He began, “It was terrible. It was awful. Kids make fun of you; your friends make fun of you – we’re all kids. But it was terrible.”
He continued, “I always wished there was something I could come up with that could help heal young people that do have a bad stutter. I think about it constantly… and the only thing I’ve ever been able to come up with is awareness – trying to become aware – in the literature, in the arts – awareness might help them.”
"Stuttering is an attempt to stop the assertion of the self. I can’t think of anything more frustrating or more detrimental to evolving than not allowing yourself whatever thought comes to mind."
When Anthony Mason asked the actor how he conquered it, he responded, “I stuttered. I stuttered in the Marine Corps – not as badly as I did as a child… I just stuttered at times. As a child, I stuttered all the time…. in the Marines just rarely. There was no one way I conquered it. It was just … what I am saying now, the best advice I could give as the result of my experience is awareness of yourself.”
He continued with, “Mine slowly went away… if 20, 25 years, slowing going away, and painfully so.” He also contended that stuttering never entered into his acting, “I never stuttered acting, sort of like you hear me now. It never interfered with acting. No, no, no.”
In a September 12, 1995, interview with the Washington Post, Keitel was quoted as saying, “The only true recognition is the work itself. You don’t need to be nominated for an Oscar to be recognized for your work.” This statement by the actor can be viewed as a universal theme as people who stutter navigate the minefields of speech every day in their chosen professions.
Harvey Keitel’s fascinating life from high school rebel to U.S. Marine to court stenographer to famous actor is nothing short of fascinating in light of the fact that he had to manage his speech all along the way. His story is an inspiration to people who stutter to persevere and not to let stuttering hold them back from their aspirations in terms of a profession.
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Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
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