Most celebrities don’t wake up one day and suddenly decide that they’re going to be famous. Although it would be a good idea to gain celebrity status when you’re as young as possible, for many celebrities fame tends to come later in life, and that’s quite alright too. It gives them more time to try new things and figure out what they want to do with their lives.
For many stars, they’ve had odd jobs here and there before they became famous, however, one popular job is none other than becoming a teacher and showing off their talents that way. From rockstars like Gene Simmons and Brian May to singers like Sheryl Crow, they’re all pretty intelligent and wanted to share their smarts with their students.
9 Gene Simmons
Before Gene Simmons became an international rockstar, he also had to get his start somewhere, and it wasn't necessarily in the music world. Looking for a job that might fit him, Gene turned to teaching, among a few other odd jobs. He took a job as a sixth-grade teacher in Spanish Harlem. On top of teaching, he was also a cashier at Kelly Agency, an assistant at the Puerto Rican Interagency Council. He started to take music more seriously, and soon KISS would start in its beginning stages. The rest, we know, is history.
Hugh Jackman
Before Hugh Jackman was cast as Wolverine, he was a regular guy trying to figure his life out. After graduating from school, he decided that he wanted to take a gap year. When he was 18 years old he went to London where he took the job as a housemaster at the Uppingham School in East Midlands, a very prestigious school. While he was there, he also taught physical education and coached a number of sports teams at the school. On top of all that, he also did a bit of tutoring in English and drama for kids who needed it.
8 Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow was once a teacher before she became a successful musician. After she graduated college, Sheryl decided that she would take up teaching and became a music teacher at Kellison Elementary School in Fenton, Missouri. By taking up a career in teaching she was also able to focus on her music while still being able to make money. She wrote jingles and her own music and was able to pay bills while she still did what she loved. Eventually, she would quit teaching and make her way into superstardom.
7 Barack Obama
Before Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States, he got into a bit of teaching. President Obama wasn't just any teacher, he was a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School where he taught for over 12 years. At the university, he taught constitutional law as well as race theory. On top of teaching, he split his time between lecturing at the university and working in the Illinois Senate. Former of students of his have nothing but praise for him and his teaching skills, as they claimed he was a great lecturer.
6 Brian May
Brian May from the band Queen is more than just a rockstar. In fact, he's actually really intelligent, as he attended Imperial College London, where he studied to get his Bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics and a Ph.D. in astrophysics. He worked hard in school and it definitely paid off.
Before he made it big with Queen, Brian took up teaching. He was a math and science teacher at South London's Stockwell Manor. Brian worked hard for his students, as the school was home to economically disadvantaged students. Brian loved teaching and tried everything he could to keep them interested and wanting to learn.
5 Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda wasn't always singing on Broadway or writing music for movies and composing musicals. In fact, he was a teacher at first. He was offered a position to teach at the high school he once attended. He accepted the position and he became and fantastic teacher at Hunter College High school. Of course, that teaching position didn’t last very long as he went on to become a Broadway star and have a hand in one of the most popular and famous musicals out there today. We’re more than sure that he would’ve been an amazing English teacher, it’s just that Broadway has been calling for far longer.
4 Stephen King
Stephen King is an incredible writer, that we know for sure. That's why it's not really surprising to find out that he was once a teacher. From a very young age, Stephen loved horror and loved writing, so it only makes sense that he would dabble a bit in teaching. He attended the University of Maine where he studied English and received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
He had quite a few jobs to help pay his way through college as he was a janitor, gas attendant, as well as a worker in an industrial laundry factory. After graduating, he moved on to focus on teaching, as he taught high school students English. He continued to teach and write on the side before he eventually focused completely on writing.
3 Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone was once a teacher before he was Rocky. When he was younger he found himself in Switzerland, where he took on a job when he was just 18 years old at a Swiss boarding school for girls. At the school, he was a dorm bouncer as well as a physical education teacher. Taking on that job gave him time to figure out what he wanted to do in life, and soon found himself going back to America and studying drama. We all know that his career took off from there as he’s now a very famous face in Hollywood.
2 Jon Hamm
Jon Hamm is yet another actor who used to be a teacher once upon a time. Back in the early 90s, actor Jon Hamm completed his own schooling where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English. After graduation, his old school gave him a call and offered him an opportunity of going back and teaching. Jon happily accepted, where he would then go on to teach drama for two years at the school. Jon even got to see some famous faces before they were big celebrities. In fact, he even taught Ellie Kemper as she was one of the students. Whatever he taught her must’ve been good and very helpful, as Ellie went on to have her own television show and her own successful career in her own right.
1 Mr. T
Mr. T is an extraordinary and very interesting celebrity, and he was also once a teacher, believe it or not. Way back in 1975, Mr. T’s career hadn’t really taken off yet. As a result, when he was in Chicago, he worked as a physical education teacher. We’re pretty sure that he constantly made sure that his students were working out and working hard. Not to mention, we’re more than sure that he made things really interesting given the type of person he is. He eventually moved on from acting where he would go on to launch his very own successful career.