The previous jobs of celebrities are often considerably stranger than their current profession (and pretending to be someone else is pretty strange, when you consider it). Before becoming famous, celebs had to do whatever paid the bills, just like the rest of us. Some of them must be very glad they found a different way of making a living! Here are some of the oddest previous jobs of celebrities …
1 Whoopi Goldberg, Mortuary Beautician
Of all the previous jobs of celebrities, Whoopi Goldberg's must be one of the most bizarre. Instead of paying the bills by working as a waitress or sales assistant, she spent her working day making the deceased look nice. Still, at least her customers wouldn't have been able to complain about anything.
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2 Brad Pitt, Chicken Mascot for El Pollo Loco
Poor Brad wasn't always one of the most desirable men in the world. In fact, nobody could even see him during his previous career. He had to dress up in a chicken suit to advertise fast-food chain El Pollo Loco. It's a fair bet that he wouldn't have bagged Angelina Jolie working as a chicken mascot.
3 Christopher Walken, Lion Tamer
Now, here is one prior job that you can easily imagine Christopher Walken doing. The young Walken had a short stint as a lion tamer. In his case, it surely wouldn't have taken much effort to tame a wild beast. A single stare would have been quite enough to scare the King of the jungle out of his fur!
4 Matthew McConaughey, Chicken Coop Cleaner
Who could imagine Matthew McConaughey mucking out chicken sheds? But that is indeed how the actor earned a crust when younger. McConaughey worked on an Australian chicken farm and an exchange student. I bet he's glad that was just a temporary job!
5 Gene Simmons, Elementary School Teacher
It's really mindboggling to learn that Kiss singer Gene Simmons was actually an elementary school teacher before making it big in music. Parents might not be so keen to have this outlandish figure teaching their kids! The kids must have had a lot of fun in class though.
6 Channing Tatum, Stripper
Did you drool over Channing Tatum playing a stripper in Magic Mike? You may not be surprised to learn that he had some prior experience in the role. In his pre-fame days, he actually did the job for real. Female moviegoers are probably very glad that he chose to relive his early career.
7 George Clooney, Shoe Salesman
Selling shoes isn't such a strange job. But if you'd been lucky enough to be served by a young George Clooney, your shoe closet would doubtless be even more overflowing than it already is! Imagine having Gorgeous George fit shoes onto your feet - the queues must have been down the street and around the corner.
8 Rod Stewart, Gravedigger
We close this post as we began it - working with the deceased. Rod Stewart preceded his singing career with a stint working as a gravedigger. That's certainly not a path anyone would mention to their careers adviser - "Do you think digging graves would get me into showbusiness?"
Many of us have done some fairly unenjoyable jobs in our time, and celebrities are no exception. As they pose on the red carpet and accept awards, those days must seem a long way behind them. Something that they must be very grateful for! But like the rest of us, they had to do whatever they could find to pay their bills. What was your worst or strangest job, and what would be the worst job that you can imagine?
