American schizophrenic whose multiple-personality disorder was portrayed by Joanne Woodward in the movie “The Three Faces of Eve.” She had 22 personalities which she finally integrated into one. The Blind Lady, the Bell Lady, the Virgin, the Banana Split Girl and the mute Andrea are just five of the many different people living inside her head. Early traumas of childhood, including the witnessing of two violent deaths before age two, are believed to be the causes of her disorder.
After overcoming the fear of being rejected by others, she now lectures on mental illness and the plight of the mentally ill. The demure, petite and soft-spoken Sizemore has, for most of her life, had her mind and body inhabited by three personalities at a time in what is know as multiple-personality disorder. Their appearance, ages, intellect, interests and skills varied. Some were left-handed, some right; some could drive, some couldn’t; one was fun-loving and a bit promiscuous, one a devoted housewife; one was deaf, and one had arthritis.
Dr. Corbett Thigpen wrote the book with her in 1957 on which the movie was based and felt she no longer needed treatment. Thigpen told her never to tell anybody she was the “Eve” in the book and movie warning her about the stigma of mental illness and how her family would be ruined. She tried four other therapists over the succeeding years, and in despair, she attempted suicide, feeling too great a burden on her family. Then, in 1970, after her family moved to Fairfax, VA, she met Dr. Tony Tsitos, a psychiatrist. In 1974, after four years of intensive therapy with Dr. Tsitos, her own unique personality emerged. Twenty-two personalities had lived inside Sizemore for almost her entire life, tearing her apart, finally, now, they diminished.
Finding herself in her 40’s with no training, skills or high school diploma, she didn’t know who she was or what she wanted to be. Her twin sister asked if she’d speak to their college class about her mental illness, and after some deliberation, she decided to give it a try. A packed auditorium held 600 people, including a large contingent of the media. The audience gave her a standing ovation and she knew that the illness wasn’t going to be kept a secret any longer. Sizemore’s son Bobby, born on 5/23/1959, was open to it, but her daughter, Taffy, didn’t want her to tell anyone where she lived and prefers not to talk to anyone about it. In 1977 Sizemore wrote her own story in a book called “I’m Eve.”
She divorced her first husband, Ralph White, in 1953. Later that year, she married Don Sizemore, an electrician, on 12/19/1953. Sizemore feels she was able to be cured because of her family’s love and support. They stood by her in the darkest of times.
Sizemore delivers scores of speeches about the plight of the mentally ill. She helped found the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation. She is setting up a support program for families of mental patients and serves on the boards of several mental-health associations.
Link to Wikipedia biography