Can You Guess Who These Celebrities Are?
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Before celebrities could make people go gaga just by walking on the street, they were normal people working regular jobs, stumbling through life like everyone else. Some of them even went through awkward phases.
But if we showed you photos of famous actors, actresses and singers when they were young, could you spot them? We've collected 30 celebrities and paired them with their younger selves, and included a mini bio about each one.
Can you guess all 30? We bet you can't.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: This actor went to Park Ridge High School in New Jersey and later played an iconic character from the Garden State.
James Gandolfini
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Net worth at time of death: $70 million
James Gandolfini was named "class flirt" in his senior yearbook, no doubt due to his natural charm, which would catapult him into stardom later in life. After graduating from high school, he earned a BA in communications from Rutgers University in 1983, then studied the Meisner acting technique at The Gately Poole Conservatory in New York for two years. He worked various odd jobs throughout his life while appearing as side roles in films.
Notably, Gandolfini picked up a memorable role as a hitman in "True Romance" — a character which he said was based on a real-life hitman he knew. That part caught the eye of "The Sopranos" casting director Susan Fitzgerald, who invited him to try out for the role of Tony Soprano. The rest is history. "The Sopranos" became perhaps the most groundbreaking show on television in 1999, and Gandolfini's role as Tony is the most realized portrait of a mobster in any fictional medium.
Gandolfini died at the age of 51 while on vacation in Rome, Italy, on June 19, 2013. His 14-year-old son found him unconscious on the floor of their hotel bathroom. He had suffered a heart attack.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: Four touchdowns in one game.
Ed O'Neill
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Net worth: $65 million
Ed O'Neill grew up in a blue-collar home in Youngstown, Ohio. He worked at a steel mill for four years and played high school football at Worthington High. There, he won a state championship, earning him the nickname "Ed O'Winner."
O'Neill graduated from Youngstown State University and played football there, too, while also enrolling in the theater program. After college, he was recruited to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969 as an undrafted free agent but was cut during training camp.
After that, he worked as a substitute teacher and as an actor, picking up bit parts in film and TV commercials. He was active on the stage, too, and it was his performance as Lennie in "Of Mice and Men" that got the attention of a Fox executive who invited him to audition for the role of Al Bundy.
The writers ended up reprising O'Neill's football days as Bundy's glory days in "Married With Children." That show was extremely popular and ran for 11 seasons.
O'Neill was part of another long-running television, "Modern Family," which won him three Emmys and netted him $500,000 an episode.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: He was arrested at a young age and went on to play some of the most famous gangsters in movie history.
Al Pacino
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Net Worth: $120 million
Alfredo James Pacino was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1940. Known as "Sonny" to his friends, Pacino was a lackluster student but took to acting in high school. However, he dropped out at the age of 17.
He and his mother had a tenuous relationship, and she died when he was 22, which sent Pacino reeling. He became homeless, slept on the streets or at friends' houses, and drank himself stupid for a while.
The mugshot featured on the previous page is from 1961. Pacino and two of his friends were pulled over for wearing black masks and gloves. A loaded gun was found in the trunk, and all were arrested. Bail was set at $2,000, but of course, Pacino couldn't make it, so he sat in jail for three days. Pacino told the cops the three were actors and were on their way to an acting job. The charges were later dropped.
Eventually, Pacino straightened up and became roommates with fellow struggling actor, Martin Sheen. Pacino appeared in numerous plays and, in 1970, signed with a talent agency, which got him a role as a heroin addict in "The Panic in Needle Park." That role caught the attention of Francis Ford Coppola, who cast him as Michael Corleone in "The Godfather," which instantly turned him into a star.
Learn more about Pacino's life in our in-depth bio.
Who Is This Famous Singer?
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Hint: Her band made one of the world's best-selling albums of all time.
Stevie Nicks
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Net worth: $85 million
Stevie Nicks was born on May 26, 1948, in Phoenix, Arizona, but she lived a peripatetic childhood. Her family settled in California when Nicks was a teenager, and she met Lindsey Buckingham at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton.
Buckingham was in a band and asked Nicks to replace the lead singer. The two attended San Jose State University, but both dropped out of college to pursue a music career. Their band, Fritz, fell apart in 1972, but the two stayed together and worked as a duo as Buckingham Nicks. Their first self-titled album was a flop, and the two got by working multiple jobs.
In 1974, she and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac. In 1975, they released their self-titled album, and it sold seven million copies. As interpersonal and romantic relationships deteriorated from within, the band produced "Rumors," which became one of the best rock albums of all time, selling 20 million copies as of 2012.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: He was known for putting notecards everywhere on set so he didn't have to memorize his lines.
Marlon Brando
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Net worth at time of death: $100 million
Marlon Brando was born on April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska. He had a harsh childhood. His mother was an alcoholic, and his father was a bully. Unsurprisingly, he was a rebellious, troublemaking youth.
Brando was expelled from high school and worked a gig for $35 a week at a construction company, then got into acting when he followed his sisters to New York. He was a stellar actor on stage but known to be unpredictable and sometimes a complete pain to work with, and he carried that reputation throughout his entire career.
Brando became morbidly obese later in life and died at the age of 80 in 2004. He passed away from respiratory and congestive heart failure at the UCLA Medical Center.
Who Is This Famous Model?
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Hint: She's more famous than her husband, who's one of the most famous athletes in the world.
Gisele Bundchen
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Net worth: $400 million
Gisele Bundchen is one of the highest-paid and most popular supermodels in the world. The Brazilian-born fashion icon started her modeling career at the age of 13, when she took a modeling class to correct her poor posture.
She was then discovered by Elite Model Management at the age of 14 and got her big break at the 1996 New York Fashion Week. In 1999, she made the cover of Vogue. It was the first of dozens and dozens of magazine covers and magazine spreads.
She dated Leonardo DiCaprio for five years, from 2000 to 2005, before dating Tom Brady in 2006. The two married in 2009 and have two kids.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: He really doesn't like snakes, especially if they're on a plane.
Samuel L. Jackson
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Net worth: $250 million
Samuel L. Jackson was raised by his mother and his mom's grandparents in near-poverty conditions in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He had a stutter in childhood, which led to him saying "motherf***er" to overcome speech blocks.
He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and was suspended along with other students for holding members of the college's board of trustees hostage while demanding reform to the college's curriculum.
He gradated with a degree in drama in 1972 and picked up parts in stage plays and some movies, but he battled a heroin and cocaine problem and had to go into rehab during the 1990s.
His first notable role was the drug addict Stacks in Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas," which opened the door to a part in "True Romance." Quentin Tarantino then cast Jackson as Jules Winnfield in "Pulp Fiction" in a role that was written specifically for him. He pretty much stole the movie and was well on his way to being a pop culture icon.
Who Is This Famous Singer?
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Hint: His forecast for the weather today is rain.
Randy Newman
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Net worth: $50 million
Randy Newman starting writing songs at the young age of 17, producing lyrics for musicians like Gene Pitney and Cilla Black. He graduated high school but dropped out of college after studying only a semester at the University of California in Los Angeles.
In 1968, he released his debut album, "Randy Newman." While it wasn't a commercial success, it was a critical one, with "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" being a much-covered hit by bigger artists like Bette Midler.
Newman has written a huge amount of songs over his 60-year career and composed many songs and scores for films. Some highlights include the soundtrack to "Toy Story 2" and "Monsters, Inc.," both of which won an Annie Award.
Who Is This Famous Actress?
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Hint: Quentin Tarantino described her as the first female action star.
Pam Grier
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Net worth: $10 million
Pam Grier was born on May 26, 1949, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her family moved around a lot during her childhood because of her father's job in the United States Air Force, but they eventually settled in Denver, Colorado, where she went to East High School.
Grier moved to Los Angeles in 1967 and found work with American International Pictures (which is now owned by MGM). She became a staple in blaxploitation movies in the early 1970s, headlining numerous films as an ass-kicking action hero.
After blaxploitation cinema fizzled out, she worked in numerous movies and television shows. In 1997, Quentin Tarantino cast her in "Jackie Brown." She released a memoir, "Foxy: My Life in Three Acts" in 2010.
Who Is This Famous Singer?
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Hint: She had a massively popular comedy show in the 1970s.
Cher
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Net worth: $360 million
Born on May 20, 1946, as Cherilyn Sarkisian, Cher was a high school dropout from El Centro, California, who moved to Los Angeles and danced in the clubs on Sunset Strip to make a living while taking acting classes.
At one of those clubs, in 1962, she met Sonny Bono. The two married two years later. While Sonny wanted Cher to perform, as a singer, by herself, she was afflicted with stage fright and persuaded Sonny to sing with her. It's one of the reasons why she looked at him so much during their performance. It made her feel better.
As Sonny and Cher, the two hit the big time with "I Got You Babe," which reached number one on the Billboard 100. It was one of the most popular tracks of the mid-1960s and brought the two to worldwide fame, although the two had a rocky relationship.
In the early 1970s, the two were offered their own television program on CBS, "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour." It was watched by 30 million viewers during its peak. Cher went on to be a solo artist who sold over 60 million records by herself.
Who Is This Famous Comedian?
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Hint: One of his best skits was about setting himself on fire.
Richard Pryor
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Net worth at time of death: $40 million
Born into a poverty-stricken household and raised in a brothel, Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III had an extremely harsh and damaging childhood. He was expelled from school at the age of 14 and worked a number of odd gigs: strip club custodian, shoe shiner, truck driver, meatpacker, drummer. He joined the army for two years, from 1958 to 1960, but that ended when he got into a fight with a fellow serviceman.
While he first tried his hand at singing, he wasn't very good. He learned the audiences liked his jokes better, so he became a comedian. Eventually, he hit the big time as a comic and then as an actor. In 1983, he was paid $4 million for his role in "Superman III" — an unheard of amount of money for a Black actor at that time.
He died on Dec. 10, 2005, at the age of 65 from a heart attack.
Who Is This Famous Musician?
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Hint: This person received his famous nickname because of his inability to sit still.
Flea
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Net worth: $150 million
Michael Peter Balzary was born on Oct. 16, 1962, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He only spent four years of his childhood there, before the family moved to Rye, New York.
Balzary was raised, in his own words, "in a violent, alcoholic household," where he was terrified of his stepfather.
He started smoking pot when he was 13 years old, and his attention deficit disorder caused him to shift around so much that he earned the nickname "Flea."
Who Is This Famous Actor (Far Right)?
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Hint: This actor almost quit acting to become a carpenter.
Harrison Ford
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Net Worth: $300 million
Harrison Ford began acting during his senior year of college at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. After graduating, he headed out to Los Angeles looking for work and found some: a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program. The contract gave him some bit parts here and there, including being cast in George Lucas' "American Graffiti," but he just wasn't making enough money.
"I left acting to become a carpenter because our second baby was coming, and we like to eat," Ford said. "I wasn’t making it as an actor."
Lucas had set a rule that he wasn't going to cast anyone from "American Graffiti" in his upcoming "Star Wars" movie. But casting consultant Fred Roos wanted Lucas to change his mind, so he hired Ford to fix a door at the casting studio. It worked. Ford was cast as Han Solo, and he became an overnight movie star.
Who Is This Famous Actor (Left)?
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Hint: This person became not only a huge action star, but a prominent politician.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Net worth: $400 million
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, to a very strict household in Austria. This should not be surprising, because his father was literally a Nazi.
"My hair was pulled. I was hit with belts. So was the kid next door, and so was the kid next door," Schwarzenegger recalled. "It was just the way it was. Many of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was the German-Austrian mentality. Break the will. They didn't want to create an individual. It was all about conforming. I was one who did not conform and whose will could not be broken."
The future Governator moved from Austria to the United States in 1968, when he was 21. Bodybuilding was his way out of the country, and his path to success. At the age of 23, he captured the Mr. Olympia title for the first time (he would win it seven times total).
He chose to break into film in 1970, first starring in the bizarre "Hercules in New York," where his voice was dubbed over for the entire movie by someone else. He had bit parts here and there, and was featured in the documentary "Pumping Iron," but didn't see real success until he as cast in "Conan the Barbarian." That led to his most famous and enduring role as the T-800 in "The Terminator."
Who Is This Famous Director?
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Hint: He was known for a directorial style that was framed to make the audience feel like voyeurs.
Alfred Hitchcock
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Net worth at time of death: $200 million
Alfred Hitchcock grew up in an upper-class household outside of London, England. He developed a fear of police from a very young age. His father sent him to the police station with a note "for a minor misdemeanor" and was placed in a cell for five minutes, he said on "The Dick Cavett Show." The experience left him with a lifelong fear of the police.
Hitchcock's first work on film was in 1919, when he was 19 or 20, working on silent films from Paramount as an assistant in various roles. His directorial debut "The Pleasure Garden" in 1925, which, while it was a commercial flop, showed that the young director had talent. He married Alma Reville in 1926. She would be vital to Hitchcock's work, serving as both editor and scriptwriter.
Hitchcock died in 1980 at the age of 80.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: This actor doesn't want you to get your Ivy League suit dirty.
James Caan
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Net worth: $20 million
Born to a working-class family in the Bronx, New York City, James Caan originally wanted to be a professional football player but ended up at the Neighborhood Playhouse in Manhattan. "I just fell in love with acting," he told The New York Times in 2004. "Of course, all my improvs ended in violence.''
After being cast in his career-changing role as Sonny in "The Godfather," Caan was enormously popular but made poor film choices. He famously turned down leading roles in "Apocalypse Now," "Superman" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
He lived a the Playboy Mansion for a while in the 1970s and, when his sister died of leukemia, he turned to drugs to cope. He went to rehab in 1994 and cleaned himself up. Along the way, and after, he made a few more classics: "Misery," "Bottle Rocket" and "Elf."
He also has a rather odd Twitter account, where he posts pictures and signs them with "end of tweet."
Who Is This Famous Actress?
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Hint: This actress accidentally broke the eardrum of a co-worker when she stuck a wand in his ear.
Helena Bonham Carter
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Net worth: $60 million
Helena Bonham Carter was born into a prominent family in London, England, on May 26, 1966. She had no formal acting training, but that had no bearing on her success. At the age of 16, she acted in a television commercial. Her breakout role was the romance movie "A Room With a View," where she played the lead character at just 19 years old.
In the United States, many people were first introduced to Bonham Carter in "Fight Club" as Marla Singer. The script was so offensive to Bonham Carter's mother that she wouldn't take it into her bedroom to read.
Bonham Carter married director Tim Burton in 2001 and starred in many of his movies, like "Corpse Bride," "Big Fish" and "Sweeney Todd." She nabbed the role of Bellatrix Lestrange in the final four "Harry Potter" movies, and that's where she accidentally broke Matthew Lewis' eardrum with a wand (he played Neville Longbottom).
More recently, her performance as Margaret in "The Crown" has been lauded.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: This actor was a fireman when he was younger, which proved to be a problem for one famous door-busting movie scene.
Jack Nicholson
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Net worth: $400 million
Jack Nicholson was born in Neptune City, New Jersey, on April 22, 1937. Before moving to Hollywood in 1954, he worked as a short-order cook while looking for acting jobs in New Jersey. His temper, something that he would be known for (and would make his menacing character roles all the more convincing), got him fired.
Nicholson messed up a pancake order, sending out one that was "three inches thick." he told The Sun. The peeved-off customer approached Nicholson. "She said: 'What the hell is this?' I lost my temper, hit the pancake and said: 'Make your own damn pancakes!'"
Nicholson moved to Hollywood before his 20th birthday and first worked as an assistant to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the famous animators behind "Tom & Jerry." His acting career consisted of parts in films produced by Roger Corman, but he was far from success. It wasn't until he nabbed the role as George Hanson in 1969's "Easy Rider" that his career really took off.
Read more about Nicholson's rather unhinged lifestyle in our in-depth profile.
Who Is This Famous Actress?
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Hint: This actress never appeared nude in media, or even when she posed for "Playboy."
Raquel Welch
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Net worth: $30 million
Raquel Welch — birth name Jo Raquel Tejada — was born on Sept. 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois. The family moved to San Diego, California, when she was 2 years old.
An honors student at school, Welch won beauty contests on the side and became the Fairest of the Fair, winning the Maid of California crown in 1959. She then transitioned into acting by performing on stage in Hemet, California.
In 1966, she landed the leading role in "Fantastic Voyage," a cheesy-but-fun sci-fi flick. That was a box-office success and led her to star in "One Million Years B.C.," which put her in a two-piece, deer skin bikini. The film's poster made her the definitive sex symbol of that era. The poster was used as a significant plot device in "The Shawshank Redemption."
Who Is This Famous Rapper?
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Hint: He's got attitude.
Ice Cube
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Net worth: $160 million
O'Shea Jackson was born on June 15, 1969 in Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles. While growing up, Jackson said he tried hitting on his older brother's girlfriends. His older brother didn't appreciate that, so he told him he would "slam me into the freezer and turn me into an ice cube," he explained during a Wired interview. So I was like, 'You know what? That's a badge of honor.' So I walked out the house that day and told 'em...call me Ice Cube."
While he recorded a few songs with the local rap group N.W.A. while in high school, he left South Central for Arizona in 1987 and earned a diploma in architectural drafting from the Phoenix Institute of Technology. He went back to the N.W.A. the following year, but if that didn't work out, he had a backup plan. "Straight Outta Compton" released in 1988, featuring the infamous "F*** the Police," which the FBI condemned and also led to police around the country unwilling to provide security for their concerts.
After leaving N.W.A in early 1990 over royalty disputes, he transitioned to a solo career. He then went into film and wrote the cult classic movie, "Friday" and has acted in several other films.
In 2020, he was criticized for some tweets that appeared to be anti-Semitic.
Who Is This Famous Rapper?
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Hint: His name isn't Stan, but some of his most obsessed followers have had that nickname.
Eminem
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Net worth: $230 million
Marshall Mathers III was born on Oct. 17, 1972, and spent his youth in Detroit, Michigan. If you've listened to his music, you know he didn't have a happy childhood or a good relationship with his mother (to put it lightly) and dropped out of Lincoln High School.
He worked menial jobs, working on his rap career, and finally got his big break in 1997 when he caught the eyes and ears of Dr. Dre during a rap competition. Under the moniker Eminem, the rapper became the most famous white rapper in history in the late 1990s.
His songs were brutally honest about his childhood, accusing his mother of emotional abuse and being a drug user. His mom sued him in 1999 in an $11 million lawsuit, but she ultimately received just $1,600. The two have since made up.
Who Is This Famous Singer?
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Hint: He never fixed his teeth because he felt it might interfere with his vocal range.
Freddie Mercury
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Net worth at time of death: $50 million (adjusted for inflation)
Freddie Mercury was born as Farrokh Bulsara on Sept. 5, 1946, in Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania). His parents, both Parsis from India, had moved there from Britain to continue working at the British Colonial Office.
Mercury spent his childhood in Zanzibar learning piano and playing in a rock band at age 12, then moved to England with his family in 1964 to escape the violence of the Zanzibar Revolution. Six years later, in 1970, he met up with the founding members of Queen (the band was first known as Smile).
Mercury was born with four extra teeth at the back of his mouth. He was self-conscious of them, but never paid to get them fixed because he feared it would mess up his incredible vocal range.
Queen became one of the greatest rock bands in history, but its length was cut short due to the tragic death of Mercury, who passed away from AIDS in 1991. Their 1985 Live Aid concert is the stuff of legend.
Who Is This Young Comedian?
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Hint: He has his own ice cream.
Stephen Colbert
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Net worth: $75 million
Stephen Colbert was born on May 13, 1964, and grew up on James Island and in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. He was born into a large, Catholic family with 11 brothers and sisters, although his childhood would be shaped by tragedy.
On Sept. 11, 1974, Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crashed three miles short of a runaway in Charlotte, killing 72 people. Among them were Colbert's father and two of his brothers, Peter and Paul. Colbert coped through comedy as it was a good way to make his mother laugh.
Colbert moved to Illinois for college and attended the famous improv group, Second City, where he met his future "Daily Show" correspondent Steve Carell. He made a name for himself on Jon Stewart's late-night comedy show, eventually earning his own satirical right-wing program, "The Colbert Report" and becoming one of America's most beloved comedians.
In 2015, he took David Letterman's place on CBS' "Late Show" and currently earns $15 million a year.
Learn more about Stephen Colbert in our profile piece of him.
Who Is This Young Actress?
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Hint: She's not "broke" anymore.
Kat Dennings
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Net worth: $25 million
Kat Dennings was born as Katherine Victoria Litwack in 1986 in Bryn Maw, Pennsylvania. She was homeschooled and finished her high school curriculum at age 14, then moved to Los Angeles with her family to pursue an acting career.
She appeared in several television shows and movies, including "ER" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," then landed her breakout role as Max in the popular CBS sitcom "2 Broke Girls."
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Dennings and co-star Beth Behrs both received $150,000 per episode, not including syndication royalties. She also had a role in the "Thor" Marvel movies as Darcy Lewis, and will reprise that role in the upcoming Disney+ show "WandaVision."
Who Are These Famous Singers?
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Hint: Both of these pop icons were on "The Mickey Mouse Club" together.
Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera
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Net worth: $115 million (Spears), $160 million (Aguilera)
Britney Spears was born on Dec. 2, 1981, in McComb Mississippi. She took dance, singing and gymnastic lessons at a very young age and was cast in "The Mickey Mouse Club" in 1992, where she met Christina Aguilera (other cast members at the time include Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling).
Christina Aguilera was born in Staten Island, New York City, on Dec. 18, 1980. Growing up in a household with an abusive father, she turned to music for escape. In 1991, she tried out for "The Mickey Mouse Club" but was two young, although she was hired two years later, and met Spears.
Spears and Aguilera were good friends as kids but drifted apart as they each became worldwide pop stars. They had a public feud in the early 2000s, trading barbs in separate media interviews. They don't appear to be best friends any longer although there's no indication of lasting animosity.
Spears last toured in 2018 while Aguilera last toured in 2020, ending tour dates early due to the pandemic.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: Before he was an Academy Award-winning actor, he was living in color.
Jamie Foxx
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Net worth: $150 million
Born Eric Marlon Bishop on Dec. 13, 1967, Jamie Foxx was raised by his mother's adoptive parents in Terrell, Texas. In high school, he had aspirations to play professional football but ended up doing comedy after his girlfriend dared him to perform during an open mic night at a comedy club in the late 1980s. In 1991, he caught his first big break as a cast member in the hit sketch comedy show "In Living Color."
Foxx steadily worked his way through Hollywood, getting his first dramatic role in 1999's "Any Given Sunday." In 2004, he gave a stellar performance as the taxi driver in "Collateral" opposite Tom Cruise, a role for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination.
Just a few months later, the big-screen biopic of Ray Charles, "Ray," in which Foxx plays the blind musician, was released. It earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He's been an A-list star ever since.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: If you hadn't seen his movies, you might think his most famous catchphrase came from a profane cowboy.
Bruce Willis
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Net worth: $250 million
Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, and grew up in Carneys Point, New Jersey. Willis said he had "a horrible stutter" when he was young, but it went away the first time he got on stage during a high school play.
"When I stepped off the stage, I started stuttering again," he told Reader's Digest in 2002. "And I went, 'This is a miracle. I got to investigate this more.'"
After graduating high school, Willis worked as a security guard at Salem Nuclear Power Plant to save up money for college. After completing his degree in drama at Montclair State University in New Jersey, he worked as a bartender in Manhattan, then later moved to California. He nabbed a few acting gigs for television and got his big break in 1985 with the TV show "Moonlighting," where he played a wisecracking personal investigator.
Of course, his real big break came with the starring role in "Die Hard." Director John McTiernan cast him as John McClane even though most data suggested he would be a bad choice, since he was pretty much only known for his comedy-romance work on "Moonlighting."
He received a $5 million payday for the role, which was an enormous salary for an unproven talent at the time. But it certainly paid off, as "Die Hard" was an instant classic.
Who Is This Famous Television Personality?
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Hint: Fill in the blank for his catchphrase: "__, out."
Ryan Seacrest
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Net worth: $450 million
Ryan Seacrest was born on Dec. 24, 1974, and grew up in Dunwoody, Georgia. At a young age, he struggled with his weight, refusing to take his shirt off to go swimming and sneaking oven trays of nachos behind his mom's back.
"I do remember that feeling of growing up and being a little bit overweight," Seacrest told Men's Journal. "I also remember at times being teased about it, and because of that, it’s still in my brain."
Seacrest took the radio at a young age and worked an internship at a local radio station in Atlanta, went on to study journalism at the University of Georgia but left at the age of 19 for Hollywood.
Seacrest's biggest and most notable role was as presenter of the then-new "American Idol" show in 2002. He was making $5 million per year in the mid-2000s for the reality show, and in 2009, he was given a $15 million contract. In addition to "American Idol," Seacrest works behind the scenes on a lot of other projects and is also a producer for "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
He was making $55 million a year in 2009 altogether. Now he's worth $450 million.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: He abides.
Jeff Bridges
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Net worth: $100 million
Jeff Bridges was born on Dec. 4, 1949, to Lloyd Bridges and Dorothy Bridges, both of whom were Hollywood actors. He grew up in Los Angeles' Holmby Hills neighborhood and served in the United States Coast Guard Reserve from 1967 to 1975 while also pursuing acting in New York City. He was a boatswain mate and served for seven years.
"The ceiling is about 7 feet tall, and below the racks where you sleep, there's three or four racks stuffed into that space, and you're out in the ocean at sea in a flat-bottomed boat up against the wind and the swells, and everyone is puking," Bridges recalled of his time in the Coast Guard. "You return from the watch at about 4 a.m. and get dressed in your wool suit and go up there—that was a pretty terrible living condition. But, again, all the tough times make great memories when you look back. Like, I'm glad it's in the rearview mirror."
Bridges has had a long and very successful movie career and is probably best known for starring as the Dude in the Cohen Brother's cult-classic, "The Big Lebowski."
On Oct. 19, 2020, Bridges announced on Twitter that he was diagnosed with lymphoma.
"As the Dude would say.. New S**T has come to light," he tweeted. "I have been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good. I’m starting treatment and will keep you posted on my recovery."
On Dec. 14, 2020, he tweeted that he was "feeling good" and posted a picture of himself with a shaved head and a new puppy.
Who Is This Famous Actor?
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Hint: He will offer you an egg in trying times.
Danny DeVito
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Net worth: $80 million
Danny DeVito was born in Neptune Township, New Jersey, on Nov. 17, 1944. His father ran a few small businesses, including a candy store and a dry cleaners. The neighborhood he grew up in was a rough one, and drugs were a problem.
"Though you could be tempted with heroin, I wasn't. And it was mainly heroin then, there wasn't crack or anything when I was a kid. You went straight to skin-popping and mainlining," DeVito told the Guardian.
DeVito says at the age of 14, he convinced his parents to send him to Oratory Prep, a Catholic boarding school, so he would stay out of trouble. One of his first jobs was as a hairdresser, a gig in which he worked with his sister.
DeVito graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1966. Standing at only five feet tall, DeVito has Fairbank's disease, a rare genetic disorder that prevents bone growth. It's something that surely worked against him, but it also worked in his favor.
"Because I wasn't so average. Early on, when I'd go in for a part, people would go, 'Oh.' [Interested stare.] Later, when they rewind that meeting, it would be, 'We've seen 20 actors for the role of the servant in 'The Merry Wives of Windsor,' but wait a minute, we've done this already with this guy, so let's try this Danny guy.' I got two Shakespeare parts like that," he recalled.
DeVito had several film roles starting in the early 1970s, including a part in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." His breakout performance came in the ABC series "Taxi," where he met his longtime wife Rhea Perlman (the two separated in 2017 but aren't divorced).
DeVito has become something of a pop culture icon thanks to his role as the unhinged Frank Reynolds in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."