List of people with epilepsy

This is a list of notable people who have, or had, the medical condition epilepsy. Following from that, there is a short list of people who have received a speculative, retrospective diagnosis of epilepsy. Finally there is a substantial list of people who are often wrongly believed to have had epilepsy.

Epilepsy and greatness

A possible link between epilepsy and greatness has fascinated biographers and physicians for centuries. In his Treatise on Epilepsy, the French 17th-century physician Jean Taxil refers to Aristotle's "famous epileptics". This list includes Heracles, Ajax, Bellerophon, Socrates, Plato, Empedocles, Maracus of Syracuse, and the Sibyls. However, historian of medicine Owsei Temkin argues that Aristotle had in fact made a list of melancholics and had only associated Heracles with the "Sacred Disease". Taxil goes on to add his own names: Roman Emperor Caligula, Drusus, and Petrarch. Neurologist John Hughes concluded that the majority of famous people alleged to have epilepsy did not in fact have this condition.

Certain diagnosis

The following categorized chronological list contains only those people for whom a firm and uncontested diagnosis was made during their lifetime.

Acting

Name	Life	Comments	Reference
Bud Abbott	1895–1974	Comedian who had epilepsy all his life, but tried to control and hide it.
Ward Bond	1903–1960	A film actor. His epilepsy led to his exclusion from the draft during World War II.
Michael Wilding	1912-1979	English TV, film and stage actor. Former husband of Elizabeth Taylor. Died as a result of head injuries sustained as a result of a fall after an epileptic seizure.
Bob Fosse	1927–1987	An American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. In 1961, Fosse's epilepsy was revealed when he had a seizure onstage during rehearsals for The Conquering Hero.
Rip Taylor	1931-2019	An American actor and comedian, Taylor died in 2019 having been hospitalized for having an epileptic seizure a week prior.
Boryslav Brondukov	1938–2004	A Ukrainian film character actor, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. Epilepsy seizures from 1998.
Pete Duel	1940–1971	A television and film actor whose epilepsy is thought to have been brought on during adolescence by head injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
Danny Glover	born 1946	An actor and film director who had epilepsy from age 15 to age 35.
Michael Jeter	1952-2003	American stage and screen actor who died from having an epileptic seizure.
Margaux Hemingway	1955–1996	A film actress and model who had epilepsy from the age of seven. Her death was attributed to suicide by an intentional overdose of phenobarbital, which is an anticonvulsant, but see the footnoted article for an alternative explanation.
Melanie Griffith	born 1957	American actress whose seizures are thought to be induced by stress
Rik Mayall	1958-2014	Successful comedy actor in various UK comedy series and some comedy films. He developed epilepsy arising from a quad bike accident in 1998.
Sharon Stone	born 1958	Actress who played major roles in blockbuster movies including Total Recall, Basic Instinct, and Casino. She suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage in 2001 that led to seizures that still require medications for control as of 2023. She has also stated that she will have seizures without getting 8 hours of sleep.
Hugo Weaving	born 1960	An actor who has taken anticonvulsants for epilepsy since his first seizure at age 13.
Martin Kemp	born 1961	Actor and former bassist with the pop band Spandau Ballet. He developed epilepsy after having two brain tumours in the 1990s.
Barbie Hsu	1976-2025	Taiwanese actress and star of the Mandarin-speaking TV show Meteor Garden, former TV Host and Pop Star. She had a medical history of epilepsy and heart disease.
Júlia Almeida	born 1983	Brazilian actress
Fatima Sana Shaikh	born 1992	An Indian actress who has had epilepsy for much of her life.
Laura Neiva	born 1993	Brazilian actress and model
Sara Thompson	born 1995	A Canadian actress best known for playing "Molly Ross" in Burden of Truth who has also starred in films and is also a dancer. As part of the Orange Daisy Project she seeks to promote mental health in young women and has had epilepsy since the age of sixteen.
Cameron Boyce	1999–2019	An actor best known for his roles as Luke Ross on the Disney Channel series Jessie and as Carlos on the TV film Descendants, previously diagnosed with epilepsy. Boyce died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Leadership, politics and royalty

Name	Life	Comments	Reference
Michael IV the Paphlagonian	1010–1041	A Byzantine emperor who had frequent tonic-clonic seizures since adolescence. The seizures were interpreted at the time to be demonic possession as punishment for his sins. His royal entourage were alert to signs of an impending seizure and tried to hide the emperor when he was ill.
Pedro I of Brazil	1798–1834	Founder and first emperor of the Empire of Brazil. There are many accounts of him having seizures throughout his life, just like his sister Infanta Isabel Maria of Braganza. One author describes them happening as early as 1811, when he was thirteen years old.
Hans Ulrik Gyldenløve	1615–1645	Illegitimate son of Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway, Hans Ulrik was an officer in the Danish Royal Navy and the commander of a royal castle, the Kronborg. He was prone to epileptic incidents, and during a state visit to Spain with his father's ambassador in 1640, he had a seizure shortly after a bullfight. He had to be sent home to Denmark.
Ivan V Alekseyevich	1666–1696	Older half brother of Russian Tsar Peter the Great. Ivan V was feeble-minded, epileptic, and half-blind. Would have never become Tsar except for the support of his sister Sophia, who wanted to become regent over him. His sister, with the military backing of the Streltsy, made Ivan V rule as co-tsar with Peter I .
José Antonio Páez	1790–1873	Former President of Venezuela Statesman and Military Commander who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spain for Simón Bolívar. He had epilepsy also while a battlefield Commander.
Pope Pius IX	1792–1878	Had childhood epilepsy.
Francis Libermann	1802–1852	A Jew who converted to Christianity and studied for priesthood. Epilepsy prevented his ordination for many years.
Ida McKinley	1847–1907	First Lady of the United States from 1897 to 1901. Her epilepsy started in adulthood and was to become quite disabling and inconvenient. As was normal for the time, great efforts were made to keep this secret. Her husband, William McKinley, would cover her face with a napkin when she had symptoms at dinner parties.
Vladimir Lenin	1870–1924	First Premier of the Soviet Union. Lenin's final year was characterized by neurological decline and loss of function. In his last few months, he developed epilepsy. His seizures worsened and he died in status epilepticus, which had lasted 50 minutes.
Caligula	AD 12–41	Roman Emperor. Suetonius states that "As a boy he was troubled with the falling sickness , and while in his youth he had some endurance, yet at times because of sudden faintness he was hardly able to walk, to stand up, to collect his thoughts, or to hold up his head."
Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland	1889–1918	The youngest son of Gustaf V of Sweden.
Prince John of the United Kingdom	1905–1919	The youngest son of King George V, John had epilepsy from the age of 4 until his death after a seizure aged 13. John's epilepsy, along with intellectual disability and possibly autism, led to his living most of his life at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate away from visitors who were not family members.
Rabbi Lionel Blue	1930–2016	A rabbi and broadcaster, best known for his contributions to "Thought for the Day" on BBC Radio 4's Today program. His epilepsy was diagnosed when he was aged 57 and is successfully controlled with medication.
Dave Longaberger	1934–1999	A businessman and founder of The Longaberger Company, makers of handcrafted maple wood baskets and accessories. He overcame epilepsy and a stutter, eventually graduating from high school aged 21.
Joe Doyle	1936–2009	Joe Doyle was an Irish Fine Gael politician. He was a long-standing public representative for the Dublin South-East and served as a member of Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann and Dublin City Council before serving as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1998 to 1999. He first developed epilepsy at the age of 16. He became one of Ireland's most prominent advocate's for epilepsy and was a member of the board of directors of Brainwave, the Irish Epilepsy Association, at the time of his death.
Neil Abercrombie	born 1938	The former Governor of Hawaii who campaigned for increased funding for epilepsy research. He was diagnosed with epilepsy in his early thirties.
Rudi Dutschke	1940–1979	A prominent spokesperson of the left-wing German student movement of the 1960s. An assassination attempt in 1968, when he was shot twice in the head, left him partially blind and with frequent epileptic attacks. He drowned in the bathtub after having a seizure.
Tony Coelho	born 1942	A former United States congressman who developed epilepsy aged 16, possibly as a result of an earlier head injury. This would lead to rejection by his family and the Jesuits for "possession by the devil". He has campaigned as a congressman for disabled rights and chairs the Epilepsy Foundation's national board of directors.
Eamonn McCann	born 1943	A former Northern Ireland People Before Profit MLA from Derry and Councillor who developed epilepsy in 2006.	-
John Roberts	born 1955	Roberts is the 17th Chief Justice of the United States. He was appointed to office by President George W. Bush on 29 September 2005. His first seizure occurred in 1993 which was disclosed to the Senate Judiciary Committee who confirmed him. His second seizure occurred in 2008 when he fell 5 to 10 feet onto a dock near his house.
Denis O'Donovan	born 1955	O'Donovan is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator from 1989 to 1992, 1997-2002 and since 2007. He was appointed to serve as Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann from 2016 to 2020 and also served as a TD for Cork South-West from 2002 to 2007. He first had a grand-mal seizure in 2020 and later episodes which left him close to death. He has since spoken publicly about his experiences in the role of an advocate.
Laura Sandys	born 1964	British Conservative Party politician. She was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for South Thanet. She revealed in parliament in October 2010 that she had epilepsy, but had been seizure-free for seven years.
Paul Maynard	born 1975	British Conservative Party politician. He was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament for Blackpool North and Cleveleys. In 2010, he was appointed vice-president of the charity Epilepsy Action.
Patrick O'Donovan	born 1977	Irish Fine Gael Party politician. He was elected at the 2011 Irish general election as a Teachta Dála for Limerick. He had previously served as a Councillor on Limerick County Council from 2003 to 2011 and is a former schoolteacher. He was diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy having collapsed in the Dáil Eireann Chamber on 29 June 2023.	-
Eoghan Kenny	born 2000	Irish Labour Party politician. He was elected at the 2024 Irish general election as a Teachta Dála for Cork North-Central. He had previously served as a Councillor on Cork County Council from 2024 and is a former Schoolteacher. He was diagnosed with epilepsy during the 2024 Irish general election campaign as he had a seizure while preparing for a RTE Drivetime Radio Programme.	-