67 Revealing Photos Of Celebrities Before They Were Famous

Published August 25, 2018
Updated May 26, 2021

When Neil deGrasse Tyson was a jock, Betty White was a babe, and Robin Williams was exactly the man we'd all come to know and love.

Photos of celebrities looking perfectly put together and downright glamorous are positively omnipresent in our culture. So it's sometimes nice to have proof that these celebrities too were once young, awkward, and astoundingly normal — or at least beholden to questionable fashion trends of decades past.

Whether it was the outrageous 1980s haircut Amy Poehler once sported or the hippie look you didn't know Hillary Clinton could pull off, the photos above prove that your favorite celebrities didn't always look quite like you'd think in the days before they became famous.

For one, who would've ever suspected that a certain astrophysicist was once a muscular athlete, a self-proclaimed "nerd who could kick your butt." And who would've thought that a future "Sexiest Man Alive" would leave behind one of the dorkiest yearbook photos you've ever seen.

So take some time to enjoy browsing through this gallery of vintage photos of celebrities when they were young. From the cute to the awkward to the impossibly cool, these images are sure to surprise.


If you enjoyed these photos of celebrities when they were young, next check out some captivating photos of vintage celebrity couples. Then have a look at even more old school photos from celebrities' yearbooks.

author
Kara Goldfarb
author
Kara Goldfarb is a writer living in New York City who holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Ithaca College and hosts a podcast for Puna Press.
editor
Jaclyn Anglis
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
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Goldfarb, Kara. "67 Revealing Photos Of Celebrities Before They Were Famous." AllThatsInteresting.com, August 25, 2018, https://allthatsinteresting.com/celebrities-when-they-were-young. Accessed August 15, 2025.