At the end of the day, celebrities are well, celebrities. We know and love them for their talents and whatever might have made them famous. What we might not realize about the celebrities we think we know is many of them are smarter than they seem. Yes, many have gone on to get their college degrees, however, many have taken it a step further and pursued a degree in law.
Recently, we've heard a lot about Kim Kardashian studying to take the Bar Exam and wanting to follow in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer. Kim isn't the only celebrity to do the same. In fact, there are a number of celebrities who have studied to become a lawyer and have passed and practiced law successfully.
9 Jerry Springer
Jerry Springer is most known for his outrageous daytime talk show The Jerry Springer Show. However, many people might not realize that Jerry had different aspirations at the beginning of his career. In 1965 he graduated with a political science degree from Tulane University and then went on to earn his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law three years later.
Before gaining television fame, he worked on the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy and even went on to serve on Cincinnati's city council, and later was elected mayor in 1977. After a failed attempt to run for governor of Ohio, he then turned to journalism before branching out to become the controversial talk show host that we know and love today.
8 John Cleese
We all know John Cleese as an incredibly talented actor, accomplished writer, director, and producer. Before John's rather successful career happened, he had plans to become a lawyer. He was a student at Cambridge School of Law where he pursued a law degree. However, things changed for him when he became a member of the "Footlights" group where he fell in love with acting. As a result, after graduating with his law degree, he decided that he wanted to follow his new dreams to become an actor, and didn't pursue a legal career.
7 Jeff Cohen
Once upon a time, Jeff Cohen was a child star — you might remember him as Chunk in the fan-favorite movie, The Goonies. Growing up, Jeff decided that he didn't want to pursue an acting career after all. Instead, he decided that he wanted to go to law school. In 2000, Jeff graduated from the University of California Los Angeles. When he first went into the working world, he wasn't a huge fan of being a lawyer — it wasn't what he expected it to be. It turned out that he wasn't focusing on the type of law that he took interest in which is entertainment law. As a result, he opened his own entertainment law firm and he's been happy with the decision ever since.
6 Gerard Butler
We all know Gerard Butler as an actor, however, there was also a time that he was a lawyer. From a young age, Gerard always wanted to pursue an acting career, however, his parents weren't a fan of that career path for him. In order to please them, he decided that he was going to go to school to become a lawyer.
He attended the University of Glasgow where he studied hard to become a lawyer and solicitor where he graduated with honors. After graduating, he took a year off before training for two years at a top law firm in Edinburgh. He realized during his traineeship that he wasn't really happy and hated being a lawyer and still yearned to become an actor. Eventually, he followed his acting dreams.
5 Ben Stein
We all remember Ben Stein's iconic small role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off as the groaning teacher who takes attendance. "Bueller.... Bueller?" Ben Stein is so much more than that and in an extremely intelligent man. When he was younger he studied at Columbia where he received his bachelor's degree in economics. He went on to study economics at a graduate level at Yale and even attended Yale Law School where he was elected valedictorian of his class when he graduated with his law degree. He was a poverty lawyer in New Haven, trade regulation lawyer for the FTC, and he even taught law and economics at UV, Santa Cruz, and Pepperdine.
4 Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias is famous on so many levels. When he was younger, he started off as the goaltender for the Real Madrid junior squad, however, he decided to take things in a different direction and study law instead. In 1963 he first attended Complutense University in Madrid. He was in a severe car accident and had to take quite some time to heal and get better. That's when he picked up music and started up on his music career. He eventually left law school to pursue a career in music, however, his parents wanted him to complete his law degree. In 1972 he returned to law school where he finished his law degree.
3 Gemma Chan
You might know actress Gemma Chan from one of the biggest hit movies, Crazy Rich Asians. Before Gemma really decided to pursue acting as a career, she decided to study law at Oxford University. Even though she's not currently practicing law, she does find her law degree to be pretty useful. Gemma claims that law school helped her with her memorization skills, and she's able to study and memorize scripts quickly. Her law degree also comes in handy when it comes to reading her own contracts, too.
Andrea Bocelli
Since the age of 12, Andrea Bocelli has been blind after he suffered a brain hemorrhage due to a soccer accident. That didn't stop him from going on to achieve some amazing things during his lifetime. He would eventually go on to study law at the University of Pisa. To help himself get through college, he would sing at nightclubs and bars just to make some extra money. Once he graduated he practiced law as a state-appointed attorney for a while before ultimately deciding to pursue a music career instead.
2 Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera is most known as a political commentator as well as a journalist. Before he really got into journalism and reporting and commentating on television, he originally wanted to be a lawyer. Geraldo got his bachelor's degree from Arizona State University and then went to Brookly Law School afterward to get his law degree. He started off as an attorney for Puerto Rican activists. From there on out he made the transition to journalism where he became a reporter and then a prominent figure on television.
1 Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson has starred in some of our favorite comedies over the past couple of years, however, many people might not realize that the actress actually has a law degree. Rebel happens to be way more than just a funny and talented actress. In fact, not only does she have a law degree, but she has a double degree in law and arts (BA/LLB) from UNSW Sydney. In addition to that, she also studied to be an actor at the Australian Theatre for Young People. Rebel ultimately decided that she wanted to go with her love of acting and pursue a career in entertainment.