He is the quintessential American idol whose gentle charm has melted many hearts. But while Robert Redford may be a softly spoken Hollywood heartthrob, before he found fame he was anything but a gentleman.
Years before he was lighting up the silver screen in such classics as Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Redford was a wild boy thief and vandal, according to his new autobiography by Irish author Michael Feeney Callan.
As part of a local teenage street gang, he was involved in a world of petty crime and thuggery. In fact, he was lucky to escape prison when aged just sweet 16 after being stopped by police who found stolen jewellery in the boot of his car. Luckily for the future Oscar-winner, the charges were dropped after his father managed to convince the police that his son was oblivious to the loot in the boot.
Redford soon put his life of crime behind him and went on to become the clean-living star he is today. However, he is not the only celebrity who blushes when he recalls his past profession.
Julia Roberts always had high aspirations and grew up wanting to be a vet. But she ended up scooping ice-cream and working at an Athlete's Foot shoe store, before getting the chance to pout in Pretty Woman.
Before Madonna became the ultimate material girl, she could be found working behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts.
And there is no doubt Gwen Stefani felt far from royalty when trying to make ends meet cleaning floors at Dairy Queen.
Pink spent several years earning minimal wage while flipping burgers, cleaning out the toilets and mopping the floors in McDonald's before hitting the celebrity jackpot.
But some celebrities preferred a life of crime rather than cleaning up other people's grime before being rescued by fame.
While Redford may have acted out the role of a delinquent in his teenage years, rapper and movie star 50 Cent was a real-life gangster. Aged 19 he pleaded guilty to selling heroin and crack cocaine and served six months in boot-camp.
But more surprisingly, the seemingly cuddly Tim Allen, famous for his roles in The Santa Clause and Toy Story, went one better than 50 Cent. In 1978 he actually served time behind bars after being nabbed selling cocaine.
"Women now have choices," Allen said. "They can be married, not married, have a job, not have a job, be married with children, unmarried with children. Men have the same choice we've always had: work or prison."
But while most jobs probably seemed like a pretty good alternative to prison to Allen, it is likely that Brad Pitt isn't all that convinced. In a former life the hunky actor was forced to dress up as a giant chicken to promote the El Pollo Loco restaurant in California to earn cash. Prison may take away your freedom, but at least it does not necessarily take away your dignity.
But while Brad's job was surely the pits, he is not the only pouting prince of Hollywood that has a poultry-themed past. Matthew McConaughey's good looks have won him many starring roles. But while the critics might claim his movies stink, they probably don't stink as much as his first job. Yup, when he was on a student exchange programme in Australia he ended up shovelling chicken manure, a job which was far from finger lickin' good.
Luckily he finally washed his hands of that in 1990 before finally catching the acting bug. But be assured that shovelling chicken sh*t is probably one job he left off his CV when going to auditions.
Megan Fox is another sizzling sex symbol whose looks didn't help her shine in her former day job. The Transformers star worked in a smoothie shop and often had to dress up as a banana to help drum up business.
However, Fox decided to make the most of it -- "I had the option of apple or banana. But I always went with banana because it was thinner." Well, one supposes some people will always try and convince themselves they are making the best of a bad situation -- just like Jennifer Aniston. Long before she was a 'Horrible Boss', she had a pretty horrible job, too.
"I made my allowance as a kid cleaning toilets," she confessed in a recent interview. " And I'm actually pretty good at it!"
But while the current crop of box office big shots blush when it comes to speaking of their previous embarrassing endeavours, many of the old school generation wear theirs as a badge of honour.
Long before Ozzy Osbourne was biting the heads off bats he was already something of a serial killer. The hard living rocker-turned-reality TV star worked in a slaughterhouse.
In fact, both he and Rod Stewart would have made something of a deadly duo if they combined their talents. Before achieving international fame as a crooner, Stewart's slightly spooky profession was as a gravedigger.
Another one who was pretty handy with a spade and dug his way to success is Clint Eastwood. Before he catapulted himself from Westerns and no-nonsense, rebel cop Dirty Harry to finally focus on directing, Eastwood earned his daily crust by digging swimming pools for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills.
But it is not just the Hollywood hunks who grafted hard before hitting the Hollywood jackpot.
Whoopi Goldberg is well-known for juggling several careers since becoming a star, including talk-show host, actress and stand-up comedian. But while she did not always live the life of luxury, Whoopi was always one to multi-task. Growing up in the projects in New York City, her first job was as a bricklayer. But when she realised her brickwork career was building a path to nowhere, she took on the extra job as a garbage collector. And when she quickly discover that the job literally stank, she decided to study to become a beautician.
"I did people's make-up. Dead people's, actually," she revealed. "I was good at that too. I learned the trade and the first job that came up was with a mortician."
While working there, things got a little spooky for Whoopi. "I got a call saying I was wanted in the boss's office," she said in an interview. "Which just happened to be where the bodies were kept in drawers. A few minutes later I heard sort of creaking. I turned round and one of the drawers was slowly opening. Then someone sat up and waved at me. Man, I was totally freaked out. Turns out it was the boss. He jumped out and said: 'That's the worst thing that could ever happen to you here, and it won't. So there's nothing to be scared of. Just think of the bodies as big dolls whose face and hair you are going to fix.' I was fine after that."
But while putting slap on dead people must rank as one of the least glamorous of professions for Hollywood's elite, Whoopi is pipped at the post by Warren Beatty.
This go-getter was so desperate to get into showbiz there was one job he simply could not turn down.
When Beatty was 17, the management at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. knew he would do anything to work there. So while there were no roles available on stage they offered him a part off it. Yes, the actor, director, producer and all-round legend Warren Beatty broke into showbiz as a rat-catcher.
Sexy Transformers star Megan Fox has recently confessed to getting her tattoo of Marilyn Monroe removed from her arm - and as you can see, the once strong portrait of the movie legend's face is now faded and indescript.
