As Well as 12 Lesser-Known Thespians!

Introduction

In February of 2023, the family of actor Bruce Willis revealed that he has a form of cognitive impairment called “frontotemporal dementia.” While not the same condition as Alzheimer’s Disease, proper, the sad announcement provoked a flurry of increased traffic to the Alzheimer’s Association’s website. In other words, the disclosures started a renewed conversation about aging – and its attendant illnesses.

For me, this is not simply an academic matter. My dad, Jim, died from Alzheimer’s Disease in 2016 after a decade-long struggle with that dreaded condition. 

Going through the experiences of trying to care for him and, later, getting him situated in – and visiting – a nursing home, I often felt that we were alone. Of course, and unfortunately, that is far from the case.

But, frequently, it’s not exactly public knowledge that a person has Alzheimer’s (or some other form of dementia).

One reason is the (pretty straightforward) consideration that families of all sorts usually wish to maintain their privacy in such matters.

Another is that Alzheimer’s is an insidious ailment whose presence may not be obvious until it is fairly advanced.

Finally, we don’t all have celebrity status! But, for those who – enviably or not – have achieved some measure of fame, it may be a different matter.

So, in this video, I will run through some of the “stars” of the stage or screen who are known to have had the misfortune of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis – and the ensuing cognitive decline and debilitation.

Caveats

I do not mean for this to be lurid or sensational. On the contrary, one chief purpose is to remind viewers that dementia is no respecter of persons, as it were. As far as we know, and notwithstanding various hypothesized predispositions and risk factors, Alzheimer’s Disease can strike almost anyone. So, for those who are dealing with this terrible affliction, let this serve as a tragic reminder that you’re not alone.

A further purpose is more practical. I’m trying to get back into the swing of making videos for this channel! And, yes, I have plenty more practical content planned. So…stay tuned!

The Top Ten

10. Joanne Woodward

At 93 as of this writing, Joanne Woodward is the only entrant on this list to be alive at time of recording. 

Getting her start in television in the early 1950s, she broke into a major movie rôle in the 1956 crime drama A Kiss Before Dying, with Robert Wagner.

Indisputably, her breakout performance came the following year in the psychological drama The Three Faces of Eve, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1958.

She would be nominated for further recognition for the 1968 drama Rachel Rachel, directed by her longtime collaborator and late husband, Paul Newman. 

Her critical acclaim extended into the 1970s, where she performed in Gilbert Cate’s 1973 Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams.

As the decade progressed, she transitioned back into t.v., where – among other accolades – she won an Emmy Award for the 1978 production See How She Runs.

Sadly, in an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times in 2022, we read: “Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007, Woodward has retreated from public life.”

9. Robert Loggia

Born Salvatore Loggia on January 3, 1930, he studied journalism in college. But the man who would become known as Robert Loggia rose to fame primarily playing “tough-guy” rôles. For example, he played the lead in Walt Disney Presents 1958 television series “The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca.” 

Loggia’s face seemed ever-present especially during the 1980s, where he made notable appearances in several widely distributed films, including 1982’s An Officer and a Gentleman with Richard Gere.

The following year, he starred alongside Anthony Perkins in Universal Picture’s sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking 1960 horror film, Psycho.

But frequently, Loggia was cast to play mobster-type characters. For example, he was a Miami-based cocaine smuggler and “drug lord” in Brian de Palma’s 1983 Scarface, which also featured Al Pacino. 

Or, again, he was cast as sleazebag smut producer “Mr. Eddy” (also called “Dick Laurent”) in David Lynch’s 1997 abstract, psychological thriller, Lost Highway.

Occasionally, these secondary parts garnered him critical acclaim. For instance, Loggia was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of private investigator Sam Ransom in the 1985 crime mystery, Jagged Edge.

And he won a Saturn Award in 1990 for his rôle as a toy-company owner in the 1988 “dramedy” Big, starring Tom Hanks.

Robert Loggia was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2010. He passed away from its complications on December 4, 2015, at the age of 85, at his home in Brentwood, Los Angeles. 

8. Burgess Meredith

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1907 (November 16), Oliver Burgess Meredith began his acting career in the 1930s on Broadway.

His early cinematic work includes, with Lon Chaney Jr., a 1939 adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and, …

…with Robert Mitchum, a starring rôle in 1945’s The Story of G. I. Joe.

Meredith was lauded for his acting in John Schlesinger’s 1975 historical satire, The Day of the Locust. 

He was also well known to popular audiences for his work on television. During the 1960s, Meredith made a handful of appearances on Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, …

…and, as the villain the “Penguin,” on Batman, alongside Adam West and Burt Ward.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Meredith was a fixture in Sylvester Stalone’s blockbuster Rocky franchise, where he portrayed the gravelly voiced trainer, Mickey Goldmill.

After over fifty years of memorably quirky performances, in 1997, Meredith passed away. CNN reported his death, noting that Meredith “had been suffering from melanoma and Alzheimer’s disease”. He was 89.

7. Eddie Albert

The man who would attain celebrity under the name “Eddie Albert” was born Edward Albert Heimberger in Illinois in 1906.

He was successful both on television and on the “big screen.” Though, for a while, it seemed that his career would end prematurely. At one time, and (incidentally) similarly to Burgess Meredith, Albert’s name was associated with Hollywood’s so-called “blacklist.” 

This was primarily because of his wife Margo’s suspected left-leaning political sympathies and her alleged acquaintance with members of the Communist Party. 

However, Albert’s stellar record during World War Two, helped salvage his career. He was regarded as a hero because, as a naval steersman, he rescued 47 marines that were pinned down with gunfire.

Albert subsequently appeared in William Wyler’s 1953 comedy, Roman Holiday, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

For six seasons, between 1965 and 1971, he starred with Eva Gabor in the once-popular “sitcom” Green Acres. Albert played the character Oliver Wendell Douglas, a lawyer who gave up his practice to become a farmer. 

He was again nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the 1972 comedy The Heartbreak Kid, which is now ranked #91 in the American Film Institute’s list of 100 all-time funniest movies.

During the 1980s, he was also featured on the prime-time CBS series Falcon Crest, a soap opera revolving around a prestigious vintner played by Jane Wyman.

When he died at home near California’s Pacific Palisades, it came out that Eddie Albert had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease around 1995. 

Though, according to his son, he had continued to be active right up to his death. The official cause of death was said to be pneumonia. Albert was 99 years old.

6. Charles Bronson

Born Charles Dennis Buchinsky in Pennsylvania in 1921, he forged himself into “Charles Bronson,” a personality that – in many ways – exuded gritty toughness onscreen and off.

The name change, by the way, was suggested by his talent agent. The supplied reason will sound familiar by now. Specifically, “Buchinsky” was thought to be a little too Eastern-European-sounding for a nation currently conducting House Un-American Activities Committee proceedings trying to ferret out Communist infiltrators. Bronson appears to have come through the period unscathed. 

Among the most successful action movies to his credit are the titular rôle in so-called “B-Movie King” Roger Corman’s 1958 Machine Gun Kelly,

John Sturges’s 1960 production, The Magnificent Seven, …

…and the same director’s 1963 film, The Great Escape, …both of which starred Steve McQueen.

…Robert Aldrich’s 1967 war picture, The Dirty Dozen, … 

…and Sergio Leone’s 1968 “spaghetti western,” Once Upon a Time in the West, …

But, Bronson’s most recognizable character was as “Paul Kersey,” a once mild-mannered professional who turns to vigilantism when his wife is slain after a home burglary.

The original franchise – known as the Death Wish series – consisted of some five installments over twenty years.

It was remade in 2018 by Eli Roth, with Bronson’s rôle played by Bruce Willis, whom we mentioned in our introduction. This has added poignancy given that both actors have been associated with dementia.

In Bronson’s case, news outlets revealed in 2001 that he was “battling Alzheimer’s.”

Charles Bronson died August 30, 2003 at the age of 81.

Sidelight

Although I may devote a dedicated video to the topic, I’d like to acknowledge that numerous individuals have suffered from other forms of dementia besides Alzheimer’s Disease.

Of course, we have already registered this point in reference to Bruce Willis, who is said to suffer from Frontotemporal Dementia. But, there are a number of others who could be mentioned here as well. I’ll simply list three.

The first was actor George Sanders. A highlight of his career was winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1951 for his performance in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 drama, All About Eve. 

Sanders’ apparent suicide in 1972 was – perhaps – at least partially attributable to his dementia (which was, as far as I can tell, of an unspecified sort).

Or, again, we have actress Estelle Gettleman. Born Estelle Scher, she is better known by her stage name Estelle Getty. She had sporadic, odd rôles early in her life. But her main claim to fame came as the character Sophia Petrillo on NBC’s hit comedy series The Golden Girls, which ran from 1985 to 1992.

Getty died in 2008 from complications arising from Lewy-Body Dementia.

Finally, I’ll quickly mention comedy icon Robin Williams. Known for his wacky and improvisational style, his film and television credits are too numerous to relate exhaustively. But standouts include Aladdin (1992), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993).

Williams also “starred” in many noteworthy dramas – albeit, frequently with a touch of Williams’ characteristic humor – including Dead Poets Society (1989), Fisher King (1991), Good Will Hunting (1997), and What Dreams May Come (1998).

But, a darker side emerged in such movies as The Secret Agent (1997), based on Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel, and Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia (2002).

Like Estelle Getty, Robin Williams may have had Lewy-Body Dementia – although, this fact was not disclosed until autopsy results were made public after Williams’ death.

And, of course – tragically – like George Sanders, Robin Williams was said to have taken his own life.

5. Peter Falk

Peter Michael Falk was born September 16, 1927 in New York City. His identifying squint was caused by the artificial eye he was forced to use after his natural eye had to be removed because of cancer when he was three years old.

Falk got his start in theater, but transitioned into the world of motion pictures. Among his credits are a disturbingly gritty portrayal of a mob-connected killer in the 1960 gangster film Murder Inc., …

…and Frank Capra’s 1961 comedy, A Pocketful of Miracles.

Much later, Falk appeared as both “grandpa” and narrator in Rob Reiner’s lighthearted 1987 The Princess Bride.

Still, there is little question but that Falk was most famous for his television work as the perceptive but self-effacing detective Columbo – which rôle he reprised over several broadcast seasons.

Following two successful “pilots” in 1968, the show ran from 1971 to 1978 and then continued from 1989 to the early 2000s. Falk is still instantly visually recognizable as Lieutenant Columbo. And he played the part with a humorous edge, as illustrated by his trademark line – “Just one more thing, …” – always delivered before the final mystery “reveal.”

In December of 2008, news outlets reported that the actor had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. 

At a “conservatorship” hearing the following year, a physician testified that Falk had “slipped rapidly into dementia since a series of dental operations in late 2007” – at least, according to a summary from the Huffington Post. 

The article then went on to raise obliquely the possibility – underdetermined by the evidence at hand – that the Alzheimer’s had been brought on, or “worsened,” by the anesthesia.

In any event, he died at 83 on June 23, 2011. 

A gossip page asserted that Peter Falk’s “official cause of death was cardiorespiratory arrest, while pneumonia and Alzheimer’s Disease were both ‘underlying causes’ …”. 

4. Gene Wilder

Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 11, 1933, the boy who would eventually be known as “Gene Wilder” had humble beginnings. His father and maternal grandparents were Russian-Jewish immigrants.

Beginning his movie career in 1967 with Bonnie and Clyde, which featured Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in the titular roles, he moved onto a long-time and lucrative partnership with comedy director Mel Brooks.

Wilder performed in numerous films, including, in 1967, The Producers, as well as Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, both in 1974. 

He married Saturday Night Live actress Gilda Radna. When she died at 42 from ovarian cancer, Wilder promoted cancer awareness.

But his most memorable rôle – not least through its generation of at least once persistent “meme” [Note: This remark will be elucidated via an onscreen image. – M.B.] –…

… might be as a quirky chocolatier in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Gene Wilder died at the age of 83 in his home in Connecticut on August 29, 2016. 

The cause, not publicly disclosed until after his death, was Alzheimer’s Disease. 

Posthumous statements from relatives stated that he had been diagnosed in 2013, but that the star chose to keep the news from fans so as not to distress anyone.

Poignantly, in one press report, Wilder’s nephew was quoted as saying that his uncle “…simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.”

3. Charlton Heston

“Charlton Heston” was the well-known stage name of the man born John Charles Carter. 

As a movie star, he was especially recognizable for his portrayal of major religious figures in several prominent productions during the 1950s. For example, Heston was cast as the Biblical Moses in iconic director Cecil B. DeMille’s final – and most successful – films, The Ten Commandments, released in 1956. The part earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Four years later, Heston won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in William Wyler’s 1959 Christian-themed epic, Ben-Hur.

He is also remembered for several striking works of dystopian fiction, including the influential 1968 sci-fi movie Planet of the Apes, …

…and the 1973 horror “cult classic” Soylent Green.

Perhaps his most controversial rôles, however, were in the political sphere. Initially, his activism was in the service of left-leaning causes advanced by the Democratic Party. For instance, Heston spoke in favor of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s.

During the 1980s, he changed his allegiances and became a Republican. In this capacity, Heston served as a spokesman for, and president of (1998–2003), the gun-rights-advocacy group known as the National Rifle Association, for whom he popularized the slogan “I’ll give you my gun – when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.”

On August 9, 2002, it was widely reported that Heston had been diagnosed with “a neurological disorder whose symptoms are consistent with Alzheimer’s disease.”

Heston vowed that he was “neither giving up nor giving in”.

Roughly a year later, in what would prove to be his final public appearance, he was given the “Medal of Freedom” in 2003 by then-U.S. President, George W. Bush.

Despite this, his decline was rapid.

By 2005, Heston was apparently bed-ridden much of the time.

Ultimately, he passed away April 5, 2008 at the age of 84. The immediate cause was subsequently given as complications due to pneumonia.

2. Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansio on October 17, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York. 

In the 1940s, along with Betty Grable, Veronica Lake, Carole Landis, Marie McDonald, Jane Russell, and others, Hayworth became a popular “pin-up girl” for many U.S. soldiers. 

Given this, it’s not a surprise that she was cast alongside Gene Kelly in the popular wartime musical Cover Girl (1944).

Hayworth got her “start” on the silver screen appearing in B-movies, such as the 1937 mystery, The Shadow.

But her first major dramatic role – and possibly her most enduring – was as the lead femme-fatale character in the 1946 movie Gilda. 

Other of her numerous film credits include: Only Angels Have Wings (1939), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), and Pal Joey (1957).

The American Film Institute ranks her 19th in their list of the top fifty actresses of all time.

Among her many love interests and husbands were the famed director Orson Welles and the Ismaili Prince Aly Khan.

Tragically, Rita Hayworth was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 1980. In her case, this is now relayed as a case of so-called “Early-Onset” Alzheimer’s.

This comports with the comments of Hayworth’s daughter Yasmin Aga Khan, who once asserted that her mother had had dementia-like symptoms for “two decades” prior – which, doing the simple math, would have been around 1960, when the actress was in her 40s.

Some researchers now suspect that some forms of Alzheimer’s may be precipitated by various chronic nutritional and vitamin deficiencies. For Hayworth, these may have been bound up with – or at least exacerbated by – habitual alcohol abuse.

She lived with the illness for about seven years after diagnosis, succumbing May 14, 1987 at her home in New York. 

Reportedly, she had been in a semi-comatose state since February.  

Hayworth’s renown called wide attention to the disease that had been largely ignored or unknown before her diagnosis and death.

Runners Up

Other actors who suffered – or died – from Alzheimer’s Disease include: Raymond Bailey, remembered as Mr. Drysdale, from the popular Beverly Hillbillies t.v. series; 1930s actor Thomas Beck; David Birney, remembered for the 1970s sitcom “Bridget Loves Bernie,” and his relationship with actress Meredith Baxter-Birney; James Doohan, best-known as “Scotty” from the Star Trek franchise; English actress Jill Gascoine, known for the police-themed television show The Gentle Touch; British actor Tony Haygarth; actor Leonard Jackson; lesser-known actor John Kellogg; Jack Lord, best known for his part in the long-running television series Hawaii Five-O; William Marshall, star of the first horror movie (Blacula, 1972) to feature an African-American actor; Simon Scott, known for his rôle in the series Trapper John, M.D.; and film and television actress Stella Stevens.

1. Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois on February 6, 1911. With fifty-three films to his credit, he had modest success on the silver screen.

He was featured in such movies as the 1940 western Santa Fe Trail, with Errol Flynn, …

…and Sam Woods’ 1942 King’s Row – both of which are acknowledged for his respectable acting.

“Ronnie’s” most memorable performance, which earned him the alternate nickname “the Gipper,” was portraying ill-fated college footballer George Gipp in the 1940 biographical film, Knute Rockne, All American.

For the most part, however, Reagan is remembered as a B-movie actor who occasionally veered over into goofball territory, such as with the 1951 comedy Bedtime for Bonzo, where he plays a psychology professor trying to raise and teach a chimpanzee.

Fairly obviously, he is now far more important for his political involvement, which culminated (in 1980) with his election as the 40th president of the United States, than for anything he did while in Hollywood.

That said, it is noteworthy that Reagan transitioned into this phase of his life via two main channels. One was his activity with the Screen Actors Guild, for which he twice served as president.

In fact, when he testified before Congress’s House Un-American Activities Committee, Reagan denounced certain members of the Guild as “Communists.” According to Time Magazine, reporting in 1985, Regean also functioned “…as a secret FBI informant…”.

As the Chicago Tribune stated: “…he and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, gave the FBI the names of actors who they believed were members of a clique with a pro-Communist line.”

Of course, we previously encountered several actors – including Eddie Albert – who were on the receiving end of such accusations. Mention of Wyman is therefore especially interesting, since you’ll recall that Albert and Wyman worked together on Falcon Crest. 

Reagan’s political ambitions were also evident – and probably advanced – in his capacity as spokesman for the multinational behemoth General Electric.

Through his shrewd networking, he became the 33rd governor of California in 1966 (a position he occupied between the powerful family duo of Pat and Jerry Brown). Reagan moved into the White House a few years after his gubernatorial term ended.

During his presidency, Reagan – whether justifiably or not – was credited with reversing the inflation and unemployment (or “stagflation”) that took hold during the 1970s. His laissez faire policies, characterized by reduction of taxes, were collectively called “Reaganomics.”

His ideas – or, at least, those attributed to him – were also termed “trickle-down” theory. The idea was that stimulating large corporations would boost the economy for everyone.

Reagan also increased defense spending and signed an historic treaty with then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The agreement provided that the two large “superpowers” – the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (or, U.S.S.R.) – would begin to scale back their collections of nuclear weapons.

Reagan’s tenure as president has been cited as priming the U.S.S.R.’s collapse, which unfolded roughly between 1989 and 1992.

In 1994, Ronald Reagan released a dramatic statement beginning with the words: “My Fellow Americans, I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Over the next decade, the former “Great Communicator’s” cognitive and physical abilities faded until, June 5, 2004, he succumbed to pneumonia – a common Alzheimer’s-related complication – in his Bel Air home in California. 

As a coda, we note that Ronald Reagan had done much during his time as U.S. president to raise public awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease. For example, in 1982, he issued Proclamation 4996, creating a “National Alzheimer’s Disease Week.”

Then, in 1985, Reagan expanded on this with Proclamation 5405, making November “National Alzheimer’s Disease Month” – a commemoration that has continued to the present day.

I have an old video on this topic. 

Looking Ahead

Statistical reports suggest that, at present, there are over six million Alzheimer’s sufferers in the United States alone.

According to Alzheimer’s Association projections, that figure is expected to double by the year 2050. Of course, if the number of Alzheimer’s patients increases in the general population, we would expect the same to occur in subgroups. In other words, the number of actors with Alzheimer’s will be going up as well. We’re already seeing indications of this.

Prominent, here, is the Australian-born actor Christopher “Chris” Hemsworth, best known for portraying the Norse demigod Thor in numerous Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero movies.

Recently the press reported that Hemsworth underwent genetic testing as part of a “docudrama” on various aspects of the aging process.

Ultimately, Hemsworth revealed that he possesses two copies of the so-called “Alzheimer’s gene” – one from each side of his family.

Known as the APOE4 gene, it is present in around “in four people. …[B]ut only 2 to 3% of the population have [two copies]…”.

For some context, see the presentation that I did concerning my own test results.

Once again, stay tuned for additional material – both practical and theoretical – that is more central to the channel’s overall theme, which is Alzheimer’s Proofing both your home and your lifestyle.

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Thank you for watching!