Cultural references to stuttering
Encyclopedia
Cultural references to stuttering are featured in the media, popular culture
and in society
at large. Because of the unusual-sounding speech that is produced, as well as the behaviors and attitudes that accompany a stutter, stuttering
has been a subject of scientific interest, curiosity, discrimination, and ridicule.
Stuttering was, and essentially still is, a riddle with a long history of interest and speculation into its causes and cures. Stutterers can be traced back centuries to the likes of Demosthenes
, who tried to control his disfluency by speaking with pebbles in his mouth. The Talmud
interprets Bible
passages to indicate Moses
was also a stutterer.
Partly due to a perceived lack of intelligence because of his stutter, the man who became the Roman Emperor
Claudius
was initially shunned from the public eye and excluded from public office. His infirmity is also thought to have saved him from the fate of many other Roman nobles during the purges of Tiberius
and Caligula
. Isaac Newton
, the English scientist who developed the law of gravity, also had a stutter. Other famous Englishmen who stammered were King George VI
and Prime Minister Winston Churchill
,http://www.stutterers.org who led the UK through World War II. Although George VI went through years of speech therapy for his stammer, Churchill thought that his own very mild stutter added an interesting element to his voice: "Sometimes a slight and not unpleasing stammer or impediment has been of some assistance in securing the attention of the audience…"
star Mel Tillis
or pop singer Gareth Gates
) or speaking alone (or reading from a script, as with actor James Earl Jones
and broadcast journalist John Stossel
), fluency improves. (It is thought that speech production in these situations, as opposed to normal spontaneous speech, may involve a different neurological function.)
Some very mild stutterers, such as Bob Newhart
, have used the disorder to their advantage, although more severe stutterers very often face serious hurdles in their social and professional lives.
The well-known author of Alice in Wonderland
, Lewis Carroll
hoped to become a priest but was not allowed to because of his stuttering. In response, he wrote a poem which mentions stuttering:
Learn well your grammar / And never stammer / Write well and neatly / And sing soft sweetly / Drink tea, not coffee; Never eat toffy / Eat bread with butter / Once more don't stutter.
(Excerpt from Rules & Regulations) Carroll's well-known stuttering trait is subliminally referenced in Alice, which features a Dodo
bird in one scene. As Martin Gardner
pointed out in The Annotated Alice, the bird is drawn to vaguely resemble Carroll, and Carroll often tended to say his own real last name "Do-Do-Dodgson".
(1988) and A Family Thing
(1996) have dealt with contemporary reactions to and portrayals of stuttering. In A Fish Called Wanda, a lead character, played by Michael Palin
, has a severe stutter and low self-esteem. His character—who is socially awkward, nervous, an animal lover, and reclusive—portrays a prevalent stereotypical image of stutterers. The three other characters in the movie generally make up the spectrum of reactions to stuttering: Jamie Lee Curtis
's character is sympathetic and sees past it, John Cleese
's character is polite but indifferent, and Kevin Kline
's is malicious and sadistic. Upon release the film caused controversy among some stutterers who disliked the film for its portrayal of Palin's character as a pushover amid the bullying his character receives, and received favor from others who valued the film for showing the difficulties stutterers commonly face. Palin, whose father was a stutterer, stated that in playing the role he intended to show how difficult and painful stuttering can be. He also donated to various stuttering-related causes and later allowed the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in London
to use his name.
The 1983 movie The Right Stuff referenced the real-life stuttering problem of John Glenn
's wife Annie
, and how it rendered her fearful and unwilling to do a news conference during his initial space flight. As he reported in his autobiography, John Glenn: A Memoir, and as shown on-screen in The Right Stuff, her stuttering was never a problem between the two of them, he "just thought of it as something Annie did". But she grew frustrated with it, and some years later put herself through intense speech therapy and was largely successful in masking the outward symptoms of stuttering. A proud moment for the both of them was the first public speech she gave on her experiences as a stutterer.
The novel (and film) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
has a major character named Billy Bibbit who suffers from a pronounced stutter. Through the story it is revealed that it has very negatively impacted his self-esteem (even leading to a suicide attempt when he stuttered through a marriage proposal and the woman laughed at him). The stutter abruptly disappears after he has sex with a prostitute that another patient smuggles on the ward.
In the film Rocket Science, the main character Hal Hefner suffers from stuttering.
In M. Night Shyamalan's 2006 film Lady in the Water
, Paul Giamatti
's character has a pronounced stutter that selectively disappears when he interacts with Bryce Dallas Howard
's character.
In Stephen King's It
, the character William 'Stuttering Bill' Denbrough has a stuttering problem which is described as having "got worse since his kid brother died." Throughout the movie he stutters profusely, usually when he is scared or nervous. In the second half of the film the adult Bill has overcome his speech impediment, but it recurs seconds after Mike Hanlon tells the news of Pennywise's return.
The Academy Award-winning film The King's Speech (2010) also features George VI as played by Colin Firth
stutter, based on original screenplay by David Seidler
who also used to stutter as a child until age 16.
" from the Looney Tunes
theatrical cartoon series. The creators of Porky wanted a character with a "timid" voice. Originally, an actual stutterer voiced the pig, but could not control his stutter. Mel Blanc
, who had no speech impediments, took over the role and affected the stutter. In 1991, the National Stuttering Project picketed Warner Bros.
demanding that they stop "belittling" stutterers and instead use Porky Pig as an advocate for child stutterers. The studio eventually agreed to grant $12,000 to the Stuttering Foundation of America and release a series of public service announcement posters speaking out against bullying.
An episode of the hit TV show M*A*S*H involved a stuttering soldier who was convinced he was unintelligent and constantly harassed by his fellow soldiers. The usually pompous Maj. Winchester (David Ogden Stiers) takes it upon himself to prove the soldier is just as intelligent (if not more, since Winchester discovers the young man has a very high IQ) as the rest of his unit, even giving him a treasured copy of Moby-Dick
to read. At the end of the episode, Winchester retires to his tent and listens happily to a tape-recorded letter from his sister, who is revealed to have a pronounced stutter.
Also, Ronnie Barker
's character in Open All Hours
has a stutter, which sometimes gets him into trouble. His nephew mocks him for it.
Another example is actor Nicholas Brendon
, who played Xander Harris
on Buffy the Vampire Slayer for seven consecutive seasons. Nicholas overcame his stuttering problem and is now a spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation of America.
Plus, on South Park
a physically disabled character named Jimmy Vulmer suffers an albeit severe stutter that seems to play a comical role on the show.
The character Jeremy, from the late 1960s TV series, "Here Come the Brides" played by Bobby Sherman is another example of a TV-stutterer.
" was published in 1918 by Geoffrey O'Hara
and became a huge hit in wartime America, referred to as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors". Anyone who had either a stutter or a lisp was covered. The song uses stuttered lyrics in every line of the chorus, and refers to the stuttering of a stereotypically bashful suitor.
Alvin Lucier
's 1969 experimental piece I Am Sitting in a Room
prominently features his stuttering, as well as making reference to it in the spoken lyrics: "I regard this activity ... as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have."
A stylized form of stuttering has frequently appeared in popular music
over the past few decades. Buddy Holly
was a notable user of this technique in many of his songs, as well as supplementing the stutters with other verbal 'tics' and 'hiccups'. In some songs from the 1960s and 1970s the vocalist would rapidly repeat the first syllable of a word. An early example is The Who
's 1965 song "My Generation", in which Roger Daltrey
sings the line "Just talkin' 'bout my G-g-g-generation". In that particular case, the song's stuttering style provides a framework leading up to the sly lyric, "Why don't you just ff-ff-fffffffffade away!". The Rasmus
used a similar technique in their song F-F-F-Falling
.
Another example was the affected stuttering by Canada
's Bachman-Turner Overdrive
in their 1974 hit song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
". The stutter was not intended to be part of the final release, it was originally done as a joke about Randy Bachman
's brother George, who stuttered.
Three songs have gone to #1 on the Billboard charts that include stuttering in the lyrics. Bennie & The Jets by Elton John (04/13/1974), You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (11/9/1974), and My Sharona by The Knack (08/25/1979-09/29/1979). Sussudio by Phil Collins is another song that went to #1 on 07/06/1985, but he really sings the lyric rather than stuttering through it.
By the early 1980s producers were creating the same effect synthetically using tape editing and sampling
of lyrics. Paul Hardcastle
's 1985 song "19
" features it throughout in both the spoken word and vocal segments. Remixes
of songs very frequently employed the effect. Starting in the 1990s stuttering effects fell out of popular use in music.
In 1995, stutterer Scatman John
turned his problem into his asset and wrote the hit song "Scatman
". Stuttering assisted him to scat sing
and create incredible sounds. The lyrics are inspirational and directed at stutterers:
In 2001, "Stutter
" by American R&B singer Joe
featuring Mystikal
, held the number-one spot for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100
.
Placebo
used a stammering man's voice on their song "Swallow" featured on their 1996 debut album, Placebo
.
The song For You I Will (Confidence) by American pop
singer Teddy Geiger
features the line "forgive me if i st-- stutter from all of the clutter in my head"
The lead singer of indie band Bloc Party
, Kele Okereke
, has a very pronounced stutter when speaking, but it is not identifiable whilst singing.
hired a mild stutterer sight unseen ("He stutters? Hire him.") to conduct celebrity interviews. Known on the Stern show
as Stuttering John, John Melendez worked for Stern for 15 years before taking a position as the announcer
on The Tonight Show
. Howard Stern also has a collection of frequent guests
, many of whom have speech impediments of some type; while their afflictions are exploited for comedic purposes, members of The Wack Pack
are well-loved by Howard Stern and his fans.
Accordingly, stuttering may be legally classified as a disability in many parts of the world, affording stutterers the same protection from wrongful discrimination as for people with other disabilities. Different jurisdictions have different tests and it will depend on whether these are met in the particular case. People who stutter may, for example, be protected in the U.S. by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(and/or by state/local legislation), or in Great Britain
by the Equality Act 2010 , through the person either having a disability as defined or being 'regarded' or 'perceived' as having one. The Australian Human Rights Commission says stuttering is within the Australian Disability Discrimination Act 1992
. Legal protection from disability discrimination sometimes extends beyond employment discrimination
, for example to provision of services and education, and may include a right to reasonable accommodation
.
The U.S. Congress passed a resolution in May 1988 designating the second week of May as Stuttering Awareness Week, while International Stuttering Awareness Day
(ISAD), is held internationally on October 22. In September 2005, ISAD was recognised and supported by over 30 Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) at a reception given by the European League of Stuttering Associations.
Even though public awareness of stuttering has improved markedly over the years, misconceptions are still common, usually reinforced by inaccurate media portrayals of stuttering and through popular misconception. A 2002 study focusing on college-age students conducted by the University of Minnesota Duluth
found that a large majority viewed the cause of stuttering as either nervousness or low self-confidence, and many recommended simply "slowing down" as the best course of action for recovery. While these misconceptions are damaging and may actually worsen the symptoms of stuttering, groups and organizations are making significant progress towards a greater public awareness.
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
and in society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
at large. Because of the unusual-sounding speech that is produced, as well as the behaviors and attitudes that accompany a stutter, stuttering
Stuttering
Stuttering , also known as stammering , is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds...
has been a subject of scientific interest, curiosity, discrimination, and ridicule.
Stuttering was, and essentially still is, a riddle with a long history of interest and speculation into its causes and cures. Stutterers can be traced back centuries to the likes of Demosthenes
Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
, who tried to control his disfluency by speaking with pebbles in his mouth. The Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
interprets Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
passages to indicate Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
was also a stutterer.
Partly due to a perceived lack of intelligence because of his stutter, the man who became the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
was initially shunned from the public eye and excluded from public office. His infirmity is also thought to have saved him from the fate of many other Roman nobles during the purges of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
and Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
. Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, the English scientist who developed the law of gravity, also had a stutter. Other famous Englishmen who stammered were King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
,http://www.stutterers.org who led the UK through World War II. Although George VI went through years of speech therapy for his stammer, Churchill thought that his own very mild stutter added an interesting element to his voice: "Sometimes a slight and not unpleasing stammer or impediment has been of some assistance in securing the attention of the audience…"
Variable expression
The disorder is variable, which means that in certain situations, such as talking on the telephone, the stuttering might be more severe or less, depending on the anxiety level connected with that activity. In other situations, such as singing (as with country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
star Mel Tillis
Mel Tillis
Lonnie Melvin Tillis , known professionally as Mel Tillis, is an American country music singer. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits....
or pop singer Gareth Gates
Gareth Gates
Gareth Paul Gates , is an English singer-songwriter. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol. Gates has sold over 3.5 million records in the UK alone. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly...
) or speaking alone (or reading from a script, as with actor James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
and broadcast journalist John Stossel
John Stossel
John F. Stossel is an American consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author and libertarian columnist. In October 2009 Stossel left his long time home on ABC News to join the Fox Business Channel and Fox News Channel, both owned and operated by News Corp...
), fluency improves. (It is thought that speech production in these situations, as opposed to normal spontaneous speech, may involve a different neurological function.)
Some very mild stutterers, such as Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...
, have used the disorder to their advantage, although more severe stutterers very often face serious hurdles in their social and professional lives.
Literature
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
, Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
hoped to become a priest but was not allowed to because of his stuttering. In response, he wrote a poem which mentions stuttering:
Learn well your grammar / And never stammer / Write well and neatly / And sing soft sweetly / Drink tea, not coffee; Never eat toffy / Eat bread with butter / Once more don't stutter.
(Excerpt from Rules & Regulations) Carroll's well-known stuttering trait is subliminally referenced in Alice, which features a Dodo
Dodo
The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....
bird in one scene. As Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
pointed out in The Annotated Alice, the bird is drawn to vaguely resemble Carroll, and Carroll often tended to say his own real last name "Do-Do-Dodgson".
Film
In more recent times, movies such as A Fish Called WandaA Fish Called Wanda
A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 crime-comedy film written by John Cleese and Charles Crichton. It was directed by Crichton and an uncredited Cleese, and stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. The film is about a jewel heist and its aftermath...
(1988) and A Family Thing
A Family Thing
A Family Thing is a 1996 film starring Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones and Irma P. Hall. It was written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson and directed by Richard Pearce.-Plot:...
(1996) have dealt with contemporary reactions to and portrayals of stuttering. In A Fish Called Wanda, a lead character, played by Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
, has a severe stutter and low self-esteem. His character—who is socially awkward, nervous, an animal lover, and reclusive—portrays a prevalent stereotypical image of stutterers. The three other characters in the movie generally make up the spectrum of reactions to stuttering: Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
's character is sympathetic and sees past it, John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
's character is polite but indifferent, and Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
's is malicious and sadistic. Upon release the film caused controversy among some stutterers who disliked the film for its portrayal of Palin's character as a pushover amid the bullying his character receives, and received favor from others who valued the film for showing the difficulties stutterers commonly face. Palin, whose father was a stutterer, stated that in playing the role he intended to show how difficult and painful stuttering can be. He also donated to various stuttering-related causes and later allowed the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to use his name.
The 1983 movie The Right Stuff referenced the real-life stuttering problem of John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
's wife Annie
Annie Glenn
Annie Glenn, born Anna Margaret Castor , is the wife of former astronaut and Senator John Glenn.-Private life:Annie was born in 1920 to Homer and Margaret Castor of Columbus, Ohio. In 1923, Dr. Castor and his family moved to New Concord, Ohio, where they became friends with the family of John...
, and how it rendered her fearful and unwilling to do a news conference during his initial space flight. As he reported in his autobiography, John Glenn: A Memoir, and as shown on-screen in The Right Stuff, her stuttering was never a problem between the two of them, he "just thought of it as something Annie did". But she grew frustrated with it, and some years later put herself through intense speech therapy and was largely successful in masking the outward symptoms of stuttering. A proud moment for the both of them was the first public speech she gave on her experiences as a stutterer.
The novel (and film) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon asylum, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional process and the human mind, as well as a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles. Written in 1959, the novel was adapted into a...
has a major character named Billy Bibbit who suffers from a pronounced stutter. Through the story it is revealed that it has very negatively impacted his self-esteem (even leading to a suicide attempt when he stuttered through a marriage proposal and the woman laughed at him). The stutter abruptly disappears after he has sex with a prostitute that another patient smuggles on the ward.
In the film Rocket Science, the main character Hal Hefner suffers from stuttering.
In M. Night Shyamalan's 2006 film Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water
The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
, Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
's character has a pronounced stutter that selectively disappears when he interacts with Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard is an American film actress and daughter of director Ron Howard. She made her acting debut in her father's 1989 movie Parenthood and went on to have small roles in films and make stage appearances for the next several years...
's character.
In Stephen King's It
It (1990 film)
It is a 1990 horror television miniseries based on the novel of the same name. The story revolves around an inter-dimensional predatory life-form that is simply referred to as "It", which has the ability to transform itself into its prey's worst fears allowing it to exploit the fears and phobias...
, the character William 'Stuttering Bill' Denbrough has a stuttering problem which is described as having "got worse since his kid brother died." Throughout the movie he stutters profusely, usually when he is scared or nervous. In the second half of the film the adult Bill has overcome his speech impediment, but it recurs seconds after Mike Hanlon tells the news of Pennywise's return.
The Academy Award-winning film The King's Speech (2010) also features George VI as played by Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
stutter, based on original screenplay by David Seidler
David Seidler
David Seidler is a British-American playwright and film and television writer. He was most successful for writing the play and the screenplay for the film The King's Speech, for which he won the Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.-Early life and family:Seidler was born in...
who also used to stutter as a child until age 16.
Television
One of the most famous stuttering fictional characters is the animated cartoon character "Porky PigPorky Pig
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig...
" from the Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
theatrical cartoon series. The creators of Porky wanted a character with a "timid" voice. Originally, an actual stutterer voiced the pig, but could not control his stutter. Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
, who had no speech impediments, took over the role and affected the stutter. In 1991, the National Stuttering Project picketed Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
demanding that they stop "belittling" stutterers and instead use Porky Pig as an advocate for child stutterers. The studio eventually agreed to grant $12,000 to the Stuttering Foundation of America and release a series of public service announcement posters speaking out against bullying.
An episode of the hit TV show M*A*S*H involved a stuttering soldier who was convinced he was unintelligent and constantly harassed by his fellow soldiers. The usually pompous Maj. Winchester (David Ogden Stiers) takes it upon himself to prove the soldier is just as intelligent (if not more, since Winchester discovers the young man has a very high IQ) as the rest of his unit, even giving him a treasured copy of Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
to read. At the end of the episode, Winchester retires to his tent and listens happily to a tape-recorded letter from his sister, who is revealed to have a pronounced stutter.
Also, Ronnie Barker
Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George "Ronnie" Barker, OBE was a British actor, comedian, writer, critic, broadcaster and businessman...
's character in Open All Hours
Open All Hours
Open All Hours is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke which ran for four series a first run in 1976, a second run in 1981, third in 1982 and finally with a fourth run in 1985, with a pilot episode from the Seven of One series in 1973...
has a stutter, which sometimes gets him into trouble. His nephew mocks him for it.
Another example is actor Nicholas Brendon
Nicholas Brendon
Nicholas Brendon , is an actor best known for his character Xander Harris in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer .-Early life:...
, who played Xander Harris
Xander Harris
Alexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as in numerous items in the series Expanded Universe, such as comic books, tie-in novels and video games...
on Buffy the Vampire Slayer for seven consecutive seasons. Nicholas overcame his stuttering problem and is now a spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation of America.
Plus, on South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
a physically disabled character named Jimmy Vulmer suffers an albeit severe stutter that seems to play a comical role on the show.
The character Jeremy, from the late 1960s TV series, "Here Come the Brides" played by Bobby Sherman is another example of a TV-stutterer.
Music
"K-K-K-KatyK-K-K-Katy
"K-K-K-Katy" was a popular World War I-era song written by Geoffrey O'Hara in 1917 and published in 1918. The sheet music advertised it as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors," reflecting a time when speech impediments could be poked fun at—albeit gentle fun...
" was published in 1918 by Geoffrey O'Hara
Geoffrey O'Hara
Geoffrey O'Hara was a Canadian American composer, singer and music professor.O'Hara was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He initially planned a military career. O'Hara entered the prestigious Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario at age 18 and he trained with the 1st Hussars...
and became a huge hit in wartime America, referred to as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors". Anyone who had either a stutter or a lisp was covered. The song uses stuttered lyrics in every line of the chorus, and refers to the stuttering of a stereotypically bashful suitor.
Alvin Lucier
Alvin Lucier
Alvin Lucier is an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University, Lucier was a member of the influential Sonic Arts Union, which included Robert Ashley, David Behrman, and...
's 1969 experimental piece I Am Sitting in a Room
I Am Sitting in a Room
I am sitting in a room is one of composer Alvin Lucier's best known works, featuring Lucier recording himself narrating a text, and then playing the recording back into the room, re-recording it. The new recording is then played back and re-recorded, and this process is repeated. Since all rooms...
prominently features his stuttering, as well as making reference to it in the spoken lyrics: "I regard this activity ... as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have."
A stylized form of stuttering has frequently appeared in popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
over the past few decades. Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
was a notable user of this technique in many of his songs, as well as supplementing the stutters with other verbal 'tics' and 'hiccups'. In some songs from the 1960s and 1970s the vocalist would rapidly repeat the first syllable of a word. An early example is The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's 1965 song "My Generation", in which Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
sings the line "Just talkin' 'bout my G-g-g-generation". In that particular case, the song's stuttering style provides a framework leading up to the sly lyric, "Why don't you just ff-ff-fffffffffade away!". The Rasmus
The Rasmus
The Rasmus are a Finnish rock band that formed in 1995 in Helsinki while the band members were still in upper comprehensive school. The original band members were Lauri Ylönen , Eero Heinonen , Pauli Rantasalmi and Janne Heiskanen...
used a similar technique in their song F-F-F-Falling
F-F-F-Falling
"F-F-F-Falling" is a song by the Finnish rock band The Rasmus, originally released on the band's fourth album Into on October 29, 2001.The single was released on April 2, 2001 by the record label Playground Music...
.
Another example was the affected stuttering by Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Bachman–Turner Overdrive is a Canadian rock group from Winnipeg, Manitoba, that had a series of hit albums and singles in the 1970s, selling over 7 million albums in that decade alone. Their 1970s catalog included five Top 40 albums and six Top 40 singles...
in their 1974 hit song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
"You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" is a rock song written by Randy Bachman and performed by Bachman–Turner Overdrive on the album Not Fragile. It was released as a single in 1974 with an instrumental track "Free Wheelin'" as the B-side...
". The stutter was not intended to be part of the final release, it was originally done as a joke about Randy Bachman
Randy Bachman
Randolph Charles "Randy" Bachman, OC, OM is a Canadian musician best known as lead guitarist, songwriter and a founding member for both the 1960s–70s rock band The Guess Who, and the 1970s rock band Bachman–Turner Overdrive...
's brother George, who stuttered.
Three songs have gone to #1 on the Billboard charts that include stuttering in the lyrics. Bennie & The Jets by Elton John (04/13/1974), You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (11/9/1974), and My Sharona by The Knack (08/25/1979-09/29/1979). Sussudio by Phil Collins is another song that went to #1 on 07/06/1985, but he really sings the lyric rather than stuttering through it.
By the early 1980s producers were creating the same effect synthetically using tape editing and sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
of lyrics. Paul Hardcastle
Paul Hardcastle
Paul Hardcastle is an English composer and musician, specialising in the synthesizer.-Discography:In the early 1980s, Hardcastle played the keyboards on several singles on the Oval record label by the dance music groups Direct Drive and First Light, before going solo.He achieved some acclaim for...
's 1985 song "19
19 (song)
"19" is a song by British musician Paul Hardcastle released as the first single from his self-titled third studio album Paul Hardcastle ....
" features it throughout in both the spoken word and vocal segments. Remixes
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
of songs very frequently employed the effect. Starting in the 1990s stuttering effects fell out of popular use in music.
In 1995, stutterer Scatman John
Scatman John
John Paul Larkin , better known by his stage name Scatman John, was an American musician who created a fusion of scat singing and dance music, best known for his 1995 hit "Scatman "....
turned his problem into his asset and wrote the hit song "Scatman
Scatman (song)
"Scatman " is a song by Scatman John. The song was released as the first single from his second album Scatman's World. The lyrics detail how he overcame his difficulties with stuttering by turning them into the ability to scat-sing, and encourages children who stutter not to give up...
". Stuttering assisted him to scat sing
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
and create incredible sounds. The lyrics are inspirational and directed at stutterers:
- Everybody stutters one way or the other so check out my message to you
- As a matter of fact, don't let nothin' hold you back
- If the Scatman can do it, so can you.
In 2001, "Stutter
Stutter (Joe song)
"Stutter" is a 2000 song by American R&B singer Joe. The original version of the song was produced by Roy "Royalty" Hamilton and Teddy Riley. Written by Roy "Royalty" Hamilton and Ernest E. Dixon...
" by American R&B singer Joe
Joe (singer)
Joseph Lewis Thomas , usually credited simply as Joe, is an American R&B singer and record producer.-Early life:Joe is a native of Cuthbert, Georgia and later moved to Opelika, Alabama. The son of two preachers, Joe spent much time in church singing, playing guitar, and even directing the choir...
featuring Mystikal
Mystikal
Michael Lawrence Tyler , better known by his stage name Mystikal, is an American rapper, and actor from New Orleans.-1993-1994: Early career:...
, held the number-one spot for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Placebo
Placebo (band)
Placebo are a British rock band from London, England, formed in 1994 by singer and guitarist Brian Molko and bass guitarist Stefan Olsdal. The band was joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and...
used a stammering man's voice on their song "Swallow" featured on their 1996 debut album, Placebo
Placebo (album)
Placebo is the self-titled debut studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo, released on the Hut Records label on 16 July 1996.-Reception:In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 87th greatest album of all time...
.
The song For You I Will (Confidence) by American pop
American pop
American pop is a vague and nebulous term, applied generally to whatever form of music is most popular among mainstream American teenage audiences. Adolescents are an especially important audience, both because of their relatively large amount of discretionary spending, and their fervent devotion...
singer Teddy Geiger
Teddy Geiger
-Singles:-Album appearances:-Television and movie appearances:-External links:****...
features the line "forgive me if i st-- stutter from all of the clutter in my head"
The lead singer of indie band Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...
, Kele Okereke
Kele Okereke
Kelechukwu "Kele" Rowland Okereke is a British musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Party.-Early life:...
, has a very pronounced stutter when speaking, but it is not identifiable whilst singing.
"Stuttering John"
Though a stutterer might seem to be an unlikely radio star, Howard SternHoward Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
hired a mild stutterer sight unseen ("He stutters? Hire him.") to conduct celebrity interviews. Known on the Stern show
Howard Stern Show
The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by its namesake Howard Stern. It gained wide recognition in the 1990s when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005...
as Stuttering John, John Melendez worked for Stern for 15 years before taking a position as the announcer
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
. Howard Stern also has a collection of frequent guests
The Wack Pack
The Wack Pack is the name given to a wide assortment of personalities heard throughout the history of The Howard Stern Show. As a parody of the Rat Pack or Brat Pack, they are a considerable part of what the radio show became notable for...
, many of whom have speech impediments of some type; while their afflictions are exploited for comedic purposes, members of The Wack Pack
The Wack Pack
The Wack Pack is the name given to a wide assortment of personalities heard throughout the history of The Howard Stern Show. As a parody of the Rat Pack or Brat Pack, they are a considerable part of what the radio show became notable for...
are well-loved by Howard Stern and his fans.
Discrimination and awareness
In addition to personal feelings of shame or anxiety, discrimination is a significant problem for stutterers. The majority of stutterers experience or have experienced bullying, harassment, or ridicule to some degree during their school years from both peers and teachers who do not understand the condition. It can be especially difficult for stutterers to form friendships or romantic relationships, both because stutterers may avoid social exposure and because non-stutterers may find the disorder unattractive. There is evidence of negative attitudes to people who stutter on the part of employers and the general public . In a survey of people who stutter, 67.6% of respondents believed their capabilities had at times been misjudged by supervisors, and 28.3% considered they had not received a job promotion due to their stutter.Accordingly, stuttering may be legally classified as a disability in many parts of the world, affording stutterers the same protection from wrongful discrimination as for people with other disabilities. Different jurisdictions have different tests and it will depend on whether these are met in the particular case. People who stutter may, for example, be protected in the U.S. by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a law that was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1990. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective January 1, 2009....
(and/or by state/local legislation), or in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
by the Equality Act 2010 , through the person either having a disability as defined or being 'regarded' or 'perceived' as having one. The Australian Human Rights Commission says stuttering is within the Australian Disability Discrimination Act 1992
Disability Discrimination Act 1992
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 was an act passed by the Parliament of Australia in 1992 to promote the rights of people with disabilities in certain areas such as housing, education and provision of goods and services...
. Legal protection from disability discrimination sometimes extends beyond employment discrimination
Employment discrimination
Employment discrimination is discrimination in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation. It includes various types of harassment....
, for example to provision of services and education, and may include a right to reasonable accommodation
Reasonable accommodation
A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment made in a system to "accommodate" or make fair the same system for an individual based on a proven need. Accommodations can be religious, academic, or employment related and are often mandated by law. Each country has its own system of reasonable...
.
The U.S. Congress passed a resolution in May 1988 designating the second week of May as Stuttering Awareness Week, while International Stuttering Awareness Day
International Stuttering Awareness Day
22 October was designated International Stuttering Awareness Day in 1998. The day is intended to raise the public awareness of the millions of people who have the speech disorder of stuttering, including over 3 million Americans....
(ISAD), is held internationally on October 22. In September 2005, ISAD was recognised and supported by over 30 Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) at a reception given by the European League of Stuttering Associations.
Even though public awareness of stuttering has improved markedly over the years, misconceptions are still common, usually reinforced by inaccurate media portrayals of stuttering and through popular misconception. A 2002 study focusing on college-age students conducted by the University of Minnesota Duluth
University of Minnesota Duluth
The University of Minnesota Duluth is a regional branch of the University of Minnesota system located in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. As Duluth's public research university, UMD offers 13 bachelor's degrees in 74 majors, graduate programs in 24 different fields, a two-year program at the School of...
found that a large majority viewed the cause of stuttering as either nervousness or low self-confidence, and many recommended simply "slowing down" as the best course of action for recovery. While these misconceptions are damaging and may actually worsen the symptoms of stuttering, groups and organizations are making significant progress towards a greater public awareness.