A bit of an odd one this. There won’t be many (I don’t think), but can anybody think of any individuals who reached a world class level in ANY discipline after starting in their 30’s?
Are there any guitarists who are renowned for their guitar skills who picked up the instrument in their 30’s?
Are there any actors who are renowned for their acting ability who didn’t take up their profession seriously until their 30’s?
Any academics, theorists or politicians who only took their degree or entered their respective field after the age of 30?
It really doesn’t matter what the discipline or career is, as long as they started after (or at least late twenties) 30.
NOTE I’m not looking for people who struggled for years and had their big break later. I’m only looking for people who actually STARTED learning their craft at a later age and succeeded.
Thanks in advance. Any replies are greatly appreciated.
Julia Child wasn’t interested in fine cuisine until she moved to France at the age of 36 (her husband was a State Department employee who was posted there).
Jack Foster started at age 32, represented New Zealand in the Marathon in two Olympics, placed 8th at age 40, at age 41, ran 2:11;18,(masters world record and a world class time) and at age 43, won the Honolulu marathon.
Ran a age group marathon record of 2:20:28 at age 50.
i remember him well, and my recollection is that although he may not have taken part competitively until his mid-20s, he was used to running long distances in Ethiopia since his childhood days.
It looks like James Fenimore Cooper was 31 when he published his first novel. The quality of his prose might be debatable, but he did sell a crapload of books.
Artist Gladwyn “Miss Lassie” Bush didn’t begin painting until age 62. She painted the walls, shutters, and nearly every fixed surface of her home which was later listed on the Watch List of the World Monuments Fund.
Phil ‘the Power’ Taylor, undisputedly the greatest dart player ever and also one of the most dominant players in any sport (between 1995 and 2006 he won the World Championship every year except 2003 and also won it in 2009, 2010 and 2013) was a late starter. According to his biography he played as a child, but only aged about 26 started playing in pubs, was only selected for his county team a couple of years later, qualified for his first World Championship age 29 and won his first World Championship age 34.
Ricky Gervais had a short-lived and not very successful career as a musician in his early twenties, but otherwise worked in behind the scenes entertainment roles as an events manager at at University in his twenties and then at an independent radio station in his 30s. It was only in his late 30s that he became and comedy writer/stand-up comedian/comedy actor and din’t hit the big time until his early 40s.
Patrick O’Brian, who wrote the remarkably long-lived and successful Aubrey-Maturin series of Napoleonic war British Navy novels, published the first when he was 55, but they did not achieve really substantial success until he was over 75.
I notice also that Raymond Chandler began writing when he lost his job as a manager at age 44, and published The Big Sleep when he was 51. Laura Ingalls Wilder also began writing in her mid-40s and wrote her most famous books in her 60s.
Joined the US Merchant Marines to see the world.
Retired from the Merchant Marines at 35. (1995)
Used the money I saved to start a small business. (Property Management)
Studied whenever I could at an accredited University. (5 years)
Sold the business.
Did consulting on Computer Science badly for the first 2.5 years ,but it paid well.
Applied and got a job at a large hospital at the lowest IS position.
Worked my way up and retired at the age of 56. (11/2015)
That is the short version.
So. YES you can do it, but you must build on your life long experiences. If all you can claim is, "Would you like fries with that sir?, on your resume at the age of 30 then you are pretty much doomed to a life the same way it is now at best.
Iaido is sufficiently different from kendo that his previous experience wouldn’t have made that much difference, but by the time I met him, he was one of the best in Japan for Iaido, which makes him one of the best in the world.
Cliff Young took up marathon running in his 50s and won his first race in his 60s.
J K Rowling wrote her first novel at 30.
David Attenborough became a TV presenter at 29.
Sylvester Stallone wrote his first screenplay at 30. It won him an Oscar.
Jackie Collins started writing at 30.
Billy Connolly gave his first stand-up performance at 30.
I imagine that you could find hundreds of entertainers who had world class success in other fields later in life. Having large amounts of money, free time and fame makes it much easier to parlay innate talent into phenomenal success.
Paul Newman entered his first professional car race at 46.
Cher started acting in her early thirties and has bagged multiple Oscar nominations.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan both entered politics at 55.
The number of “politicians who only… entered their respective field after the age of 30” is legion. It is quite common for politicians to only enter their first election prior to age thirty, simply because most people won’t take younger candidates seriously. Obama, the two Bushes and Reagan all entered politics int heir thirties or later, and Clinton entered at 28.