10 Celebrities Who Have Dealt with Aphasia: Bruce Willis, Emilia Clarke and More

Parks and Recreation star Aubrey Plaza suffered from aphasia at a very young age.

In a 2017 interview with NPR's podcast "Fresh Air" producer Ann Marie Baldonado, Plaza looked back at her college days and when her stroke began. She was a film student at New York University and was about to have her lunch at her friend's apartment when it "suddenly happened" while speaking about a Hilary Duff concert.

"They thought I was making a joke," she continued. "I was always doing something stupid, but then after a couple of minutes, you know, they kept saying, 'do you want us to call an ambulance?' I was aware enough to shake my head yes."

After a hospital visit, she developed excessive aphasia, which caused her to fail to talk despite knowing how to respond.

Bruce Willis' friends, costars and colleagues noticed the early symptoms of aphasia years before he was diagnosed with it, but he was not aware of the condition until it had already progressed.

His family announced on Instagram that he was stepping away from acting amid his aphasia battle.

"We wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities," Willis' daughter with Demi Moore, Rumer Willis, said in a post on her account. "As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him."

In a June 2020 email to Out of Death screenwriter, director Mike Burns said they needed to reduce Willis' page count and abbreviate his dialogue.

Nearly a year later, the family confirmed that his aphasia had progressed and they received his clear diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia.

Pyramid and American Bandstand host Dick Clark – born Richard Wagstaff Clark – had a stroke in December 2004, leading him to miss the New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast. The condition also left him paralyzed and impaired his speech.

"Last year I had a stroke," he revealed in a 2005 broadcast when he returned. "It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect, but I'm getting there."

He died on April 18, 2012, from a massive heart attack after recovering from a stroke.

In an essay for The New Yorker in 2019, Emilia Clarke opened up about the two life-saying injuries she went through because of the two aneurysm growths. It reportedly started in February 2011 after finishing the recording of Season 1 of Game of Thrones.

Clarke said she was working out with her trainer in London when she suddenly felt a debilitating headache, which she tried to ignore and took a break instead.

"Somehow, almost crawling, I made it to the locker room. I reached the toilet, sank to my knees, and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill," she revealed. "Meanwhile, the pain — shooting, stabbing, constricting pain — was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening: my brain was damaged."

The 36-year-old spent days in the intensive care unit but also suffered aphasia following the brain trauma she suffered from. Fortunately, it passed after a week and allowed her to regain the ability to speak.

Julie Harris experienced aphasia amid her skyrocketing career.

In 2001, she suffered a stroke that almost ended her career and caused her to miss a scheduled stage performance. She told The American Stroke Association that she underwent speech therapy for two years because of aphasia.

In his memoir My Stroke of Luck, Kirk Douglas wrote about his 1996 experience when he suffered a stroke while having a manicure at home. He described the pain as a strange sensation that stole his speaking ability.

"After a stroke, I made two films with impaired speech," Douglas wrote. "Now I am waiting for another part to play before the sun sinks below the horizon. You can't stop an actor."

While he struggled to learn to speak again, he told National Institutes of Health magazine NIH MedLine Plus that it was a blessing in disguise because he did not suffer paralysis or die during the health scare.

Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal shared five children with famed author Roald Dahl, and they dealt with an issue while she was pregnant with their fifth child.

Neal experienced three strokes that left her paralyzed after delivering a healthy child, and it also left her with severe aphasia, which she carried for two years.

With Dahl's help, she started undergoing rehabilitation for six hours – something professionals warned him about because it was too much. However, the regime soon helped the Hud star to regain her health and return to her acting career.

"He pushed me to go to a military hospital for exercises and swimming, and he pushed me back into acting," she told People. "I had no confidence at all after the stroke, but my husband insisted. He had married an actress, and he thought it would be good for me."

Randy Travis faced several issues over the past few years, including a stroke that began the series of health emergencies he had.

He was initially admitted to a hospital in Dallas, Texas, because of heart failure and fluid in his lungs. His doctors put him into a medically induced coma after he flatlined during his hospital stay before he suffered a massive stroke.

The latter led him to undergo an emergency brain surgery and soon caused him to develop aphasia. Unfortunately, the condition stole not only his speaking voice but also his ability to sing.

But because of his determination and resiliency, the "Deeper Than the Holler" singer regained his mobility a little and appeared on shows little by little.

In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sharon Stone looked back at the medical health scare that caused her to also suffer from aphasia.

"I came home from that stroke stuttering, couldn't read for two years," she said. "It's been a humbling journey: I was on Law & Order ... and I had a hard time with my lines. I can talk about it now because I'm OK now. I feel really good about talking and having my full vocabulary."

Terry Jones and Michael Palin were performing in a show alongside Monty Python's Flying Circus when the latter noticed something wrong with his pal.

"Terry was always very good at remembering lines," Palin said, per The Guardian. "But this time he had real problems, and in the end he had to use a teleprompter. That was a first for him. I realised then that something more serious than memory lapses was affecting him."

From there, Jones' speech deteriorated until he was officially diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia – the same disease Willis is facing.