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Successful high school dropouts
This list used to be on Wikipedia, but it was deleted. So I've decided to put it up here. It's probably outdated though, and is by no means a complete list, but it's something anyway. Also, if you're considering dropping out, you may find this page useful.This list of secondary school dropouts consists of noteworthy people who left high school, or an equivalent institution, without having graduated. It does not include those who never attended a secondary school to begin with, and so excludes all individuals who lived prior to the first implementations of the concept of secondary education at the end of the 18th century. It does include students who were expelled, rather than dropping out voluntarily, and it also includes those who dropped out but later re-enrolled and graduated, or received an honorary diploma later in life.
As secondary education has become dramatically more common over the years, the number of secondary school dropouts has increased as well. Additionally, failure to graduate has become much more noteworthy and stigmatizing in the eyes of many than it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries, although there are a number of dropouts who nevertheless later went on to become successful in a variety of fields.
Although secondary schools in different countries have a number of significant differences, there are enough similarities for some grouping to be possible. Most secondary schools begin in 7th grade at the earliest, and end in 12th grade at the latest, though there are exceptions. Secondary school is also mandatory until a certain age (usually between 15 and 18) in most countries, unlike higher education institutions, which as a result have fewer attendees and fewer college dropouts. Secondary school dropouts have also become much more common than primary school dropouts, though in the past it was not unusual to receive only a few years of formal education at best.
British secondary school drop outs are those who left school without any qualifications or those who left before the age of 16. In the UK school system, pupils do not "graduate," nor do they receive degrees; only university students can graduate and obtain degrees.
Contents
- Actors and models
- Authors, poets, and playwrights
- Business leaders and entrepreneurs
- Comedians
- Film directors
- Musicians, singers, and composers
- News anchors, journalists, and reporters
- Politicians, socialites, and royalty
- Scientists and inventors
- Sports players
- Uncategorized
Actors and models
- Julie Andrews, British singer and actress; pulled out of school at age fifteen by her mother.
- Christina Applegate, American actress; dropped out of Excelsior High School in Los Angeles at age seventeen to pursue her acting career.
- Lucille Ball
- Brigitte Bardot
- Roseanne Barr
- Drew Barrymore
- Sean Bean
- Joey Bishop
- Humphrey Bogart
- Clara Bow
- Marlon Brando
- Charles Bronson
- Pierce Brosnan
- Gisele Bündchen
- Raymond Burr
- Ellen Burstyn
- Michael Caine
- Neve Campbell
- Jim Carrey
- Toni Collette
- Sean Connery
- Joan Crawford
- Russell Crowe
- Tom Cruise
- Beverly D'Angelo
- Robert DeNiro
- Johnny Depp
- Bo Derek
- Matt Dillon
- Ami Dolenz
- Patty Duke
- Jeanne Eagels
- Rupert Everett
- Lola Falana
- Colin Farrell
- Errol Flynn
- Ben Foster
- Clark Gable
- Eva Gabor
- Greta Garbo
- Nona Gaye
- Lillian Gish
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Cuba Gooding Jr.
- Cary Grant
- Paris Hilton
- Djimon Hounsou
- Margaux Hemingway
- Benny Hill
- Nicole Kidman
- Keira Knightley
- Yaphet Kotto
- Jude Law
- Henrietta Leaver
- Heath Ledger
- Jason Lee
- Jennifer Jason Leigh
- Jared Leto
- Traci Lords
- Sophia Loren
- Sophie Marceau
- Lee Marvin
- Ewan McGregor
- Melina Mercouri
- Alyssa Milano
- Robert Mitchum
- Marilyn Monroe
- Demi Moore
- Roger Moore
- Peter O'Toole
- Al Pacino
- Joe Pesci
- Joaquin Phoenix
- Teri Polo
- Keanu Reeves
- Leah Remini
- Michelle Rodriguez
- Rene Russo
- Charlie Sheen
- Patrick Stewart
- Kiefer Sutherland
- Hilary Swank
- Charlize Theron
- Danny Thomas
- Uma Thurman
- John Travolta
- Kate Winslet
- Elijah Wood
- John Wood
- Bam Margera (Got his GED.)
Artists
Authors, poets, and playwrights
- Joseph Brodsky
- Jackie Collins
- William Faulkner
- Gwendolyn MacEwen
- Herman Melville
- Anaïs Nin
- Banjo Paterson
- William Saroyan
- William Shakespeare
- George Bernard Shaw
- Leon Uris
- Jan Wolkers
Business leaders and entrepreneurs
- Richard Branson
- James H. Clark
- Jack Kent Cooke
- Simon Cowell
- Charles E. Culpepper
- George Eastman
- Henry Ford
- Soichiro Honda
- Ray Kroc
- Marcus Loew
- David H. Murdock
- John D. Rockefeller
- Vidal Sassoon
- Alan Sugar
- Dave Thomas
Comedians
- Jack Benny
- George Carlin
- Billy Connolly
- Redd Foxx
- Jackie Gleason
- Alan King
- Jerry Lewis
- Groucho Marx
- Paula Poundstone
- Richard Pryor
- Will Rogers
Film directors
- Luc Besson
- Peter Bogdanovich
- John Boorman
- D. W. Griffith
- John Huston
- Peter Jackson
- Quentin Tarantino
- John Woo
Musicians, singers, and composers
- Bryan Adams
- Christina Aguilera
- Billie Joe Armstrong
- Louis Armstrong
- Fantasia Barrino
- Shirley Bassey
- Beck
- The Bee Gees
- Irving Berlin
- Bo Bice
- Clint Black
- Mary J. Blige
- Michael Bolton
- Sonny Bono
- David Bowie
- Michelle Branch
- Bushwick Bill
- Glen Campbell
- Ray Charles
- Cher
- Eric Clapton
- Kurt Cobain
- Joe Cocker
- Phil Collins
- Perry Como
- Elvis Costello
- Roger Daltrey
- Bo Diddley
- Céline Dion
- Thomas Dolby
- Steve Earle
- Duke Ellington
- Eminem
- Mark Oliver Everett
- Jose Feliciano
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Peter Frampton
- Aretha Franklin
- Jerry Garcia
- Marvin Gaye
- Boy George
- George Gershwin
- Benny Goodman
- Macy Gray
- Dave Grohl
- Woody Guthrie
- Merle Haggard
- George Harrison
- John Lee Hooker
- Fiona Horne
- Lena Horne
- Janis Ian
- Natalie Imbruglia
- Wolfman Jack
- Jay-Z
- Billy Joel
- Elton John
- Rickie Lee Jones
- Tom Jones
- Chaka Khan
- Kid Rock
- B.B. King
- Eartha Kitt
- Gladys Knight
- Avril Lavigne
- Little Richard
- Don Omar
- Brian Littrell
- LL Cool J
- Courtney Love
- Loretta Lynn
- Shirley Manson
- Chan Marshall
- Dean Martin
- Natalie Merchant
- George Michael
- Liza Minnelli
- Van Morrison
- Nelly
- Wayne Newton
- Sinéad O'Connor
- Kelly Osbourne
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Charlie Parker
- Tom Petty
- Sam Phillips
- Prince
- Otis Redding
- Busta Rhymes
- Axl Rose
- Ja Rule
- Scarface
- Chuck Schuldiner
- Seal
- Frank Sinatra
- Scott Stapp
- Ringo Starr
- Donna Summer
- James Taylor
- Randy Travis
- Tanya Tucker
- Steven Tyler
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Barry White
- Hank Williams
- Wendy Orlean Williams
- Eric Wright
- Tammy Wynette
- Elliott Yamin
- Neil Young
News anchors, journalists, and reporters
Politicians, socialites, and royalty
- Margaret Brown
- Diana, Princess of Wales
- Buzz Hargrove
- Horace Greeley
- Roy Greensmith
- John Major
- Walter Nash
- Ruth Ann Minner
- Ralph Klein
- J.J. Brewer
- Ralph Bauer
- Dee Dee Amoya
- Ronald Reagan
- Allen Narito
Scientists and inventors
Sports players
- Boris Becker
- Yogi Berra
- Björn Borg
- Jennifer Capriati
- Joe DiMaggio
- Dale Earnhardt
- George Foreman
- Nick Faldo
- Joe Frazier
- Bobby Hull
- Evel Knievel
- Tommy Lasorda
- Joe Louis
- Bobby Orr
- Alberto Tomba
Uncategorized
- Robert Evans
- John Llewellyn
- Daniel Negreanu
- Olivia Newton-John
- Adolph Ochs
- Brian Orser
- Jack Paar
- Gordon Parks
- Rosa Parks
- Evita Peron
- Donald Pleasence
- Sarah Polley
- Charley Pride
- Wolfgang Puck
- Anthony Quinn
- Paul Revere
- Ann Marie Roberts
- Nora Roberts
- Chi Chi Rodriguez
- Roy Rogers
- Theresa Russell
- Derek Sanderson
- William Saroyan
- Christopher Scarver
- Anna Nicole Smith
- Casey Stengel
- Robert Stigwood
- François Truffaut
- Twiggy
- Tracey Ullman
- Peter Ustinov
- Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Gloria Vanderbilt
- Estella Warren
- Lawrence Welk
- Kitty Wells
- Mae West
- Babe Didrikson Zaharias
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