16 Little-Known Celeb Underdog Stories

Hollywood has a terrible tendency to take true stories and embellish the shit out of them until all that's left is a sad husk of truth stuffed with too much questionable artistic license.

So let's hope Hollywood doesn't touch the following celebrity biographies, because these underdog tales are dramatic enough.

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Entry by Kevin King

CRACKEDOON Nickiminaj, real name Onika Tanya Maraj, was born into a family of 15 in Trinidad and lived in a three-room house. At age 5she moved to Que

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Entry by PookieJones

FROM LIVING OUT OF A TRUCK TO A NET WORTH OF $100 MILLION The back-story of William Shatner Back in the 70s when Star Trek series was cancelled, Shatn

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Entry by TheDED1

CRACKEDC COM Chris Pratt lived in a van in Hawaii. It wasn't until a chance encounter with Rae Dawn Chong at his job as a waiter for Bubba Gump Shrimp

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Danny Trejo spent his youth in and out of jail His uncle got him into marijuana at 8, and since then he got in trouble with the law over drugs. And ov

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Entry by TheDED1

Leighton Meester wasn'talwaysa Gossip Girl. In fact her life before she was famous is the stuff ofmovies. She was born in prison to a mother who was a

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Entry by gicusudoru

akAsR Louis Armstrong was first arrested and sent to the Colored Waifs Home when he was nine. HE He returned there after his second arrest two years l

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Entry by CheezyWorm22

Before Colonel Sanders had his signature brand... CRACKED.COM ...he was sleeping in his car begging restaurants to try his chicken recipe. Sanders sle

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Entry by Chan Teik Onn

Michael Caine starred in small roles before he caught his big break at the age of 33, starring in 'Alfie'. Before his fame, Caine was unable to suppor

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Entry by Scott Laffey

DR. PHIL WAS HOMELESS At 12 years old, MCGraw lived out of a car for a time with his father before securing a $5 a week room at the YMCA. They were ev

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Entry by 404notfound

CRACKEDON Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, flunked his college entrance examinations thrice. He applied for 30 different jobs, including working

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Entry by PookieJones

I can't even remember when my own birthday is. - Lucy Liu The famous actress grew up in the wastelands of Queens, NY and her family was So busy tryi

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Entry by Comunacho

Tom Cruise's father was a physically abusive bully who couldn't hold down a job, so his family lived in poverty and had to relocate constantly. Tom at

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Entry by gicusudoru

IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad managed to make good grades in school despite being dyslexic. The iconic Swedish sounding names are also a result of his d

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Entry by Kevin King

Drew Carey grew up a very depressed young man. After attempting suicide and being expelled from Kent State twice, he left to pursue a career in stand

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Entry by stahn_lee

WORLD FAMOUS ACTRESS She was born cross-eyed Demi Moore was raised by her alcoholic suffered kidney mother and stepfather and from a dysfunction repea

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Entry by gicusudoru

CRACKED.COM You bet the lady sang the blues; she learned them in her youth. When Billie Holiday was ten a neighbor attempted to rape her. She dropped