Fictional, real, historical and contemporary celebrities
Only a person's close friends or relatives, or doctors, are likely to be able
to judge whether he or she can be diagnosed with autism or Asperger's syndrome
(AS). But it is illuminating to learn of people with similar characteristics to
ourselves, especially when those people are successful or well-known. For this
reason, I have listed here some well-known people who have shown some autistic
or AS traits. Some may have autism or AS, in their mild or severe forms. Others
may be elsewhere on the autistic continuum. And others listed may just be
unusual individuals.
I hope you appreciate this page. If you think other famous people should be
added, please e-mail
me at richardg_uk@yahoo.com including a brief explanation
of why you think they have autistic traits. Please send any comments or
suggested links to the same address.
Fictional characters
Television characters
Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese in Fawlty Towers, BBC
1975-1979
Cliff Clavin, played by John Ratzenberger in Cheers, USA
1982-1993
Daria Morgendorffer (voiced by Tracy Grandstaff) in Daria, MTV cartoon
USA 1997-
Jim Dial, played by Charles Kimbrough in Murphy Brown, USA
1988-1998
Lisa Simpson (voiced by Yeardley Smith) and
Moe (Moe Szyslak of Moe's Tavern, voiced by Hank Azaria) in
The Simpsons
cartoon, USA 1989-
Martin
Miller ("Ben's little brother") played by Matthew Buckley in Grange Hill,
Children's BBC UK 1978-
Mr Bean, played by Rowan Atkinson in the eponymous TV series UK 1989- and film Bean UK/USA 1997-
NEWTaz
Tasmanian Devil (voiced by Jim Cummings) in Taz-Mania, USA
cartoon 1991-1993
Steven Quincy "Steve" Urkel / Myrtle Urkel / Stephan
Urquell, played by Jaleel White in Family Matters, USA
1989-1998
Dr Victor Ehrlich and Dr Mark Craig,
played by Ed Begley Jr and William Daniels, in Saint Elsewhere,
USA 1982-1988
TV Aliens/Extra-Terrestrials
Mr Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek, TV and
films, USA 1966-
Seven of Nine, The Doctor and NEWReginald Barclay,
played by Jeri Ryan, Robert Picardo and Dwight Schultz in Star Trek: Voyager,
USA 1995-
The Doctor, The Daleks and The
Cybermen, from Dr
Who, BBC TV and films UK 1963-1989
Mork, played by Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy, USA
1978-1982
Dick, Sally, Harry and
Tommy Solomon, played by John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston,
French Stewart and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 3rd Rock from the
Sun, USA 1996-
Film characters
Andrew Martin the robot, played by Robin Williams in Bicentennial Man,
USA 1999 from a story by Isaac Asimov (see
below)
Barry, played by Jack Black in High Fidelity, USA
2000 (based on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby, whose son
is autistic)
NEARLY NEWBenjie, played by Oliver Conant in Summer of '42, USA
1971
Chance the Gardener ("Chauncy Gardener"), played by Peter
Sellers in Being
There, USA 1979
Charly Gordon, played by Cliff Robertson in Charly, USA 1968;
also known as Charlie Gordon, played by Matthew Modine, in Flowers for
Algernon, USA 2000; based on the novel by Daniel Keyes
Cody, played by Holliston Coleman in Bless the Child,
USA 2000
NEWMolly
McKay, played by Elisabeth Shue in Molly, USA 1999
"Powder" (Jeremy Reeves), played by Sean Patrick Flanery
in Powder, USA
1995
Raymond Babbitt, played by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, USA 1988
Ricky Fitts, played by Wes Bentley in American Beauty,
USA 1999
Simon Lynch, "nine-year-old autistic boy", played by Miko
Hughes in Mercury
Rising, USA 1998
Victor, played by Jean-Pierre Cargol in L'Enfant Sauvage,
directed by François Truffaut, France 1969 (based on the true
story of "the wild boy of Aveyron"; see also Genie, below)
William Forrester, played by Sean Connery in Finding Forrester,
UK/USA 2000
Remember, if you think other famous people should be added to this page, e-mail
me at richardg_uk@yahoo.com including a brief explanation
of why you think they have autistic traits. You can send comments or suggested
links to the same address.
The information on this page was provided by visitors to this site and by
visitors to #asperger, the internet relay chat channel for
people with autism or asperger's. For information about the channel, please see
my #asperger
web page.
Many thanks to all those who have contributed to this page.