College Crunch

So you didn’t get that awesome internship during your summer break from college. So what? Do you think you’re too good to flip burgers or do retail for another year? The truth is, your summer jobs don’t accurately gauge your future success in life. Here are 50 first jobs and summer jobs of uber-rich and popular celebrities. We’ll bet that some of their gigs are much worse than what you have lined up this summer.

Food Industry

These celebrities paid their dues at fast food chains and even back in the kitchen before getting famous.

1. Eva Mendes: Eva Mendes seems to sexy to have had this unfortunate (and unfortunately named?) job: she used to sell hot dogs at Hot Dog on a Stick at the Glendale Galleria in California.
2. Fred Durst: Fred Durst always thinks he’s such a bad boy, doesn’t he? Maybe it’s just pent up anger having had to work at McDonald’s during the breakfast shift.
3. Gwen Stefani: Today, singer/songwriter Gwen Stefani is also a very successful fashion designer. Back before her No Doubt days, though, she worked at Dairy Queen in California, which she said made her fat.
4. Michael Dell: Young entrepreneur Michael Dell dropped out of college when he started his computer business, but that doesn’t mean he was a slacker: at just 12 years old, he started working as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant, moving up to water boy and then assistant to maitre d’.
5. Chris Rock: Comedian Chris Rock joked that he used to stare down kids at his Red Lobster job so they wouldn’t finish their meals, and then he’d get their leftovers.
6. Rachel McAdams: She’s quickly becoming a Hollywood sweetheart, but Rachel McAdams also worked at one of the greasiest places on the planet: McDonald’s. She says she was slow but a good organizer.
7. Bill Murray: Funnyman Bill Murray has had some cool onscreen jobs: ghostbuster, TV reporter, and Angels partner, but one of his first jobs was selling hot chestnuts outside of a grocery store.
8. Suze Orman: Love her or hate her, Suze Orman has banked thanks to her straightforward financial advice. She must know what she’s talking about, because she has worked her way up from the bottom, when she bussed tables for money.
9. Brad Pitt: Who would put such a pretty face behind a chicken suit? We think Brad would have sold more chicken if he hadn’t been stuck inside that El Pollo Loco costume.
10. Michael Caine: British actor and Academy Award winner Michael Caine has such a debonair way about him, no matter what roles he plays, which is so why it’s so hard to picture him working in the kitchen, washing dishes.
11. Seal: Seal could only take his job at McDonald’s for two weeks. He cleaned the lobby when he was 17, but moved on quickly.
12. Howard Stern: We don’t want to profile, but this one seems like a creepy match: Howard Stern once worked as an ice cream truck driver, selling to kids.
13. Amy Adams: Adorable Amy Adams is actually a very raw, very good actress, but that doesn’t make it any easier for us to imagine her working at Hooters. Well, you know what we mean.
14. Tony Stewart: Geez, was McDonald’s the only food joint in town? McDonald’s employed NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, too.
15. Mick Jagger: People probably thought Mick Jagger was crazy when he offered to pay a passing ice cream van driver $150,000 for his vehicle. But it was probably just a case of spontaneous nostalgia: Jagger used to push an ice cream cart for dough back in the day.
16. Keenan Wayans: Keenan actually worked his way up to managing a McDonald’s in high school.
17. Pink: Our final McDonald’s entry is for Pink, who cleaned toilets and mopped the floors there.
18. Madonna: She’s worth God knows how much now, but Madonna worked at Dunkin’ Donuts when she was broke in New York.
19. Eva Longoria: Eva is tiny enough as a grown woman, and we wonder who believed her forged application when she asked for a job at a Corpus Christi Wendy’s when she was just 13. The actress returned to the same Wendy’s to bring awareness to a charity event in 2008.

Retail and Sales

With a few exceptions, these aren’t even the better paying or more fun retail and sales jobs. This list of celebrities includes those who had to work at convenience stores, gas stations and for companies selling door-to-door.

20. George Clooney: Okay, be honest: would you buy a pair of shoes — no matter how great they looked or fit — just because George Clooney was helping you try them on? He was probably McAlpin’s department store’s best salesman.
21. Jerry Seinfeld: Now one of the richest men in Hollywood (um, and other places), Jerry Seinfeld once sold light bulbs for cash.
22. Colin Powell: We knew he was a softie: Colin Powell was a baby furniture salesman in New York, where he learned Yiddish from customers and store owners.
23. Bill Cosby: Bill Cosby once worked as a stockboy at grocery store. What a waste: couldn’t they have at least put him behind the register so that he could win over the customers?
24. Kanye West: Kanye’s known as much for his style as much for his wannabe bad boy ways. His first job was at the Gap, but he returned in 2009 to the retailer to work as an intern.
25. Clint Black: Clint Black dropped out of high school to pursue his music career, but until that really took off, he sold magazine subscriptions in Houston.
26. David Letterman: When he was a high school student in the ’60s, Letterman was a mere stock boy at Atlas grocery store in Indiana, which is now closed.
27. Carrie Underwood: Underwood is one of the most successful American Idol alumni yet, and that show rescued her from small town Oklahoma life for good. Underwood actually used to work at a gas station as a cashier.
28. Jeff Goldblum: Could you honestly imagine Jeff Golblum selling anything over the phone? The mumbling actor managed to sell stationery, pens and pencils, and says it made him physically ill with dread.
29. Quentin Tarantino: Does this one sort of make sense? Tarantino used to work as an usher at a porno movie theater.
30. Steve Carrell: Now we know where Steve Carrell gets his material: he admits to using stories about former customers at his Store 24 cashier job for inspiration.
31. Edgerrin James: Football star Edgerrin James grew up in a migrant worker town in southern Florida, and even worked in a watermelon patch during high school to help support his family.

Outdoorsy and Adventure Types

These celebs had to sweat it out in the fields or laying brick.

32. Orlando Bloom: Such a pretty face, such a weird job: Orlando Bloom’s first job was as a clay trapper at a pigeon shooting range before studying poetry.
33. Whoopi Goldberg: Whoopi had a very rough childhood and early adulthood, at one point working as a bricklayer in between a struggle with drug abuse and finding acting work.
34. George Clooney: We know George has Hollywood roots — his aunt is Rosemary Clooney — but he’s also close to his Kentucky family, and worked as a tobacco cutter when he was young.
35. John Krasinski: Jim Halpert (okay, so he’s a movie star now, too) is a proud product of the Boston area, and served his community as a teenager when he worked as a counselor at Camp Chickami during the summers and after school.
36. Matthew McConaughey: We all knew Matthew McConaughey was an outdoorsy man’s man. But did you know that after graduating high school, he ran away to Australia for a year and made his money shoveling chicken manure?
37. Rod Stewart: Now this is a creepy job: singer Rod Stewart worked as a grave digger in England when he was a teenager.
38. Keith Richards: Who new this great rocker had such a preppy past? Keith Richards used to work as a ball boy at a tennis club.
39. Jim Carrey: Jim Carrey had a tough teenage period and had to drop out of high school to help support his sick mother. During this time, Jim Carrey worked as a security guard before turning to The Comedy Club to open for Rodney Dangerfield.
40. Tina Fey: This could be the best “SNL” skit ever: Tina Fey actually worked at a swimming pool snack bar when she was a very young teenager.

Office Work

Answering phones and doing filing work was just part of the daily grind before these stars turned into some of the most powerful women in music and entertainment.

41. Beyonce: Before bringing Sasha Fierce to the world, Beyonce worked as a receptionist and swept hair at her mother’s Houston hair salon.
42. Jennifer Lopez: Most people think J Lo got her start as a Fly Girl, but during her one semester in college, she paid for dance classes by working as a legal assistant.

Entertainment

Even though these celebrities got jobs in their chosen field, they still had to endure some humiliating and bizarre gigs.

43. Christopher Walken: What a showman: the legendary Christopher Walken worked for the circus one summer, as a lion tamer. He’s said the lion was old and tired, but what if you could back that up on your resume?
44. Jimmy Stewart: Actor Jimmy Stewart had a pretty exciting summer job two years in a row: he was a magician’s assistant.
45. Kid Rock: At least Kid Rock was able to practice his craft: he sang hamburger jingles before making it big.
46. Johnny Depp: This one is just too funny. Depp fronted a Kiss tribute band when he was a teenager, opening for Iggy Pop and the B-52s.

Miscellaneous

From scaring rats to pushing refrigerators, here are more wacko celebrity first jobs.

47. Warren Beatty: This might be the most un-glamorous job on our list: Warren Beatty was entrusted with chasing and shooting rats outside of a movie theater to scare them off.
48. Brad Pitt: Pitt deserves another shout out on this list for putting up with a grueling job: he moved refrigerators in LA while trying to get his big break.
49. Ellen DeGeneres: Lovable –and onetime very controversial — celebrity Ellen DeGeneres drove cars out of a car wash and wiped them down for the customers.
50. Will Ferrell: Would you trust Will Ferrell with your fancy car? He used to work as a valet.