Former WCW owner, and media mogul Ted Turner, who credited professional wrestling with assisting the rise of cable network empire and famously started the Monday Night War by assigning World Championship Wrestling a Monday night primetime TV time slot on TNT in 1995, has been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
He was also one of the most influential figures in pro wrestling history, someone who put his money and faith in pro wrestling and allowed scores of those who worked in the industry to make great money over the course of TBS’ ownership of WCW and even before that purchase, provided incredibly valuable national TV time to pro wrestling that helped cultivate and make countless names household names across the United States – from Tommy Rich to Roddy Piper to Ric Flair to Sting.
According to USA Today, the disease had also affected Robin Williams during the final years of his life. He revealed his condition in a CBS Sunday Morning interview with Ted Koppel.
This is what he said:
“It’s a mild case of what people have as Alzheimer’s. It’s similar to that. But not nearly as bad. Alzheimer’s is fatal. Thank goodness I don’t have that.”
”But, I also have got, let’s — the one that’s — I can’t remember the name of it.”
”Tired. Exhausted. That’s the main symptoms, and forgetfulness.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had spoken to people who suffer from the disease and they felt Turner was downplaying its potential severity, saying it is by no means milder than Alzheimer’s and in many cases, could definitely be worse than expected.
Lewy body dementia affects about 1.4 million Americans, according to the Lewy Body Dementia Association. In comparison, about 5.7 million have Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
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