Stars & Their Diseases: 50 Celebrities With Chronic Health Conditions

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sir Anthony Hopkins was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome nearly 10 years ago, as of 2023.

NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder in 2011 and has become an advocate for mental health awareness.

Marty Feldman, Rodney Dangerfield, and Maggie Smith all shared the same condition, Graves' disease, which caused their eyes to bulge.