Exclusive : 45 Celebrities Who Had Surprising Day Jobs Before They Were Famous.

Long before they became stars, many celebrities had ordinary jobs. Below is just a sampling of some the jobs 45 celebrities had prior to stardom. The jobs range from attorney, drug dealer, nanny and eyeglass inspector. Look at the list below to see what your favorite star did before they reached celebrity status. Did he dance like a chicken or dig graves to achieve success?

#1. Brad Pitt

Brad was two credits shy of graduating from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism, when he dropped out and moved to LA. During his pursuit of stardom, he delivered refrigerators, drove exotic dancers around in a limousine and wore a chicken suit and danced around for el Pollo Loco.

#2. Kanye West

During his high school days, Kanye West folded clothes at the GAP. In 'The College Dropout' album, West mentions his former retail job, "Let's go back, back to the GAP. Look at my check. wasn't no scratch. So if I stole, wasn't my fault. Yeah I stole, never got caught."

#3. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp was a telemarketer. He sold pens and recalls: "I was selling pens..You’re calling people who don’t want you to call them. You put on your best fake voice and try and sell them a gross or two of ballpoint pens with their name printed on them. First you say, ‘Congratulations. you have just become eligible to win a grandfather clock’ – or a trip to Greece or a Jacuzzi or whatever.' "

#4. Madonna

Prior to the pop icon's 1984 appearance on American Bandstand, she worked as a showgirl in France. She also worked at a Dunkin' Donuts in New York's Times Square, where she allegedly was fired after she squirted jelly filling all over a customer.

#5. Gerard Butler

A year after graduating from law school, Gerard took a job at a law firm. His desire to act became too much for him and he quit his law career to become a casting assistant, where he landed his first role as the lead in Coriolanus.

#6. James Lipton

The host of "Inside the Actors Studio" used to be a pimp. He told Parade.com that he had a "whole bordello" of women in Paris in the 1950's. He gave up that career to move back to the states to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.

#7. Ashton Kutcher

Austin studied biomedical engineering at the University of Iowa. Before he dropped out of college to pursue his modeling career, he swept cereal dust at a General Mills factory to help with his living expenses. He also sold his blood for extra cash.

#8. Angelina Jolie

Angelina, disappointed with how her grandfathers funeral was conducted, pursued course work in mortuary science but did not receive her certificate. She started appearing in music videos at the age of 16 and films shortly after.

#9. Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle got a taste of celebrity life when she won the Miss Orange County beauty contest and then, the title of Miss Los Angeles. She studied to become a court reporter, but it was while she worked as a cashier at a supermarket that she realized she wanted to get into acting.

#10. George Clooney

At the age of 16, George tried out for the Cincinatti Reds baseball team. He did not get a contract and decided to go to college to become a broadcast journalist. After dropping out of school, he held many odd jobs including shoe salesman and tobacco farm hand before moving to LA.

#11. Jon Bon Jovi

Like many people his age, Jon sold newspapers as a youngster. After high school, he worked as a janitor at his cousin Tony Bongiovi's recording studio where he recorded his first single "Runaway" at the age of 18.

#12. Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock was not an instant success. During the early stages of her career, she supported herself by working as a waitress and a bartender in New York.

#13. Harrison Ford

Before becoming Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford worked at a Boy Scout adventure camp as a counselor for the reptile merit badge. He also worked as a sports commentator for his high school prior to building custom furniture for people like Richard Dreyfuss and Joan Didion.

#14. Eva Mendes

During her teenage years, Eva worked at several fast food restaurants including a pizza/pasta place at the local mall called Ciao. She also had a job at a hot dog stand called Hot Dog on a Stick.

#15. Jim Carrey

In the late 1970's Jim Carrey worked as a janitor at a factory to help support his family. He started making his mark in show biz as the opening act for comedians such as: Rodney Dangerfield and Buddy Hackett.

#16. Betty White

Betty White worked as a model, after a photographer came to her high school and took pictures of her wearing school clothes. She has since worked for more than 50 years in the tv/movie industry.

#17. Rod Stewart

Grammy award winner Rod Stewart dropped out of school at the age of 15. He held various jobs including silk screen printer and grave digger. He also tried out for the Brentford F.C. football club, but never signed a contract.

#18. Stacey Dash

Stacey broke into acting at the age of 15 starring in several sitcoms. Because of her early entry into acting one of the only jobs she had was at the retail clothing store United Colors of Benetton in Paramus, New Jersey. Among her duties, were folding clothes.

#19. Jennifer Aniston

Before we knew Jennifer as Rachel on "Friends," she worked as a telemarketer. Other jobs Jennifer has had are waitress and bike messenger. She also appeared on "The Howard Stern Show" as a spokesmodel.

#20. Charlize Theron

When Charlize was a young child, she used to sing at the town square for money. She also tended livestock on her parents working farm. At the age of 16, Charlize won a one year modeling contract and following that, when knee injuries forced her from the Joffrey Ballet, she decided to give acting a try.

#21. Rene Russo

To help support her single mother, Rene Russo dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and took several part-time positions including cashier at a movie theater and line inspector at an eye glass factory.

#22. Tim Allen

Tim Allen's past jobs have included working at a student run radio station and a sporting goods salesperson. His most renowned past job however, was that of a drug dealer. Allen was arrested at the Kalamazoo airport with over a pound of cocaine.

#23. Cindy Crawford

Some stars had very few jobs prior to their success. Cindy was one of them. She was photographed de-tasseling corn and the positive feedback convinced her to sign a contract with Elite Modeling Management.

#24. Mariah Carey

Mariah signed her first recording contract with Columbia at the age of 18. Prior to that, she studied cosmetology and had several jobs in salons before she gave up on that dream. She also held jobs as a waitress and a coat check person.

#25. Hugh Grant

Hugh used his college degree in English Literature to help him with several jobs prior to his work on the big screen. He wrote book reviews, comedy sketches and radio commercials. He also worked as assistant groundsman at the Fulham Football Club

#26. Halle Berry

Halle worked in the children's department at Higbee's Department Store to help offset her college expenses while she studied broadcast journalism. After doing well in several beauty contests, she moved to NY to pursue a career in acting. She had difficulty finding work and eventually ended up at a homeless shelter.

#27. Adrien Brody

Academy award winning actor, Adrien Brody, was in his first off broadway play and PBS movie at the age of thirteen. He did, however, make extra spending money doing birthday parties as the "Amazing Adrien."

#28. Katie Lowes

Like many in the trade, Katie held a lot of different waitress jobs. Her main waitress job was at Ammo's in LA. She also worked for Connie Britton as a nanny. Katie was taking care of Connie's son before she got a role in "Scandal."

#29. Sean Connery

Sean had many jobs prior to stardom. One of his first jobs was delivering milk door to door. He later served in the Royal Navy. After his discharge from the navy, he worked as a truck driver, life guard and coffin polisher.

#30. Suze Orman

Suze had many jobs prior to her career taking off. The most influential job was working as a waitress at the buttercup Bakery. She wanted to open her own restaurant and told one of her regulars. The regular loaned her $50K to start her restaurant. She put the money in a brokerage account with Merrill Lynch. Shortly after , she had lost it all. Her next job was at Merrill Lynch!

#31. Jerry Springer

Before Jerry Springer became a world renowned talk show, he held several other interesting jobs. He worked on Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign. He also worked in a law firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. Springer served as mayor of the city for one year in 1977.

#32. Walt Disney

Before Walt Disney won any of his 22 Academy Awards, he had many odd jobs. His entrepreneurial career started as a paperboy. He also worked for the railroad selling travelers snacks and magazines. When he was rejected by the army, he joined the Red Cross and drove an ambulance in France at the end of WWI.

#33. Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise had a paper route as a youngster. He also worked as a bell hop at a hotel. But, oddly enough, he went to seminary in Cincinnati to become a Catholic priest.

#34. Connie Britton

Connie has worked at both the Gap and the Limited. She admits to being a very bad folder of clothes and didn't last long at either job. She did so well at her job as an aerobics instructor, though, and it has helped her maintain her physique.

#35. Andrew Garfield

Andrew earned money as a youngster mowing the lawn for his parents. He later he became a barista at Starbucks, so the next time you order a cup of coffee maybe you will be served by the next Spider-Man

#36. Michael Fassbender

Michael, star of  "Shame," used to be an altar boy at weddings and baptisms. He has also conducted market research for Britain's Royal Mail. And like many actors to be, Michael has held numerous bartending positions.

#37. Oprah Winfrey

One of the only jobs Oprah has had outside of the broadcast industry was as a grocery store clerk. She knew early in life what she wanted to do and got her first job in broadcasting while still in high school.

#38. Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman delivered newspapers as a youngster in Mississippi. After graduating high school, he joined the Air Force, but never became the fighter pilot he wanted to be, so he quit after four years. While looking for acting work, Freeman performed as a dancer at the 1964 World's Fair.

#39. Rachel McAdams

Rachel must have realy liked her summer job. She worked at McDonald's for three years while on break from school.

#40. Bryan Cranston

Bryan worked on his grandparents' poultry farm while working on his associate degree in police science. The "Breaking Bad" star had aspirations of a career in law enforcement.

#41. Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton used to paint houses. He moved to Nashville two weeks after graduating high school and worked at a music publishing company dubbing cassettes.

#42. Elizabeth Banks

In her younger days, Elizabeth Banks was an errand girl at her local Catholic youth center. She used to run the after school game room, work at the front desk and hand out coffee. She also worked as a waitress in NY.

#43. Alexander Skarsgard

Alexander used to be a busboy at a Stockholm restaurant, where his uncle was also a bartender. He also served his country in the Swedish Military for 18 months.

#44. Rooney Mara

Rooney Mara opted out of the family football dynasty of the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, instead "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" worked as a summer camp counselor. She also earned extra money by babysitting.

#45. Chase Crawford

Chase Crawford worked at an Abercrombie & Fitch in Plano,Texas. He also modeled for Hollister before moving to LA to study broadcast journalism. After dropping out of college, he worked as a valet before starring in "Gossip Girl."

Hard work, persistence, and a plan usually precede success, but sometimes things don't work out. Sometimes celebrities as well as the rest of us can't find work and end up homeless.