What follows is the beginning of a collection of both positive and negative television portrayals of people who stutter. If anyone can add to this collection, please email Judy Kuster

Stuttering on TV on YouTube from StutterTalk

Right Here, Right Now

Jonelle: Right Here, Right Now is an autobiographical PBS documentary about Jonelle's experience with an intensive therapy program for stuttering. Review provided by Ira Zimmerman.

"Tongues of Angels" - Studio One

"Tongues of Angels" was aired March 17, 1958. "Margaret O'Brien is drawn to a young James MacArthur, who comes to work for her father and poses as a deaf mute rather than reveal the speech impediment that afflicts him." Picture available . Dr. Joseph Sheehan was credited as the "Speech Consultant." The script for this production is available at the Special Collections Department of the University of Iowa Library - Papers of Norman Felton , box 50.

It

Stephen King's highly acclaimed made for TV horror movie It features a person who stutters in the leading role. The character, Bill is portrayed as a teenager and as an adult. The teenager's stuttering is mild, but his fluency deteriorates badly under periods of stress. Thirty years later, the adult Bill has lost his stutter. But when the antagonist returns to terrorize the small Maine town, Bill's stuttering returns too.

Moses

Roger Young, the film director of the made-for-TV movie Moses starring Ben Kingsley said, "Knowing what we do of the time, we can surmise that this adopted Hebrew child might not have been entirely accepted in the court of Ramses II. The Bible talks about Moses being slow of tongue, shy and humble. That's the Moses we've chosen to portray: a small man, an outsider, flawed, a stutterer who is, in fact, a very large man."

First Time Felon

Marty Leisner reports that in the HBO production First Time Felon , Charles Dutton, director, there is a stutterer shown briefly early in the film (in jail). The character had about 5-10 speaking lines and was referred to in uncomplimentary ways, referring to his stuttering.

Murder in a Small Town

Marty Leisner reports on this A&E movie where, in the movie Gene Wilder is the director of a play. There's a character who faked a stutter while he was going to kill someone. The director played by Wilder said "Lose the stutter" in a rehearsal. He explained that it was totally unbelievable to be fluent for 55 minutes and to start stuttering when you're going to kill someone. Several lines the word "stuttering" was explicitly mentioned including, when Wilder left to meet someone, and he casually mentioned "maybe I'll stutter" to be funny... (since they were talking about stuttering for the last 3 minutes).

Edison: Wizard of Light ( 1998, HBO)

Marty Leisner reports that in this made for TV movie, Edison's assistant (Walter Dixon) has a noticable stutter in several scenes...explaining "persistence of vision", he can't get it out, and says "you'll seewhat I mean". Don't know if this is biographically accurate.

CSS Hunley (TNT, 1999)

Marty Leisner reports on this made for TV movie about the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley which sank the USS Housatonic off Charleston Harbour in 1864. Originally developed in an attempt to break the Union blockade of Charleston Harbour, it was the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship. Information from Hunley to rise again "In the movie there was a minor character who had a severe stutter, obviously for comic relief."

Breaking the Code

Christopher Berube reports that the broadcast of "Breaking the Code" on PBS, depicted the life of British mathematician Allan Turing. Turing, a stammerer, who was responsible for cracking the "Enigma" code used by the Germans in WWII, made many advances in computer science, and is considered by many to be the father of artificial intelligence. Turing was portrayed by Sir Derek Jacobi who, by the way, portrayed the Emperor Claudius in "I, Claudius" and the murderer in "Dead Again" - both of these men stuttered.

I Claudius

The bbc television miniseries 'I, Claudius'- not only does the title character stutter, but becomes Emperor of Rome. His stutter is very well documented historically. The miniseries was based on two books published in the 1930's by Robert Graves- 'I, Claudius' and 'Claudius The God'. (Claudius was deified after his death). (from Kelly Oceriann).

Howard Stern Show - Stuttering John

John Melendez, also known as "Stuttering John," is a rock guitarist and was an interviewer for the controversial Howard Stern show.

Here Come the Brides - Bobbie Sherman

"On a show called Here Come The Brides in the late 60s, Bobby Sherman portrayed a person who stutters very well. It was one of the first times that it really dawned on me that maybe I wasn't alone in this." (Garry Hancock) "The Bobby Sherman character was the shy one of the three bothers. And yes the older brother told him to "calm down" when he started to stutter pretty badly. But overall the character was very well done. And he linked up with one of the very attractive women who came to Seattle to find a husband and they had some very cute dialogue about each others' faults, his stuttering versus her finger nail biting" (Ira Zimmerman). "I was a teenager, going through the "Teen Idol" phase (when girls are too young and insecure to have a real boyfriend so they worship unattainable guys from afar). Not only did Jeremy (Bobby Sherman) stutter (the first [maybe only] stuttering TV hero I ever remember seeing), but most importantly he was REAL cute! To a shy, awkward stuttering teenage girl, that was about the coolest thing in the world. . . . The only bad thing about the show was that after the first year they kinda did away with the stutter. I don't mean they had him find the pink pill; they just kind of phased it out. That disappointed me" (Vicki Schutter). The program was broadcast on ABC-TV.

N.Y.P.D. Blue - Gordan Clapp

A regular in the "Squad Room" on NYPD Blue, Lieutenant Medavoy, portrayed by Gordon Clapp , has a mild stutter.

Small Wonder

Ira Zimmerman wrote that a TV program called Small Wonder had a girl who stuttered that was helped by the robot type little girl.

Ally McBeal

There is a lawyer on Ally McBeal , who sings to keep from stuttering-even in court. The character is a source for the show's humor. His form of stuttering is obvious postponements which are noticed and commented on as "his way of psyching people out."

Sarah

An Australian television program where Sarah Tomic "always wanted to be a DJ, but who's going to give a DJ with a stutter a chance? 99.9 RAW FM of course! Sarah's energetic and rebellious and she loves to shock. She fast becomes one of the most outrageous and exciting DJs at RAW, and her stutter is just part of her sassy style."

Max Headroom

Rodney Fayton shared, "This is not "real" stuttering, but I have often thought that the person/show that made it "cool" to stutter was Max Headroom. If you never saw the show "Max Headroom", Max was a digital character that lived inside the hardware of a tv network "Network 23" in a futuristic English city. Max was created by accident when star reporter Edison Carter had an accident and was put on life support. A "copy" of his brain was digitized and stored in the Network 23 computers. Edison recovered but Max continued to exist inside the hardward of Network 23. His "stuttering" was due to technical problems but it looked and sounded rather real.

Open All Hours - British sitcom

This British sitcom starred comic actor, Ronnie Barker as a northern shopkeeper called Arkwright who had a very 'creative' stutter. Arkwright was a loveable rogue who was constantly looking at ways to put one over on his customers or leap into bed with the district nurse. The most put upon character in the show was his errand boy called Granville, which was a refreshing change! (posted on stutteringchat, Feb. 24, 2002, by Toby Richards).

Avonlea

An episode of the Disney Channel's Avonlea had one of characters, Jasper (a stutterer and inventor/scientist) stammering very much as he tried to tell his wife that he had a job offer to teach in London. His wife got so frustrated and nervous about what her husband was about to tell him, that she shouted at him to "spit it out." (Ira Zimmerman, Jan. 5, 1997, stutt-l)

Little House on the Prairie

An episode of Little House on the Praire had Laura's Swedish girl friend portrayed as a stutterer with the other girls cruel to her. (Ira Zimmerman).
64. THE MUSIC BOX March 14, 1977, 1st season - Many new things have been happening to the Walnut Grove students. Nellie has started a club and Laura has a new friend, Olga. Olga has a speech problem. While at Nellie's, Laura takes a music box that she didn't think Nellie cared about. When Nellie catches Laura with the music box, Nellie decides that she will either tell, or make Laura do what ever she wants. Laura must help with her chores, be in the club even though she doesn't want to be, and she must also be mean to Olga. When Laura can't live with Nellie's bossiness anymore, she tells her father, and gives back the music box. Olga and Laura become best friends once again. (http://vvv.com/~jenslegg/tvthree.htm)

170. NO BEAST SO FIERCE January 4, 1982, 8th season - James befriends a new boy in school, Gideon, who stutters. "Without realizing Gideon was watching, James joins the other schoolchildren in making fun of him, causing Gideon to run away from home. Charles takes James with him on delivery trip hoping it would make him feel better. Meanwhile, Caroline is able to find Gideon and convince him to return home. When James returns from the trip, he apologizes to Gideon. Guest stars: Peter Billingsly as Gideon." (http://vvv.com/~jenslegg/tveight.htm) (added by Tom and Judy Kuster)

M.A.S.H.

"Run For the Money" was a " M.A.S.H. episode in which Charles was dealing with a young soldier who stuttered. It also was well done." (Garry Hancock). Ira Zimmerman adds, it "was first broadcast on December 20, 1982, the last season for MASH. It is episode 249, "Run For the Money" and was written by Mike Farrell, David Pollock, and Elias Davis. The plot that usually appears with the episode is "Father Mulcahy leads the 4077th in a footrace against the 8063rd." Keep checking www.fxnetworks.com when it may appear again. (ed. note - Ira helped the NSA present Pollock with a special awared at the national convention in Anaheim, and the script for this show was auctioned at the NSA fundraiser after the banquet. JAK).

After many years of looking for this rarely seen MASH TV episode that involved stuttering, I accidently flipped to it this morning on the FX networks. One of the problems in finding it was that the episode title and plot details never mentions the important subplot of a stuttering soldier who is wounded and ends up in the MASH unit under the care of Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester III (David Ogden Stiers). This Private who stutters is the object of ridicule by other soldiers in his unit including his Sergeant. Charles takes a special interest in the Private and racks the Sergeant over the coals for making fun of the Private's stuttering and intelligence.

Charles reaches out to the Private but is at first told by the Private to leave him alone. But Charles doesn't give up and takes the Private out of the ward to talk to him privately. The Private who has been called a dummy so often that he believes it. Charles reveals to the Private that his IQ test shows him to be above average. He also tells him that there is no connection between stuttering and intelligence. In fact some stutterers were very smart people and names a few like Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, King George VI, etc. He gives the Private a leather bound copy of "Moby Dick" and tells him that it is fit for a man of the Private's intelligence and that his stuttering shouldn't limit his goals in life. The Private asks why is Charles doing all this for him. Charles doesn't answer. But the answer is revealed later when Charles is alone in his tent listening to an audio tape of some back home news from his beloved sister---who stutters.

(Posted by Ira Zimmerman on Stutterersinfilm, June 4, 2000)

Quantum Leap

Two episodes of the television series Quantum Leap (1993) were about a person who stutters, as a boy and later as a man. Ira Zimmerman, a member of the National Stuttering Project, was a consultant for these episodes. Reruns of Quantum Leap appear on the Sci-Fi Channel. The episodes won an award from the National Council On Communicative Disorders for its positive and clinically accurate portrayal of stuttering.

Cracker

John Westbury reports that there have been stutterers on one or more episode(s) of the "Cracker" series (a Brit detective show that appears on A&E, starring Robby Coltrane). Ira Zimmerman added, "The episode titled, "To Say I Love You," featured a young man with a severe stutter whose frustration with his severe speech impediment led him to a life of crime and ultimately to suicide. The episode was written by British writer, Jimmy McGovern, who dealt with his own chronic stuttering through high school. And he admitted to thoughts of suicide because of his stutter. This three hour episode was adapted to one hour for the American Broadcasting Company series of "Cracker" starring Robert Pastorelli. It aired on October 23, 1997."

Prime Suspect

John Westbury reports that on a "Prime Suspect" installment of last year series (starring Helen Mirren that appears on PBS), there was a stuttering bad guy.

Homicide

John Westbury reports that there was the detective Frank Pembleton, on "Homicide," who stuttered (neurogenically) after suviving a stroke.

Brooklyn South

Nora O'Connor wrote that on the October 13, 1997 episode of Brooklyn South, Officer Gus "has a 'stammer'. One police officer said to the other, 'The poor guy, he's got a stammer. I make stupid faces to make him relax.' Later in the show Officer Gus has to testify and 'stammers' when he's questioned about specifics (in a cop thing he was involved in). His fellow officer is in the court room, making stupid faces (rolling his eyes upward). The attorney notes that Officer Gus has a stammer and makes some comment that Gus stammers when talking about the crucial issues in question. The other officer has to leave the court room and.later on, Gus asked the officer where he went. (As if the stupid faces were going to reduce Gus' stammer) Gus is portrayed as a 'less than' person, due to his stammer. And "they" do a good job of that, if Gus has to have this cop hanging around making stupid faces at him so he won't stammer in court."

Nora concludes, " I've seen enough stuttering on T.V. or in the movies and it doesn't bother me. Or I just shrug it off, like in the movie Primal Fear, I talked with a few stutterers who were disturbed by the use of stuttering in the film--it didn't bother me. BUT--tonight, when I watched Brooklyn South, a new television series and listened to this discussion between the cops about "stammering" and making "stupid faces" it really dug under my skin. It was just so dumb. The conversation was straight up lame (whoever did the writing)."

Bob Newhart - Episode 138: Easy for You to Say

Bob Newhart is a psychologist treating a person who stutters. The PWS was a TV personality on a children's program. He used all sorts of tricks to avoid stuttering, and Newhart dressed up as a farm animal to appear on his show. In the end, the PWS disclosed to the children that he stutters. Bill Fabian sent me the following Internet information:

Paul Billingham -- known to his radio fans as Ralph Alfalfa, the Happy Farmer -- comes to Bob because of his stuttering problem. On radio, he practiced several unseen rhtyhmic devices to mask his problem, but a new television opportunity threatens to expose his problem with disastrous results.

Babylon 5

The episode "Secrets of the Soul" had a character with telepathic and telekinetic powers who stuttered. It was handled very well. and telekinetic powers stuttered. It was handled very well in the show. His friends did not hurry him or even take notice of the stuttering. Neither did the security forces (think police). He did get teased, and then attacked, by a group of thugs on the show. It was interesting to note, however, that the stuttering young man was a "more powerful" telepath (being able to move objects with his mind) than most of the rest of the telepaths. Nothing was inferred about his stuttering. He stuttered very well, though. Blocks, repetitions, some struggle. Not bad.(Eric Christensen posted to stutt-l, March 6, 1998)

Perry Mason

The Case of the Stuttering Bishop was first aired on March 14, 1959, and was episode 59 of the popular Perry Mason series. Based on a book published in 1936 by the same name, the above link provides information about the characters and the story, including the outcome of the episode. Bishop Mallory was played by Vaughn Taylor . About the episode, Ira Zimmerman wrote:

Is it possible for a stutterer to be a member of the Clergy?

That is the question raised in the 1937 Warner Bros. film, "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop."

This is a story from the Perry Mason series written by Earle Stanley Gardner. This is a story of mystery and murder that involves who is the heir to a fortune. And the key figure is a Bishop from Australia who asks for Perry Mason's help. But as he tells his story to Perry Mason it is obvious that he is a stutterer. Immediately doubt is raised in Mason's mind whether this Bishop is for real.

In a scene with his secretary after the Bishop leaves

Secretary: Well Chief how do you figure?

Mason: Della, Bishops don't stutter.

Secretary: That's what I thought when he barged in here. but you wouldn't listen.

Mason: Bishops have to talk in public. If a man stutters, he won't even become a Minister let alone a Bishop.

At the end of the film the Bishop explains.

Mason: I hope you would pardon a personal question. Isn't it a bit unusual for a Bishop to stutter?

Bishop: It's a defect which I overcame in my childhood, Mr. Mason. It never comes back on me except when I'm under some emotional shock.

Before he boards a ship back to Australia, he is kissed farewell by some very attractive women which flusters him and he says, "G-G-Goodness Gracious," which ends the film on a light note.

I was surprisingly entertained by the film and how in 1937 it handled a major character who stuttered. (posted to Stutt-L, April 21, 1998)

Touched by an Angel - 'Anatomy Lesson,' episode 518

Eric Christensen wrote: The television show "Touched By an Angel" had a character that stuttered. I thought it was done very well..

The stuttering character is jogging down the road at the beginning of the episode when he hears a little girl crying. It is winter, and she has fallen into a hole or pipe or something (like a construction type deal). He trys to rescue her, but cannot - she is too far down. He runs to make a telephone call to get help, but dies of a coronary before he can do it. Anyway, as the episode goes on one of the Angels tells the "story" of this mans life to the pathologist that is doing the autopsy. She (the Angel) includes that fact that he stutters. It is not a big deal, but just another part of him - a trial he faced. One thing she tells is that he stuttered, "even when he was courting his wife". We see him in "flashback" type shots. The stuttering was done pretty good.

I liked the way it was done - mainly because the stuttering was shown as just a part of who this guy was. He was not super smart, not dumb or slow, not a criminal; but was just a regular guy that happened to stutter. (Eric Christenson posted to the stutt lists, March 8, 1999)

Adam 12

There was an Adam 12 episode with a rookie cop that speaks fine until he has to take a radio call under stress and can't say anything. Then he gets chewed out and has to tell them he's a stutterer. (shared by Sherri in LV).

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

David Ogden Stiers ("Charles" on MASH) portrayed the new station manager who had a stuttering problem. I seem to recall the initial reaction of Mary, Lou and the others to his stuttering was a slight wincing and a bit of shock. (shared by Christopher Berube)

Cheers

The episode that introduces Fraser Crane to Cheers (as Diane's psychiatrist) has an instance of stuttering depicting an "emotional problem." Diane has just returned from a "sanitarium" following a "nervous breakdown" after breaking up with Sam. Coach goes to her apartment to try to convince her to return since Sam has started drinking again. Diane stutters each time she tries to say "Sam." (Judy Kuster)

Cracker

There is triple-episode in "Cracker" in which a character has a severe stutter. Overall I'd say the portrayal is fair, although of course it is problematic that the stuttering character is a criminal. Robbie Coltrane, as "Fitz", shows empathy (different from sympathy) towards the character, just as he does in all the other episodes of this excellent TV Show, and I'd advise anyone to watch the original Brit version rather than the cheap USA remake. (Peter Knutsen, personal correspondence, 13 Sept, 2001)

The Pretender

There is a character who stutters in an episode of the TV Show "The Pretender". The character is a photographer with a medium stutter, who is accused of a murder, but the star of the show, Jarod, finds out who really did it. The character is portrayed as a skilled photographer, somewhat reclusive, and IIRC the show also portrays how his co-workers and associates are quick to suspect him because he is different. Overall a very fair portrayal. (Peter Knutsen, personal correspondence, 13 Sept, 2001)

Judging Amy

An episode, Predictive Neglect, includes a young boy who stutters who is taken away from his mother and put into foster care by an over-reactive social service system. (Judy Kuster, July 7, 2006)

Joey

Joey is a spinoff of the television series, "Friends". There was a brief mention by one of the main charaters about stuttering. The character plays "Joey's 20 year old nephew on the show. He said he was unable to talk to Joey's good looking neighbor because she makes his stutter come back. He even said stutter with a little "stutter" for effect. I thought it was done in good taste and was really funny, even to me, a PWS." (Information posted by Ronnie on NSA-Baltimore@yahoogroups, September 13, 2004)

Trial and Retribution

YouTube sample from Trial and Retribution , a uk police drama written by Linda la Plante which features a male stammerer, Ronnie Reid

Joan of Arcadia

Joan of Arcadia, Season 1, Episode 14, included a debate team with a member who stutters. The episode is also on YouTube.

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last modified October 8, 2014