before they were stars

PowerPoint Show by Andrew

Greta Garbo was once a lather girl in a barbershop. She also worked at PUB, a major department store in Stockholm, Sweden, during the 1920s before becoming a successful actress.

Greta Garbo

Before Clark Gable became the King of Hollywood, he worked as a necktie salesmen at a department store.

Clark Gable

Lucille Ball was reportedly fired from an ice cream shop for not remembering to add bananas to banana splits.She was also a model (mostly fur coats) at Hattie Carnegie's in New York.

Lucille Ball

Before his acting career, John Wayne studied pre-law at USC where he also played football for coach Howard Jones. Wayne had a summer job as a handyman at a movie studio where he met John Ford and got led to walk-on parts in some silent films.

John Wayne

Joan Crawford used to work in a laundromat and as an elevator operator in a Kansas City department store.

Joan Crawford

Marlon Brando became a ditch digger after being expelled from military school.

Marlon Brando

Judy Garland was born as Frances Ethel Gumm in Minnesota. Judy and her sisters performed in vaudeville houses under the name "The Gumm Sisters."

Judy Garland

Charles Bronson worked in a coal mine before becoming famous.

Charles Bronson

Barbara Stanwyck was a fashion model and a Ziegfeld Follies Girl before landing a film role.

Barbara Stanwyck

Before James Dean became one of the biggest legends of all time, he was a parking attendant at CBS. He also was a stunt tester for the show "Beat the Clock."

James Dean

Marilyn was discovered while she was working on an assembly line at the Radio Plane Munitions factory in Burbank, California. A photographer was there doing an article on women's contributions to the war.

Marilyn Monroe

After attending the University of Minnesota to study journalism, Fonda took a job with a Retail Credit Company.

Henry Fonda

Before becoming an actress, Kim Novak was a fashion model, elevator operator, sales clerk, dental assistant and spokesperson for an appliance company.

Kim Novak

Jack Nicholson worked in a toy store and as a lifeguard.

Jack Nicholson

Madonna worked at a Dunkin' Donuts restaurant before hitting it big.

Madonna

Frank Sinatra once worked as a riveter at the Tietjan and Lang shipyard.

Frank Sinatra

Before his career in Hollywood took off, James Caan was a steer roper in the rodeo circuit.

James Caan

Burt Lancaster once worked as an acrobat in a circus until an injury forced him to quit.

Burt Lancaster

Sean Connery's first job was delivering milk for St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society in Scotland. Then after serving three years in the Royal Navy, he held several odd jobs (still as a teenager) including truck driver, brick layer, lifeguard, coffin polisher, and artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art. In his twenties, he pursued a career in bodybuilding, and placed 3rd in the 1953 Mr. Universe competition.

Sean Connery

In 1955 (at age 25), Clint Eastwood got his start in feature films with an uncredited role in the b-movie "Revenge of the Creature." He also reportedly installed swimming pools before becoming famous.

Clint Eastwood

Boris Karloff was a truck driver, asphalt spreader, and farm hand before making it big.

Boris Karloff

Elvis was fired from a job at the Precision Tool Company in Memphis when they discovered he was under-age. After graduating from high school, Elvis was a truck driver.

Elvis Presley

Dan Akroyd was a mail sorter for Canada's national postal service. As a teenager, he had intended to become a Catholic priest.

Dan Akroyd

Paula Abdul was once a cheerleader for the L.A. Lakers.

Paula Abdul

Kirstie Alley was a contestant on two game shows: Match Game in 1979 and Password Plus in 1980.

Kirstie Alley

Jennifer Aniston was both a telemarketer and a waitress before hitting it big.

Jennifer Aniston

At an early age, Tom Cruise joined a seminary in order to become a priest. Cruise also spent a short time in Kentucky where he was a paperboy for the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Tom Cruise

Danny DeVito was a formally trained hair stylist before his break on Taxi.

Danny DeVito

Harrison Ford had earned quite a reputation as a carpenter before his acting career took off.

Harrison Ford

As a teenager, Tom Hanks was a popcorn and peanuts vendor at the Oakland Coliseum. He also worked as a hotel bellman and carried bags for a number of celebs.

Tom Hanks

Dustin Hoffman was once a typist for the Yellowpages. He can also be seen in a 1966 Volkswagon commercial.

Dustin Hoffman

Steve Martin was a performer at two amusement parks: Disneyland (in the Magic Shop on Main Street, USA) and Knott's Berry Farm.Steve Martin started as a writer for the The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He also wrote for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.

Steve Martin

Barbra Streisand worked as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant and also was a babysitter to the owner's children.

Barbra Streisand

When Christopher Walken was 15, he worked that summer as a circus performer and at one point, was allowed to tame a lion.

Christopher Walken

During his college days at Fordham University, Denzel Washington studied pre-medicine before switching to journalism. He also worked odd jobs during this time, including trash collector, post office worker, after-school baby-sitter, and counselor at a summer camp called Camp Sloane YMCA.

Denzel Washington

Robin Williams worked as a street mime in the '70s.He also worked in an ice cream shop before hitting it big.

Robin Williams

Kate Winslet used to work in a deli in North London.

Kate Winslet

At age 7, Reese appeared in a commercial for a local Nashville Florist.She used to model kids clothes for newspaper ads and was a gymnast for seven years.

Reese Witherspoon