Post Polio Syndrome Resources
Famous People that had Polio
Albright,
Tenley E. - Born July 18, 1935, Doctor and Olympic Gold Medal
Figure Skater.
In her early teens, Tenley Albright had two ambitions: To become a surgeon, like
her father, and to win a gold medal in figure skating. She achieved both in a
remarkably short time.
Tenley was 11 when she got Polio. "I don't remember fear about being
sick. The fear I had was staying in the hospital overnight. I couldn't imagine
anything worse. But no one told me how serious it was. In fact, they took the
sign "polio" off my door..." Tenley followed in her
father's footsteps and became a surgeon in Boston, MA.
She is a member of: US Figure Skating Hall of Fame, President's Council
on Physical Fitness, American College of Sport's Medicine, American Cancer
Society, Executive Committee of the US Olympic Committee
Alda, Alan -
Actor: Played Hawkeye Pierce on MASH
"Suffered from bad case of Polio as a young child." Alan
continues to stay busy and is now adding hosting a TV special series, "
Scientific American Frontiers" on your local PBS station to his
accomplishments.
Baker, Omega - Writer
Omega is a woman of the 90s who just happened to get polio in the 50s. She is a
published writer and dedicated web head.
Bradlee, Ben - Former Editor for the Washington Post
Clarke,
Arthur C. - Author
Sir Arthur has lived in Colombo, Sri Lanka since 1956 and has been doing
underwater exploration along that coast and the
Great Barrier Reef. He is now completely wheelchaired due to a post polio
syndrome (except when playing table tennis) but
can stand for a few seconds.
Coleman,
Georgia - Olympic Diver - Jan. 23, 1912 - Sept. 14,
1940. Coleman contracted polio in 1937.
Coppola, Francis Ford (uncle of Nicolas Cage) - Director - Its career owes Coppola strange-proves to a polio illness, which bound it one year long to the bed.
Cullen, Bill -
Game show host:
"He was partially crippled by childhood polio."
Enders,
John - Boston Globe
Read an obituary editorial paying homage to this coinventor of the polio
vaccine.
Farrow, Mia - Actress and mother to at least 13 children, one of which had polio. In Mia's memoir, "What Falls Away" she talks about her life before she got Polio at age 9, as well as after her Polio experience.
Guyton, Arthur -
Jackson, MS, was stricken with Polio while he was a young surgical
resident in Boston, shortly after WW II. The Polio left him partially
paralyzed, forcing him to abandon his dreams of becoming a heart surgeon. He
went on to develop an international reputation for his work involving heart
diseases, writing one of the world's best selling medical texts as well as
dozens of other books. He and his wife, Ruth, raised 10 children and all of them
became doctors! (ABC News, 20/20, November 28, 1997)
Hooper, Edward - SAWAAL Review
Take a look at this modest overview of Hooper's book, "The River,"
that outlines the spread of HIV from a polio vaccine.
Lange, Dorothea - Photographer: Dr. Henry Holland, polio survivor, writes about Dorothea, "At age seven, she fell ill to acute polio. The residual polio damage involved a withered right lower leg and a noticeable limp. Lange viewed her handicap as a determination factor in her life. She stated that her handicap shaped her very personality and was one from which she could never escape. In later years her limp might have been an asset in helping to disarm people on first encounters with her camera. She felt that her limp might have helped strangers be more accepting of her when she was photographing in the field."
Mitchell,
Joni - Salon, 4/4/00
Frank Houston reveals how a childhood bout with polio led to her ingenious style
of guitar playing. Find out why some fans call her "Siquomb."
Mitchell, Joni, polio age 9,
singer:
At the age of 9, along with many other children at that time, Joni contracted
polio. As she convalesced, she says she truly developed an artistic sensitivity;
"A great sorrow hath humanized me." Thanks mostly to her mother's
loving attention, she recovered from the often fatal disease, and returned to
her life in Saskatoon.
Noether,
Max - Suffered an attack of polio when he was 14 years old and it left
him with a handicap for the rest of his life.
Max Noether was one of the leaders of nineteenth century algebraic geometry. He
was influenced by Abel, Riemann, Cayley
and Cremona. Following Cremona, Max Noether studied the invariant properties of
an algebraic variety under the action of
birational transformations.
Orbison, Roy -
Memphis Guide
Learn about this singer's professional and personal struggles and successes,
including his childhood polio. Find photos.
Orbison, Roy - Singer
Perlman,
Itzhak,- Violinist (first on TV as a child on the Ed Sullivan Show)
"The Israeli-born Perlman, who walks with crutches and plays and conducts
while seated because of a childhood bout with polio, has performed with
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra more than 30 times since 1964. He made his debut
on the podium last year." But Itzhak adds... "I am tired of being a
human interest story, a brave handicapped musician. I am a musician for whom
life is not easy.
Peterson,
Ray - Singer
Singer Ray Peterson enjoyed a handful of pop hits during the early 1960s, among
them the Phil Spector-produced "Corrina Corrina" and the car-crash
melodrama "Tell Laura I Love Her." Born April 23, 1939 in Denton, TX,
he spent much of his childhood recovering from polio, and during an extended
stay in a nearby treatment facility he began performing for his fellow patients.
As Peterson's health returned he began singing professionally in local clubs,
eventually relocating to Los Angeles;
there he was discovered by manager Stan Shulman, signing to RCA in 1958. The
owner of a four-octave voice, Peterson's early material ran the gamut from teen
ballads like "Let's Try Romance" to covers including Little Willie
John's "Fever," all to little success; he finally scored a hit in 1959
with "The Wonder of You," which reached the Top 30 in both the U.S.
and the U.K.
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 32nd US President
Roosevelt, Franklin D. -
Resource Guide
Biography of the 32nd President covers his early life, polio and later roles
during the Depression and WWII. Includes audiofiles.
Rudolph, Wilma - Sports
Illustrated for Women
Recounts the life and career of this American Olympic champion who conquered
polio before achieving track success.
From
LookSmart World - ... - Female Track Athletes - Rudolph, Wilma
Rudolph,
Wilma - Gale Group Women's History
Olympian attained gold medals for the United States after overcoming
polio. Learn about her track and field exploits in 1960 Rome.
Rudolph,
Wilma - Athlete (olympic gold medalist):
"She was born prematurely on June 23, 1940 in St. Bethlehem, Tenn. She
weighed 4 1/2 pounds. The bulk of her childhood was spent in bed. She suffered
from double pneumonia, scarlet fever and later she contacted polio. After
losing the use of her left leg, she was fitted with metal leg braces when she
was 6..."
Then in Rome in 1960, she became the first American woman to win three gold
medals in one olympics.
Shore, Dinah -
Singer:
Her real name was Frances "fanny" Rose Shore and she was born in
Winchester, Tenn. Stricken with Polio at eighteen months, she recovered after
receiving the Sister Kenny treatment. She became a cheerleader at Hume Frog High
School in Nashville, Tennessee and later went on to graduate from Vanderbilt
University in 1938 where she majored in Sociology. Shore took voice and acting
lessons on the side and she sang on radio station WSM in Nashville. In 1938 she
left Tennessee for New York City and began singing on radio station WNCW in New
York. Her first recordings were with bandleader Xavier Cugat and later
changed her named to Dinah after successes with her song "dinah" of
the same name. She has received
numerous Emmy Awards for television specials and productions and has appeared in
many films. She was married to western film actor George Montgomery and they
issued one son and one daughter.
Templeton, Christopher - Actress: An experienced and
versatile actress who played a series lead for 11 years on "The Young and
the Restless" and who had guest starred on shows such as "Frasier"
and "Civil Wars." She is also starring in the movie,
"Ready, Willing, and Able" as an FBI agent disabled in the line of
duty, and trying to regain her career in a wheelchair. It is directed by Jenni
Gold, another very capable and feisty disabled woman. "Templeton, whose
disability was caused by polio, can walk with a cane but uses a manual
wheelchair for the post-accident scenes in the movie."
Sabin, Albert - MSN Encarta
Browse a resource page for this revered American virologist who invented an oral
vaccine for polio. With links to book purchase and Web sites.
Teplý, Pavel - Pavel Teplý was born in 1940 in Prague (Czech Republic). The most important success of Pavel and Katerina was probably the win of three gold and one silver medal at the VII. Winter Paralympic Games in Nagano - Japan, 1998.
Wokoun, Mgr. Alois - "Globetrotter with Sadist Polio" (see text). A Czech romantic polio survivor, who visited 20 countries of 4 continents.
If you know of anyone that had polio, please e-mail me with the information and I would gladly add them to this page.