Brain Attacks and Prominent People

Famous leaders and celebrities who have experienced strokes:


Darin McGavin- Actor v

David Merrick - Broadway producer v

Empress Michiko - Empress of Japan

Thelonius Monk - Jazz musician v

Bill Monroe - Father of bluegrass music v

Patricia Neal - Actress

Pat Nixon - Former First Lady v

Richard Nixon - Former U.S. President

Minnie Pearl - Country music performer v

Oscar Peterson - Jazz pianist

Martha Raye - Actress/singer v

Ben Vereen - Entertainer

Deng Xiao Ping - Chinese political leader v

Della Reese - Actress/singer

J.R. Richard - Major league baseball player

Hugh Rodham - Father of First Lady Hilary Rodham Clinton v

Ginger Rogers - Dancer/actress v

• Franklin D. Roosevelt - Former U.S. President v

• Robert Shaw - Conductor, Atlanta Symphony v

• Josef Stalin - Russian leader v

• Willie Stargell - Baseball legend v

• Robert Lewis Stevenson - Author v
During the evening, while conversing with his wife and straining to open a bottle of wine, he suddenly fell to the ground, asking "What's the matter with me? What is this strangeness? Has my face changed?" He died within a few hours, probably of a cerebral hemorrhage, at the age of 44.


• Potter Stewart - Former Supreme Court Justice v

• Bill Tavoulareas - Former Mobil Oil President v

• Mel Torme - Singer v

• Jackie Mayer Townsend - Miss America 1963

• Fred Waring - Pennsylvanians' conductor v

• Ted Williams - Major league baseball player v

• Woodrow Wilson - Former U.S. President


• Mary Kay Ash - Cosmetics entrepreneur v

• Les Aspin - Former U.S. Defense Secretary v

• Laverne Baker - Rock & roll singer v

• Anne Baxter - Actress v

• Barbara Bel Geddes - Actress

• Joseph Biden - U.S. Senator

• Ray Bradbury - Author

• Justice William Brennan - Supreme Court Justice v

• Art Buchwald - Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist

• Harry Caray - Sports commentator v

• Margaret Chase Smith - Politician v

• Winston Churchill - Former Prime Minister of England v

• Adolphus “Doc” Cheatham - Jazz trumpeter v

• Claudette Colbert - Actress v

• Joseph Cotten - Actor v

• Paul Coverdell - Former U.S. Senator v

• Cassandra Danson - Ex-wife of actor Ted Danson

• Bette Davis - Actress v

• Agnes de Mille - Actress/choreographer v

• Charles Dickens - Novelist v

• Kirk Douglas - Actor

• Dwight Eisenhower - Former U.S. President

• Dale Evans - Cowgirl performer v

• Federico Fellini - Italian film director v

• Gerald Ford --Former U.S. President

• William Fulbright - Former U.S. Senator

• Alan Funk - TV Producer/Host v

• Ava Gardner - Actress v

• Pauline Gore - Vice President Al Gore's Mother

• Glenn Gould - Classical pianist v

• Cary Grant - Actor v

• Robert Guillaume – Actor

• Ernest Hamilton - Father of Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton v

• Lionel Hampton - Vibrophonist

• Warren G. Harding - Former U.S. President v

• Pamela Harriman - U.S. Ambassador to France v

• Hugh Heffner - Magazine Publisher

• Rick James – Singer

• Thomas Jefferson - Former U.S. President v

• Lady Bird Johnson (Claudia Taylor) -Former First Lady

• Marv Johnson - Motown singer v

• Grandpa Jones (Louis Marshall) -Actor v

• Quincy Jones - Record producer

• Raul Julia - Actor v

• Ken Kelsey - Author

• Ruby Keeler - Actress v

• Gene Kelly - Actor/dancer v

• Rose Kennedy - Kennedy family matriarch v

• Ed Koch -Former Mayor of New York City

• Burt Lancaster - Actor v

• Burton Lane - Composer v

• Jonathan Larson - Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright v

• William Leonard - Former CBS