25 Interesting Facts About Famous People Before They Found Fame

Bill Hader once worked as an usher at a movie theater and was fired for spoiling the end of Titanic to noisy patrons.

2. Before he was a famous musician Johnny Cash was a military code breaker for the US Air Force. He worked as a Morse Intercept Operator in Germany, handling the hardest jobs, intercepting Russian intelligence and deciphering code transmissions. He copied the first news of Stalin’s death.

3. Retta, the actress who played Donna Meagle on Parks and Recreation, graduated from Duke University, worked as a chemist before doing stand-up and moving to Los Angeles, and is also the niece of former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

4. Hugh Jackman worked as a birthday clown named 'Coco' and made just 50 bucks. Jackman admits that he had no magic tricks and was even told off by a 6-year-old that he is terrible.

5. Adam Jones, the guitarist of the rock band TOOL, worked on makeup and set design for Hollywood blockbuster films such as Jurassic Park, Terminator 2 and Ghostbusters II, and used his background in film to create TOOL's "unique" stop-motion music videos.

Before establishing KFC, Colonel Sanders worked at a gas station and once also got into a gunfight with a rival gas station manager.

7. Celebrity chef Alton Brown worked as a cinematographer and video director before he became a food star. He was the director of photography for R.E.M.'s music video "The One I Love" and spent all of his time between takes on the set watching cooking shows, feeling that he could do a better job.

8. Before realizing his true potential in comedy, Will Ferrell worked as a teller at Wells Fargo. Apparently, he lost close to $600 on his first two days on the job.

9. Sir Patrick Stewart used to regularly fabricate fake news in the newspaper he worked for because he was spending his time practicing theatre with a theatre company during times that conflicted with his work schedule as a journalist.

10. Stand-up comedian Demetri Martin worked as a White House intern during the Clinton administration.

Albert Einstein worked as an electrician on the Oktoberfest 1896.

12. Before he was on MTV's Jackass, Steve-O went to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College and worked for several years as a performing clown.

13. Pope Francis worked briefly as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before entering the seminary.

14. Ronald Reagan started work as a lifeguard at a park in 1926 and was credited with saving 77 lives during the seven summers he worked there.

15. Science-fiction author Gene Wolfe worked as an engineer on the design of the machine that makes Pringles chips.

Bob Marley worked on an assembly line at a Chrysler plant in Newark, New Jersey under the alias "Donald Marley."

17. As a teen, Christopher Walken answered a help wanted ad and worked as a lion tamer.

18. Chad Stahelski, the director of the John Wick films, had worked as Keanu Reeves’ stunt double for 15 years prior to his directorial debut.

19. Actor Michael Keaton got his start in show business as a production assistant on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He helped with the puppets and ran the trolley.

20. Henry Ford worked as chief engineer at Edison Illuminating Company before starting his automobile business.

Steve Carell has worked as a mail carrier in Massachusetts. He quit 7 months later because his boss told him he was not very good at being a mail carrier and needed to be faster. He has also performed with Chicago troupe The Second City where Stephen Colbert was his understudy for a time.

22. Ina Garten, known for her cooking show Barefoot Contessa, worked in the White House as a nuclear budget analyst.

23. Tom Morello (the guitar player for Rage Against The Machine) worked as a male stripper with the goal of saving enough money to purchase a hot tub.

24. Kenneth Koe, the inventor of Zoloft worked his way through college washing dishes at a restaurant which was named Hung Far Low.

25. Comedian Michelle Wolf studied kinesiology in college and worked for Bear Stearns from 2007 to 2008 before taking an improv class after the financial collapse.