Famous People with Schizophrenia

Famous people with schizophrenia are listed on this page. Some of the celebrities and other notables are also listed on the famous people with mental illness list.

One reason is that there has been confusion within the psychological profession since both diseases share some common symptoms (such as hallucinations) and were in the past commonly misdiagnosed.

Another reason is that the best guess of differing physicians and other mental health professionals will place the same person into two different categories. So, on with the list.

List of Famous People with Schizophrenia

Some of the stars, celebrities and other notables with schizophrenia had led productive lives before the onset of their diseases, but not so much afterwards. Other famous people with schizophrenia were able to be treated effectively and move on successfully.

Known as perhaps the most severe of mental illnesses, schizophrenia may be successfully treated in some cases. In other cases no treatment is very successful. And, in yet other cases, the disease will, without warning disappear altogether.

Darrell Hammond

Comedian Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live has publicly discussed struggling with alcoholism and cocaine abuse. He said that in his troubled past he has received diagnoses for both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Hammond also in a 2011 CNN interview talked about his mother abusing him in childhood. He continues to work in theatre, television and commercials.

The list of famous people with schizophrenia presented here span the spectrum from those like Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett (pictured below) who descended into mental illness without recovery to Mark Vonnegut (who could have either been biopolar or schizophrenic) and Lionel Aldridge (pictured at top) who have made a miraculous recovery from the disease. And, of course, as with every other disease there are all shades of gray in-between on the health spectrum.

Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Richard Wright wrote the composition “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” as a tribute to Syd Barrett highlighting his mental health issues. He spent the last years of his life in reclusive anonymity and died at age 60 on undisclosed causes.

Lionel Aldridge enjoyed an 11-year pro football career. He played with the Green Bay Packers under Coach Vince Lombardi in the mid-1960’s and with the San Diego Chargers in the early 1970’s. Aldridge retired from football in 1973 and went on to become a sports analyst.

In the late 1970’s Aldridge developed paranoid schizophrenia, lost his employment, got divorced and lived homeless on the streets for a while (and lost both of his Super Bowl rings too). After being properly diagnosed and accepting treatment, Aldridge made a full and symptom-free recovery. He advocated for the homeless and mentally ill until his death in 1998.