Regardless of your background and status, life is a series of valleys and mountains, a mixture of ups and downs, and a concoction of defeats and victories. In view of this, what is really important is to remain positive, humble, and hopeful. In this video, we are to going to take a look at 10 homeless people who became rich and famous.
10. Jim Morrison (Singer)
Born on December 8, 1943, Jim Morrison lived a short but colorful life. Stories and rumors about him can be found on the internet, including a claim that he is alive and was last seen in New York City.
However, one of the things that is true about Jim Morrison is the claim that he was homeless while struggling with his music and writing career. It has been reported that he spent few nights under the pier at Venice Beach.
His fans will also tell you how Jim lived in a cheap hotels in Los Angeles. But not many people knew about this before Jim Morrison made it big.
9. Halle Berry (Actor)
You may consider the first and only African-American woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role as being synonymous with fame, influence, wealth, and sex appeal.
Nevertheless, for Halle Berry, life has not always been easy. Just to name a few, Halle Berry went through three failed marriages, a few bad relationships, and a suicide attempt.
She also experienced being homeless at the beginning of her acting career. However, she confessed during an interview with Reader’s Digest that this experience made her stronger, and taught her how to live through any situation, even if it meant she had to spend a few nights in a public shelter.
8. Dr. Phil (TV Host)
Born on September 1, 1950, Phil McGraw is a well known television personality, author, and host of a television show. But when Dr. Phil was twelve years old, he was homeless and lived in a car in Kansas City with his father who was interning as a psychologist.
He later on obtained his own bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD, and joined his father’s practice in Texas. In the 1990s, Oprah Winfrey invited McGraw to appear on her show.
As you probably know, he later became a regular on Oprah and eventually launched his own syndicated advice program. Today, the author and TV personality, is worth an estimated $460 million dollars.
7. Sylvester Stallone (Actor)
Born on July 6, 1946, Sylvester Stallone is an epitome of success, hard work, and determination. His films, Rocky and Rambo, are just some of the examples of his success.
But before all these, as a young man, Stallone spent three weeks sleeping at the Port Authority bus station. It was also during this time that he came across an ad for an adult film that paid about a hundred bucks a day
. There is also a story that he had to sell his dog for $50 dollars to make ends meet. When asked to confirm this story during his 2013 interview, Stallone confirmed the story.
He then added that he later bought back his dog for 3000 dollars. Today, Sylvester Stallone has a net worth of approximately $400 million dollars.
6. Jennifer Lopez (Singer)
Born on July 24, 1969, Jennifer Lopez is an American singer, actress, and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer in a sketch comedy “In Living Color.”
But before she found success, W magazine reported that Jennifer Lopez moved out of their house when she was eighteen due to a disagreement between her and her mom.
As a result, she started sleeping on the sofa of her dance studio. Fortunately, few months later, she landed a job dancing in Europe. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Jennifer Lopez, the fifty one year old singer, actress, producer, and designer, is worth four million dollars. Furthermore, she also brings in forty million dollars per year.
5. Drew Carey (Game Show Host)
Drew Allison Carey was born on May 23, 1958, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where his father died when he was just eight years old.
He attended James Ford Rhodes high school and joined the band, playing the trumpet. According to the Kirkland Reporter, during a 2010 benefit for the Friends of Youth Organization, Carey told the audience that he was on his way from Ohio to California to see his brother when he ended up homeless in Las Vegas.
He ended up selling plasma for $40 dollars, and looked for spare change to buy a box of Mac and Cheese. Today, the actor, comedian, game show host, and philanthropist, is worth an estimated $170 million dollars according to Wealthygenius.com.
4. Colonel Sanders (Entrepreneur)
Mr. Kentucky Fried Chicken is, without a doubt, one of the most recognizable and rich food businessmen in history. But before that, he used to be filthy poor and homeless.
His father died when he was only five and his mother quickly remarried. When he was ten, the colonel decided to leave his house because he couldn’t take his stepfather’s constant beatings and abuse.
He remained homeless for a long time and did many jobs in his own life until he came up with his own secret recipe and became the father of KFC. He did not even have his own house until he was forty years old.
3. David Letterman (Talk Show Host)
According to Forbes magazine, David Letterman is one of the richest and influential television host and comedians in America. He made an estimated $50 million dollars a year from his late-night TV talk show, before retiring in 2014.
However, if you think that Letterman always had it good, then you’re sorely mistaken. According to reports, about forty six years ago, when Letterman arrived in Los Angeles, he used his 1973 Chevy pickup as his home.
We don’t even want to imagine what he had to go through for several months before he finally got his break, and started writing jokes for Jimmy Walker, which served as a stepping stone to an incredible career that followed.
2. Chris Gardner (Author)
Born on February 9, 1954, Christopher Paul Gardner is an American businessman and motivational speaker. During the early 1980s, Gardner struggled with homelessness while raising his son.
He became a stock broker, and eventually founded his own brokerage firm, “Gardner Rich & Company,” in 1987. In 2006, Gardner sold his minority stake in the firm and published a memoir.
That book was made into the motion picture, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” starring Will Smith. In 2002, Gardner received the Father of the Year Award from the NFI.
He also received the 25th Annual Humanitarian Award, from the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, and the 2006 Friends of Africa Award, from the Continental Africa Chamber of Commerce.
1. Steve Jobs (Inventor)
What comes to your mind when you hear the name Steve Jobs? Perhaps you would say, “lots of money!” What about if we told you that the co-founder, former chairman, and CEO of Apple Incorporated, was once broke and homeless? According to his own claims, the father of Iphone did not have a dorm room as a student, and had to sleep on the floor in friend’s rooms.
He also returned coke bottles for the nickel deposits to buy food, while he would walk seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hari Krishna temple. And these are the 10 homeless people who became rich and famous.
