Celebrity General Hospital

Updated : February 2007

Your tour guide :

Robert Dirk Stanley, M.D., M.P.H.

Board-certified Internal Medicine Physician

Welcome to Celebrity General Hospital, my little on-line experiment in learning.

As a doctor, I try very hard to educate patients and other people about health issues – I think it’s crucial for patients to really understand their disease. It just makes them better patients. They understand why they take their medications, how to react when something goes wrong, and they control their disease rather than letting the disease control them.

Unfortunately, most of the time, doctors are pressed for time, and most people just don’t like lectures about smoking and diet and such.

So, I figure that since people love to read about celebrities, and celebrities get sick (just like the rest of us), why not profile some celebrity diseases for educational purposes? My goal is to try to give you some personal attachment to these diseases, and maybe there’s something we can learn from their stories. J

But first, a few words :

This site is not looking to expose celebrity secrets - All of the information I’m using comes from public news sources, general knowledge, or other publicly-available information. Eventually, I would love to contribute personal testimonies from celebrities, so if you know a celebrity who would like to contribute their story, please feel free to email me at ds@westnet.com. My goal is to also include links to charities to help fight those diseases, so anyone willing to share their story could help raise funds for the charity to fight their disease.
I am not looking to earn any money from this, only to educate people about health issues and diseases.
I have tried to make this list as accurate as possible. If anyone is upset in any way about anything contained herein, feel free to write me (ds@westnet.com) and I will gladly correct or remove the offending sections.
Nothing contained herein constitutes medical advice in any way – This is strictly for informational purposes only. If you have a specific medical question, please contact your personal physician.
Links with more details should be appearing, slowly, so come back to visit soon!

Thank you, and enjoy the tour!

- Dirk ;)

LIST OF CELEBRITY DISEASES

NAME	Medical History
Abraham Lincoln	Marfan’s Syndrome, GSW to head, died age 59
(Dame) Agatha Christie	Epilepsy, died age 85
Alan Alda	Bowel Obstruction (unspecified), polio
Albert Einstein	Dyslexia, AAA, died age 76
Alexander Hamilton	GSW to abdomen/liver/spine, died July 12^th, 1804, at age 47 (the 0.56 caliber bullet was fired by Aaron Burr, sitting Vice-President.)
Allen Ginsberg	Hepatitis C, liver cancer, died age 70
Alphonse Gabriel Capone	Obesity, syphillis, CVA, pneumonia, MI, died age 48
André René Roussimoff (Andre the Giant)	Acromegaly, chronic pain, heart failure, died age 46
Andrea Bocelli (opera singer)	Cerebral Hemorrhage, congenital glaucoma
Andy Grove (CEO Intel)	Prostate ca s/p radiation therapy
Ann Wilson (singer from Heart)	Morbid Obesity, s/p adjustable gastric band surgery
Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan)	Obesity, "flu-like symptoms", died age 39
Ariel Glaser (daughter of Elizabeth Glaser)	HIV/AIDS, died age 7
Ariel Sharon (Prime Minister, Israel)	Morbid obesity, hyperlipidemia, PFO, paradoxical embolism, CVA, CAA (Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy), enoxaparin, hemorrhagic CVA, infarcted gut s/p resection
Art Buchwald	Diabetes, Obesity, CVA, diabetic nephropathy, PVD, chronic renal insufficiency, dialysis, refused dialysis, died of renal failure, age 81.
Arthur Ashe	HIV/AIDS
Arnold Palmer	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
Ayn Rand	Lung cancer, heart failure, died age 77
B.B. King	Diabetes, obesity
Babe Ruth	Throat cancer, died age 53
Barbara Bush	Grave’s Disease, thyrotoxicosis
Barry White	Chronic Hypertension, diabetes, renal failure, died age 59
Ben Stiller	Bipolar disorder
Benjamin Franklin	Obesity, psoriasis
Bill Bixby (“The Incredible Hulk”)	Metastatic Prostate Cancer, died age 59
Bill Blass (designer)	Oral/throat cancer, stroke
Bill Clinton	CAD, s/p CABG x4
Billie Holiday	Heroin Addiction, died age 44
Billy Joel	Alcohol abuse
Bob Denver	Throat cancer
Bob Dole	AAA, Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy, Erectile dysfunction, brachial plexus lesion
Bob Fosse	Heart disease, died age 60
Bob Marley	Metastatic acral lentiginous melanoma, died age 36
Bob Uecker	Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Bruce Paltrow (TV producer, Gwynneth’s father)	Throat cancer, pneumonia, died age 58.
Buck Owens (Country singer)	Tobacco abuse, throat cancer s/p resection, died age 76
Carl Wilson (Beach Boys)	Lung Cancer, died age 51
Carnie Wilson	Morbid Obesity, s/p gastric bypass surgery
Carrie Fisher	Bipolar disorder, polysubstance abuse, EtOH abuse
Celia Cruz	Brain cancer
Charles Bronson	Pneumonia
Cher	Dyslexia
Chris Farley	ETOH/Cocaine/Heroin abuse, CAD, morbid obesity, AMI, died age 33
Christopher Reeve	C2-C3 Spinal Fracture, quadriplegia, decubitus ulcer, sepsis, died age 52
Chuck Tanner (former Pittsburgh Pirates manger)	Prostate ca s/p radiation therapy
Clark Gable	Heart disease, died age 59
Colin Powel	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
Dan Quayle	Pulmonary Embolism/DVT
Dana Elcar (actor, MacGyver’s Peter Thornton)	Glaucoma, pneumonia, died age 77
Dana Reeve (actress, wife of Christopher Reeve)	Lung cancer (non-smoker), died age 45
Danny Glover	Epilepsy
David Bloom (NBC Anchor in Iraq)	Pulmonary Embolism, died age 39
David Crosby	Substance abuse, HepC, cirrhosis, s/p liver transplant
David Letterman	Coronary Artery Disease, s/p CABG x5
Denny Doherty (singer of Mamas and the Papas)	Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, died age 66
Desi Arnaz	Lung cancer, died age 69
Dick Cheney (Vice President)	Remote smoking history, CAD, AMI x4 (1978, 1984, 1988, 2000), s/p CABGx4 (1988), s/p PCI (11/2000), s/p balloon angioplasty (3/2001), s/p AICD, moderate LV dysfunction, bilateral popliteal artery aneurysms s/p repair, atherosclerosis
Don Knotts	Grave’s Disease, lung cancer, died age 81
DMX (Earl Simmons), rapper	Bipolar disorder
Dudley Moore	Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, died age 66
Duke Ellington	Lung ca
Dusty Hill (bass player from ZZ-top)	HepC
Easy-E (rapper)	HIV/AIDS
Eddie Albert	Pneumonia, died age 99
Eddie Van Halen	Alcoholism, Mouth/Tongue cancer
Edie Falco	Breast ca
Elvis Presley	Twin transfusion, cocaine/polysubstance abuse, died age 42
Elizabeth Glaser	HIV/AIDS, died age 47
Elliot Yamin (“American Idol”)	Juvenile Type I Diabetes
Elton John	Polysubstance abuse, depression, obesity
Errol Flynn	Heart disease, died age 50
Evel Knievel	Multiple traumatic fractures, Hepatitis C
Farrah Fawcett	Colorectal cancer (not otherwise specified)
F.D. Roosevelt	Malignant Hypertension, CHF, CVA, died age 63
Fran Drescher	Uterine cancer
Frank Gorshin (Batman’s “The Riddler”)	COPD, lung cancer, pneumonia, died age 72
Frank Zappa	Metastatic prostate ca, died age 52
Franz Liszt	Pneumonia, died age 74
Fred Astaire	Pneumonia
Fred Gwynne	Pancreatic Cancer, died age 66
Fred Rogers	Stomach Cancer, died age 74
Freddy Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara)	HIV/AIDS, died age 45
Fyodor Dostoyevsky	Epilepsy
Gail Devers (Skater)	Hypothyroidism
Gary Coleman	Renal Dwarfism
Gary Cooper	Lung cancer, died age 60
George Burns (Nathan Birnbaum)	Pre-syncopal event, fall, died age 100
George Clooney	Bell's Palsy
George Frederick Handel	Epilepsy
George Smathers (Senator "Gorgeous George Smathers")	CVA, died age 93
George Washington	URI, ?strep throat, laryngitis, pneumonia, died age 67
Gerald Ford	CVA x2, pneumonia, pacemaker placement, CAD s/p PCI, died age 93.
Gilda Radner	Ovarian Cancer, died age 42
Glenn Hughes (biker from the “Village People”)	Lung cancer, died age 50
Gracie Allen (Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen)	Heart disease, MI, died age 69
Halle Berry	DM, unilateral hearing loss secondary to trauma
Harrison Ford	Facial laceration, unspecified back surgery (after falling off elephant during making of "Temple of Doom"), unspecified shoulder surgery for "torn tendons"
Harry Belafonte	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
Herve Jean-Pierre Villechaize	Thyroid disorder, dwarfism, EtOH abuse, depression, suicide, died age 50
Howard Hughes	Syphillis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, polysubstance abuse, died age 70
Humphrey Bogart	Throat cancer, died age 57
Ian Anderson	DVT
Ingrid Bergman	Breast cancer
Isaac Azimov	CAD s/p CABG complicated by HIV infection, AIDS, heart/renal failure
J. Robert Oppenheimer (Manhattan Project)	Heavy tobacco abuse, COPD, died age 62
Jack Benny	Arthritis (unspecified), pancreatic cancer
Jack Kevorkian	Hepatitis C
Jackie Gleason	Obesity, Heart disease, died age 71
James Doohan (“Scotty”)	Diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer’s Disease, pneumonia, died age 85
James Earl Jones	Stuttering
James Earl Ray (MLK assassin)	Stab wound, s/p transfusion, HepC, hepatic failure, died age 70
Jane Pauley	Bipolar disorder
Janet Reno	Parkinson’s Disease
Jason "Wee Man" Acuna (MTV's Jackass)	Dwarfism, unspecified
Jean-Claude Van Damme	Bipolar disorder, cocaine abuse
Jeff Beck (guitarist)	Tinnitus
Jerry Garcia	Drug addiction, obesity, heart disease, died age 53
Jerry Lewis	Pulmonary Fibrosis / COPD
Jerry Orbach	Prostate Cancer x10y, died age 69
Jill Eikenberry	Breast Cancer
Jim Backus (Gilligan’s Thurston Howell, Mr. Magoo)	Parkinson’s disease, pneumonia, died age 76
Jim Henson	Group A Streptococcal Pneumonia, died age 53
Jim Morrison	Substance abuse, heart failure, died age 27
Jim Nabors	Hepatitis C, s/p liver transplant
Jimmy Dorsey	Lung cancer, died age 53
Joe Torre	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
John Adams	Pneumonia, died age 90 (second oldest president after Ronald Reagan)
John Candy	Obesity, strong family history of CAD, died age 44
John Cougar Mellencamp	Anterior Wall Myocardial Infarction
John Douglas	DVT
John Forsythe	Colon ca
John Gotti	Head and Neck Cancer, died age 62
John Kerry	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
John Melendez	Stuttering
John Ritter	Aortic Aneurysm, died age 54
John Stossel	Stuttering
Johnathan Davis (Lead singer of Korn)	ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura)
Johnnie Cochran	Brain cancer
Johnny Carson	COPD, died age 79
Joseph Merrick	Neurofibromatosis / Proteus Syndrome / Unknown disorder, airway compromise, died age 28
Joseph Calleja (Joe C – Kid Rock's sidekick)	Celiac disease, renal failure, died age 26
Judy Garland	Anorexia nervosa, depression, polysubstance abuse, barbiturate overdose (Seconal), died age 47
Julia Child	Breast ca
Julie Andrews	Vocal fold nodules (Laryngeal papillomata)
June Allyson	Bronchitis, respiratory failure
Karen Carpenter	Anorexia nervosa, cardiac arrest, died age 32
Karen Duffy (actress)	Endometriosis, sarcoidosis
Kevin Covais (“American Idol”)	Juvenile Type I Diabetes
Kirk Douglas	CVA (Stroke)
Kurt Cobain	Bipolar Disorder / Depression, suicidal attempt, heroin/EtOH/polysubstance abuse, GSW to head, died age 27
Lance Armstrong	Testicular Cancer
Larry Hagman	Hepatitis C, Cirrhosis, s/p Liver transplant
Larry Linville (Frank Burns MASH)	Lung Cancer, died age 60
Laura Branigan (singer, “Gloria”)	Cerebral Aneurysm, died age 47
Layne Staley (lead singer “Alice in Chains”)	Polysubstance abuse, Cocaine/Heroin overdose, died age 34
Linda Ellerbee	Breast cancer
Linda Hamilton	Bipolar disorder
Linda Lovelace	HepC, cirrhosis, liver transplant, motor vehicle accident, died age 53
Linus Pauling (two-time Nobel Prize winner)	Metastatic Prostate Ca, died age 93
Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez	Head trauma, died age 30
Lou Gherig	ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or "Lou Gherig’s Disease"), died age 36
Louis Prima	Brain tumor, coma, died age 68
Lucille Ball	Heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ruptured aortic aneurysm, died age 77
Ludwig von Beethoven	Deafness, (?Lead poisoning?), (?Epilepsy?), (?Syphillis?), died age 56
Madeline Kahn	Ovarian Cancer, died age 57
Magic Johnson	HIV
Mandy Moore	Depression
Margeaux Hemingway	Epilepsy
Margot Kidder (Superman)	Bipolar disorder
Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Baker)	Drug overdose (sleeping pills), ?suicide, died age 36
Marion Barry (former Washington DC Mayor)	Cocaine abuse, HTN, DM, Prostate ca
Mark Gastineau	Psoriasis
Marty Feldman	Hyperthyroidism, tobacco abuse, CAD, MI, died age 49
Mary Kate Olsen	Anorexia nervosa
Mary Tyler Moore	Juvenile Diabetes
Matthew Perry	Substance abuse, pancreatitis
Maureen Stapleton	COPD, died age 80
Maurice Gibb	Small Bowel Obstruction complicated by torsion and cardiac arrest, died age 53
Mel Torme	Obesity, CVA, died age 73
Melanie Blatt (singer, "All Saints")	Scoliosis
Melissa Etheridge	Breast Cancer
Michael J. Fox	Parkinson’s Disease
Michael Jackson	Vitiligo
Michael Landon	Pancreatic cancer, died age 54
Michael Moore	Obesity
Mickey Mantle	EtOH abuse, knee surgery, HepC, cirrhosis, liver failure, s/p transplant, metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma, died age 63
Mickey Rooney	Obesity, Diabetes
Mikhail Gorbachev	Obesity, port-wine stain (naevus flammeus)
Milton Berle	Metastatic Colon Cancer, died age 93
Montel Williams	Multiple Sclerosis
Morton Downey, Jr. (Father of trash-TV talk show hosts)	Tobacco abuse, COPD, lung cancer, died age 67
Muhammed Ali-Haj (Cassius Clay)	Parkinson’s Disease
Nancy Reagan	Breast Cancer
Naomi Judd	Hepatitis C s/p (interferon therapy?)
Nat King Cole	Lung ca
Ned Beatty	Bipolar disorder
Neil Young	CVA/Stroke
Nell Carter	Obesity, DMII, CVA, died age 54
Nelson Mandela	Prostate ca s/p radiation therapy
Nicole DeHuff (Ben Stiller’s girlfriend's sister in “Meet the Parents”)	Chronic asthma, bronchitis, staph pneumonia, died age 31
Noel Gallagher	Dyslexia
Norman Schwarzkopf	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
Olivia Newton-John	Breast cancer
Orlando Bloom	Dyslexia
Pamela Anderson	Hepatitis C
Pat Boone	Prostate Cancer
Patti LaBelle	IDDM
Paula Abdul	Arthritis, RSD
Peter Jennings	Tobacco Abuse, lung cancer, died age 47
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky	(?Epilepsy?), (cholera?), died age 53
Phil Lesch (Grateful Dead)	HepC, cirrhosis, s/p liver transplant
Phil Spector	Bipolar disorder
Ray Charles	Trachoma/Glaucoma, Heroin abuse, Hepatitis C, died age 74
Richard Branson (Virgin records)	Dyslexia
Richard Burton	Epilepsy, died age 58
Richard S. Mueller III (FBI Director)	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
Richard Riordan (former L.A. mayor)	Prostate ca s/p radiation therapy
Rep. Robert Matsui, D-California	MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome)
Robert DeNiro	Prostate cancer
Robert Downey, Jr.	Polysubstance abuse
Robert Guillaume	Cerebrovascular Accident (Stroke)
Robert Goulet	Prostate ca s/p radical prostatectomy
Rock Hudson	HIV/AIDS, died age 59
Rodney Dangerfield (Jacob Cohen)	Obesity, cannabis abuse, TIA, valvular heart disease, coma, died age 83
Ron Carey (Ronald Joseph Cicenia) (Officer Carl Levitt on "Barney Miller")	CVA, died age 71
Ronald Reagan	GSW to chest, Alzheimer's Disease, died age 93
Rudy Guiliani	Prostate ca s/p radiation therapy
Sally Field	Osteopenia/Osteoporosis
Sammy Davis Jr.	Throat cancer, died age 64
Sandra Dee	Throat cancer, renal failure
Sarah Vaughan	Lung cancer, died age 66
Scott Hamilton	Testicular cancer, Brain Tumor (benign)
Seal Samuel (Singer “Seal”)	Discoid Lupus
Sharon Stone	Cerebral Aneurysm
Shannon Hoon (lead singer “Blind Melon”)	Alcoholism, Polysubstance abuse, cocaine overdose, died age 28
Shayne Corson	Ulcerative Colitis
Sheryl Crow	Breast Cancer
Shirley Temple Black	Breast Cancer
Slobodan Milosevic	Obesity, heart disease, HTN, AMI, died age 64 (?drug error?) (?poisoning?)
Stephen Hawking	ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease)
Steve Buscemi	Stab wound to eye/throat/jaw/arm
Steve McQueen	Mesothelioma, MI, died age 50
Steve Ross (former Chairman Time-Warner)	Metastatic Prostate ca, died age 66
Steven Tyler (lead singer of Aerosmith)	Remote polysubstance abuse, Hepatitis C, s/p treatment with Interferon/Ribavirin x6mo, successfully treated
Spalding Gray	Bipolar disorder, suicide, died age 62
Susanne Somers	Breast Cancer
Tara Lipinski	Torn knee cartilage s/p repair, complicated by DVT
Telly Savalas (“Kojak”)	Metastatic Prostate cancer, died age 70
Teri Garr	Multiple Sclerosis
Thomas Edison	?Dyslexia
Thomas Jefferson	Migraine headaches, died age 83 (on July 4^th, 1826, 50^th anniversary of signing of Declaration of Independence, only hours before John Adams’ death)
Timothy Leary (LSD advocate)	Metastatic Prostate ca, died age 76
Tionne “T-boz” Watkins	Sickle Cell Anemia
Tito Puente	Myocardial Infarction, died age 77
Tom Cruise	Dyslexia
Truman Capote	Epilepsy, substance abuse, died age 59
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (scare master)	Parkinson’s, COPD, Lung cancer, died age 82
Vincent Schiavelli (“Ghost”, “Better off Dead”, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”)	Marfan’s Syndrome, lung cancer, died age 57
Walt Disney	Lung cancer, died age 65
Whoopi Goldberg	Dyslexia
Wilford Brimley	Obesity, Diabetes
Woody Guthrie	Huntington’s Chorea, died age 55
Yul Brynner	Lung cancer, died age 65

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