Strangest Jobs Held by Famous People
Before the red carpets and movie premieres, most celebrities were just regular people trying to pay rent. The difference is that some of them ended up in jobs that were way stranger than your average retail gig.
From taming lions to styling hair on the deceased, these pre-fame careers prove that sometimes the road to stardom takes some pretty unusual detours. Here is a list of the strangest jobs held by famous people before they made it big.
Christopher Walken Was a Lion Tamer
When Christopher Walken was just 16 years old, he joined a traveling circus and became a trainee lion tamer. He worked with a lioness named Sheba and traveled around to various cities with the circus.
Looking back, Walken described it as an incredible experience and joked that anyone would take that job if offered. The gig gave him early experience performing in front of audiences, though probably nothing could have prepared him for the intensity of working with big cats at such a young age.
Johnny Depp Sold Pens Over the Phone
Before his breakthrough roles, Johnny Depp worked as a telemarketer selling pens and felt terrible about it because he thought the whole operation was a scam. The job required him to call strangers, make up fake names like ‘Edward Quartermaine from California,’ and promise them prizes like trips to Tahiti if they bought pens.
Depp eventually started telling customers not to buy the pens because he knew they wouldn’t actually get the promised trips. Despite being awful at sales, the experience taught him to think quickly and create character backstories on the spot, skills that definitely came in handy for his acting career.
Brad Pitt Dressed as a Chicken
Brad Pitt worked as a mascot for El Pollo Loco restaurants in the Los Angeles area, wearing a full chicken costume to attract customers. The job was exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, but it taught him something valuable about performing.
Committing fully to a role, even when that role is a giant chicken, requires a certain level of dedication. Pitt also worked as a limo driver for strippers, chauffeuring them to bachelor parties, but he quit after just two months because the novelty wore off and it became depressing.
Whoopi Goldberg Did Hair and Makeup in a Morgue
Whoopi Goldberg worked as a licensed beautician at a funeral home, styling hair and applying makeup to deceased people. She responded to an ad in the paper and got the job after completing beauty school.
Goldberg later admitted it was a rough gig that required a special kind of person who genuinely loved people enough to give them a great send-off. Not everyone can handle that kind of work, but it clearly took a unique mix of compassion and professional detachment.
Danny DeVito Also Worked at a Mortuary
After graduating from high school, Danny DeVito’s sister offered him a job at her hair salon and even paid for him to attend cosmetology school. He eventually landed a job at a mortuary doing hair for deceased people, though he insisted on only working on elderly women.
DeVito later joked that the clients didn’t talk back, which made the job easier in some ways. The whole situation was admittedly morbid, but it paid the bills while he figured out his path in entertainment.
Jon Hamm Was a Set Dresser for Adult Films
Jon Hamm worked as a set dresser for soft-core adult films on Cinemax, earning about $100 a day. He took the job as a last resort after losing his catering gig, and a friend told him they’d hire anyone.
The work involved moving furniture around while trying to avoid the actors during filming, and Hamm described it as soul-crushingly depressing. At 25 years old and struggling in Los Angeles, he needed any work he could get, no matter how awkward.
Hugh Jackman Was a Party Clown
Before becoming Wolverine, Hugh Jackman worked several odd jobs including as a gas station attendant and a party clown, complete with a red nose. He also worked as a physical education teacher, and one of his former students actually recognized him on a red carpet years later, revealing his teaching past to the world.
The clown gig must have been quite the contrast to the tough-guy roles he’d later become famous for, but it probably helped him develop his performance skills and comfort in front of audiences.
Meghan Markle Was a Professional Calligrapher
Before acting and long before marrying into the British royal family, Meghan Markle worked part-time as a professional calligrapher. She wrote out wedding invitations for celebrities including Robin Thicke and Paula Patton, and even taught calligraphy classes.
The job required steady hands, artistic talent, and attention to detail. It’s a surprisingly elegant pre-fame career compared to some of the other entries on this list, and it certainly came in handy when she had to sign official documents later in life.
Rod Stewart Dug Graves
Rod Stewart had several jobs before his music career took off, but working as a gravedigger was undoubtedly the creepiest. The physical labor must have been exhausting, and the setting couldn’t have been particularly cheerful.
Stewart eventually traded in his shovel for a microphone and never looked back. It’s hard to imagine the flamboyant rock star spending his days in cemeteries, but everyone has to start somewhere.
Warren Beatty Caught Rats
Before becoming a Hollywood leading man, Warren Beatty worked as a rat catcher to pay his bills. The job involved tracking down and eliminating rodents, which is about as unglamorous as it gets.
Beatty went from crawling around looking for vermin to starring opposite some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. The contrast between his early career and his later success as a suave actor and director couldn’t be more dramatic.
Mick Jagger Sold Ice Cream
As a teenager, Mick Jagger worked as an ice cream salesman before the Rolling Stones made him famous. After entering the London School of Economics, he also worked as a porter at a mental hospital.
The ice cream job was probably the more pleasant of the two, though neither exactly screamed future rock star. Jagger’s bandmate Keith Richards also had a humble start, working as a tennis club attendant before picking up a guitar.
George Clooney Sold Insurance Door-to-Door
Despite growing up in a show business family, George Clooney struggled early in his career and worked various low-paying jobs, including going door-to-door selling insurance. Cold-calling strangers and trying to convince them to buy insurance policies is a tough gig that requires thick skin and persistence.
Clooney clearly had the charm and persuasion skills even back then, though he eventually found better uses for those talents in front of the camera.
Chris Hemsworth Cleaned Breast Pumps
Before playing Thor, Chris Hemsworth worked for a pharmacy that rented out breast pumps, and his job was to clean them when they were returned. Armed with just a toothbrush and some cleaning spray, he’d scrub down the machines that came back from customers.
It’s about as far removed from wielding a hammer and saving the universe as you can get. The future superhero was literally scrubbing medical equipment in the back of a pharmacy while dreaming of bigger things.
Martha Stewart Was a Stockbroker
In the 1960s, Martha Stewart worked as a stockbroker on Wall Street, competing in what was notoriously a boys’ club at the time. She eventually left that career to open a gourmet food shop, which became the foundation for her massive lifestyle brand.
The financial skills and business acumen she developed on Wall Street clearly served her well when building her empire. It’s not exactly a strange job compared to rat catching or morgue work, but it’s definitely unexpected for someone who became famous for decorating and cooking.
Paul Rudd Glazed Hams
Paul Rudd spent about six months working at a job where he glazed hams. He later admitted it was a weird job and that he appreciated how strange it was, especially the fact that he constantly smelled like ham. Imagine Ant-Man walking around reeking of glazed pork products all day.
Rudd has always had a good sense of humor about his pre-fame life, and the ham-glazing story has become a favorite among his fans.
Terry Crews Drew Courtroom Sketches
Before his football career or his acting breakthrough, Terry Crews worked as a courtroom sketch artist for the worst murder case in Flint, Michigan history. His art skills were so impressive that his high school headteacher helped him secure an art scholarship before he even got a football scholarship.
Crews has always been talented with a pencil, and spending time in courtrooms documenting serious criminal cases gave him a unique perspective on human nature. The experience probably informed his later work as an actor, even if he’s better known now for comedy than for drawing.
From Strange Starts to Stardom
These unusual early jobs prove that success rarely follows a straight path. Whether they were dealing with deceased clients, farm animals, or telemarketers’ guilt, these celebrities pushed through some genuinely weird situations before finding their calling.
The skills they picked up along the way, from Depp’s character work to Walken’s fearlessness, ended up shaping the performers they became. Sometimes the strangest detours lead to the most interesting destinations.
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