1. Frida Kahlo
According to some sources, Frida suffered polio during her childhood and also had spina bifida, which caused dysmetria in her right leg. In addition, her spinal problems were aggravated by an accident she suffered in her adolescence, which left her with physical issues for her entire life.
Frida spent much of her life in bed suffering from severe pain. Even so, she became one of the most famous artists and an icon of the twentieth century.
2. John Nash
Another example of a celebrity with a disability who broke the mould is John Nash, an American mathematician whose life, marked by acute paranoid schizophrenia, is known to us thanks to the film “A Beautiful Mind” Aware of his illness, Nash fought against it and developed a successful academic career that earned him the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994.
3. Stephen Hawking
A theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, cosmologist, and eminent scientist, Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 21: he was given 2 more years to live. He lived until he was 76 years old.
He had been paralysed from head to toe for over thirty years and used a voice synthesiser to be able to communicate, and a wheelchair that he operated through slight movements of the head and eyes.
None of this prevented him from developing his activity as an exemplary researcher and professor, and his intense personal life allowed him to make his illness known to the world.
Becoming one of the most recognisable celebrities of our time, his story was taken to the cinema in the film “The Theory of Everything“.
4. Nick Vujicic
Nick Vujicic is another world-famous celebrity with a disability, and the founder of Life Without Limbs – an organisation for people with physical disabilities.
Vujicic was born in 1982 with no limbs. He claims that as a child he suffered ridicule and discrimination, and tried to commit suicide but, with time, learned to see his own potential.
He is currently giving motivational talks around the world, has written several books and is a regular on talk shows and TV programs. He became famous when starring in the touching short film “The Butterfly Circus“.