Celebrity Jobs: Before They Were Famous

Before They Were Famous

Before Oprah became the media billionaire we know her for today, she started out at the very bottom of her industry.

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Oprah: Radio Announcer
Oprah got a lucky and early start to her career. From 2spare.com: "Arriving at a radio station to collect a watch she had won through a promotional contest, a 16-year-old Winfrey read for producers and secured herself a spot as an on-air reporter earning $100 per week."



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Ironically, the strong-willed Simon Cowell got help from his father to start his career.

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Simon Cowell: Mail Room Boy
From AOL Music UK: "After leaving school at 16 and being sacked from various 'menial jobs' due to issues with his bosses, Cowell's music industry executive father came to the rescue. He got him a job in the [mail] room at EMI Publishing. From there he plotted his rise divulging to CNN, 'I would just drive everybody crazy when delivering mail. I'd go into the bosses' offices and tell them they should give me a better job.'"


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Whoopi Goldberg talks tough now, but she must have really been physically tough to do her old day job.

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Whoopi Goldberg: Bricklayer
From VirginMedia.com: "Believe it or not, Whoopi Goldberg used to work as a bricklayer in the days before she took the comedy and film world by storm. A pretty unlikely job for a would-be performer, and probably a bit of a grind. Thing is, she's such a great actor that even if her heart wasn't in it, we bet she put in a pretty convincing performance!"


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Pink spent some time near deep fryers at the start of her climb to the top.

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Pink: McDonald's Employee
From AOL Music UK: "Bad girl Pink had a novel way to get the party started at work, she has said, 'I'd turn up tripping on acid ... and I would say, "Could I have bathroom duty?" And I would sit in the bathroom and watch the tiles.'"

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Rod Stewart was digging something else, way before people started digging his music.

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Rod Stewart: Grave Digger
From TheImproper.com: "After trying out for a football career with Scottish giants Celtic and London minnows Brentford, a young Rod Stewart decided the glamorous career of a footballer wasn't for him and opted for the not-so-glamorous career as a grave digger. He wasn't there for too long though, before pursuing a career in music. The Maggie May songwriter took up street singing, travelling around Europe… indeed he was actually deported from Spain for vagrancy for his art!"

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