Categories: Diseases & Conditions

Celebrities Who Have Been Diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis

I was diagnosis in 2006 with multiple sclerosis at the University Hospital in Denver, CO. I have since been on numerous types of multiple sclerosis medications including Tysabri, Rebif, and Copaxone. The injection that I currently receive is Tysabri. I was taken off for a brief period of time and placed on Copaxone. I have since returned to taking a monthly injection of Tysabri, which I think works best for me.

There are approximately 350,000-400,000 people in the United States that have multiple sclerosis. There are some seriously inspiring people that have multiple sclerosis though. There are also a number of famous people that have multiple sclerosis, and these are the ones that a lot of us like me look up to.

Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor hid the fact that he had multiple sclerosis for 5 years. It was in 1991 that Pryor came out to the public that he had actually been fighting multiple sclerosis. As was Pryor’s nature he cracked a joke about his multiple sclerosis by saying ” god gave me this M.S. stuff to save his life .” Richard Pryor is one of the most influential stars to have multiple sclerosis.

Pryor was not only a comical genius, but was also able to incorporate his multiple sclerosis into his comedy. This gave people a little bit of education about multiple sclerosis, while giving out a lot of laughs. Pryor not only pushed the envelope in his comedy, but also in teaching people about multiple sclerosis.

Montel Williams

Montel Williams is the most influential star in my life in regards to my multiple sclerosis. I can honestly say that he not only educated me in regards to multiple sclerosis, but touched my heart with his battle. Montel allowed America to witness firsthand what the fight with multiple sclerosis was actually like. Montel frequently talked about his fight with multiple sclerosis with guest stars like Sylvia Brown on his talk show.

I was always a fan of Montel’s but grew to be an even bigger fan after I was diagnosis in 2006 with multiple sclerosis. I was unable to return to my job after I was diagnosis so I used to faithfully watch the Montel Williams show. I remember seeing Montel when he came to Colorado Springs, but was unable to meet him. Montel was not able to stay as long as he had wanted to and talk to the crowd, because his multiple sclerosis was hitting him extremely hard.

Annette Funicello

Annette Funicello was diagnosis with multiple sclerosis in 1987 one year after the late Richard Pryor was. Annette is one of the most famous people with multiple sclerosis. Annette started her rise to fame as one of the Mouseketeer’s. Annette was a mouseketeer though back when Walt Disney was still alive.

I was not alive when Annette was in her hay day as an actress, but I do remember seeing her make special guest appearances on television shows like Full House. Annette will always be remembered by those that grew up watching her though as the original beach girl. Annette was playing in beach movies, before the television show Bay Watch was ever popularized.

These are three of the biggest stars in Hollywood that had multiple sclerosis. These stars gave way to people being educated about it through the power of television and comedy. Without people like Richard Pryor, Montel Williams, and Annette Funicello who knows where multiple sclerosis research would be today.

These celebrities being there to teach and inspire people multiple sclerosis research would not have been able to continually get the money that it needs in order to progress to the point it has today.