It’s easy to look at the rich and famous and believe that their lives were always rosey. After all, how can you end up with so much money unless you started out with a leg up? This is entirely not the case for many people who have fame next to their name. We plucked together 11 famous celebrities who have found themselves living homeless. Some of these names might shock you!
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson may be an American Idol but she didn’t grow up with the glitz and glam, that’s for sure. In fact her early pre-Idol life would be marred by several bouts of homelessness. Clarkson had moved out to Los Angeles in order to find her big break and instead she wanted her new apartment go down in flames. Without a job, and likely needing some serious anxiety disorder treatment, Clarkson was forced to live out of her car and sleep at shelters around town. Fortunately for the ‘Since U Been Gone’ singer she found her way into the audition room for American Idol. The rest, as they say in showbiz, is history.
Kelly Clarkson
Sylvester Stallone
The life that Sylvester Stallone grew up going through would make anyone need treatment for anxiety. Now known simply as ‘Sly’, one of the greatest action heroes of all time, Stallone didn’t get in the industry with the ease that he displays nowadays. Stallone spent long periods of his pre-breakout life living without a home or a bed to rest his head. In fact he had to spend almost a month sleeping on benches at the bus station in Port Authority. It was during this time that he was writing his future big break, Rocky. Stallone was committed to creating the film and he refused to sell it unless the purchaser allowed him to retain the leading role. Stallone refused to sell the film even though he got several generous offers, instead opting to live homeless instead of giving up on his dream. Wouldn’t that make you need anxiety self help? ALong the way Stallone even acted in an adult film in order to make enough money just to eat while he tried to sell his future Oscar worthy script.
Sylvester Stallone
John Woo
John Woo is one of the most innovative action directors of our time. The Chinese director got huge with his work on the ‘Mission Impossible’ series and since then he has continually gotten mainstream work in both China and America. Woo’s early life wasn’t roses, however, as he and his family had to deal with extreme poverty and the threat of starvation. Woo lost his home at seven years old and for the next 23 months his family would go from homeless shelter to homeless shelter in order to have a place to sleep at night.
John Woo
Halle Berry
Halley Berry was the first African American actress to grab the Academy Award for Best (leading) Actress. Since then she’s become a Hollywood mainstay despite her tumultuous personal life and film career. Berry has gone through a plethora of failed relationships, including two marriages, as well as a suicide attempt. Before these breakdowns, some of which were surely anxiety fueled, the actress had to live out of several homeless shelters while trying to navigate the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.
Halle Berry
Charlie Chaplin
He is the most famous actor of the silent movie era and he has one of the most iconic images of all time. Before Chaplin was pulling in the true first movie goers to the cinema he was dealing with a family that was dysfunctional all around. His father died when Chaplin was just a kid and his mother was frequently hospitalized in asylums around the country. Chaplin himself had to deal with bipolar disorder and this rough upbringing led to him frequently sleeping on the streets throughout London while trying to get by.
Charlie Chaplin
David Letterman
The long time star of late night television, David Letterman is a face and voice destined for TV’s greatest members. Letterman earns roughly $50 million dollars every year from just his late night gig alone as this doesn’t count any other outside work. Yet current success can’t erase past struggles, but it can illuminate Letterman’s incredible work ethic. Around 40 years ago letterman just made it to Los Angeles, California and when he got there he didn’t have a place to go or to live. So David decided to call his beat up 1973 Chevy pickup truck his home while he tried to break into the business. Letterman would end up landing a writing gig for Jimmy Walker and from there everything else was history. Now Letterman is one of the most renowned talk show hosts and comedians of all time.
David Letterman
Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig is the super suave James Bond of the modern age. He banks over $20 million a film and has all of the glitz and glamor that is accorded to true A-Listers. Yet, before this wonderful life could take off Craig had to endure the struggle. Before he was a successful actor he was just another guy struggling to make it — broke and destitute all while chasing an impossible dream. Craig tells stories of sleeping on park benches and not having enough money for ‘much of anything’. Craig continually insists that he ‘did some awful things’ in order to simply survive before making it big.
Daniel Craig
Hillary Swank
This ‘Million Dollar Baby’ at one time lacked the money it takes to live in even an apartment. Back in the ’90s, before Swank was much of anything in the real world, much less the entertainment world, the actress and her mother had to live out of their car. The decision to live and sleep in a car was made so that Swank and her mother could be in Los Angeles in order to pursue the woman’s dream. Now Swank has a pair of Academy Awards, a gorgeous home, and a reported net worth hovering around $40 million. We would definitely say that the risk paid off.
Hillary Swank
Jim Carrey
Is there any comedian in Hollywood who is more likable than Jim Carrey? We have trouble thinking of anyone. Carrey has been engrained in the Hollywood A-List for so long that it is hard not to imagine the Mask and Truman Show actor as anything but rich. However, Carrey didn’t always have it easy. Carrey was the youngest child in the family and at the age of 15 his father had lost the only job keeping the family in their apartment. After his father lost the job the family was forced to live in a van on the street. Jim ended up leaving school in order to get a job as a janitor so that he could help keep the family inside of their new home. Jim has been nothing but open and honest about his past hardships and for that we salute him. It takes strength to get through those times and it composure to look back at them and understand how they shaped who you are in the present. Today the comedic genius is worth an estimated $150 million dollars.
Jim Carrey
Steve Jobs
Now that Steve Jobs has passed away more and more people are interested in the life he lived before he became THE Steve Jobs. The innovator at Apple has been a global icon, especially in the tech world, for years but things weren’t always so easy and success wasn’t always so clear. Growing up Jobs had to spend much of his time begging, scraping by, and relying on friends just to live. Throughout college he had to sleep on the floor at various friend’s rooms due to the fact that he couldn’t afford to rent a dorm. Jobs would also collect coke bottles so that he could trade them in for the nickel that they were worth — amassing just enough money in this way to buy a single decent meal per week. In order to get this one good meal, Jobs would walk upwards of ten miles across town on Sunday nights in order to eat at his favorite place. It’s safe to say that Job’s success surely changed his personal fortunes.
Steve Jobs
Chris Pratt
Nowadays you know Chris Pratt thanks to his superstar turning performance in the comic book movie Guardians of the Galaxy and before that he was the lovable Andy Dwyer on Parks and Rec, but things weren’t always so good for the actor. Long before Chris Pratt was taming dinos in Jurassic World or fighting off super villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was just another homeless dude winging it in Hawaii. Chris has opened up numerous times about his days as a young man in Hawaii. He mentioned how he lived in a van by the ocean and waited tables just to get enough money to eat, surf, and buy beer. Pratt ended up leaving the island when he impressed a director while serving their table. The director thought that Chris was charming and funny and immediately gave the then-waiter a copy of their script. From their Pratt dove headfirst into the industry, moved back to the mainland, and then found his way into all of our hearts. Not a bad turnaround for a man who probably never thought he’d be a superstar. Pratt’s first acting job was in Cursed Part 3 — the film that he booked as a waiter.
Chris Pratt
