It was Miles Mathis who, to my knowledge, first asserted that the Stephen Hawking we all know, the guy who speaks through a computer and writes books with eye movements, was just an actor. As Mathis points out, all it takes is some reading between the lines. From Wikipedia:
During a visit to CERN on the border of France and Switzerland in mid-1985, Hawking contracted pneumonia, which in his condition was life-threatening; he was so ill that Jane was asked if life support should be terminated. She refused, but the consequence was a tracheotomy, which required round-the-clock nursing care and the removal of what remained of his speech.[270][271] The National Health Service was ready to pay for a nursing home, but Jane was determined that he would live at home. The cost of the care was funded by an American foundation.[272][273] Nurses were hired for the three shifts required to provide the round-the-clock support he required. One of those employed was Elaine Mason, who was to become Hawking’s second wife.[274]
Piece of Mindful 