Many teachers enjoy the spotlight and being up in front of the classrooms. It is not surprising then that a number of celebrities got their start as teachers. But you may are probably not surprised that their careers were short, either.
Veteran teachers know being in the spotlight is only a small part of the job. Teaching, motivating, facilitating and mentoring are really the core of the profession.
Hugh Jackman
Before Wolverine made it big, Hugh Jackman spent a year working as an English and PE teacher at a British boarding school. Although we don’t think he’s ever taught at Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, he would definitely have had the experience – I also wouldn’t have wanted to get on his bad side.
JK Rowling
She had a great idea for a fictional series but needed to find a job to pay the rent, so JK Rowling taught foreign language in Portugal for two years before returning to Edinburgh to teach there.
That may be why the scenes of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seem so real. They were written by an actual teacher.
Gene Simmons
Now a rock ‘n’ roll legend and still the front man for Kiss, Gene Simmons taught sixth grade in New York City’s upper West Side. But it turned out performing to 40 students was simply not enough. His goal instead was 40,000. The fact he was probably a major violator of the teacher dress code didn’t make things better.
Sheryl Crow
Imagine if your music teacher was a Grammy-award winning musician. While she wasn’t at the time, she soon would be. Sheryl Crow got her start teaching music during the week and playing gigs on the weekend. We’re sure the sing-alongs in her music class in an elementary school in St. Louis must have been great.
Liam Neeson
Liam and his two sisters were all teachers. The intense star of Taken taught at St. Mary’s in England, and it’s probably for the best that he moved on to a new career.
According to Liam, he had to punch a 15-year-old student for pulling a knife on him during class. We’re not sure if that was a real story or a script for a new movie but either way, it’s definitely for the best that he’s an actor and not a teacher.
Honorable Mentions
There are a host of other celebrities who’ve been teachers including Billy Crystal (substitute teacher), Sylvester Stallone (gym), Sting (elementary), Lin- Manuel Miranda (English) and a number of others. Maybe someday we’ll have a list of Famous Teachers Who Once Were Actors.
For more information, check out this article:
https://people.com/celebrity/celebs-who-were-teachers-before-they-got-famous/
You know other celebrities who once taught? Comment below.
Never would have expected some of these…
I would be scared to have Liam Neeson as a teacher. I cannot make up an excuse that my dog have “taken” my homework, because I know he will have a “particular set of skills” and hunt my dog down for that imaginary homework.