From Lou Gehrig in 1939 to Eric Dane in 2025, celebrities have publicly dealt with what is now known as ALS for decades.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a terminal neurodegenerative disorder. The disease causes the individual to gradually lose control of their muscles, beginning gradually with muscle stiffness or twitches and evolving to completely eliminate their ability to eat and breathe.
Since Gehrig’s death in 1941, dozens of additional public figures battled the disease. American physicist Stephen Hawking first started exhibiting symptoms of ALS in 1963, and, despite being given only two years to live, survived until 2018, raising awareness along the way.
Despite advancements that have been able to slow the disease and manage symptoms, there remains no cure. Dane announced his diagnosis in April 2025, saying in a statement to People, “I have been diagnosed with ALS. I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”
“I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to set of Euphoria next week,” he continued. “I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
A rep for Dane confirmed his death at age 53 in February 2026.
Keep scrolling for more celebrities who have fought ALS:
Chris Johnson
Chris Johnson Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Former NFL running back Chris Johnson went public with his ALS diagnosis in a June 2026 appearance on Good Morning America.
“I want people to know that I’m still me,” he said with the help of a speech-generating device. “ALS has changed what my body can do, but it hasn’t changed who I am.”
He continued, “It’s continued to progress much faster than I ever imagined. I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body. Just over a year ago, I was picking up my 7-year-old daughter so she could make a wish for her birthday cake. Today I couldn’t do that.”
Pierre Deny
Pierre Deny Marie Etchegoyen / Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Emily in Paris star Pierre Deny died in May 2026 after battling ALS. He was 69.
“It is with deep emotion that we announce the passing of Pierre Deny, which occurred this Monday following a sudden and severe case of ALS,” the actor’s daughters said in a statement via the Daily Mail at the time.
Before his death, Deny played Louis de Léon, a CEO of the fictional fashion company JVMA, on seasons 3 and 4 of Emily in Paris.
Jenny Slatten
Jenny Slatten Courtesy of Sumit Singh/Instagram
90 Day Fiancé star Jenny Slatten revealed in May 2026 that she was recently diagnosed with ALS after experiencing symptoms for more than a year.
“There was a rumor that I had a stroke, but it turned out to be ALS,” Slatten wrote via Instagram, when sharing the news for the first time. “Right now, we are open to any kind of help. Treatments, clinical trials, lifestyle changes or anything that could help treat this disease or slow down its progression.”
Russell Andrews
Actor Russell Andrews revealed his ALS diagnosis in May 2026.
“I am a person living with ALS. I was diagnosed in the late fall of last year. It’s been humbling,” the Better Call Saul alum said during an appearance on CNN’s The Story Is With Elex Michaelson. “I thought I had a stroke during COVID. It was a stressful time.”
Andrews continued, “There were moments there were twitches. There were things that I thought I was having pinched nerves in my neck and they were quite frequent. I was not able to do things that I normally do. I was dropping cups and glasses, and in the night, it felt like things were running up and down my arm at different times, and it was the nerves.”
Andrews’ fiancée, actress Erica Tazel, will become his caretaker.
“The processing is a process. When he originally shared with me, I say I was uncharacteristically calm,” Tazel said. “In a way, it was an answer to a lot of questions that we had. There were certain things that we started to see that were different. For example, it took him longer to clean the pool. The way he walked, there was a subtle little [change] … things like that. I had questions. I was like, ‘Something is definitely wrong,’ and so we now know what it was.”
Eric Dane
Dane, known for playing Mark Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy and Cal Jacobs on Euphoria, revealed his diagnosis in April 2025 at age 52. He died less than one year later in February 2026.
Stephen Hawking
Hawking had a slow-progressing form of ALS, allowing him to survive decades before his death in 2018 at age 76. In that time, he continued his work as a theoretical physicist and became a role model for those with neurodegenerative disorders.
Riverdale, Glee and more TV shows were faced with the difficult task of writing out characters after their portrayers died off screen. Thank You! You have successfully subscribed. Subscribe to newsletters Enter your email Please enter a valid email. Subscribe By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from Us […]
Brooke Eby
After her diagnosis in 2022, Eby launched her social media accounts to document her experience and quickly became a major influencer in the ALS community. As of April 2025, she has more than 220,000 followers on Instagram, a channel she uses to update followers on the disease’s progression. She has lost the use of both her legs and is confined to a wheelchair while her arm function is also starting to slow.
Catfish Hunter
Known as baseball’s first free agent, the Hall of Fame pitcher Hunter was diagnosed with ALS in 1997. He died two years later at age 53.
John Driskell Hopkins
The Zac Brown Band founding member was diagnosed with ALS in 2021 and revealed his diagnosis in May 2022. As of April 2025, he continues to play music, telling CBS in 2024, “I am going to sing through it.” He also founded the organization Hop on a Cure to raise money for ALS research.
Sarah Langs
The popular sportswriter began experiencing symptoms in 2019 and was formally diagnosed with ALS in 2021. Despite her diagnosis, she has continued to work for MLB.com and has run three marathons while exhibiting symptoms. Langs is now confined to a wheelchair but teams throughout Major League Baseball continue to honor her on Lou Gehrig Day, observed annually on June 2.
Aaron Lazar
The actor, known for his roles in The Wolf of Wall Street and J. Edgar, announced in January 2024 that he had been diagnosed with ALS two years prior.
Pete Frates
The former college baseball player rose to fame in 2014 by helping the Ice Bucket Challenge go viral in an effort to raise money for ALS research. He received his diagnosis in 2012 and died in 2019 at age 34.
Stephen Hillenburg
Hillenburg, the animator and voice actor who created SpongeBob SquarePants, received his diagnosis in 2017 and died a year later at age 57. The 2020 movie The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run was dedicated to him.
Roberta Flack
The R&B singer and five-time Grammy Award winner retired in 2022 after ALS made her unable to continue singing. She was best known for the songs “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” Flack died in February 2025 at age 88.
Christina Applegate, Selma Blair, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Jack Osbourne and many other celebrities have opened up about dealing with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease. Applegate revealed in August 2021 that she was diagnosed with the condition. “Hi friends. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with MS,” the Married … With Children alum wrote via X […]
Steve Gleason
Gleason was a safety for the New Orleans Saints from 2000 to 2007. The football player received his diagnosis just weeks before he and his wife learned they were expecting their first baby, son Rivers. In 2019, he received the Congressional Gold Medal for his work in raising awareness for ALS and the ESPYs awarded him with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2024.
Mike Pocaro
The bassist for the rock band Toto retired from the group in 2007 when muscle weaknesses made it difficult to continue to play. He went public with his diagnosis in 2010 and died in 2015 at age 59.
Hollywood mourned many celebrities in 2024, including Shannen Doherty and Liam Payne. Us Weekly confirmed Doherty’s death on July 14. The Beverly Hills, 90210 star first battled breast cancer from 2015 to 2017, sharing nearly three years later that it had returned. In 2023, Doherty shared that her stage 4 breast cancer had spread to […]
Kim Shattuck
Shattuck was the lead vocalist and guitarist for punk rock band the Muffs. She continued making music with the group until shortly before her death, with the Muffs releasing an album 16 days after she died in 2019 at age 56.
Kenneth Mitchell
The actor best known for his lead role in the CBS series Jericho revealed his diagnosis in February 2020. He continued acting, incorporating his wheelchair into his role in Star Trek: Discovery. Mitchell died in 2024 at age 49.
Joe Bosall
The Oak Ridge Boys member retired from the group in January 2024 due to a neuromuscular disorder that was not revealed to be ALS until after his death that July at age 76.
Tanea Brooks
The AEW wrestling star announced in May 2026 that she was diagnosed with “terminal ALS” at age 47.
“There is not a lot of research behind ALS, and we don’t know how long I have,” Brooks explained. “It explains why I have trouble walking and talking [and] all my functions will soon decline. But now, we can prepare for the future and what is to come.”
She continued, “I want to say thank you to [AEW founder] Tony Khan and AEW for supporting me on this medical journey. It has been a blessing that is unheard of and, from the bottom of my heart, thank you and thank you to all of you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for a peaceful journey and a peaceful passing.”
