Before they became famous, celebrities also had “real” jobs

You know these titans of the entertainment industry for their acting and singing skills. Long before they became stars, they all had a day job to pay the bills. Which famous person had which job before they became famous? Test your knowledge with this quiz.

1. What job did Elvis Presley once have?

A: Painter

B: Truck driver

C: Carpenter

D: Bulldozer driver

2. This early job made John Wayne a film legend. What was it?

A: Screenwriter

B: Make-up artist

C: Adjust propeller mover

D: Sound engineer

3. Which famous singer once delivered newspapers and worked as a riveter at a shipyard while honing his skills as a pop singer?

Answer: Perry Como

B: Bing Crosby

C: Dean Martin

R: Frank Sinatra

4. How did movie star Brad Pitt once pay his bills?

A: Deliver sung telegrams

B: Male Stripper

C: Dress up as a chicken

D: Teaching expressive dance

5. What early job did rocker Freddie Mercury have?

A: Travel agency

B: Baggage handler

C: Animal keeper

D: Manicure

6. Which late-night TV talk show was a money-making opportunity for a magician in high school?

Answer: Johnny Carson

B. Dick Cavett

B: David Letterman

C: Jay Leno

7. Singer Madonna only lasted one week in this job:

A: Hairdresser

B: Waitress

C: Donut maker

D: Caterers

Answer:

1: B. Before Elvis was crowned the “King of Rock 'n' Roll,” he drove a truck for the Crown Electric Co. in Memphis, Tennessee.

2: C. As a favor to the Southern Cal football coach (who gave him free tickets to games), director John Ford hired the well-built, 6'4″ young man to haul scenery and props to film sets. That landed him an extra role, then some speaking roles, and then…the rest, as they say, is history.

3: D. Ol' Blue Eyes worked his way out of his Hoboken, New Jersey neighborhood while contributing as a singer.

4: C. Although he has been wowing moviegoers for over 30 years, nobody recognized him in one role. Pitt slipped into a chicken costume and waved to passing motorists in front of a restaurant.

5: B. Years before he belted out “We Will Rock You” as the frontman of the supergroup Queen, Mercury toiled as an unglamorous baggage handler for British Airways at London’s Heathrow Airport.

6: A. The future king of late-night television performed magic tricks for $3 a show during his high school years. He later parodied himself in his recurring “Carnac the Magnificent” sketches.

7: C. She may have been an icon as the Material Girl in the 1980s, but before that Madonna baked doughnuts at a Dunkin' in New York City. She told Howard Stern she was fired for “playing with the jelly-squirting machine.” (She was also a hat checker at the Russian Tea Room. Briefly.)

J. Mark Powell is a novelist and former television journalist. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.