Famous Persons with Autism
Actors
Tom Hanks: Award winning actor and star of Forest Gump.
Daryl Hannah: Star of the blockbuster movie Splash
Dan Aykroyd: Former SNL star, and star of blockbuster films like The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters.
Film Makers
Steven Spielberg: His filmwork very often is descriptive of the point of view of an Autistic person, not even to mention a film about his childhood imaginary friend (E.T.).
Tim Burton: Autism is the only explenation for all his movies.
Musicians
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Child prodigy and musician, whose music is still on top after hundreds of years, and will be for centuries to come. The Freddie Mercury of his time.
Ladyhawke: Indie singer, whose music touches on Autistic themes.
Michael Jackson: His childlike behaviour and OCD as well as eccentric lifestyle is clear signs of Autism.
Syd Barrett: Founding member of the Ultra-cool band; Pink Floyd. "Shine On You, Crazy Diamond", was dedicated to him.
Artists
Vincent Van Gogh:
Stephen Wiltshire:
Authors
Benjine Gerber: South African author and researcher in the field of Autism.
Douglas Adams: TV writer for such shows as Doctor Who and author of the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of five books.
Rudy Simone: Author of the book Aspergirls and Founding Member of Aspergirls Autism Awareness Group. Rudy is also a Comedienne and Musician.
Terry Pratchett: Author of a series of humourous fantasy books.
William Shakespeare: The Autistic person who bullies Jocks at school with his literature.
Viginia Woolf:
Hans Christian Anderson:
Isaac Asimov: Science Fiction author, best known for his Foundation series, who inspired scores of other writers and the ultimate inspiration for Star Trek and Star Wars.
Scientists
Albert Einstein: Theoretical Physicist who developed the Theory of Relativity, one of the pillars of modern physics. Einstein also worked on the Super-secret Manhattan Project and helped develop the Atom Bomb. In the words of Rita in the movie Idiocracy: "You think Einstein walked around thinking everyone was a bunch of dumb-shits? Now you know why he built that bomb."
Johannes Kepler:
Isaac Newton:
Henry Cavendish: The Wizard of Clapham.
Computer Programmers, Developers and Hackers
Satoshi Tajiri: Developer of the Pokemon Game Franchise that made him super rich.
Bill Gates: Developer of the DOS and Windows Operating Systems. Founder of Microsoft.
Larry Wall:
Judy Estrin:
Steve Jobs: Founder of Apple. Considered a God by parents of Autistic children for developing the iPad.
Steve Wozniak: The other Steve of computers (and Apple). Nicknamed the "Wizard of Woz". A pioneer in the computer revolution and co-founder of Apple. This is what we do in our parents garages when the jocks are out partying.
Adrian Lamo: Hacker and Journalist who blew the whistle on Chelsey Manning.
Alan Turing: He developed the first computer and cracked the Nazi Enigma code (those poor Nazi bastards didn't see this coming. They chose to euthenize their Autistics). Computers was then known as Turing Machines. The movie, "The Imitation Game" is about him.
Philosophers
Politicians and Activists
Julian Assange: Founder of Wikileaks, Computer Hacker and Freedom of Speech Advocate. The movie "The Fifth Estate" is about him.
Chelsey Manning: (Formerly known as Bradley Manning) Diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome by military psychiatrists during his trial. Chelsey became known for leaking US Government cables to Wikileaks and was sentenced for espionage.
Fiona O'Leary: Irish Autism Activist and mother of Autistic children.
Fashion and Modelling
Alexis Wineman: Former Miss Montana. In the words of Alexix; "Autism doesn't define me".
Other
Kim Peek: On whom the movie Rain Man is based. Peek had a rare form of Autism known as Savant Autism. He memorized all books he had read, including telephone books and at one time corrected an actor during the performance of a Shakespeare play.
Rosemary Kennedy: The daughter of the late Joseph P. Kennedy, US Ambassador and politician, father of John F. Kennedy. Rosemary was lobotomized on the insistance of her father to save the family from scandal that could have blocked his sons John, Robert and Teddy's rise to power. Rosemary was the first child of Joseph Kennedy to have died of natural causes.
Celebrities with Autistic Children
Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks is also Autistic.
Richard Burton, deceased actor – oftentimes talked about his daughter by his first wife,
William Christopher, Father Mulcahy of the TV show M*A*S*H – speaks about his son, Ned,
Myron Cope, Pittsburgh sportscaster – talks about his son,
Joe Mantegna, actor – is a father of daughter with autism, Mark McEwen, TV weatherman on CBS Morning News – speaks about his brother, Sean,
Tracy Rowlett, Dallas anchorperson – has an autistic son,
Jonathan Shestak, movie producer – talks about his son, Dov,
Sylvester Stallone, movie actor – speaks about his son, Seargeoh. He hopes that before he dies his son will recognize him as his father.
David Tomlinson, actor who starred in Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the Love Bug – had an autistic son whose diagnosis and education is mentioned in some detail in Mr. Tomlinson’s autobiography, Luckier Than Most,
Will Clark, Baseball player – speaks about his son,
Tom Henke, Toronto baseball pitcher – talks about his son,
Doug Flutie, football player – speaks about his son, Doug Jr.,
Merton Hanks, football player – about his daughter, Milan,
Scott Mellanby, hockey player – about his son,
BJ Surhoff, Baltimore baseball player (1996) – about his son, Mason,
Dan Marino, football player – about his son, Wynton and Brandford Marsalis, jazz/classical musicians – talks about their brother,
Beverly Sills, opera singer – about her son, Bucky,
Phoebe Snow, singer – is a mother of daughter with autism,
Toni Braxton, singer – has a son recently diagnosed with autism,
Paul Collins, writer – about his son, Audrey Flack, sculptor and photographer – mother of an adult with autism,
Stephen J. Gould, scientist and writer – about his son, Jesse,
Gary Cole’s daughter is Autistic,
Aidan Quinn’s daughter is Autistic,
Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas son, Dylan-
Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson’s daughter, Nikki, 40,diagnosed with ASD, took her own life.
Ernie Els, Professional Golfer, whose son is Autistic. Ernie made huge contributions to Autism related causes in the USA and his native South Africa. He founded the Els Foundation who runs several schools for Autistic children in the US and South Africa.
Dali Tambo, journalist, tv personality and son of late Nobel Laureate, and ANC President Oliver Tambo. Dali, whose child is autistic, served on the NEC of Autism South Africa.
Donald Trump son with Melania Trump, Barron, is speculated to be Autistic.