain along with fatigue and issues with sleep and memory.
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6Danny DeVito: Fairbank's Disease
Danny DeVito's height is the result of Fairbank's Disease, a rare genetic disorder that affects bone growth.
7. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, suffers from a debilitating condition called cluster headaches and also has a form of "developmental coordination disorder." On bad days, he struggles with tasks as simple as tying his own shoelaces.
8. Jake Lloyd, the actor who portrayed young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was admitted to a psychiatric facility in April 2016.
9. Muhammad Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease three years after his retirement from boxing. He lived with the disease for another 32 years before passing away from complications of Parkinson's at the age of 74.
10. When director James Gunn cast David Dastmalchian as supervillain Polka-Dot Man for "The Suicide Squad," he had no idea that the actor had vitiligo. Dastmalchian polka dots are a result of this skin condition, and as a child, other people teased him with names like "polka dots" and "Dalmatian."
11Mark Zuckerberg: Colorblind CEO
The color of Facebook's logo is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind.
12. Michael Jackson did not bleach his skin white. He had a rare skin condition called vitiligo that altered the pigment of his skin. He likely used an FDA-approved medication for the disease to even out the rest of his skin.
13. Morgan Freeman suffers from fibromyalgia, which causes pain and tenderness throughout the body, along with fatigue and sleep disturbances.
14. Late comedian Patrice O'Neal, who openly admitted to a sexual kink for urolagnia, received a revelation from his girlfriend that his urine tasted like "birthday cake." This prompted him to get tested, which eventually led to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
15. Dave Mustaine, the singer/guitarist of Megadeth, had to retrain his left hand to play the guitar in 2002. He was diagnosed with radial neuropathy after falling asleep with his arm draped over the back of a chair, which left him unable to make a fist.
16Seal: Scarring from Lupus
The prominent scarring on Seal's face is the result of a type of lupus called discoid lupus erythematosus, which primarily affects the skin and results in large scars.
17. In 1977, Bob Marley was diagnosed with melanoma under a toenail. Despite his doctors' advice to amputate the toe, he refused due to his religious beliefs. The cancer later spread, and he succumbed to metastatic melanoma four years later, at the age of 36.
18. Martin Scorsese had asthma as a child. Instead of participating in sports, his older brother often took him to movie theaters, and that's how his passion for film developed.
19. Sarah Hyland, known for her role in Modern Family, was diagnosed with kidney dysplasia when she was young. She received two kidney transplants, one from her father and one from her brother, and has undergone 16 surgeries, even during the shooting of Modern Family.
20. Usain Bolt suffered from scoliosis when he was younger and has an asymmetrical stride when he runs due to his slightly different leg lengths. Researchers are uncertain if this lack of symmetry is a personal mechanical optimization by Bolt that contributes to his status as the fastest human or not.
21Ilene Woods: Alzheimer's Comfort
Before her death in 2010, Cinderella voice actress Ilene Woods, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and often couldn't recognize her surroundings, found comfort in the song "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes." Nurses played it for her as often as possible.
22. Celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Leonardo DiCaprio, Katy Perry, and Megan Fox suffer from a form of OCD called trichotillomania. People with this condition compulsively pull their hair from various parts of their body (eyelashes, eyebrows, scalp hairs, etc.) and struggle to stop this behavior.
23. Tina Turner was diagnosed with kidney failure after choosing homeopathic remedies over high blood pressure medication, a decision she now regrets. She considered assisted suicide until her current husband donated a kidney to save her life.
24. Michael J. Fox's first role was in a Canadian series called "Leo and Me." Remarkably, four out of the 125 people on the show's set, including Fox, developed early-onset Parkinson's disease, a condition that usually has an incidence rate of about one in 300.
25. Sir Anthony Hopkins was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome nearly 10 years ago, as of 2023.
