So, who are the famous people with diabetes? There are literally hundreds of celebrities with diabetes and we have included dozens of them below. Everyone from NFL players to musicians and actors to famous painters has been afflicted with the disease.
Take a look below and see if how many people you know, or maybe didn’t know had or have diabetes. We were surprised with some of the people. Will you be too?
If you know of anyone we missed, let me know and I will add them to the list.
Famous athletes with diabetes
National Football League (NFL)
- Wade Wilson – Quarterback
- Jay Cutler – Quarterback
- Joe Gibbs – Coach
- Mike Echos
- Kenny Docket
- Everson Walls
- Hank Stram
- Mike Sinclair
- Jay Leeuwenburg
National Hockey League (NL)
- Curt Frazier
- Bobby Clarke
- Toby Peterson
National Basketball Association (NBA)
- Walt Frazier
- Chris Dudley
- Larry Miller – Utah Jazz Owner
- Jerry Stackhouse
- Dominique Wilkins
Major League Baseball (MLB)
- Ty Cobb
- Jackie Robinson
- David Wells
- Bill Gullickson
- James “catfish” Hunter
Golf
- Scott Verplank
Extreme Sports
- Sean Busby – Professional Snowboarder
- Scott Dunton – Surfer
- Jay Hewitt – Triathlete
Tennis
- Arthur Ashe – Wimbledon, Australian Open, U.S. Open Champion
- Billie Jean King
- Bill Talbert – 9 Grand Slam Doubles Titles
Boxing
- Sugar Ray Robinson
- Smokin” Joe Frazier
- James “Buster” Douglas
Other Athletes
- Ayden Byle – Runner
- Robert Marella – Pro Wrestler – “The Gorilla Monsoon”
- Gary Hall, JR – Olympic Swimmer
famous entertainers and actors with diabetes
- Mary Tyer Moore
- Halle Barry – Oscar winning actress
- Elizabeth Taylor
- James Doohan (“Scotty” – Star Trek)
- Drew Carey
- Aida Turturro – “Janice” on Sopranos
- Al Lewis – Grandpa Munster
- Ben Vereen
- Carroll O’Connor – Archie Bunker, Sherriff Gillespie
- Dale Evans – Singer/actress
- Della Reese – Singer/actress
- Wilford Brimley
- Delta Burke – Golden Girls
- Jack Benny
- James Cagney
- Nell Carter – “Gimme a Break” actress
- Mae West
- Dick Clark – American Bandstand
- Jackie Gleason
- Jerry Lewis
- Larry King
- Brittnay Murphy
- Stan Laurel (Laurel and Hardy Fame)
- Paula Dean (Celebrity Chef)
- Jeremy irvine (British Stage and Screen Actor)
- Paul Sorvino
Famous singers musicians with diabetes
- Patti LaBelle
- Elvis Presley – The King!
- Randy Jackson – American Idol
- Bo Diddley
- Brad Wilk – Rage Against the Machine (Drummer)
- Angie Stone
- Pfife Dawg – Rapper / Hip Hop
- Ray Anderson
- Tommy Lee – Motley Cru (Drummer)
- Syd Barret – Pink Floyd (Singer)
- Rick James
- Aretha Franklin – You’d better “Respect” diabetes!
- James Brown – Godfather of Soul
- Mick Fleetwood – FleetwoodMac name sake
- Nick Jonas
- Miles davis
- Johnny Cash – The Man in Black
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Neil Young
- Wayland Jennings
- B.B. King
- Tony Bennett
- Bret Michaels – Poison (lead singer)
Famous political and business people with diabetes
Famous Politicians
- Hafez al-Assad – President of Syria
- Marion Barry – Former Mayor
- King Fahd – Saudi Arabia
- Nikita Kruschev – Soviet Era Premier
- Fiorello LaGuardia – Former NYC Mayor
- Mike Huckabee – Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate
- Judge Sonia Sotomayor – Federal Judge
- Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat – Former President of Egypt
- Yuri Andropov – Former Soviet Premier
- Thomas Menino – Long time Mayor of Boston
Famous Business People
- Ray Kroc (McDonald’s Founder)
- William and John Davidson (Harley Davidson Fame)
- J.R. Meredith (Chief Engineer Flagler-Key West Rail Road – “Eighth Modern Wonder of the World”)
famous artist,journalists And authors with Diabetes
- Mario Puzo – Godfather writer
- Linda Goodman – NYT best selling astrologer and poet
- Anne Rice – Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil writer
- Carl Rowan – Columnist
- Paul Cezanne – Painter