famous curves

Having scoliosis, particularly in adolescence, can seem isolating.  But you are not alone!. for one thing, scoliosis is not that rare, about 1 in 10 people have it to some degree. 

And we are in good company too.  A lot of famous people have scoliosis while continuing to do what they do.  People have probably had scoliosis since homo sapiens became upright citizens of the world

Check out this dude:

This skelelton is over 500 years old.  They are the recently discovered bones of King Richard III, who ruled England between 1483 and 1485, during the decades-long war over the throne (Wars of the Roses).

He wasn't on the throne long, but he did make his mark with a lot of good stuff, such as lifting restrictions on books and printing presses so that everyone would have access to books instead of just a few. He was defeated in the Battle of Bosworth, killed by the army of Henry Tudor, who took the throne and became King Henry VII, grandfather to Queen Elizabeth I. 

Richard III was made immortal by Shakespeare who wrote a play about him and put the words "A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!" in his mouth.  I fine that is a little ironic seeing as his skeleton was found under a parking lot!  Shakespeare portrayed King Richard as a mean old hunchback.  Well, he might have been mean (the jury is out on the whole young princes thing) but he was not old (only 32 when he was killed) and his hump was formed from a wicked dose of scoliosis.  He must have been in agony from it, but it was the 10 wounds found on his bones, likely from the battle he died in, that ultimatly killed him.

Quasimodo is another famous hunchback who may have had scoiliosis, but I can't say for sure, because he is fictional.

But plenty of real people do have it, and it might surprise you to know who. For example:

Elizabeth Taylor

Liza Minelli








Not keen on hollywood icons?  Ok, how about music?  We can go from one end of the sector....

Kurt Cobain, of the 90s band Nirvana

....to the other


Cellist Yo Yo Ma

Here's an iconic leader of 20th century contests on the battlefield...


US General Douglas MacArthur

and an iconic leader of 21st century contests on the athletic field:


Fastest man Usain Bolt

and both have/had scoliosis.

It's hard to know who historically had scoliosis becuase we can't see their skeleton, but one guy made it easy for us:

King Tutankahman of Egypt. 

 
Perhaps that's why he was also known as "funky Tut"


Performer Steve Martin

and why he walked like an Egyptian!

Dig those Bangles

there's even a website devoted to celebrities with scoliosis! 
http://www.celebrityscoliosis.com/