15 Celebrities Who were Rich Before Famous

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There is never a shortage of people who want to be famous celebrities when they grow up, but most of them want to act or model because they want to be rich. It’s so much easier to just become a model or an actress or a singer than it is to get a degree in something awesome, start a business and make a lot of money, right? However, not everyone that grows up to become a celebrity wants to do it because they want to be rich. Some people are already doing well in the finance department, and they’re wealthy long before they become famous. Here are 15 celebrities who were rich before famous.

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus

She’s famous mostly for her role on Seinfeld, but she’s also been in movies and other hit television shows. But she wasn’t poor when she began her acting career. She was never a starving artist. Why? Because her father is Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, the French billionaire. She grew up with the best of everything, because her dad wasn’t just a famous millionaire, he is a famous billionaire who always lands on the list of richest people in the world, which  means she’s one of them herself. She didn’t have a rough life, and she’s making her own money now.

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Chevy Chase

He’s a New Yorker through and through, but he also has plenty of money. He’s a famous actor with a long history in Hollywood, but that’s not how he became a wealthy man. In fact, he was wealthy from the time he was born. He’s the son of a book editor and a writer, and his mother is the adopted stepchild of Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane of the Crane Plumbing fortune. Chase grew up with plenty of riches, and he didn’t need to go into acting to make millions; he already had it.

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Paul Giamatti

He’s hilarious in some roles, serious in others, and always delightful to watch. He wasn’t broke and living off of ramen noodles before he hit it big in Hollywood, however. He’s the son of a Professor of Italian Lit at Yale. His father wasn’t just a professor at Yale, however, he was also the president of Yale University and he was the commissioner of Major League Baseball at one time. It’s safe to say that  Paul Giamatti did not grow up wanting anything, and he’s probably got quite a trust fund in his name as well.

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Armie Hammer

He’s a famous actor who spends plenty of time on the big screen and in television, but he’s not in it for the money. In fact, this actor was wealthy long before he made it in Hollywood. He’s an heir. His great-grandfather is actually a famous oil tycoon as well as a philanthropist and an avid art collector by the name of Armand Hammer. He grew up in a nice home with plenty of cash to spare, and he was not hurting for money when he became an adult with a trust fund like the one he received.

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Glenn Close

She’s been in a million (so it seems) movies, and she’s one of the most famous faces in Hollywood. However, she was rich before she was famous. Glenn Close’s grandfather made the family millions in his business. He was not only a stockbroker, but the director of the American Hospital Association. She lived in Greenwich, Connecticut, one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the country. She attended the best schools, her father was a doctor and he was also the doctor of the President of the Congo. His career was pretty successful, and Close is actually an heiress.

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Michelle Williams

She’s a famous actress who rose to fame when she played on the hit television show Dawson’s Creek. She was so famous for that role that she shot to even bigger fame in subsequent roles. She went on to have a child with the late Heath Ledger and she’s doing just fine on her own. Of course, she was doing just fine long before she became a Hollywood actress. She’s the daughter of Larry Richard Williams, the Montana stocks and commodities trader who ran twice for the United States Senate. Life in her house was upscale and affluent growing up.

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Taylor Swift

She may not have been a billionaire or even mega-millionaire (like she is now) when she was growing up, but she was far from poor. Her mother was a mutual fund marketing exec and her father was a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch. Both her parents made well into the six figures and even made large bonuses when she was growing up. She was raised in a very upper-class lifestyle in Pennsylvania. She attended private school, lived on a large farm and even had a beach house on the coast in Jersey. She was far from deprived growing up.

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Adam Levine

The Maroon 5 front man, mentor on The Voice and new husband of supermodel Behati Prinsloo is no stranger to wealth. He grew up pretty nicely in Southern California. His father is Fred Levine, the founder of the successful retail chain M. Fredric. He grew up attending private schools, private camps and living a life of ultimate luxury. He didn’t need to become a rock star and a television star to become rich and famous; he already was thanks to his father’s successful business. He even met his bandmates in private school, which led to his own wealth and fame.

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Angelina Jolie

It’s not that hard to grow up wealthy and become a famous actress with millions of your own when you grow up as the daughter of a famous actor. Angelina Jolie is the daughter of actor Jon Voight. Her mother was also an actress when she was younger. Jolie grew up with a very lavish lifestyle as a child and hasn’t looked back since. She is now one of the most successful and highest paid actresses in all of Hollywood, in addition to being the heir to her parents fortune.

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Robin Thicke

He’s in the midst of a bit of a personal controversy right now as he’s allegedly trying to win back his wife of several years, Paula Patton (though recently it seems he’s given up). Before Thicke was a famous singer, however, he was already a wealthy kid. His father is Alan Thicke, who is best known for his role on television as Dr. Seaver from the television series Growing Pains. His famous parents ensured that he was able to live a luxurious lifestyle even before he became famous in the music industry. He grew up going to good schools, driving nice cars and taking great family vacations around the world.

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Ariana Grande

At the moment she’s one of the most famous singers in the world. She starred in two shows on Nickelodeon and she’s gone on to make it big in the music industry. However, she wasn’t exactly a poor child before she hit it big in children’s television. She was a pretty wealthy girl. She grew up in the very upscale community of Boca Raton. Her father is a CEO of a design company. Her father’s company works with companies such as FAO Schwartz and even famous faces such as Eddie Murphy. She grew up nicely without her own career.

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Anderson Cooper

We all love him when he co-hosts Kelly Ripa’s morning show and on the news, as well as on his own show. However, we never have to worry about the silver fox living a life of squalor. Not only is he famous on his own, he’s the son of a prominent fashion designer by the name of Gloria Vanderbilt – and a relative of Chevy Chase. His great-great-grandfather was Cornelius Vanderbilt (of THE Vanderbilt’s) who made a fortune in the shipping and railroad industry. His mother then went on to make her own fortune in the fashion industry and Cooper went on to make his own in the news industry.

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Rooney Mara

She’s the star of the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and she’s a wealthy woman. She’s not wealthy only because she is a famous actress. She’s wealthy because she comes from a family of wealthy people. She’s the great-granddaughter of the man who founded the New York Giants football team on her father’s side and she’s the great-granddaughter of the man who founded the Pittsburgh Steelers on her mother’s side. She’s a double whammy when it comes to rich kids who grow up to become famous actors, models or singers; she didn’t need the money she earned from acting.

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Carly Simon

She’s a famous singer who made a lot of money singing songs such as, “You’re So Vain,” and many more. But she wasn’t exactly struggling before she became a famous singer, either. Carly Simon grew up in New York City in one of the most prominent areas of the city, and she attended one of the most exclusive schools in the city, the Riverdale Country School. Why? Because her father is the co-found of Simon & Schuster, the little publishing company you may have heard of or seen on a couple of books in every book store in the world.

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Lady Gaga

It might come as a surprise to many people to realize that Lady Gaga was actually a very wealthy child. She’s rich now, of course, thanks to her massive success in the music industry, but her parents were also wealthy. She might portray herself as an outcast and socially-awkward woman at times, but she had every advantage growing up. Her parents own a company who installs wi-fi into hotels and restaurants. She grew up in the Upper West Side of NYC, attended private schools and did not hurt for much when she was a child.

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