Now, it’s time to shine a spotlight on thecelebritieswho wereentirely self-made. The following actors, singers, and hosts have been recognized for their talent and have made millions without a famous surname paving the way.
Read on to discover25 celebritieswho rose to the top despite beingborn into poverty.
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TheJolenesingerhas describedher family as being “dirt poor.”Dolly grew up in a house with no electricity or running water in Pittman Center, Tennessee. Her parents, Avie Lee Caroline and Robert Lee Paterson, had twelve children, and Dolly was the fourth.Her parents paid the doctor who delivered her with a sack of cornmeal. In 1972, Dolly wroteDr. Robert F. Thomas, a song dedicated to him and other rural healthcare professionals.“I’m proud of my hillbilly, white trash background,” Dolly toldSouthern Living. “To me, that keeps you humble. That keeps you good. And it doesn’t matter how hard you try to outrun it — if that’s who you are, that’s who you are."
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Selena’s mother, Mandy, had her at sixteen years old. TheOnly Murders in the Buildingstar recalls having to search for quarters to pay for gas during her childhood.“I remember my mom would run out of gas all of the time and we’d sit there and have to go through the car and get quarters and help her get gas,” the 32-year-old toldHollywood Life.“I remember having a lot of macaroni and cheese but my mom never made it seem like it was a big deal. She was really strong around me.“Having me at 16 had to have been a big responsibility. My mom gave up everything for me, had three jobs, supported me and sacrificed her life for me.”
Born in South Carolina to Mae Alice Logan, a maid, and Dan Davis, a horse trainer, Viola is the second youngest of six children.At nine years old, the actress moved with her family to Central Falls, Rhode Island. “We were on the periphery. And we lived in abject poverty and dysfunction, which is a horrific combination. And feeling like you are the only one being black, being on the periphery, belief system becomes almost imperative,”Viola saidof her Catholic upbringing.“I grew up in apartments that were condemned and rat-infested, and I just always sort of wanted to be somebody,” the Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award winner toldHarper’s Bazaar.
Misha’s family was sometimes homeless and lived off food stamps, he revealed toForbeswhen asked about the inspiration behind his non-profit organization Random Acts in 2018.“I still remember vividly what a profound impact a relatively small act of kindness from a stranger had on our family during those times,” theSupernaturalactor said.“I still relish the meal we bought with a $14 gift certificate to Abdow’s Big Boy that a stranger handed to my mom when our car had broken down, as we were hitchhiking in the winter. That act of generosity has stuck with me for decades, and I feel as if I’m still trying to pay it forward.”
In 1989, when Halle moved from Ohio to New York to pursue an acting career, she worked as a waitress and bartender. Before that, she briefly lived in a homeless shelter and then a YMCA after running out of money in the Big Apple.Her financial situation improved later that year when she was cast as Emily Franklin in the ABC sitcomLiving Dolls, a spin-off ofWho’s the Boss?
The Texas-born singer’s family lived “prepay check to prepay check,” she told theDallas Morning Newsin 2015.“I always used to hate when people would be like, ‘Money doesn’t buy everything,’ when you are little and poor. Rich people say that. Not poor people. I don’t know one poor person that’s going, ‘Money doesn’t buy happiness.’ It pays you to get out of eviction notices,” saidKelly, who rose to fame after winning the first season ofAmerican Idolin 2002.
“The people I knew sat around drinking and cursing and living in denial. These were my role models. Life was about surviving—getting money any way you could,” the Queen of Hip-Hop Soultold Oprah Winfreyin 2006.Mary was born in the Bronx, New York City, to a nurse, Cora, and a jazz musician, Thomas. After her father— a Vietnam War veteran who suffered from alcoholism and severe PTSD—left the family in the 1970s, the singer and her mother subsided on Cora’s earnings as a nurse.
“I was poor, so if I failed, what did I have to lose? I don’t think I could have been any poorer. I was eating McDonald’s sauces,” the Oscar winner told theBritish Blacklistabout his financial situation before fame.Daniel and his mother lived in hostels when he was two years old until they moved to a home in Camden, London.“She was on benefits for a long while, which is what Americans call welfare,” theGet Outactorshared.His first job was as a runner for a shopping channel. “I showed up on my first day in a suit, because that’s what I thought professionals did—and then everyone said, ‘Get me a coffee.’ So I was getting people a coffee in a suit, which was very interesting.”
When she was five, theSeven Poundsactress moved into a reclaimed building in New York City after her family was approved for an affordable housing plan.The abandoned apartment, which she shared with her then-22-year-old mother and 2-year-old brother, had no electricity or running water.“We had cast-iron stoves, plastic for windows, and plywood for a door. You had to bring buckets upstairs to shower,” Rosario toldThe Columbus Dispatch.“It was quite an experience being so poor. But it was also a powerful experience. It made me the woman I am today and informs my activism.”
The Ontario-born star grew up poor and would often go to school with an empty stomach. “It’s very hard to concentrate when your stomach’s rumbling,” Shania toldABC Newsin 2011.Though the country musician was jealous of other children’s lunches, she never asked anyone for help.“I would certainly never have humiliated myself enough to reach out and ask for help and say, ‘You know, I’m hungry. Can I have that apple that you’re not going to eat?’ I didn’t have the courage to do that.”
TheMiss Sloanestar often went to bed hungry during her childhood.“I did grow up with a single mother who worked very hard to put food on our table,” Jessica toldThe Irish Times.“We did not have money. There were many nights when we had to go to sleep without eating. It was a very difficult upbringing. Things weren’t easy for me growing up.”Her harsh childhood experiences shaped her attitude and made her more empathetic. “Because of my mother, I do always try to think about how something must be for someone else. I’m not so interested in myself. I’m interested in other people.”To pursue acting, the Oscar winner worked at a performing arts school in exchange for taking classes since “there was no way my family could afford it,” she toldPeople Magazine.
Growing up, theGossip Girlalum appeared on commercials for Bloomingdale’s, Stern’s, and Limited Too.“I worked a lot, even though I was just a kid. It seemed normal to me,” Leighton revealed during a 2012 interview forMarie Claire.When she moved from New York to Los Angeles at age 14, she and her mother survived on modest checks from the actress’s grandfather and fees from her modeling gigs.“I couldn’t relate to kid stuff. ‘Jimmy doesn’t like me!’ Who cares? I was worried we didn’t have gas money or food. Those were my concerns.”
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TheSex and the Citystar’s memories of her impoverished childhood are tied to very specific moments.“We didn’t have electricity sometimes. We didn’t have Christmases sometimes, or we didn’t have birthdays sometimes, or the bill collectors came, or the phone company would call and say, ‘We’re shutting your phones off,'” SJP toldThe New York Times.“I wouldn’t change any of it, for anything … for the most part, we had everything we needed. Not always, but for the most part,” the actress lateradded.Her mother, a nursery school teacher, often took Sarah and her siblings to free public institutions, such as the theater and ballet, to immerse them in cultural activities.
TheGame of Thronesactresswas raisedin a three-bedroom council house, a form of British public housing, outside of Bristol, England.Initially, Maisie’s ambition was to become a professional dancer. At the age of ten, she was accepted into a performing arts school, but couldn’t take classes because her family couldn’t afford it.Two years later, she landed the role that would forever change her life: the fan-favorite, Arya Stark. Her mother now owns the council house Maisie grew up in.
Hilary wasn’t allowed to hang out with her friends outside of school because their parents did not want them to be around a lower-class child such as her.“The negative part of it was learning about class at such a young age, not from my friends, but from my friend’s parents, who would say, ‘You aren’t to hang out with her.’ At 6 years old, to have a parent say, ‘You’re not welcome in our home, you need to go,” theBoys Don’t Cryactress toldTogether Magazine.At fifteen, Hilary and her mother moved from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Los Angeles so that she could pursue a career in acting. The two lived in a car while her mother made just enough money to rent an apartment.
Before making a name for himself on television, theFamily Feudhost worked as a boxer, autoworker, insurance salesman, carpet cleaner, and mailman.In the eighties, Steve was homeless for three years and slept in his Ford Tempo while trying to make money doing stand-up shows.“It was crushing,” the 67-year-old comedian toldPeople. “I realized, ‘You’re on your own. You have nothing or no one.’ All I knew was that I could make people laugh.”Steve resorted to stealing fuel from gas stations to get to his gigs. In his first year, he made just $3,000 as a comedian.
Camila left her native Brazil for Los Angeles at the age of 15. After arriving in the US, she worked as a house cleaner and waitress while learning English and saved money to move to New York to pursue a modeling career.The model and designer, now signed with the Spanish agency Uno Models, has walked the runways of brands like Carolina Herrera, Valentino, and Mango.
Speaking with theLA Timesin 2014, Leo shared that he “grew up very poor” and recalled there being “crime and violence everywhere” in his Hollywood neighborhood.“It really was likeTaxi Driverin a lot of ways,” he described, adding that prostitutes and people smoking crack and shooting heroin were common sights.TheWolf of Wall Streetactor was beaten up at school for having a naive outlook on life. “I was 15, and I said to my mom, ‘I want to be an actor. Please take me to auditions.’ Because I had to get out of that public school system.”
Mariah described her family as “broken and dysfunctional” during a 2020 interview onCBS News.“When I say without money, I mean, like, we really didn’t have much of anything!” the singer-songwriter said.The Grammy winner grew up poor in an all-white neighborhood in Huntington, New York.She describedher small rundown house as a “shack.”When asked about her success, theObsessedsinger said: “I always knew that I would do this, and it was just a matter of when it was going to happen.”
The rapper, born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, worked as a stripper in New York City to escape poverty and domestic violence. Through stripping, Cardi was able to earn enough money to get an education.Her parents had “poor jobs,” theWAPsinger said during a 2016 interview withGlobal Grind. “They real good people and everything, I was just raised in a bad society.”
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