Famous Victims of Alzheimers Disease

An Equal Opportunity Villian

I am collecting the names of well known people diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease so feel free to email me with additional names if I missed any. I am attempting to show that anyone can develop this disease, it does not discriminate against anyone, rich, powerful, educated, illiterate, lawyer, actor, politician, anyone can develop this horrible thief of memory, of things that make life precious.

Jonathan Swift(1667-1745)
Anglo-Irish satirist and political pamphleter. Considered one of the great masters of English prose. His most famoust book is still in print, Gulliver's Travels.

Sir Rudolph Bing(1902-1997)
General Manager of the New York Metropolitan Opera for 22 years. He was once told he had the third hardest job after American presidency and mayor of NYC, to which he responded "They don't have to deal with prima donnas".

Ronald Reagan(1911-2004)
40th American president(1980-1988)and the oldest man elected to that position. Both his mother and brother Neil died from Alzheimer's Disease. He was also Governor of California 1966-1974. He started out in show business, he was in movies, radio and television. Many of his movies are on video(vhs) if not dvd. His wife Nancy and daughter Maureen have been very active in fundraising for the Alzheimer's Association in the USA.

Rita Hayworth(1918-1987)
One of the most famous and sexiest actresses of the war years in America. Her daughter, the princess Yasmin Aga Kahn holds annual fundraisers for the Alzheimer's Association.

Iris Murdoch(1919-1999)
Oxford Scholar, and English writer of many novels and essays. Her husband(John Bayly) took care of her and never asked for any help. Afterwards he wrote a book about their life before and after the diagnosis, _Elegy for Iris_, and subsequently became a film in 2002.

Howard W. Koch.(1917-2001)
He worked in the film industry for sixty years eventually becoming president of production at Paramont Pictures, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also won the prestigious Jean Hersholt award for Humanitarianism. He produced successful tv series such as Hawaiian Eye, Maverick and The Untouchables. He produced such movies as Manchurian Candidate, Robin and the Seven Hoods, Airplane, Ghost, Plaza Suite, Barefoot in the Park, Becket and Alfie. However he is prabably best known for Casablanca

Arlene Francis(1907-2000)
actress and televsision personality best known as a panelist on "What's My Line" for 25 years. In the late 1950s she was the first woman to host a network television newsmagazine as editor in chief of NBC's "Home". She also appeared on many magazine covers and on TV Guide as the "FirstWoman of Television".

Barry Goldwater(1909-1998)
former senator from Arizona,(1953-1965, 1969-1987) and one time presidential candidate, in 1964,and was the heart of the conservative wing of the Republican party.

Burgess Meredith(1908-1997)
American actor whose career spanned 7 decades. He may be best remembered either as "The Penguin", a villian on the campy tv series in the 1960s of "Batman" or as the grizzled boxing trainer in the 1976 film "Rocky". His career began on Broadway in 1933 but it really took off after his film debut in 1936. He made over 70 films and countless television appearances.

Perry Como(1912-2001)
American singer known as "Mr. Nice Guy" or "Mr. Class". In the decades before Rock n Roll, he was second only to Bing Crosby in the top of the charts. He had a successful TV show for fifteen years and his Christmas specials were also popular. He wore cardigans on his show and became known as "the man who invented casual" according to Bing Crosby. He retired in 1994.

Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803-1882)
American essayist and poet. A leader of the philosophical movement of transcendentalism. Rejected organized formal religon.

Carroll A. Campbell Jr.(1940-)
Two term Republican governer of South Carolina(1986-1998) and before that four term congressman. Very popular but not able to run for a third time because of term restrictions. Last political activity was the 2000 Presidential campaign of George W. Bush.

Cyrus R. Vance (1917-2000)
A respected International lawyer. He worked for the Kennedy, Johnson Nixon and Carter administrations. He also went on several diplomatic missions for President Clinton in Bosnia. In his political career he was secretary of the Army, deputy secretary of defense, U.S. negotiator to the Paris peace Conference on the Vietnam War, special envoy to Cyprus, and Korea. As Secretery of State for President Carter, he resigned in 1980 after the failed rescue attempt of American Hostages in Iran. He had opposed the mission. In 1983 He published his memoirs "Hard Choices".

Frederick Law Olmsted(1822-1923)
Major American landscape architect. In 1857, he was appointed superintendant of Central Park, the first great metropolitan park in the United States. He drew new plans for the park which had a pervasive influence on park design thoughout the U.S. Consequently, he designed parks around the country and was the first commissioner of Yosemite National Park in California. He was the first landscape architecht to preserve the natural features of the terrain and to add naturalistic elements when needed.

Lucius Licinius Lucullus(about 110b.c.e-56b.c.e)
Roman general under the tyrant Sulla. He was unpopular with his men because of his harsh discipline. He was recalled to Rome and replaced with Pompey in 66 b.c.e. The course of his dementia and his brother's caregiving is chronicled in _Plutarch's Lives_

Sugar Ray Robinson(1921-1989)
American boxer born Walker Smith jr. He got his boxing name from a friend named Ray Robinson and the nickname sugar from a reporter who described him as "sweet as sugar". Held world welterweight title from 1946-1951 and middleweight champion five times between 1951-1960. As recently as 1997, he has been rennamed the best of all time.

E.B. White (1899-1985)
American writer famous for his essays and children's literature. His most famous books are Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. Both are still in print.

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Composer and writer about American music. Often called the dean of American composers. Many of his pieces are considered paradigms of American music by the public. He incorporated folk and pop music into such Americanized works as his scores for the ballets: Billy The Kid(1938),Rodeo(1942), and Appalachian Spring(1943-44) which portray episodes from American regional history.

Arthur "Spud" Melin (1925-2002)
Co-founder of what became the giant toy company WHAM-0, inc. It introduced to the world to such fads as the Frisbee and the Hula-Hoop.

Benjamin O. Davis jr(1913-2002)
First Black General in the U.S. air force. He was the leader of the fabled 332nd Fighter Group, "Tuskegee Airmen" during World War 2.He and his pilots escorted bombers on 200 air combat missions over Europe flying into the teeth of some of the Nazi Luftwaffe's most tenacious defenses. It was one of the 332nd's proudest achievements that not one of the bombers it protected was lost to an enemy fighter. In 1970, after he retired , he supervised the federal sky marshall program that was designed to quell a rash of airline highjackings.

Pauline Phillips (1918-(age 84)
creator of the dear Abby Advice Column has been diagnosed with AD family members reported in Aug. 2002. Her daughter Jeanne Phillips who now writes the column also appeared on CNN's Larry King show to discuss the disease and and anounce that she will work with the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association to raise awareness and money.

Charlton Heston (1924-(age 77)
Through a videotaped statement, the actor anounced that his doctors have told him he is "suffering symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's Disease". The actor is also a political activist and was president of the (USA)NRA from 1998-2003. He intends to keep working for as long as he can in both politics and Hollywood. His best known movies are The Ten commandments, and Ben-Hur for which he won the American Oscar award for best actor. He has been in more than 60 films.

Charles Bronson(1921-2003)
American actor.Made his mark as tough guy, did a series of vigilante films(Death Wish) and in some notable ones such as Magnificinet Seven, the Great Escape, and the Dirty Dozen. He was said to have died from pneumonia but also had Alzheimer's Disease.

Jack Lord (1920-1998)
American actor. While played diferent parts in movies and series, He became a household name with the success of Hawaii Five-0, America's longest running crime series on tv From 1968 to 1980, he became famous for fighting crime and usually ending each episode with the line "book em Danno" It ran for 284 episodes in 80 countries. After the series ended he gave up acting and stayed on in Hawaii. He died of heart failure but he did have Alzheimer's Disease. Earlier in the nineties there was talk of a reunion special in which Danno would have been promoted and possibly a new series would be launched but he was too sick.

Robert Sargent Shriver(1915-)
American public official and diplomat(went by his middle name.)In 1953, he married Eunice Kennedy, future President John F. Kennedy's sister. Lawyer, naval officer. Founded and directed the Peace Corps; founded and organized Head Start; created Legal Services; Created Volunteers in Service to America; created the Job Corps; served as president and chairman of the board of the Special Olympics; U.S. ambassador to France and Democratic nominee for vice president of the USA(1972). He sent a letter to the Washington Post in June 2003 anouncing he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease.

William Proxmire(1915-)
US senator from Wisconsin(1957-1988) Gave out the golden fleece award monthly for frivolous government spending. Diagnosed when he was only 58.

Otto Preminger (1906-1986)
Actor, Producer, Director. Austrian born immigrated to the USA in 1935. Nominated at least twice for Best Director. Most famous films include Laura, Man with the Golden Arm, Exodus, Advise and Consent, Porgy and Bess, Anatomy of a Murder, Hurry Sundown.

George Balanchine (1904-1983)
Russian born American choreographer, one of the foremost choreographers in the history ballet particularly in the neoclassical style. He co founded the NYC Ballet. Under his direction it became one of the world's great performing groups. He also choreographed for George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers.

Norman Rockwell(1894-1978)
American painter and illustrator best known for his magazine covers and illustrations for such prominent American periodicals as Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal and the now defunct Look. He was born in NYC and trained at the Art Students League. His favorite subjects were everyday events that celebrated small town life and patriotic themes.

Princess Juliana of the Netherlands (1910-2004)
She reigned from 1948 to 1980 abdicating in favor of her daughter Beautrix. She said she would have preferred to be a social worker but she did spend much of her time visiting the sick, the handicapped, the aged, and needy children. She is considered responsible for pushing the govt to being socially responsible to its people.
The princess spent her final years in seclusion. She had been unable to recognize her family because of memory loss.

Harold Welch
Father of U.S. First Lady Laura Bush. After World War Two and marriage he moved to Midlands Texas, he was diagnosed at age 80 of this disease. He died in 1997. This information is from remarks at an Alzheimer's Disease Association fundraiser in Washington D.C. March 24, 2004, but some of it is also from wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia.

Daisy Tan
, mother of author Amy Tan(Joy Luck Club, Kitchen God's wife, Bonesetter's Daughter among others)(1916 or '17 and died in 1999)

Robert Graves(1895-1985)
Poet and novelist. His most famous work was I Claudius
which was also serialized on PBS.

Molly Picon(1898-1995)
New York born Yiddish icon. Entertained audiences in theater, television, radio and film for over seven decades(70 years) with song and dance routines that helped popularized the Yiddish culture into the American mainstream as well as overseas. She was a patriot, a humanitarian, and one of entertainment's most beloved citizens.

Edmond O'brien(1915-1985)
American actor best known as the frantic average Joe spending his last 24hrs trying to find out who poisoned him in the inventive film noir thriller DOA(1950)

Dana Andrews (1909-1992)
President of the USA Screen Actor's Guild (1963-'65) most famous for his role as Detective Lt Mark Mcpherson who falls in love with a murder victim thru a painting.

Dewitt Wallace(died in 1981) and and wife Lila Acheson Wallace(died in 1984)
Created the Readers Digest empire. It began in a basement in Greenwich Village, NYC and is now in Westchester County, NY worth millions.

Vincente Minnelli(1903-1986)
American film director, father of Liza Minnelli from his marriage to Juday Garland. His most famous works include "Meet Me in St Louis, Gigi, An American in Paris, The Bandwagon, and Brigadoon. He made at least 38 films in his career.

Peter Louis Pihos(1923-)
Played for Philadelphia Eagles 1947-55. Caught winning TD pass in 1949 NFL championship. All NFL six times in 9 seasons. Played in 6 pro bowls. 3 time NFL recieving champ 1953-55. Career record 373 catches for 5, 619 yards. 378 points. Inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 1970.

Sandy Saddler
Featherweight champ 1948-49, 1950-57. In the 1970's he worked as trainer with the world heavyweight champion George Foreman. In 1990, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

James Doohan(1920-2005)
Diagnosed in 2004. Recieved a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, his last public appearance. Most famous for his role as Lt. Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott Chief Engineer and miracle worker of the starship Enterprise. It ran on the NBC network for three years(1966-1969).After cancellation it became such a cult favorite that it not only spawned ten movies as of this writing and four spinoff tv series. It also continues to live on in reruns on cable and DVD.

Mervyn Leroy(1900-1987)
Direcor of over 77 movies many of them classics such as "Mr Roberts", "Gypsy", "No Time for Sargeants", "Rosemarie", "The Bad Seed" and John Wayne's "Green Berets" to name a few.

William Hanna(1910-2000)
Director of many cartoons that are classics such as the "Jetsons", the "Flintstones", "Secret Squirrel", "Josey and the Pussy Cats" and "Scooby Doo Where are You"

Maurice Ravel(1875-1937)
French composer made famous in the movie 10 for his orchestral piece The Bolero.

Margaret Rutherford(1892-1972)
British character actress who made many movies in England and abroad.

Harold Wilson(1916-1995)
Labour Prime Minister of Great Britain during the 1960s.

Beatrice Lillie(1894-1989)
Was the outstanding Canadian British actress of her time, frequently working on stages and in light revues.

W.Somerset Maughm(1874-1965)
English novelist, playwright and short story writer. One of his novels, Of Human Bondage was made into a movie 3 times in America.

Afred Deakin((1856-1919)
2nd prime minister of Australia.

Enid Blyton((1896-1968)
Prolific British writer of children's books.

Rosa Parks(1913-2005)

In 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, this woman refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man thus beginning the American civil rights movement using non violent civil disobediance.

Patty Berg(1918-)
Winner of most major championships in womens' golf history and a pioneering founder of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Anounced on Dec. 22, 2004 that she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. She was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1959, was one of two women inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame in 1978 and Inducted into the International Womens' Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. Her professional biography is on the www.lgpa.com website and other sports places as well as encyclopedias.

William J. Bell(1927-2005)
Co creater of soaps _Young and the Restless_ and _Bold and the Beautiful_. Also wrote for many soaps such as _Another World_ and its spinoff. Was a Daytime Emmy winner.

Dennis Garth(1930-2005)
A psychiatrist at Oxford University Psychiatry dept who co authored the Oxbridge Textbook of Psychiatry. Considered a leading psychiatrist of his time.

Lorna Thayer(1919-2005)
Actress in Jack Nicholson movie Five Easy Pieces. She was the waitress who refused to let his character order toast. The movie was made in 1970.

Floyd Patterson(1935-2006)
Two time heavyweight boxing champion

George Lenchner(1918-2006)
Mathematician. Founded the Math Olympiads for schoolchildren

Dr William Kelly(1923-2006)
Surgical pioneer. Performed the first successful pancreas transplant

James A. Dorsey (1899-1993) often called the Father of Gospel music

Joe Adcock(1927-1997)American first baseman, who batted right handed in the majors. Best known for his years with the powerful Milwaukee Braves'teams of the 1950s, whose career included numerous home run feats. a sure handed defensive player he also retired with the third highest career fielding percentage by a first baseman.

Tom Fears(1923-2000)American football player wide receiver for the Los Angelos Rams for nine seasons.

Louis Feraud(1921-1999)From the mid 1950s, he was dressing the Parisian elite and designed the wardrobe of Bridgette Bardot for many of her movies.

Arthur O'Connell(1908-1981)American academy award nominated stage, screen and tv actor.

Joyce Chen(1917-1994)Was a Chinese chef, restauranteur, and entreprenuer. She came to the USA in 1949. She openned her first restaurant in 1958, in 1960 she began teaching Chinese cooking. In 1962, she published an influential Chinese cookbook. In 1968 she starred in her own cooking show on PBS. In 1968, she introduced a line of Chinese cooking utensils in the USA. She wanted to make Chinese food accessible to the American public

Willem de Kooning(1904-1997)was an abstract expressionist painter born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Other painters that developed this school of painting include Marc Rothko, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell among others. De Kooning entered the USA in 1926.

Mabel Albertson(1901-1997)Actress whose greatest success and popularity occurred during the 1960s.

Betty Schwartz(1911-1999)In 1928 as a 16 yr old high school junior, she became the first woman to win olympic gold medal in track and field

Raul Cardinal Silva Henriquez, SDB(1907-1999)was a Chilean prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Santiago from 1961-1983. Was elevated to the cardinalate in 1962. Was a tireless advocate of human rights and critic of the Pinochete regime.

Terry Pratchett(1948-)British fantasy, science fiction and children's author. He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to literature in 1998. In Dec. 2007, he announced that he has the rare early onset Alzheimer's Disease.

Kay Swift(1897-1993) was an American composer of popular and classical music. She was also the first woman to score a complete musical.

Irving Shulman (1913-1995)American author and screenwriter whose works were adapted into moviesl.

Abe Burrows(1910-1985)Was an American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage

Ross McDonald(1915-1983)is the pseudonym of the American crime fiction, Kenneth Milar. he is best known for his highly acclaimed series of hard boiled novels set in Southern California, featuring private detective Lew Archer.

Mike Frankovich(1909-1992)was a film producer. He helped bring the 1984 Summer Olympics to Los Angelos, the Raiders football team as well.

Alfred Van Vogt(1912-2000)science fiction writer recognized as a Grand Master in 1996 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Harry Ritz(1907-1986)one of the famous Ritz Brothers comedy trio. They performed together mainly in films of the 30s. Their last film together was in 1943.

James Brooks(1906-1992)One of the last of the original generation of abstract expressionist painters

Marv Owen(1906-1991)American 3rd baseman in Major League Baseball. He played nine seasons in the American League. He was the leading American League 3rd baseman in putouts in 1934 and 1936.

Anna Gagliano Gordon(1908-2002)Mother of novelist and Barnard professor, Mary Gordon

Margaret Thatcher(1925-)Longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century. She was the first Englishwoman to hold that position.
She won three consecutive elections. Held the post as a Conservative from 1979-1990. On August 25, her daughter Carol Thatcher made the anouncement in London. She is publishing her memoir _Swim on Part in the Goldfish Bowl_

Links to other sites on the Web

Google
American Alzheimer's Ass'n
Online Free Encyclopedia
Internet Movie Database
New York Times
Blockbuster

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