# Surprising second occupations of performers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507 "2021-12-04T17:32:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/61 "2021-12-05T21:18:12Z")
I remember seeing him as an expert on several History Channel shows some time ago, and being a bit surprised that he wasn’t just an actor. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/62 "2021-12-05T21:24:57Z")
The SF author Fred Pohl dropped out of high school, and educated himself after that, but become enough of an expert on the Emperor Tiberius that he wrote the entry on him for the Encyclopedia Britannica [Frederik Pohl | Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Frederik-Pohl/2338) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/63 "2021-12-05T21:31:31Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The SF author Fred Pohl dropped out of high school, and educated himself after that, but become enough of an expert on the Emperor Tiberius that he wrote the entry on him for the Encyclopedia Britannica So he wasn’t a performer but he was a writer who also wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/64 "2021-12-05T21:32:47Z")
Oops. You’re right. Sorry about that. He had a part-time job as a drug tester at the racetrack for a while (for the horses, not the jockeys) but that wasn’t a major source of income. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/65 "2021-12-05T21:51:08Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Also, add Clint Eastwood to the list of licensed helicopter pilots, although at 91, I don’t know how much flying he still actually does. I didn’t realize he was a helicopter pilot. I did work for American Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) 20-some years ago, and I ran into him (literally) as I was coming out of the bathroom and he was going in. Rumor had it he was buying a helicopter, but my assumption had been so someone else could fly him around in it. I had no idea it was for his own personal flying. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/66 "2021-12-05T23:49:06Z")
Jenette Goldstein still acts, but has her own lingerie boutique called [Jenette Bras](https://jenettebras.com/) in Los Angeles, California, known for its slogan “The alphabet starts at D”. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/67 "2021-12-06T01:00:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > English musician James Blunt was an officer in the British Army for six years. Similarly, Adam Driver was in the U.S. Marines. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/68 "2021-12-06T02:44:54Z")
Fred “Mister” Rogers was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/69 "2021-12-06T03:03:08Z")
Jason Everman played in Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mind Funk. He later joined the Army, became a Ranger, then a Green Beret. Somewhere in there, he was also a biker messenger, worked at a Tibetan monastery, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/70 "2021-12-06T03:03:40Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I note that Robert Heinlein did try making money as a real estate agent (sliver miner, political activist) before he achieved success as a writer. Heinlein quit writing at the beginning of WWII and worked for the Navy as a civilian engineer: Heinlein was employed by the Navy as a civilian aeronautical engineer at the Navy Aircraft Materials Center at the [Philadelphia Naval Shipyard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Naval_Shipyard) in [Pennsylvania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania).[[41]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#cite_note-41) Heinlein recruited [Isaac Asimov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov) and [L. Sprague de Camp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Sprague_de_Camp) to also work there.[[34]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#cite_note-Expanded_Universe-34) While at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, Asimov, Heinlein, and de Camp brainstormed unconventional approaches to kamikaze attacks, such as using sound to detect approaching planes.[[42]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#cite_note-42) > **[Robert A. Heinlein | Navy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#Navy)** > > Heinlein's experience in the U.S. Navy exerted a strong influence on his character and writing. In 1929, he graduated from the Naval Academy with the equivalent of a bachelor of arts in engineering. (At that time, the Academy did not confer degrees.) He ranked fifth in his class academically but with a class standing of 20th of 243 due to disciplinary demerits. The U.S. Navy commissioned him as an ensign shortly after his graduation. He advanced to lieutenant junior grade in 1931 while serving ab... ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/71 "2021-12-06T05:48:50Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Fred “Mister” Rogers was ordained as a Presbyterian minister And Hugh Beaumont, Ward Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver, was an ordained Methodist minister. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/72 "2021-12-06T06:04:22Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Also, add Clint Eastwood to the list of licensed helicopter pilots, although at 91, I don’t know how much flying he still actually does. After leaving the Army, Kris Kristofferson flew helicopters professionally in the oil & gas service industry while trying to make it as a songwriter. ---
**Author:** ![DoubleG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DoubleG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoubleG)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/73 "2021-12-06T06:25:44Z")
George “The Animal” Steele had a masters degree and taught high school along with being a football and wrestling coach for the school. He is inducted into the Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/74 "2021-12-06T07:56:51Z")
Although Rogers and Beaumont were ordained, they never worked as ministers in the ordinary sense. This is similar to other people mentioned here and others not mentioned here. Graham Chapman was trained as a doctor but didn’t work as one. Ozzie Nelson of Ozzie and Harriet was trained as a lawyer but didn’t work as one. John Cleese, on the other hand, did work as a school teacher. This thread is kind of a jumble. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/75 "2021-12-06T08:18:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Freddie Mercury earned a degree in art and design in 1969. Like Deacon, I don’t think that Freddie really worked much in that field, though he did use those skills to design Queen’s “heraldic” logo. It’s probably actually easier to list British musicians from that era who _didn’t_ go to art school. Though if Freddie finished his degree that might make him unusual. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/76 "2021-12-06T13:43:00Z")
The actor Omar Sharif, best known for his role in _Lawrence of Arabia_ was also one of the world’s best contract bridge players and the author of several books on bridge. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/77 "2021-12-06T14:00:48Z")
**Ed Wynn** – famed radio comedian (“The Perfect Fool”), the voice of The Mad Hatter in Disney’s **Alice in Wonderland** and portrayer Uncle Albert in **Mary Poppins** and The Toymaker in **Babes in Toyland** , and occasional dramatic actor, was one of the the founders (and the president and visible head) of the _Amalgamated Broadcasting System_, which operated in the Northeast for about two months in 1933 in a bid for a Third Major Radio Network. Its failure resulted in severe stress for Wynn, who felt he had to make good on the losses. It caused a major disruption in huis career, destroyed his marriage, and led to his nervous breakdown. > **[Amalgamated Broadcasting System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgamated_Broadcasting_System)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Amalgamated Broadcasting System (ABS) was an ambitious, although unsuccessful, attempt to establish a "third radio network" in the United States. Its primary promoters were the company's president, American comedian Ed Wynn, and its vice-president, Hungarian-born violinist Ota Gygi. The network's inaugural broadcast on September 25, 1933, was carried by a small group of stations located in the Northeast. Despite plans to eventually expand nati... > **[Ed Wynn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Wynn)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He was noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor. > Wynn was born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Jewish family. His father, Joseph, a milliner, was born in Bohemia. His mother, Minnie Greenberg, of Romanian and Turkish anc... Paul Winchell, the puppeteer, ventriloquist, voice actor, and kids show host, was also a noted inventor and acupuncturist and had been a pre-med at Columbia University. Along with Henry Heimlich (of the famous maneuver) he invented and patented an artificial heart. It’s claimed (by Heimlich) that the Jarvik 7 heart that was famously the first implanted used elements invented by Winchell. The Wikipedia article doesn’t mention it, but Winchell also invented heart valves and was present in the OR when they were implanted. He also patented many other devices, both medical and non-medical. > **[Paul Winchell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Winchell)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Paul Winchell (né Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted The Paul Winchell Show, which also used two other titles during its prime time run on NBC: The Speidel Show, and What's My Name? From 1965 to 1968, Winchell hosted the children's television series Winchell-Mahoney Time. > Winchell ma... ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/78 "2021-12-06T14:48:37Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > R. Lee Ermey was an actual Marine drill instructor. He was hired as a technical advisor for ‘Full Metal Jacket’, but was so good at showing how to be a drill instructor that they just let him do the part and it kicked off a long movie career. In something of an inversion of the thread topic–professional wrestler Sergeant Slaughter who made his career with a gimmick of Marine drill instructor was NEVER actually a drill instructor and NEVER actually served in the military in any capacity. This has caused him problems at times because he has talked about his military service in public appearances while seeming to be speaking as himself, but was just staying "in character’; ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/79 "2021-12-06T15:13:32Z")
Jessica Alba is a successful entrepreneur, having started a company that reached market value greater than a billion dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507/80 "2021-12-06T15:37:20Z")
Brian Cox, British physicist known from shows like Wonders of the Solar System, used to be in a boy band and even scored a hit in the early nineties. > **[Brian Cox (physicist)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_%28physicist%29?wprov=sfla1)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > > Brian Edward Cox CBE FRS (born 3 March 1968) is an English physicist and former musician who is a professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science. He is best known to the public as the presenter of science programmes, especially the Wonders of... series and for popular science books, such as Why Does E=mc²? and The Quantum Uni... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprising-second-occupations-of-performers/955507.md?page=5)