So great is the number of celebrities who try to make the transition
between movies and music or modeling and acting that the trend has
become somewhat of a Hollywood cliché -- and often the source of
mockery (we're looking at you, Mariah Carey). Some public figures,
however, take the career-switching road less traveled on their way to
stardom. The following well-knowns relied on
skills from their previous education and experience -- not their famous
names or connections -- to carve out successful second careers for
themselves.
Ben Stein
Despite
a prestigious background in law, journalism and politics,
Stein will
probably most be remembered for famously droning
"Bueller...Bueller...Bueller." After graduating first in his class
from Yale Law School in 1970, Stein went on to work as an attorney, a
professor, a speechwriter for
Presidents Ford and
Nixon, and a Wall
Street Journal columnist before finally moving to Hollywood to pursue
screenwriting. There, he met
John Hughes, who cast him in the 1986
film "
Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and became an instant star. His
credits include numerous film and TV appearances, and host of the cable
shows "Win Ben Stein's Money" and "Turn Ben Stein On." Today, you can
see him on "America's Most Smartest Model."
Martha Stewart
Stewart
left her successful career as a stockbroker when recession hit Wall
Street in 1973. After relocating to Connecticut a few years later, she
started a catering business with a friend. Eventually, she went solo
with the business, and, within 10 years, it had become a $1 million
enterprise. Today, she heads Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, an
empire that includes
Martha Stewart Living magazine, a home and
gardening product line sold by Kmart, a television show, dozens of
books and various media appearances.
Christina Perrin
Fashion
designer
Perrin began her career in management consulting and
marketing. But in the mid-'90s, she moved from Chicago to New York to
pursue her long-time love: Fashion. Luckily, her business background
helped her market her fashion line, and by spring of 1999, she was
holding her first fashion show. Less than a decade later, she is a
household name in the fashion industry, and her celebrity clients
include Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron and Faith Hill.
Jerry Springer
Before
the nation knew him as the host of the nationally-syndicated "
Jerry
Springer Show," residents of Cincinnati knew Springer as "Mr. Mayor."
Springer served as a city councilman and then as mayor in the '70s,
before he made the transition from politics to journalism as a news
anchor and radio personality in the '80s. Now a household name, thanks
to his infamous talk show as well as various film and TV appearances,
Springer is still active in politics, serving as a Democratic
fund-raiser and political commentator.
John Grisham
John
Grisham's background as a lawyer and Mississippi state representative
became the foundation for a second career as a fiction writer. The
inspiration for what would be his first novel, "A Time to Kill," came
to him while he was observing a Mississippi court case. The book was
hardly a success, but Grisham decided he preferred the freedom
literature afforded him over the routine of practicing law. Soon after
he closed his practice to concentrate on writing, his second novel,
"The Firm," became a bestseller and the basis for a hit movie. Grisham
went on to have similar experiences with many of his subsequent
efforts, including "The Pelican Brief," "The Client" and "The Runaway
Jury."
Janet Robinson
Often
ranked as one of Forbes Magazine's most powerful women in media,
Robinson has come a long way since her days as a public school
teacher. In 1983,
Robinson left behind a decade-long teaching career
to take a sales management position with The New York Times Company,
where today she holds the position of chief executive officer.
Robinson, whose proven ability to accelerate advertising and
circulation revenue growth helped her climb into the top ranks at the
multi-billion dollar corporation, is living proof that determination
and hard work can literally pay off.
Alton Brown
The
Food Network star spent a decade working behind the camera as a
cinematographer and video director before deciding that he'd rather be
in front of it. Convinced he could create an alternative to the boring
cooking shows he saw on TV, Brown enrolled in the New England Culinary
Institute in Montpelier, Vt. After completing his training, he then
utilized his film industry knowledge to create "Good Eats," an off-beat
cooking show that he now writes, produces and stars in.
