It is well-known that most celebrities earn large sums of money because of their status with the top stars often earning millions of dollars each year. How much they earn often depends on their popularity, the type of work they do and how visible they are in the public eye. As a result of their financial success, they can live a jet setting, luxurious lifestyle that is the envy of many. They can buy dream houses, hire help, travel to their favorite destinations around the world, and drive cars that most people can only dream of owning. However, while some celebrities have always lived a comfortable lifestyle as they come from wealthy families, others have a completely different background and have only started to enjoy life’s luxuries as a result of their success as a celebrity. In fact, some celebrities have come from nothing to become the success they are today.
Here are 20 celebrities who truly have come from rags to riches.
1. Leighton Meester
In her role as Blair Waldorf, you will see Leighton Meester as a rich spoiled brat. However, her own life experiences could not be further from the character she plays. Right from birth, Meester had an unusual childhood. She was born while her mother was serving a prison sentence and this was the reason why she was raised by her grandmother in Mango Island, Florida. At the end of her mother’s prison sentence, Leighton moved with her mother to New York to start a new life together. Meester began to work as a model before pursuing an acting career when she and her mother moved to Los Angeles in 2007. She is tipped for great success in the future.
2. Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is best-known for her role as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City and her real life reflects the experiences of her character who lives the high-life. However, it has not always been that way for Sarah Jessica Parker. Now worth $90 million, she grew up in a family that relied on welfare and there were occasions when they couldn’t even afford to celebrate Christmas and buy gifts.
3. Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank credits her difficult childhood living in a trailer park with her appreciation of her current lifestyle. While she is now one of the most famous women in the world, she came from less grand beginnings. Although she is now worth $40m million and has won awards for her performances, she does not take her success for granted. She can also relate to her role in ‘Million Dollar Baby’ as a struggling boxer.
4. Demi Moore
Demi Moore has described herself in many interviews as a trailer park kid and she had an impoverished childhood. Her problems extended into her early adult life as she developed an addiction to drugs and worked as a nude model. Her luck changed when she met Joel Schumacher, who was the director of St. Elmo’s Fire. He encouraged her to get into recovery for her addiction and helped her establish herself in the film industry. She is now worth approximately $150 million.
5. Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey had many ups and downs in his formative years. Although his family was middle-class, they hit hard times when Carrey’s father Percy, an accountant, lost his job. This resulted in the family living in a camper van. To help out, Carrey worked eight hour shifts even though he was still at school. He even found the time to work on a comedy routine and it was his comedic skills that led to him becoming one of the most famous comedy actors today. He has amassed wealth of approximately $150 million.
6. Shania Twain
In the country music genre, Shania Twain is the biggest selling female country singer of all time. It is for this reason that she has made an impressive $350 million and lives a life of luxury. Life has not always been so great for this talented singer and songwriter. Growing up in Timmins, Ontario, was difficult as her mother and stepfather had an abusive relationship. At one point, her mother even put Shania and her siblings in foster care as she struggled to cope and feed the family. Shania lost both her mother and stepfather in a car accident at the age of 21. This meant she became responsible for her three siblings and experienced some difficult and challenging times.
7. Leonardo Dicaprio
Now worth $245 million, Leonardo Dicaprio has not always enjoyed financial security and experienced a very poor childhood. From a young age, he lived in an environment where prostitution and drug taking were commonplace. This is rather different to his current situation in life as he is now worth $245 million. Two of his top films are ‘Titanic’ and ‘Gangs of New York’.
8. J.K. Rowling
J.K. Rowling’s life story has become one of the most famous rags to riches tales of the current time. It has been widely publicized that prior to the release of the first book in the Harry Potter series, Rowling was relying on welfare as an unemployed single mother. She used her time to write the first novel and it has been reported that she would sit writing in a café with her young daughter by her side. The first Harry Potter book was so successful that a full series of books followed and these were then created into movies. She is now worth a whopping $1 billion. Her success was a surprise even to her agent who once told her that she wouldn’t make any money writing books.
9. Tom Cruise
Worth a hefty $500 million, Cruise is one of the leading talents in the movie industry and his fees reflect this. While he is now highly respected in the film industry and is one of the top-earning male actors, his childhood was in stark contrast. Although his early years were comfortable, his mother left the family home when Cruise was just 11 and shortly after that his father died. A period followed when Cruise led an impoverished lifestyle. Through his hard work and starting at the bottom of the showbiz ladder, Cruise can now reap the rewards of his efforts and enjoy a luxury celebrity lifestyle.
10. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey had a very unsettled childhood and moved from one home to the next. She started life living with her grandmother before moving to live with her mother who Winfrey has stated was not supportive. Later, she lived with her father and it is he she credits with instilling a good sense of business in her. Now worth $2.5 billion, Oprah Winfrey is one of the richest African-American females in the United States. She has earned this through her television appearances, from her books and from owning her own media empire
11. Chris Pratt
As an aspiring actor, there were times when Chris Pratt struggled so much that he even resorted to living in a van. He moved to Maui when he dropped out of college and once said that it was an awesome place to be homeless. By taking on acting roles, Pratt dragged himself out of this situation and the ‘Jurassic World’ star is now earning an estimated $5 million a year. Chris Pratt is was married to Anna Faris (until recently) and the couple have a son, Jack.
12. Jay Z
Jay Z is a hugely respected rapper and entrepreneur who is constantly in the media spotlight. Married to Beyoncé, the couple have a combined net worth of $1 billion. He is now in a financial situation where money is of no concern and he could opt to never work another day in his life. Prior to becoming famous though, Jay Z was in such a bad financial situation that he ended up dealing drugs to earn a living.
13. Halle Berry
At the age of 21, Halle Berry decided to relocate to Chicago in a bid to further her career in acting. Things didn’t quite go to plan, and she ended up with no money. In turn, this led to her living in a homeless shelter. The X-Men star has said in interviews that the experience made her resilient and taught her how to cope with any situation. Since then, she has become one of the top-earning stars in Hollywood and even bagged an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2001.
14. Nicki Minaj
At the age of five, Nicki Minaj immigrated to New York from Trinidad with her family. At first, this celebrity found it difficult to adjust to her new life. The situation was made worse when her abusive father, a drug addict, burnt down the family’s house. In interviews, Nicki Minaj has confessed that there were times in her childhood when she would dream of becoming rich. Thanks to her success with hits including ‘Super Bass’, her dreams finally came true. She is now worth an estimated $70 million.
15. Michael Caine
Michael Caine is widely considered one of the most talented British actors of all time. This talented actor has played a diverse range of roles for which he has received high critical acclaim. This has led to him becoming very rich with an estimated net worth of $75 million. However, it took a long time for him to achieve this level of success. He has a working class background and grew up in London. He dreamed of becoming a star but marriage and starting a family put a hold on his dreams. When his first marriage ended, Caine worked in several jobs in both London and Paris to make ends meet. His big break came in 1964 when he starred in ‘Zulu’.
16. Eminem
It is no secret that Eminem had an impoverished childhood and that his mother Deborah raised him single-handedly. She was often unemployed but she inspired much of his music. On his third album, ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’, the cover featured the decrepit house he had grown up in. Despite of his humble beginnings, he established a hugely successful musical career and it is believed he is worth $210 million.
17. Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig is well-known for playing the role of James Bond and reportedly earned $55 million for the movie ‘Spectre’. His acting career has not always been so successful and in the early day, he had to work as a waiter part-time to support himself. Sometimes, his financial situation was so poor that he had to sleep on park benches because he couldn’t afford to pay the rent.
18. Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester ‘The Italian Stallion’ Stallone is most famous for his roles in the Rocky movies and it was these that turned around his fortunes and led to him now having a net worth of approximately $400 million. Life was not always so great for this actor though as he experienced many hardships during his journey to success. There was a period of time when he was homeless and he resorted to theft and selling his dog so that he could pay the bills.
19. Justin Bieber
For such a young star, Justin Bieber has already achieved an amazing level of success and has amassed wealth of $200 million to date. This is in contrast to his upbringing and the expectations he had for his life. He grew up in poverty and had expected that in the future he would also raise his own children in poverty because that was the cycle of events he knew from the society in which he grew up. He has said in interviews that now he has broken that cycle he has no intention of going back.
20. Celine Dion
Celine Dion has said that her family were not poor but that they never had any money. This was predominantly because of the size of her family. She is one of 13 siblings and grew up in a house where the children would sleep four in a bed. Regardless of the lack of money, Dion has only happy memories of her childhood as she was given plenty of love. Now, Celine Dion has earned in excess of $630 million in her hugely successful career in the music industry.
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