# Why did Ray Charles have physical difficulty walking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264 "2005-08-16T13:59:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/1 "2005-08-16T13:59:03Z")
Watched ‘Ray’ a couple nights ago, and either I missed it or they didn’t explain, but why did Ray have difficulty walking? He seemed arthritic, was it simply that? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/2 "2005-08-16T14:00:43Z")
I suspect it was more because he was blind and nobody taught him how to walk with confidence even though he couldn’t see. If you’re not sure where you’re going, you’re going to move hesitantly, right? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/3 "2005-08-16T14:32:41Z")
Well, I don’t know how accurate to real life this was, but in the movie when he was young man I think he seemed to walk normally. If this was true to life, his difficulty walking seemed to come later in life. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/4 "2005-08-16T16:18:36Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I suspect it was more because he was blind and nobody taught him how to walk with confidence even though he couldn’t see. Ray Charles attended a school for the blind from age 7 onwards. (He started losing his vision at age 5.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/5 "2005-08-16T18:16:54Z")
My WAG is that his mannered walking style and his other twitchy movements originated in his heroin use. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/6 "2005-08-16T18:52:18Z")
I never heard that as a side effect of heroin. Plus, why is Keith Richards still able to walk? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/7 "2005-08-16T19:33:27Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > My WAG is that his mannered walking style and his other twitchy movements originated in his heroin use. Oh yeah…blame it on the heroin. How about he was blind and 75 years old. Think that might have something to do with it? I’m not defending heroin abuse, but christ almightee. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/8 "2005-08-16T19:52:34Z")
No sense of rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/9 "2005-08-16T19:57:42Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Oh yeah…blame it on the heroin. How about he was blind and 75 years old. Think that might have something to do with it? I’m not defending heroin abuse, but christ almightee. If the movie was accurate, he seemed to have difficulty walking as a still relatively young man, and did not have any difficulty as a younger man (and already blind). If this was true to life, then it was likely neither his blindness nor his age. But I agree it probably wasn’t heroin, either. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/10 "2005-08-16T20:06:17Z")
According to his interview with Terri Gross on **Fresh Air** , his mother made him walk through the house with his eyes closed before he ever went totally blind. She did so to instill self-confidence in him and prepare him for when he was completely blind. He was also a master chess player and fathered about a dozen children by as many different women. I don’t confidence was his problem. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/11 "2005-08-16T20:31:39Z")
> **[Ray Charles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_charles)** > > Ray Charles Robinson, Sr.\[note 1\] (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray". He was often referred to as "the Genius". Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma. > Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic. He contributed to the integra... > [@](#): > > A notorious ladies’ man, Charles was married twice and fathered twelve children by seven different women. In a 60 Minutes profile, he admitted to Ed Bradley that he “auditioned” his female back-up singers. The saying was, “To be a Raelette, you’ve got to let Ray.” ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/12 "2005-08-16T22:22:39Z")
I blame the ottomans. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/13 "2005-08-16T22:25:57Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > I blame the ottomans. What have the Turks got to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/14 "2005-08-16T22:27:25Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I never heard that as a side effect of heroin. Plus, why is Keith Richards still able to walk? 😉 Keith is an alien. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/15 "2005-08-17T14:47:01Z")
Looking at this page about heroin: > **[Opium: Uses, Addiction Treatment & Side Effects - Drugs.com](https://www.drugs.com/illicit/opium.html)** > > Opium is a highly addictive narcotic drug acquired from the opium poppy. Heroin is derived from the morphine alkaloid found in opium. it seems that only withdrawal might cause anything that might be related to difficulty walking. Dunno how trustworthy that page is, though. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/16 "2005-08-17T21:38:47Z")
I know he didn’t use a cane, and preferred to wear heavy shoes and use the sound they made on the floor to judge how far away the walls were. Perhaps he walked a little differently because of that? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-ray-charles-have-physical-difficulty-walking/317264/17 "2005-08-17T23:43:27Z")
Well, in my experience with a few blind friends, they don’t walk any differently than the rest of us, and that goes for those with dogs and those with canes. Maybe some people are better at it than others, but there’s gotta be a major learning curve here, especially if you lose your sight after learning to walk. Add on the effects of age and drugs and whatnot, and there you have it. I certainly wasn’t saying he lacked confidence in general. Just with moving around in strange environments.