Fame often makes a person’s earlier working life disappear from view. Before major film roles, hit records, or television success, these celebrities held ordinary jobs, worked difficult shifts, or pursued careers far removed from entertainment.
The distinction matters: some stories are carefully documented, while others have been exaggerated into catchy internet myths. The people below are included for verifiable pre-fame occupations and career stages—not rumors.
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1. Harrison Ford: professional carpenter
Harrison Ford was already taking occasional acting work when he began supporting his family as a full-time carpenter in Los Angeles. He built cabinets and carried out carpentry work while continuing to look for better acting opportunities.
That history is sometimes reduced to the claim that Ford was a studio janitor before Star Wars. The documented version is different: he was a professional carpenter who had not yet become a leading actor. His carpentry work also brought him into contact with people in the film industry, but it did not represent a direct leap from manual labor to playing Han Solo.
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Source: Los Angeles Times; TIME
2. Steve Buscemi: New York City firefighter
Before he became known for films such as Fargo and Reservoir Dogs, Steve Buscemi served with the New York City Fire Department. He worked at Engine Company 55 in Manhattan from 1980 to 1984.
His connection to the department continued long after he left the job. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Buscemi returned to his former firehouse and worked alongside firefighters searching for survivors. He reportedly declined publicity for that work, making the episode less visible than many celebrity charity stories.
Source: TIME; Bullseye interview transcript
3. Whoopi Goldberg: mortuary cosmetologist
Whoopi Goldberg trained and worked as a licensed beautician before her breakthrough as a performer. One of her documented jobs involved styling the hair and appearance of deceased people at a mortuary.
That work was part of a much broader working life. Goldberg has also been associated with jobs including bricklaying and bank work. Her path to the stage was therefore not a single, tidy career transition but a series of jobs undertaken before her performance career became financially sustainable.
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4. Danny DeVito: hairdresser and beautician
Before acting made him famous, Danny DeVito worked in his sister’s New Jersey beauty salon. He has described the experience as useful preparation for dealing with people and developing confidence.
Some biographies call DeVito a mortician because contemporary accounts connect his cosmetology work with funeral preparation. That wording is too broad unless the specific context is explained. The safer documented description is that he worked as a hairdresser and beautician before pursuing acting.
Source: The Talks; Associated Press profile
5. Jon Hamm: drama teacher and daycare worker
Jon Hamm’s pre-fame résumé included work with children and education. Before his acting career took off, he worked at a daycare center and later taught high-school drama in St. Louis after graduating from the University of Texas.
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6. Lady Gaga: go-go dancer, waitress, bartender, and intern
Before she became Lady Gaga, Stefani Germanotta supported herself while performing in New York clubs. In a 2008 interview, she identified several of her earlier jobs: go-go dancer, waitress, bartender, and intern at a music company.
These jobs existed alongside her attempts to establish herself as a musician. The story is not that she had no connection to music before becoming famous; rather, she was performing and developing her identity as an artist while using unrelated work to pay the bills.
Source: Pollstar; CNN transcript
7. Jennifer Aniston: a long list of service and temporary jobs
Before Friends, Jennifer Aniston held several jobs while trying to establish herself as an actor. Reported examples include waitressing, telemarketing, bike delivery, reception work, employment at a skin-care center, and work at an ice-cream shop.
Aniston has also recalled cleaning toilets for spending money when she was younger. The variety of these jobs is more revealing than any single anecdote: she was pursuing acting without the financial security that later came with television success.
Source: ELLE Canada; Us Weekly; Harper’s Bazaar
8. Jim Carrey: factory janitor and security guard
Jim Carrey’s family faced serious financial hardship when he was a teenager. Carrey and his brother worked long shifts as janitors and security guards at the tire-rim factory where their father was employed.
This was not simply an amusing first-job story. The work formed part of the family’s effort to remain financially afloat. Carrey was already developing his comedic ambitions, but his early working life also involved demanding industrial and security duties.
9. Madonna: Dunkin’ Donuts employee
After moving to New York to pursue dance and music, Madonna briefly worked at a Dunkin’ Donuts location in Times Square. In a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, she said the job lasted approximately a week.
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Madonna also said she was fired after squirting jelly at customers. That detail comes from her own interview rather than an employment record, so it is best treated as an anecdote she gave about the job—not independently verified documentation of the firing.
Source: Howard Stern interview transcript; The Vintage News
10. Nicki Minaj: Red Lobster waitress
Before her music career became commercially successful, Nicki Minaj worked as a waitress at Red Lobster. She has also discussed other customer-service and office jobs from the period before her breakthrough.
A popular version of the story says she was fired for stealing pens. That claim is widely repeated, but it should not be presented as established fact without a stronger primary source. The documented occupation is the restaurant job itself.
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11. Awkwafina: publicity assistant and vegan-bodega worker
Before becoming known as Awkwafina, Nora Lum studied journalism and women’s studies at SUNY Albany. After college, she worked as a publicity assistant.
She lost that job after her rap video “My Vag” became known. While continuing to pursue entertainment, she worked a range of jobs, including at a vegan bodega. Her early career shows how an unconventional creative project can abruptly affect an otherwise conventional office career.
12. Harry Styles: bakery employee
Before The X Factor and One Direction transformed his public profile, Harry Styles worked part time at a bakery in Cheshire, England.
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The detail is easy to overstate. Styles was a bakery employee, not a professional baker with a long culinary career. The job belongs to the period when he was a local teenager pursuing music before television exposure changed the scale of his ambitions.
13. Cardi B: Amish Market cashier and stripper
Before her rap career and television fame, Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar—known professionally as Cardi B—worked as a cashier at an Amish Market in New York City.
She later worked as a stripper, a period she has discussed publicly as part of her life before entertainment success. Unlike many celebrity career summaries that focus only on the final breakthrough, Cardi B has repeatedly presented these jobs as part of the experience that shaped her public persona and ambitions.
14. Channing Tatum: male revue performer
Before becoming a film star, Channing Tatum worked as a stripper in an all-male revue in Florida. His experience later helped inspire the world of Magic Mike.
The film should not be treated as a literal autobiography. It drew on Tatum’s past, but its characters and story are fictionalized. The documented fact is that he performed in a male revue before his acting career became established.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.15. Angelina Jolie: a contemplated career as a funeral director
Angelina Jolie has said that, as a teenager, she considered becoming a funeral director. She was interested in the profession and the practical side of dealing with death, but she did not become one.
That distinction is important. Articles sometimes turn the story into a claim that Jolie worked in a funeral home or was a funeral director. The documented account concerns a career she considered, not an occupation she held.
What these stories reveal—and what they do not
These careers do not all fit the same pattern. Ford, DeVito, Aniston, and Lady Gaga were already pursuing professional acting or music while earning money elsewhere. Buscemi had a public-service career before acting became his main occupation. Others, including Styles and Cardi B, held local jobs before a sudden change in public visibility.
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They also show why celebrity “first job” lists need careful wording. A short-lived job can become a defining anecdote, while an occupation can be exaggerated into something more dramatic. Ford was a carpenter, not a studio janitor; Jolie considered funeral directing, but did not practice it; and DeVito’s salon work should not automatically be converted into the title “mortician.”
FAQ
Was Harrison Ford a janitor before becoming Han Solo?
The documented account is that Harrison Ford worked full time as a professional carpenter while pursuing occasional acting work. The janitor story appears to be a rumor or conflation, not the best-supported version of his pre-fame career.
Did Danny DeVito work as a mortician?
DeVito worked as a hairdresser and beautician in his sister’s New Jersey salon. Some contemporary accounts connect his cosmetology work with funeral preparation, but calling him a mortician is imprecise without that qualification.
Did Angelina Jolie work as a funeral director?
No documented evidence establishes that she held the job. Jolie has said that she considered becoming a funeral director as a teenager.
What was Steve Buscemi’s job before acting?
Steve Buscemi served as a New York City firefighter with Engine Company 55 in Manhattan from 1980 to 1984. He later returned to his former firehouse to help after the September 11 attacks.
Which celebrity worked at a bakery?
Harry Styles worked part time at a bakery in Cheshire before appearing on The X Factor and joining One Direction.
The Bottom Line
The most reliable pre-fame stories are often less sensational than the myths built around them. These celebrities worked as carpenters, firefighters, teachers, beauticians, servers, factory employees, and shop workers—sometimes while already performing or auditioning. Their earlier jobs were not secret identities, but ordinary parts of lives that fame later obscured.
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