This was published 11 years ago
Celebrities who quit their day jobs
Even celebrities endure their share of bad gigs before fame finds them.
By Samantha Cortez
FIRST jobs are anything but glamorous, and even celebrities endure their share of bad gigs before fame finds them . . .
Rod Stewart: gravedigger
Before Stewart charmed audiences with his singing talent, he worked as a gravedigger at Highgate Cemetery in London during his teens.
Jon Hamm: porn film set dresser
Hamm's early off-screen job was not as glamorous as the 1960s Mad Men days. He said it was an easy way to earn a few hundred a day.
Whoopi Goldberg: mortuary beautician and phone-sex operator
The 56-year-old comedian and actor took a job as a mortuary beautician after she became a licensed beautician.
Orlando Bloom: clay trapper
Bloom's first job was a clay trapper at age 13 at a pigeon shooting range. Clay trappers load and aim clay discs used as targets for shooters.
Hugh Jackman: party clown
Jackman's natural comedic tendencies would make him the perfect candidate for a party clown. It paid about $50 a show — he has come a long way.
Patrick Dempsey: juggler
One of Dempsey's first jobs was juggling for money. When he was 15, he competed in the International Jugglers Association and came in second to then eight-year-old Anthony Gatto, who went on to set numerous records and perform in Cirque du Soleil.
Brad Pitt: chicken
Pitt may be one of Hollywood's leading men, but once he was nothing more than a chicken. His first employer was El Pollo Loco (the crazy chicken) and he had to dress as a chicken, hand out flyers and attract customers to the restaurant.
Matthew McConaughey: chicken coop cleaner
While McConaughey was living in Australia as a Rotary exchange student, he earned money by cleaning chicken coops. On the side, he washed dishes as well.
Christopher Walken: lion tamer
At the age of 15, Walken joined a travelling circus and was briefly a lion tamer.
Sylvester Stallone: lion cage cleaner
While waiting for his acting career to take off, the Rambo actor cleaned lion cages at Central Park Zoo.
Warren Beatty: rodent catcher
To say that Beatty got his start in theatre is putting it lightly. When the actor was 17, he got his first job at the National Theatre in Washington — patrolling alleys to spot rodents.
Mick Jagger: porter at a mental hospital
Long before the Rolling Stones, Jagger carried around luggage at the Bexley Mental Hospital while he was a student at the London School of Economics.
Ellen DeGeneres: oyster shucker
The outspoken talk show host has had her share of menial jobs, including house painter, vacuum salesperson, bartender, waitress and sales clerk — but the most unusual was an oyster shucker.
Jon Stewart: puppeteer
According to The New York Times, after graduating with a degree in psychology in 1984, Stewart went to New Jersey, where he worked for the state, performing puppet shows designed to sensitise schoolchildren to the disabled.
Mariah Carey: hat checker
Like many other rising celebs, Carey worked several jobs, one of them being a hat checker.
Channing Tatum: stripper
Since the release of the film Magic Mike, more is being revealed about Tatum's stripper days. Dropping out of college in Florida, he went by the alias of Chan Crawford.
Matt Damon: breakdancer
It is rumoured that, as a student at Harvard, Damon used to breakdance for cash at Harvard Square.
Megan Fox: banana
One of Hollywood's vixens was once a banana. The actress/model used to wear a banana costume to attract customers to a smoothie shop.