Celebrities With Huntingtons Disease. What is Huntington’s Disease? Named after American physician George Huntington, who was the first to describe the condition, Huntington’s disease is an inheritable neurological disorder which affects movement, cognition (perception, awareness, thinking, judgement), and behavior and which gets progressively worse over time.

Symptoms of the disease most often manifests between the ages 35 to 55 years old. Nonetheless, features of the disease can also show from as early as infancy to the late stages of a person’s life.

Our first day of school was wonderful. Students will be bringing home my syllabus and safety contract. Please sign and return both tomorrow. Brown, Ph.D., serves as an associate professor and the director of the Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) at the George Washington University. A distinguished writer and dedicated scholar, Dr. Brown is the author of Amateur Hour: Presidential Character and the Question of Leadership (Routledge, 2020) and Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism of. The Bible is the standard for truth. Photo By twistedvoid.deviantart.com If you love college basketball, March is your favorite month of the year.

The symptoms of Huntington’s disease vary from person to person. However, according to wikipedia, the “earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or cognition. A general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait often follows. As the disease advances, uncoordinated, jerky body movements become more apparent, along with a decline in mental abilities and behavioral symptoms.”

Worldwide Prevalence of Huntington’s Disease. Around the world, cases of Huntington’s disease are found in 5-10 out of 100,000 people. There does not appear to be a difference in the numbers for men and women while some variance is recorded for ethnic groups and geographical locations.

For instance, rate of occurrence is highest in peoples of Western European descent, averaging around 7 per 100,000 people while only about one case per million is recorded for people of Asian and African descent.

According to nhs.uk, the rate of Huntington’s disease in the United Kingdom is 12 per 100,000 people.

Celebrities With Huntingtons Disease. Since we are all about celebrity health this month, we can’t post this write-up without including a list of famous people who were diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. Let’s begin our list with:

Charles Sabine, NBC News TV journalist. In 2005, he decided to take a genetic test to see whether he has Huntington’s, a disease which affected his father and brother. The test came back positive. He has since worked to promote Huntington awareness, research, and legislation.

More about Sabine from NPR: “People like me are valuable because we can be the guinea pigs for the future,” he says. “It might be too late for me, but I might be able to provide the testing ground to find something that can prevent this awful disease affecting generations to come.”

He adds: “I wouldn’t say anyone can be a television correspondent and go to Baghdad, but more or less anyone can do that. Not anyone can do what I’m doing now. And it just struck me that there was nothing else that I should be doing for as long as I can do this, because it serves a much greater purpose. So while I can still put a sentence together, I shall go and do my bit to talk about this disease and raise awareness about it.”

Trey Gray, drummer for country music duo Brooks & Dunn. Trey is next in our list of Celebrities With Huntingtons Disease. Fox25 in Oklahoma City did a feature on him and his condition. Watch:

Gray was diagnosed with Huntington’s in 2003 although he suspected he had it because his mother and uncle also had the disease. Like Charles, Gray is involved in HD — short for Hungtington’s Disease — public awareness and education campaigns. He does not let his condition get him down but is worried about his children who have a 50-50 chance of getting HD.

From the Tennessean:

“I’m blessed,” assures Gray, who turned 45 on Christmas Day. “There’s no ‘Woe is me.’ Millions of people are worse off than I am. Everybody has their crosses to bear, and God never gives us more than we can handle.”

Maybe so, but God gave Gray more than I could handle. I can barely type the facts of Gray’s circumstance, much less live them. But Gray, one of seven people profiled in a new documentary film about living with Huntington’s called “Alive & Well,” is determined, and he’s hopeful.

That’s not to say he’s not troubled. The part about his kids is the stuff that keeps him awake some nights.

“I’ve never had the thing of, ‘Why, me?’ he says. What bothers me is whether it will have an effect on my children.”

Woody Guthrie. You are not a real folk music fan if you do not know who Woody Guthrie is. Haha. He is an icon in the folk music world (as well as the music world at large) and the voice of his generation. Sadly, he was diagnosed with HD back in 1952, a time that not a lot is known about the disease, so his illness was essentially untreated.

More about Woody and Huntington’s from Al Jazeera:

Nowadays, victims of Huntington’s can live at home, says Nora (Woodie’s daughter, ed.), who is an honorary trustee of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, which her mother, Marjorie Guthrie, founded in 1968. But in the 1950s, no one paid much attention to the fact that Woody’s mother also suffered from this hereditary disease, which causes shaking and other involuntary muscle movements, forgetfulness, impulsiveness and, sometimes, depression. He wasn’t correctly diagnosed until after his arrival at Greystone, when a previous misdiagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia was discarded.

At Greystone, “there was no care,” Nora says. “When my father picked up his food, he couldn’t control his fingers, and he lost half of it — it stayed on his clothes for days. There was no one there to feed him. There wasn’t a lot of dignity in those experiences.”

Guthrie died at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village, NY. He was only 55 years old. His death helped increased public awareness of Huntington’s disease and prompted his wife Marjorie to campaign for more research and public funding for this then unknown disease.

The Huntington’s Disease Society of America tells us more:

Soon after his death, his widow Marjorie vowed to do something about this silent killer. At the time, little was known about the disease. Marjorie placed a small ad in a New York City newspaper and slowly gathered a determined handful of volunteers and HD families from across the United States. From that first moment, when Marjorie Guthrie reached out to other HD families, a worldwide movement began that would change the lives of those living with HD and bring hope to families.

Dynamic and compelling, Marjorie Guthrie convinced then President Jimmy Carter to form a Presidential Commission to study neurological diseases, including HD.

Said Presidential Commission eventually became the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) which is arguably the leading non-government organization on Huntington’s advocacy, education, and research.

Celebrities With Huntingtons Disease Last updated: September 20, 2020 at 15:42 pm.

Pierre Lind de Lappe (October 5, 1935 – March 21, 2016^[1]), known professionally as Peter Brown, was an American actor who portrayed Deputy Johnny McKay opposite John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop in the 1958 to 1962 ABC-Warner Brotherswesterntelevision seriesLawman and Texas Ranger Chad Cooper on NBC's Laredo from 1965 to 1967.^[2]

Early life[edit]

Brown was born in New York City. His mother, Mina Reaume, was a stage and radio actress, playing the 'Dragon Lady' on the Terry and the Pirates radio serial. He had an older brother, Phillip, and two younger half brothers, Paul and Michael. Peter took the name Brown from his stepfather, Albert Brown.^{[citation needed]}

During his United States Army service in Alaska with the 2nd Infantry Division, Brown became involved in writing, directing and acting in plays to entertain the other troops. Upon his discharge, Brown studied Drama at the University of California, Los Angeles and soon was appearing in plays and on NBC Matinee Theatre.

He supported himself by working in a gasoline station on the Sunset Strip. One night a man paid for his purchase with a credit card reading 'Jack L. Warner'. Brown asked the customer whether he was one of the Warner Brothers, the man replied 'I'm the last one left'.^[3] The next day Brown was offered a screen test at the studio.^{[citation needed]}

Career[edit]

As a contract player for Warner Brothers, Brown appeared in the films Red Nightmare and Darby's Rangers. Though his role in Onionhead was cut from the completed film, the producer Julius Schermer hired him for Deputy Johnny McKay in Lawman, an important part that lasted from 1958 to 1962. Brown was the last surviving member of the series. Brown also appeared in the 1962 film, Merrill's Marauders.

Brown appeared in dozens of other television shows and did several crossovers with other western series as Johnny McKay, including Maverick, in the 1961 episode 'Hadley's Hunters,' featuring Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick, along with a host of characters from other Warner Brothers. westerns, including Cheyenne (Clint Walker), Bronco (Ty Hardin), and Sugarfoot (Will Hutchins). In 1957 Brown appeared as Clay Conover in Cheyenne in the episode titled 'Top Hand.' In 1958 he appeared as Billy Younger in Cheyenne in the episode titled 'Ghost of the Cimarron.' In the Cheyenne episode 'Renegades' (1958), Brown at twenty-two was cast as 17-year-old Jed Wayne, who enlists in the United States Army after his father is killed in an attack by Comanche renegades. Olive Sturgess played Kathy Donovan, who takes an interest in young Wayne and is the daughter of the fort commander, Colonel Ralph Donovan (Bartlett Robinson), who distrusts the Indians. The episode also focuses on the spirit and endurance of Wayne's mortally lame horse and the wisdom of the Comanche chief, Little Elk (Steve Darrell).

Brown twice guest-starred in another ABC/WB western, Colt .45, with Wayde Preston. He appeared as Dave with Andrew Duggan and Bob Steele, who were cast as Jim Rexford and Sergeant Granger respectively in 'The Peacemaker' or 'Judgment Day', the series premiere in 1957. Thereafter that same season, he was cast as Jimmy Benedict opposite Charles Bronson as the outlaw Danny Arnold in the episode 'Young Gun'. In the story line, Benedict, who wants to make a name for himself, challenges Arnold to a gunfight.^[4]

After his contract with Warner Brothers lapsed, Brown made two films for Walt Disney Studios, including Summer Magic with Hayley Mills and Burl Ives. He appeared in other television series too, such as Redigo, starring Richard Egan as a New Mexico rancher. He contracted to Universal Pictures for the 1965 NBC western television series Laredo, set on the Mexican border in and about Laredo, Texas.

Brown appeared in the pilot for Police Woman, starring Angie Dickinson. Brown appeared in several exploitation films such as Foxy Brown, Chrome and Hot Leather, and Act of Vengeance.

Soap operas[edit]

Brown also appeared on several soap operas. On Days of Our Lives, he played Dr. Greg Peters from 1972-1979 who was involved in a romance with Amanda Howard (Mary Frann). He was Laurie Brooks' attorney, Robert Laurence, on The Young and the Restless (1981-1982) when she was on trial for the murder of her former mother-in-law, Vanessa Prentiss. He would return briefly to 'Y&R' in between soap stints in the late 1980s.

Brown replaced John Shearin as Roger Forbes on Loving during its early days, but was written out after only a couple of months. From 1986-1987, he played Charles Sanders, former ambassador to Mendorra, on One Life to Live The character had a heart attack and died on the evening of his wedding to Lee Halpern. He subsequently played Blake Hayes on The Bold and the Beautiful, the ex-husband of Dr. Taylor Hamilton Hayes.

Personal life[edit]

Brown was married five times. His wives were:

• Diane Jergens, an actress; they wed on 6 August 1958 and divorced in June 1960.
• Sandy Edmundson, a fashion model; they wed on 26 May 1964 and divorced in March 1971.
• Liliane Alice Yvette Safargy, a fashion model; they wed on 14 November 1971 and divorced in September 1974.
• Mary Kathleen Gauba, a tennis player; they wed on 29 November 1986 and divorced in 1999.
• Kerstin Kern; they wed on 6 September 2008 and the marriage lasted until his death in 2016.

Brown had three children as follows:

• Matthew (born 1965) by his second wife Sandy Edmundson.
• Joshua (born 1977), by Amber Karlson, with whom Brown lived from 1974 until 1979.
• Christi (born 1961), by Merle Pertile.^[5]

Brown's brother, Phil, worked as an NBC Television West Coast operations coordinator in Burbank, California.

Brown died on March 21, 2016 in Phoenix, Arizona, from complications of Parkinson's disease, aged 80.^[6]

Filmography[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^Rosenberg, Eli (March 25, 2016). 'Peter Brown, Star in TV Westerns and Soap Opera, Dies at 80'. The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
2. ^Thomas, Bob (February 8, 1959). 'Peter Brown Major Reason 'Lawman' Show Popular'. Ocala Star-Banner. p. 11. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
3. ^'Peter Brown Biography'. Official Peter Brown Fan Site. Archived from the original on 2007-08-20.
4. ^'Colt .45'. ctva.biz. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
5. ^Aaker, Everett (2017). Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland & Company. p. 70. ISBN978-1476662503.
6. ^''Summer Magic' Star Peter Brown Passes Away at 80'. Laughing Place. March 22, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2017.

References[edit]

• Brown, Peter; Stuart, Alexx (2014). The Fastest Gun in Hollywood: The Life Story of Peter Brown. Wild Horse Press. ASINB00HRHANJ2.

External links[edit]

• Peter Brown on IMDb
• Peter Brown at AllMovie

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