Roseanne Barr has long been dubbed one of America’s funniest and most controversial comedians.
Her ability to make people laugh made her the second highest-paid female actress in the industry during the last two seasons of the hit show Roseanne.
She started her career as a comedian after she left home and went to Colorado where she worked a number of poorly paid jobs. Eventually, she ended up working as a cocktail waitress. She practiced her comedy with the customers who advised her to try herself as a comedian.
”My customers encouraged me to go down to this comedy club. I didn’t know it was there. So I went down there and watched everybody,” Barr told Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
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During a performance at the famous Comedy Store in Los Angeles, Barr attracted the attention of comedy producer George Schlatter which led to gigs on The Tonight Show in 1985, and Late Night with David Letterman in 1986.
That was a start of a very successful career. Barr was soon dubbed ”Domestic Goddess” and her working-class edge humor made her a famous name in the showbiz.
Towards the end of Roseanne, Barr weighted at her heaviest. Reaching 350 pounds prompted her to undergo weight loss surgery. At that point, she lost 80 pounds but she still needed to follow a strict diet. Barr was left with loose skin that she had to tackle with the help of a tummy tuck and when people publicly commented on her new trimmer figure, she was quick to point out, “I had my entire digestive system removed, so I should look thinner!”
Along with the gastric bypass surgery, Barr had her nose reshaped. During that 2003 interview with the publication, she admitted wanting more procedures but she feared that something could possibly go wrong because of her age. The actress admitted that she gained a little weight again, telling WebMD in 2006 that she’s “fat” but feels “great.”
Then, in 2014, she appeared at an NBC press event and talked about how she had recently lost more weight, saying, “I’m just doing the things you’re supposed to do…you know, moving more, and eating less.”
“I went on a new diet. It’s radical and revolutionary. It’s where you eat less and move more—you know, just simple,” she told Today. “I just want to keep getting healthy and let go of excess baggage to carry around, so I’m lighter on my feet and in my life.”
Barr also turned to gardening. In an interview with Oprah, she revealed, “I’m a farmer now, and it’s fantastic. My goal is to be totally self-sufficient and grow everything I eat.”
Roseanne Barr’s fans are supportive and encourage her journey towards a healthy life-style. Well, at least those who believe she shouldn’t be loosing any more weight.
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Stephen Hawking was a visionary physicist and one of the most renowned scientists of modern times. This British scientist was particularly famed for his work with black holes and relativity, and his book, A Brief History of Time, which spent four years at the top of the Sunday Times best-seller list and was sold in millions of copies translated into 40 languages, brought him to stardom.
The book gave an overview of space and time, as well as the future and the existence of God. Hawking went on to write more books.
While he was a teenager, he wasn’t the best in his class. In fact, he was third from the bottom, but during the last two years of school, he was dubbed ‘Einstein’ by his classmates. Being the son of scientists, it didn’t come as a surprise that young Hawking developed love for science himself.
PRINCETON, NJ – OCTOBER 10: Cosmologist Stephen Hawking on October 10, 1979 in Princeton, New Jersey. (Photo by Santi Visalli/Getty Images)
At one point in his life, when he was still a teenager, he fell for mathematics, but his father wasn’t happy about it. “He thought there wouldn’t be any jobs for mathematicians except as teachers. He made me do the chemistry and only a small amount of mathematics. I’m now a professor of mathematics, but I have not had any formal instruction in mathematics since I left St Albans school aged 17,” Hawking said in 2013.
He got a first in Physics from Oxford, and started a PhD at Cambridge.
At the age of 21, Hawkins was diagnosed with ALS and that changed his life forever.
“When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realize that life is worth living and that there are lots of things you want to do,” Hawking told New York Times.
“In my last year at Oxford, I noticed I was getting increasingly clumsy. I went to the doctor after falling down some stairs, but all he said was, ‘Lay off the beer,’” but he knew the beer wasn’t the problem.
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After an incident on a lake when he fell out skating and wasn’t able to stand up, his mother urged him to go to the hospital. He then underwent a number of tests over the course of two weeks.
“They took a muscle sample from my arm, stuck electrodes into me, and then injected some radio-opaque fluid into my spine and with X-rays watched it go up and down as they tilted the bed. After all that, they didn’t tell me what I had, except that it was not multiple sclerosis and that I was an atypical case,” he recalled.
“I gathered, however, that they expected it to get worse, and there was nothing they could do except give me vitamins, though I could see they didn’t expect them to have much effect. I didn’t ask for more details because they obviously had nothing good to tell me.”
Once they determined he suffered from ALS, or known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, Hawking was given two and a half years to live. But he proved doctors wrong and lived a fulfilled life until 76.
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When he lost the ability to walk, and later to speak, Hawking communicated through a program called Equalizer, developed by computer expert in California named Walt Woltosz.
“This allowed me to select words from a series of menus on the screen by pressing a switch in my hand. I now use another of his programs, called Words+, which I control by a small sensor on my glasses that responds to my cheek movement,” the great scientist explained. “When I have built up what I want to say, I can send it to a speech synthesizer. One’s voice is very important. If you have a slurred voice, people are likely to treat you as mentally deficient. This synthesizer was by far the best I’d heard because it varies the intonation and didn’t speak like a Dalek from Doctor Who.”
With his wife Jane Wilde, Hawking had three children, among which his only daughter, Lucy Hawking, who is keeping her father’s legacy alive.
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“When I was young, he wasn’t the world’s most famous physicist,” Lucy Hawking told Today in 2007.
“The fame didn’t arrive until the publication of “A Brief History of Time,” by which time I was in my late teens. When I was a child, he was well known among physicists, but they are a fairly select, serious bunch, not much given to celebrity idolizing.
What was most striking was the high level of attention his electric wheelchair attracted. I suppose that in the 1970s, it was quite unusual to see a disabled person drive himself around in a wheelchair. People really did stop and stare. (He did drive his chair extremely fast and sometimes in a rather perilous fashion.) I’m so glad that these days, disabled access is so much better and that disabled people are treated with more dignity by the general public.”
Lucy studied French and Russian, and later theater. She worked as a journalist who wrote for several newspapers in both the UK and the US, and then she and her father wrote their first book together.
Youtube/Discovery Canada
George’s Secret Key to the Universe revolves around George, who learns about the universe by traveling around and exploring it.
“I have a 9-year–old son, and I thought it would be wonderful if my father and I could write something together that would explain my grandfather’s work to my son. To explain physics to kids, we decided to use the events in the story to illustrate concepts,” Lucy told Today.
“It was a fascinating process. Working with my father was a great thrill — he has the amazing ability to hold enormous amounts of information in his head, but also to pick out relevant details and make brief comments, which can completely transform your way of thinking,” she added.
“My father is an expert when it comes to framing difficult subjects in accessible language. He was an absolute pleasure to work with, and I felt very honored to have this opportunity.”
Together, they wrote more books.
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When Hawking and Lucy’s mother divorced and he married one of his nurses, Lucy was depressed.
Stephen Hawking passed away on March 14, 2018, and Lucy was heartbroken.
“Even though with someone who has been ill for a very long time, you wouldn’t think that their death could shock you, but it did,” Lucy said. “He always said that your legacy was in your children and in the work you left behind.
“And so I think it’s very, very important that we take the elements of the work he did, which lies in his work in cosmology and physics, but also in his outreach in his work in education, his advocacy for the NHS and for disability rights. And we carry that on.”
Even today, Lucy is involved with her late father’s foundation.
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One of the reasons why Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal duties and left Britain, probably for good, was their desire to raise their children away from the public eye and lead a quiet life. With that said, many found it strange that the couple never really stopped exposing details of their privacy with the world. It all started with the now-infamous Oprah interview during which the Sussexes accused the members of the Firm of racism and mistreatment among the rest.
From that moment on, the couple, who now resides in sunny California, never stopped giving interviews. They secured a five-year $100 million production deal with Netflix, which released their documentary recently, and made deals with Spotify.
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In January of this year, Harry published his much-anticipated all-tell memoir Spare which sold in a staggering 1.4 million copies on its first day in the UK, United States, and Canada. Spare has been released in 16 different languages worldwide and is expected to be the best-selling book in 2023.
“We always knew this book would fly, but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations,” Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld Penguin Random House, said.
“As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter).”
Spare, along with Meghan and Harry’s Netflix documentary series and the number of interviews they gave to the media, made their reputation among the British people to drop down to 24 percent compared to 80 percent a decade ago.
Considering the success the memoir reached, sources claim that Random House will encourage Meghan Markle to release an all-tell book herself.
“Nobody expected sales figures like the ones we are seeing,” a source shared with Express UK, adding that the figures have “taken everyone by surprise.”
“Harry could easily overtake the combined book sales of the Obamas, the company’s current joint best-selling authors. That’s why the heat is on to get Meghan’s version of events – both with the Royal Family and her own family members in America – out there in print as soon as possible, ideally early next year to pick-up sales when demand for Spare slows down.
“Having seen Harry’s sales, they’re convinced Meghan’s story in her own words can sell even more, especially in the US,” the industry insider claimed.
Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
As Harry was cut-off financially when he left his royal family behind, he and Meghan have been forced to worked their way of making money and supporting their lavish lifestyle. With the deals they made, Meghan’s net worth of around $60 million and the $14 million princess Diana left Harry, they seem to be doing just fine.
However, royal experts claim that Meghan isn’t happy as “she had imagined [Harry] would be worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, and she is having to make up for it now,” Tom Bower, the author of Reveengee: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, calling the Duchess “money-obsessed.”
“Her great surprise and disappointment were that Prince Harry had very little money,” Bower told the Express. “She wants to ride in the big Cadillacs, the private jets on command. At the moment, she needs to scrounge for those sorts of things.”
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala
Another royal expert, Daniela Elser, shares Bower’s thoughts. Writing for the New Zealand Herald, she concluded, “Does anyone think [Spotify] might have paid out the full $33 million their contract is said to be worth just for Meghan’s lackluster Archetypes? (It might have debuted with much fanfare, but later episodes failed to set the podcasting charts on fire).
“The issue is not only how much they are making but how tiddly that sum is in contrast with what their new best friends are all raking in,” Elser added.
What are your thoughts on this?
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Karen and Richard Carpenter formed the famous duo ‘The Carpenters.’ Together, the siblings sold over 100 million records in the 1970s and had 17 top 20 hits. When they signed with A&M Records, Karen was just 19. And as everyone predicted her career would be a long and successful one, her life tragically ended when she was 32.
As a young child, Karen struggled with her weight and had a hard time losing some. The tours and the concerts only made things worse when it came to establishing a proper eating schedule.
“When you’re on the road, it’s hard to eat. Period. On top of that, it’s tough to eat well. We don’t like to eat before a show because I can’t stand singing with a full stomach,” she once said.
Many believed that her overeating had a lot to do with her mother. Karen lacked love and affection from her mom and that affected her eating. At one point, she weighted 145 pounds and hated how she looked in her pictures. In an attempt to shed some weight, Karen hired a personal trainer, but she soon fired him as she wanted to reach her goal herself. Sadly, her obsession with losing weight turned into an eating disorder.
Eventually, she lost 20 pounds and received plenty of compliments. “She lost around 20lbs, and she looked fabulous,” Karen’s boyfriend’s sister, Carol Curb, revealed. “She weighed 110lb or so and looked amazing. If she’d been able to stop there, then life would have been beautiful.”
Unfortunately, Karen started starving herself and only pretended that she was eating in front of her family and friends. Whenever she was having a meal around people, she would cut up her food and move it around her plate trying to give it to those sitting next to her.
When she lost even more weight, she tried to hide that by wearing several layers of clothing. Her agent, Sherwin Bash, told The Guardian, “She would start with a long-sleeved shirt and then put a blouse over that, and a sweater over that and a jacket over that. With all of it, you had no idea of what she had become.”
As her eating disorder worsened, she was forced to seek medical help and was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Karen was admitted to hospital, and realizing her condition was severe, her mother finally gave her the attention the singer always longed for.
Some two months later, Karen was finally able to continue with her life. Eventually, she fell in love with someone and believed she found the true love of her life, but things didn’t turn out as expected. When she met 39-year-old divorcee Tom Burris, Karen felt like her life was complete. She dreamed of starting a family and having children, but what she didn’t know was that Tom had had vasectomy and hid that from her although he knew just how much she wanted to become a mother. Karen learned of that shortly before her wedding and wanted to call it off, but her mother forced her to proceed with it because she believed that a canceled wedding would affect Karen’s image.
Tom treated Karen poorly and often called her names such as ‘a bag of bones.’ On top of that, he was spending her hard-earned money. Karen was dealing with her anorexia and her career. I was dealing with my real estate problems,” he later said. “I feel totally guilty like I’d like to reverse everything.” In 1981, Karen had had enough and filed for divorce.
She then asked for professional help from Steven Levenkron, a psychotherapist who was an authority on eating disorders. He organized a session with her closest family and friends and asked from them to tell Karen how much they loved and cared for her. And as her brother did that right away, her mom and dad weren’t forthcoming, with Agnes saying, “Well, I’m from the north, and we just don’t do things that way.”
LOS ANGELES – 1977: Singers Carpenters poses for a portrait in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)
Cherry O’Neil, a close friend of Karen revealed how the singer was having problems with overusing laxatives. “Karen was having particular problems with laxatives. She could not believe she could ever get to a point where she was not dependent on them.”
A month prior to her 33rd birthday, Karen was once again admitted to hospital, this time due to her irregular heartbeat and dehydration. Karen truly wanted to recover, but sadly, a few days later, her mother found her collapsed in a heap face-down in her walk-in closet. Karen’s eating disorder led to a cardiac arrest and she died. Her heart got weak because of vomit-inducing medication called Ipecac that Karen was using during the last days of her life.
Following her passing, professionals asked from the Food and Drug Administration to ban the over-the-counter sale of drugs that induced vomiting.
Karen is believed to be the first known celebrity to die from anorexia nervosa.
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Dubbed the ultimate sex symbol of the 1960s, French actress Brigitte Bardot conquered the world the moment she first appeared on screen.
This blonde beauty, who inspired numerous fashion trends over the years, started working as a model at the age of 15, appearing on the cover of Elle magazine. Her immense charm caught the attention of many, and she soon started an acting career, rising to stardom in her native France. However, it didn’t take long before she decided to search for a place under the Hollywood sky.
Bardot appeared on screen for the first time as Javotte Lemoine in Crazy for Love in 1952 and made her first American production in Act of Love with Kirk Douglas in 1953. But it wasn’t until she landed a role in the 1956 film And God Created Women that she created her famous ‘sex kitten’ persona. The film was considered controversial in America, but it helped Bardot redefine the image of the modern woman.
“I’m a girl from a good family who was very well brought up. One day I turned my back on it all and became a bohemian,” she once said.
Publicity photo of Brigitte Bardot in A Very Private Affair.
In 1965, she appeared as herself in the American-made Dear Brigitte with James Stewart, but the film didn’t seem to be a huge success and the American audience was hard to please, but despite that, the fascination with gorgeous Bardot only grew bigger and bigger over the years.
When she starred opposite Sean Connery in the Western movie Shalako in 1968, people had high expectations, but the movie received mixed reviews.
Bardot in A Very Private Affair in 1962
In 1973, at age 39, Bardot retired from acting while still being a major star. This decision confused many, but she had her reasons.
“The majority of great actresses met tragic ends. When I said goodbye to this job, to this life of opulence and glitter, images and adoration, the quest to be desired, I was saving my life,” Bardot told The Guardian.
“In the beginning, I enjoyed having people talking about me, but very quickly, it suffocated and destroyed me. Throughout my 20 years starring in movies, each time filming began, I would break out with herpes.”
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Following her retirement, she focused all her time an energy to a close that has always been close to her heart, animal rights, becoming one of the leading animal rights activists in the world and the head of “Foundation Brigitte Bardot.”
“I gave my youth and beauty to men. Now I’m giving my wisdom and my experience, the better part of me, to animals,” she once said.
Speaking of her love for animals, the director of And God Created Beauty and Brigitte’s first husband, Roger Vadim, told People, “She did not get much affection from her parents, and when we started dating, she didn’t want jewels, but a dog.
“She was always allergic to fame, power and everything that connoted success. The innocence and honesty of animals reassured her.”
Brigitte Bardot visits her dog refuge “The Nice Dogs” of Carnoules on October 7, 2001 in Paris, France. (Photo by Charly Hel/Prestige/Getty Images)
Bardot’s organization has done plenty for the animals over the years. Among the rest, it offers conservation programs. Further, it has financed a wild animal hospital in Chile and created facilities for mistreated bears in Bulgaria, koalas in Australia, and for elephants in Thailand.
Named “The most beautiful French actresses of all time” by Vogue, Bardot, who is 88 years old, still stuns with her beauty.
Today, she and her fourth husband, Bernard d’Orma, a wealthy businessman, live in the French coastal town of La Madrague.
Gilles BASSIGNAC/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Asked what gives her strength to star her days, Bardot told Vogue, “The suffering of animals,” and added: “You probably know that I find walking difficult these days. I can’t go for long walks any more, or go swimming. But I’m lucky, compared to what animals suffer. The dozens of letters I receive every day testify to the horrors that animals are still being subjected to.”
Brigitte Bardot is an absolute icon.
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Former child star Dawn Lyn, best known for the TV show My Three Sons, has been fighting for her life after she ended up in coma following a brain surgery, her former co-stars reported.
It was Stanley Livingson and Tina Cole who first wrote of Dawn’s health condition on the social media.
Once the news spread, Lyn’s brother, Leif Garrett, confirmed the rumors to be true.
“My sister, Dawn, never wanted anyone to know about the surgery,” he wrote. “Since it has been leaked on social media, I would really appreciate everyone’s understanding that it has already been a difficult time having lost both of our parents and a cousin recently. Please just keep my sister in your thoughts and prayers and respect our family’s privacy. Thank you.”
A spokesperson of Garrett said the family will not further comment on Dawn’s condition.
In 1971, Dawn Lyn had a major role in the western Shoot Out as the daughter of Gregory Peck’s character / Getty Images
Chip Douglas, who played Lyn’s brother on the show, was among the people who spoke of Dawn’s health.
“Just found out my little TV Sis’, DAWN LYN (Dodie), is in a COMA and fighting for her life,” he wrote some days ago. “She had surgery recently to remove a brain tumor. Please pray for her to have a swift and full recovery. I took Dawn out to lunch a couple of months ago. We had a great time reminiscing about our MTS days. Dawn is one of the nicest human beings I have ever known. Thoughts and prayers also go out to her husband, John, at this time. This is devastating news!”
Later, he posted an update, writing, “She remains unconscious battling meningitis. Her vitals and brain waves are good. The doctors and nurses are aggressively fighting the bacterial infection. They’re optimistic.”
As My Three Sons turned into a huge hit back in the day, Dawn gained popularity when she came to the forefront in the final three seasons.
Actress Dawn Lyn arrives for “The Comeback Kids” Los Angeles Special Screening held at Landmark Theatre on February 17, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
Once the show was over, Dawn continued working as an actress for many years.
As her condition remains critical, her family and her husband of 16 years, William John Reese, are by her side hoping and praying for a positive outcome.
Our prayers go to Dawn and her family. We wish she recovers as soon as possible.
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In life, it happens that we meet someone and we instantly know that’s the person we would like to spend our eternity with. However, not everyone is lucky enough to match with their soulmate during the adventure called life, so when you do, make sure you grab that individual firmly and never let go.
Rosalynn’s family lived next to Jimmy’s and she was a very good friend with his sister. She remembers that Jimmy’s sister had a photo of him on the wall and she fell in love with that photo showing young Jimmy wearing his uniform.
During a visit of his hometown from the Naval Academy, Jimmy laid eyes on Rosalynn and immediately knew she was the one. Speaking to People, the former president said: “She was beautiful and innocent, and there was a resonance.” They started dating but didn’t marry until she turned 18 because she made a promise to her dying father that she won’t marry before finishing school.
During the first years of marriage, the couple constantly moved places because Jimmy was often deployed at different locations. However, Rosalynn didn’t mind that. In fact, she loved being on the move with him and when he made the decision to give up his career in the Navy, she wasn’t glad. “I had been self-sufficient and independent from my mother and Jimmy’s mother,” she told The New York Times.
Being married for so many years must be a challenge, but the Carters don’t see it that way. They have always been by each other’s side; during presidency and while he battled cancer. Speaking of the secret to a long and happy marriage, both Rosalynn and Jimmy say that they have never went to bed angry at one another and know how to enjoy the simple things that many take for granted, like cherishing each other’s company.
“We’ve just grown closer and closer together,” Jimmy said.
According to the oldest living U.S. president, there are only two things necessary to ensure a happy and long marriage: “First of all, choose the right person to marry,” Jimmy told ABC’s Good Morning America. “And every night, we try to make sure we’re completely reconciled from all the arguments during the day.”
In a 2014 interview, he revealed that there is a phrase he tells his wife every single day, ‘I love you the goodest.’
“That’s what my mother and daddy used to say back and forth, and I picked it up with Rosa.” The phrase, ILYTG, became such a significant part of their lives together that Jimmy had it engraved on a compact he presented to Rosalynn and even their children use it very often. “Now all our children do the same thing – ILYTG on the phone or in emails. They generally just put the initials,” he said. “And sometimes they change the initials and make you guess what they’re talking about.”
The two share a lot of interests together, like bird watching and helping the community through the organization Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for people in need.
They also give each other the space to do the things that fulfill them. “Jimmy and I are always looking for things to do together.” Rosalynn told CBS42. “Each [person] should have some space. That’s really important.”
It’s impossible not to love these two. We wish them more happy and healthy years together.
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Being different is not a bad thing, but it certainly comes with plenty of challenges and one of the people who know that best is Adam Pearson, the man who never let anything stand in his way to success and happiness.
From being called names such as “Elephant Man” and “Scarface” to starring alongside Scarlet Johansson, Adam has experienced a lot and today he serves as inspiration to many people who live their life with disability.
When he was born, on January 6, 1985, in London, he looked like a completely normal child, but then, when he turned five, his life changed completely. One day, he knocked his head on a windowsill, but the resulting bump on his face never went away. Instead, it triggered the growth of numerous tumors which disfigured his appearance completely. Adam was then diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a genetic condition that causes tumors to grow along the nerves.
Sadly, he experienced a lot of bullying and considered himself an outsider.
Youtube/OnlyHuman
He recalled a particular incident when speaking to The Guardian. A boy from his class told him that one of the teachers was waiting for him in the next classroom, but when he went there, there was no teacher there but a group of students who made fun of him. “I went home with spit all over my blazer,” he explained. “That was horrific.”
In another interview, he told The Mirror, “I used to stand outside the school gates in the morning, take a massive deep breath and let it happen. I knew what I was in for. It was continuous name-calling – the classic Elephant Man, freak.”
But he knew he needed to find a way to stand for himself.
“Once I started thinking like them, the bullies had won. It’s about the life you have, not the one you don’t. It wasn’t an emotionally productive thing to do,” Adam explained. “For me, it’s all I’ve ever known. It’s very much a part of me. It would have been like asking: ‘Why am I this tall?’”
Youtube/RealStories
Over the years, Adam had undergone numerous surgeries. During a regular visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children’s hospital in London, Adam saw a poster about the organization Changing Faces, he would later became an ambassador of. The organization is “UK’s leading charity for everyone with a scar, mark or condition on their face or body.”
Upon graduating from Brighton University where he studies business management, Adam landed several jobs, including at Channel 4 and the BBC, and appeared in The Undateables and Beauty and the Beast, both of which deal with how society views disabilities in all forms.
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 20: Adam Pearson and Jess Weixler during the 10th Annual BAMcinemaFest Opening Night Premiere Of “Sorry To Bother You” at BAM Harvey Theater on June 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
It wasn’t until 2011, however, that more people learned of him and his life changed drastically. Changing Faces contacted him one day and told him that producers were looking for a male character for the film Under the Skin, starring Scarlet Johansson. Adam was quick to land on a role in the film which turned out to be a great success.
“One of the main reasons for taking the role was because it was so moving and honest,” Adam said.
“For me, the film is about what the world looks like without knowledge and without prejudice. It’s about seeing the world through alien eyes, I guess.”
Youtube/RealStories
Working alongside Johansson was a dream come true. Speaking of her, Adam described her as exceptional, not only as an actress but as a human being. The two even had to film a nude scene together.
“They just said ‘action’ and you do it,” he said. “I didn’t really think about it, I didn’t broadcast the information [that he was in the film] until quite near the release. I didn’t tell some people at all and just took them to see the film, I mean, my friend Heidi hasn’t made eye contact with me for a week.
“[Scarlett Johansson was] brilliant. She’s really nice, charming, funny and intelligent once you get over the feeling of ‘Oh my God, this is Scarlett Johansson!’”
Adam didn’t see the film as his personal success only because he believed that being part of it was a way to show the world that people with disabilities have a lot to offer.
He wanted to be seen as a proof that nothing is impossible, even if you are different than what societies consider ‘normal.’
“There’s a lot of fear around the unknown. If I can try to be as normal as possible and show there’s nothing to fear – either on film or day to day, going round the corner to go shopping for milk – then the more people see it in wider society, the less stigma there is. If I just sit at home and mope, hugging the dog and crying, nothing’s going to change.”
Youtube/RealStories
Following Under the Skin, Adam starred in other productions as well, including DRIB, in which he played himself, Chained for Life, and A Different Man among the rest. The New York Times described him as “an actor of great charm.”
Having been working hard to break down the stigma surrounding his disability, Adam has been serving as a motivational speaker at different events such as the World Health Innovation Summit. He has also been given multiple TED talks. Adam won a RADAR Award and a Diana Award for his work and is serving as an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, Changing Faces, and Us In A Bus. His influence in the fight against the stigma surrounding people with disabilities is immense. In 2022, he was included in the list of UK’S 100 most influential people with disabilities.
“Often with minority talent, and particularly disabled talent, they get pigeonholed into only doing massive air quotes here, disability thing,” he told Metro. “I’ve got no idea what disability things are, so if someone could let me know and I could start doing them, that would be great! But no, it was something that existed outside of that realm, and it seemed like a real opportunity to sort of step out of that bubble.”
Adam is single and doesn’t have children. In case he does, there is 50% chance they will inherit his condition. “My kids will be genetically awesome anyway,” he proclaimed.
Adam Pearson is a fascinating man who has become a role model for many.
We wish him even more success in the years to come.
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