Famous Dyslexics

When I was first dicnosed with dyslexia, at age eight, I was imediately told that I wasn’t alone. Somehow being told I was exactly like my brother, father, and crazy uncle wasn’t overly comforting. So my mom produced a list of famous dyslexic. 22 years later, I still remember how I felt that first day hearing the names on that list. I suddenly felt like I belonged. There were so many talented people in the world, who had used their ability to think in a different way than the norm to accomplish wonderful and amazing things. If Thomas Edison could invent the light bulb, Pablo Picoso could create artistic masterpieces, and Hans Christian Anderson could dream up all the stories my mom read me at bedtime, surely I could survive third grade. So here is a current list of noteworthy dyslexics. If your name also belongs on this list, feel free to do something fabulous and get yourself noticed. And remember, thinking outside the box is always a good thing, so stop trying to find your way inside.

*Please note, I pulled these names from other lists and did not do any direct research into the evidence supporting claims that all the people listed below are in fact dyslexic. Many historical figures are often attributed with many conditions that they may or may not have had, so if other lists do not confirm all the listed names, please accept my appologies.

Ansel Adams (photographer)
Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert)
Muhammad Ali (boxer)
Hans Christian Anderson (author)
Harry Anderson (actor)
David Bailey (photographer)
Ann Bancroft (arctic explorer)
Alexander Grand Bell (inventor of telephone)
Harry Belafonte (actor)
Robert Benton (screenwriter/director)
Jeanne Betancourt (author)
Orlando Bloom (actor)
Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Enterprises)
John Britten (motorcylce engineer)
Erin Brockovich (investigator)
Stephan Cannell (TV writer/novelist)
John T Chambers (CEO of Cisco Systems)
Cher (singer)
Agatha Christie (author)
Winston Churchill (British Prime Minster)
John Corrigan (author)
Tom Cruise (actor/Pope of outer space)
Pierre Curie (scientist/1903 Nobel Prize winner)
Harvey Cushing (surgeon)
Leonardo da Vinci (artist/inventor/general overachiever)
Walt Disney (filmmaker/dream creator)
Thomas Edison (inventor of light bulb)
Albert Einstein (scientist/all around smarty pants)
Richard Elliott (artist/my crazy uncle)
Fred Epstein (neurosurgeon)
Michael Faraday (scientist/electo magnatism pioneer)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (author)
Fannie Flagg (author)
Gustave Flaubert (author/playwrite)
Dave Foley (actor)
Henry Ford (car maker)
Fred Friendly (former CBS News president)
Danny Glover (actor)
Whoopi Goldberg (actor)
Duncan Goodhew (Olympic swimmer)
Terry Goodkind (author)
King Carl XVI Gustaf (Swedish King)
Susan Hampshire (actor)
Michael Heseltine (British politician)
William Hewlett (co-founder of Hewlett-Packard)
Tommy Hilfiger (clothing designer)
Anthony Hopkins (actor)
Jack Horner (paleontologist)
John Irving (author)
Andrew Jackson (7th US President)
Soren Kragh Jacobsen (filmmaker)
Thomas Jefferson (3rd US President)
Bruce Jenner (Olympic decathlon gold medalist)
Magic Johnson (basketball player)
Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson (general)
John F. Kennedy (35th US President)
Nigel Kennedy (violinist/singer)
Kiera Knightly (actor)
John Lennon (Beatle/musical diaty)
Jay Leno (actor/comedian)
Brad Little (Broadway actor/singer)
Greg Louganis (Olympic diver)
Paul MacCready (aronotical engineer/engineer of the century)
Archer Martin (scientist/1952 Nobel Laureate)
James Clerk Maxwell (scientist/equation maker)
Bob May (golfer)
Craig McCaw (founder of McCaw Cellular)
O.D. McKee (founder of McKee Foods)
David Neeleman (CEO of jetBlue Airways)
Gavin Newsom (San Francisco mayor)
Edward James Olmos (actor)
Paul J. Orfalea (founder of Kinko’s)
Diamond Dallas Page (world wrestling champion)
George Patton (general)
Pablo Picasso (artist)
Edgar Allen Poe (poet/author)
Patricia Polacco (author)
Robert Rauschenberg (artist)
Steve Redgrave (Olympic gold medalist, rowing)
Keanu Reeves (actor)
Nelson Rockefeller (US Vise President)
Auguste Rodin (sculptor)
Nolan Ryan (baseball pitcher)
Rex Ryan (coach)
Charles Schwab (investor)
Kate Scott (blogger extrodinare/soon to be famous author)
John R. Skoyles (brain researcher)
Tom Smothers (comidian/singer)
Jackie Stewart (race car driver)
Nicolai Tesla (inventor/engineer)
Billy Bob Thorton (actor/director)
Robert Toth (artist)
Ted Turner (entertainment mogul)
Jorn Utzon (architect)
Jules Verne (author)
Victor Villasenor (author)
George Washington (1st US President)
Bob Weir (Grateful Dead guitarist)
Paul Wellstone (US Senator)
Willard Wigan (sculptor)
Roger W. Wilkins (head of Pulitzer Prize Board)
Robin Williams (actor/comidian)
Woodrow Wilson (28th US President)
Henry Winkler (actor)
F.W. Woolworth (founder of Foot Locker)
W.B. Yeats (poet)
Loretta Young (actor)