2. Jackie Chan - From Dirt-Poor Family To Stunt Double, To Failed Bruce Lee Knock-Off, To Box Office Star
Jackie Chan was born under such dire circumstances that his parents reportedly nearly sold him to the physician who helped deliver him, in the hope that this might pay their medical costs. In addition to this, he has never been formally educated, and attended an Opera School as a child, where he spent almost a decade learning martial arts. This fortuitously led to him becoming a stunt double in the films of Bruce Lee, and following Lee's death, he was touted as "the next Bruce Lee", something that eventually didn't work out. 1978's Drunken Master provided Chan with the gateway to the fame he enjoys today, and he slowly worked his way towards his indisputable breakthrough, 1995's Rumble in the Bronx, leading to 1998's Rush Hour, which of course spawned the franchise for which he is most famous. Rumours persist that he's set to star in The Expendables 3, so he has indeed come quite a way from a dirt-poor childhood.