ViraScoop
Unlike celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus who were born into successful families, some of the famous people we see practically came from humble backgrounds and worked their way to the top.
Celebrity life is full of glam and trying to maintain the status quo. Some celebrities had it rough before they became wealthy. Here’s our top list.
1. Tom Cruise
The actor who is originally from Kentucky grew up humbly with a Catholic upbringing. He had an abusive father who Tom described as ‘a merchant of chaos.’
The mother left the father later on after years of being in an abusive relationship. Cruise was on a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati when he took an interest in acting. In 14 years, he attended 15 schools.
Over the years, he has won 29 awards from People’s Choice Awards to MTV Movie Awards.
As of 2017, Forbes estimated his net worth to be over $500 million.
2. Oprah Winfrey
Best known for her talk show ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ she is among the wealthiest African Americans. From her story, we all know how she was born in rural Mississippi by a teenage single mother.
She mentions how she was molested during her childhood and her early teens and became pregnant at only 14. Her son died at infancy after being born prematurely.
She started as a co-host at 19 for the local evening news. Her success came when she boosted a 3rd placed Chicago talk show to 1st place. Later, she launched her own production company.
Her own network, Oprah Winfrey Network came alive in 2008. She has been dubbed as one of the most influential people. Forbes ranked Oprah as one of the world’s most powerful celebrity in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013.
Oprah’s net worth as of January 2019 was $2.6 billion.
3. Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker, being one of the eight children is originally from Nelsonville Ohio. Her childhood was a tough one as her parents mostly struggled because they were a large family. There are times the electricity would be shut off due to arrears or had to forego birthdays and even Christmas because they had no money.
Famous for her Sex and the City role, she received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards for her role in the series.
Parker has her own production company and has been creating content for HBO since 2009.
Her net worth is $100 million.
4. J.K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling, best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy books, is a film and television producer, screenwriter and a philanthropist.
She was married to the journalist Jorge Arantes in Portugal in October 1992, and their daughter Jessica Isabel Rowling was born. They separated with Jorge in November 1993 and rumors are that she had suffered domestic violence. Joanne then moved to Edinburgh to be near her sister, and at that time she had completed three chapters of Harry Potter.
Rowling felt she was a failure seven years after graduation because she was jobless and had a child depending on her. Her marriage as well had failed. It is during this period that she was diagnosed with clinical depression. Rowling signed up for welfare benefits as she described her economic status as poor.
1995 was a magical year as she completed her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
After the success of her books, she moved to a better house, and Forbes even named her as the first person to become a billion while writing books in 2004. This made her the second richest female entertainer.
Forbes again in 2017 named her the highest paid author in the world with $95 million a year.
Her estimated net worth is $1 billion.
5. Leonardo Wilheim DiCaprio
The American actor who is also a producer and an environmentalist is best known for his role in Titanic and Romeo and Juliet. Named after a Leonardo da Vinci painting his mother was looking at, he was raised by a single mother living in Los Angeles in neighborhoods such as Los Feliz.
Even as there are student loan providers such as elfi who offer refinancing options, back then, DiCaprio dropped out of high school in his third year but eventually earned a GED. He said he had seen drugs and prostitution in the streets at a young age which pushed him to work harder and not end up like the people he was seeing.
He has a non-profit organization aimed at promoting environmental awareness and focuses on things such as global warming and renewable energy.
Leonardo has won 54 awards from 162 nominations. He won the Best International Actor in the AACTA Awards in 2016. He also won the Oscars the same year as the Best Actor.
Currently, he has an estimated net worth of $245 million.
