to do the same when he signed on to do Two and a Half Men in 2003. He informed Chuck Lorre, the show’s co-creator and producer/ writer, right away about his stuttering. In the memoir, Sheen wrote, “Before we shot the pilot, I gave my “stutter speech” (my least favorite oxymoron) to Chuck and his writing partner, Lee. Spin had empowered me to stop shying away from it, and they both seemed willing to have my back. There were a few moments early on when the ghoul got me, but we were able to sneak past it with a couple of word-trades. Jon (Cryer) was a champ with that stuff and even volunteered once or thrice to alleviate my struggle and take the whole damn line. It’s worth pointing out: My stand in on the show, Jimmy M, is also a stutterer. We’d compare notes and most of the time have the same fear-words underlined in the script. It didn’t solve things for either of us, but it was pretty kool to have a fellow ghoul- mate close by.”
Sheen elaborated, “I’d be thrilled if this book wound up serving as type of a clarion call, announcing my brain glitch to the world. To walk into a high-stakes job in the future and have my new workplace already aware of this awful curse would be like a gift to no other.”
While the then highest paid actor in tv history has been open about how alcohol use helped him in terms of curbing his stuttering, in the memoir he makes clear that when he was abusing Norco (Vicodin 2.0) during the years on Two and a Half Men, these pills made his stuttering a lot worse.
While Charlie Sheen’s career has had some ups and downs, he always seems to make a comeback, and the stuttering community can only wish that he makes another striking comeback. The fact that he has been so open about his lifelong struggles with stuttering put a human face on the speech problem and foster a greater public understanding. Having such a high-profile celebrity as Charlie Sheen identify as a person who stutters helps young people who are struggling with the speech issue. His personal statements about his past and ongoing experiences with stuttering are ones that will resonate with many people in the stuttering community.
2026: IN MEMORIAM
Sulaiman AbdulNour Joseph Agnello Clark Andrews, Jr. James W. Bell Curt Betebenner Harry L. Borger Mariah D. Buck Lee Caggiano
James M. Campbell Michael Carlberg
Dr. Sylvester Clifford Edith Comito
Michael and Mary Cristiano Jane DelVicchio
Katharyn Elizabeth Fell Demaree Ray Diament
Dr. William Dopheide Connie Dugan
Jean Fraser Duke Major James Duricy Carol Ecke Larry Eckloff Edmund A. Evans Florence Filley Sander A. Flaum Malcolm Fraser
Joseph R.G. Fulcher Keith Gadbois Ulises Giberga
Morris and Marietta Gjessing Annie Glenn Nick Goodban
Dr. Hugo Gregory
Dr. Stephen B. Hood Marilyn K. Johnson James Earl Jones Antanas Kiselis Sue Knight
Dr. E. George Linke Patsy P. Livingston Casey L. Lott Bob Love
Susan McCullough Timothy McGuire
Christina Mullin
Dr. William P. Murphy Dr. Frederick Murray Dr. Lois Nelson Jodi M. Nesi Bill Norton
Irene Olshewitz Kathleen C. O’Neill
Joseph Orzechowski James Pappas
William A. Parker, Jr. Leon Parkin
Clarence Percival (Pete) Hathaway, III
Alys Pitzer Philip E. Powell Larry and Sandra Prince Dr. Robert W. Quesal Edward F. Quinn, Jr. Dr. Alan Rabinowitz William T. Rigotti
Dr. Howard Schwartz Dr. Lisa Scott Alfred Steinmetz Lizbeth J. Stevens
Ursula and Neal Tash Larry Thompson Phyllis Thurm
Peter Tsimbidaros
Dr. Charles Van Riper Luz Marina Vargas
Fred and Virginia Wagner Mary Weadon
Jonathan Weinberg
Sherrie L. Kofsky Weinstein Raymond Wichowski Dr. Bruce Witkind
Dr. and Mrs. Elliot Witkind Erik R. Yehl
Catherine H. Zimmer 21
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