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10 celebrities who were professional truck drivers
Celebrities, they’re just like us! Many came from humble backgrounds and did what was necessary to make ends meet while honing their craft. Their odd jobs can get pretty odd—actor Sean Connery once worked as a coffin polisher—but several artists, including Connery, took up truck driving before making it big.
To some, sitting behind the wheel of a big rig may seem like a peculiar job for creatives, but it’s actually a good fit. Truckers spend countless hours on the road, meaning more time alone with their thoughts. Filmmaker James Cameron spent his time on routes thinking up screenplays, pulling over to write down the good ones. Other truckers-turned-celebrities, like Jason Aldean, have found the lifestyle inspiring.
“My grandfather was a truck driver. Going all the way back, even on my first album there was a song called ‘Asphalt Cowboy’ that talked about that,” Aldean told Billboard magazine in a 2019 interview. “It’s one of those professions that [is] underappreciated.”
Truck Parking Club compiled a list of 10 celebrities who worked as truck drivers before they rose to fame. Read to learn more about their early careers.
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Elvis Presley
– Primary career: Singer and actor
– Birth year: 1935 (deceased)
– Trucking experience: Truck driver for Crown Electric
Before being crowned the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley followed in his father’s footsteps and got a job driving for Crown Electric in 1954. That same summer, the teenager took his first shot in the music industry—and it did not go well. Presley auditioned for rockabilly icon Eddie Bond, and he was not impressed.
Bond told him to stick to driving a truck because he was “never going to make it as a singer,” according to the fellow Memphis musician’s obituary. Of course, Bond ended up eating his words: Presley became far more famous than he ever did.
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James Cameron
– Primary career: Filmmaker
– Birth year: 1954 (age 70)
– Trucking experience: Truck driver in Southern California
James Cameron has written and directed some of the biggest blockbusters in box-office history, from “Titanic” to “Avatar.” Before his big break came, though, he was a truck driver. During his routes, the aspiring filmmaker would think of screenplay ideas, and—after watching “Star Wars” in 1977—quit his job after the iconic sci-fi movie inspired him to go all-in on filmmaking.
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Liam Neeson
– Primary career: Actor
– Birth year: 1952 (age 72)
– Trucking experience: Forklift truck driver for Guinness Brewery
Long before he was driving 18-wheeler Kensworths across the frozen tundra in “The Ice Road,” actor Liam Neeson was driving forklift trucks at the Guinness bottling plant. Neeson, who also starred in the Oscar-winning “Schindler’s List,” recalled his truck driving experience during a 2021 Den of Geek interview promoting “The Ice Road.”
Neeson revealed that Kensworth experts instructed him on maneuvering the massive rigs, which were driven on real ice during production. “Actually being on the ice, which then was about 30 to 40 inches thick—so it was fairly safe, but still scary—and driving these things was an amazing experience,” he told the movie review site.
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Richard Pryor
– Primary career: Comedian and actor
– Birth year: 1940 (deceased)
– Trucking experience: Truck driver
Richard Pryor will go down in history as one of the most influential comedians ever. Long before winning five Grammys for his stand-up sets, the funnyman drove trucks. Pryor also served in the Army between 1958 and 1960, performing numerous amateur shows. He went on to star in classic comedies like “Stir Crazy” and “Brewster’s Millions.”
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Jason Aldean
– Primary career: Country singer
– Birth year: 1977 (age 47)
– Trucking experience: Pepsi delivery driver
Country star Jason Aldean is famous for championing trucker culture, and that’s because he knows firsthand what goes into the job. Before getting his big break in the mid-aughts, Aldean worked as a delivery driver for Pepsi in Georgia. He’s opened up about the job in the past, recalling how he’d take off Thursdays and Fridays to play gigs in Florida. Aldean paid tribute to the profession on his 2005 self-titled debut album with a song called “Asphalt Cowboy.”
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Sean Connery
– Primary career: Actor
– Birth year: 1930 (deceased)
– Trucking experience: Truck driver in Scotland; milkman
Sean Connery is perhaps best known as the original James Bond in the long-running 007 film franchise. But before becoming an Oscar-winning actor, the late star followed in his father’s footsteps as a trucker in his birthplace of Scotland. Before acting, he was also in the Navy, working as a lifeguard, milkman, and an artist model, among others.
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Chevy Chase
– Primary career: Comedian and actor
– Birth year: 1943 (age 81)
– Trucking experience: Semitruck driver
One of Chevy Chase’s most iconic characters is Clark Griswold from the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” franchise. Before he played the station wagon-driving dad, the comedian drove semitrucks as a delivery driver. It was one of many jobs Chase worked until getting his big break on “Saturday Night Live” in 1975.
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Robert Duvall
– Primary career: Actor
– Birth year: 1931 (age 93)
– Trucking experience: Truck driver
Picture this: Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman splitting the rent in a New York City apartment, where Dustin Hoffman occasionally slept on the kitchen floor. Although all three became hugely successful actors, they had humble beginnings as classmates at New York City’s famed Neighborhood Playhouse. During his time at acting school, Duvall worked a handful of odd jobs that included driving a truck.
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Viggo Mortensen
– Primary career: Actor
– Birth year: 1958 (age 66)
– Trucking experience: Truck driver in Denmark.
Viggo Mortensen was born in New York; however, his father was Danish. Before pursuing a career in acting, he drove trucks and sold flowers in Denmark. Mortensen got his first movie role in 1985 and eventually became immortalized as Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy. Mortensen is a man of many talents and has also produced volumes of poetry, music, photography, and paintings.
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Charles Bronson
– Primary career: Actor
– Birth year: 1921 (deceased)
– Trucking experience: Army and civilian truck driver
After driving Army trucks during World War II, Charles Bronson tried out various jobs and eventually became a civilian truck driver. Eventually, he got hired at a theater company and pursued a career in acting. That ended up being a good move, as the film legend went on to star in movies like “Death Wish” and “Once Upon a Time in the West.”
Story editing by Alizah Salario. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Paris Close.
Written by: Katrina Sirotta
