Did anyone from your high school class become famous?

I'm from Connecticut. Every time some "expert" make an ass of him or herself on TV, in papers, etc., I usually have known them or their family since I've mingles with lots of people up and down the Eastern seaboard and they just fall into positions of authority and power because they could afford brand name schools and have known, family names. I know most of the fake poor people who have "made their way" in NYC, pretending they were hoofing and pan-handling their way to the top, like it was done in 1918, when their Dad was a famous banker, Mom a professor at an Ivy. Poets, inventors, politicians, actors, tech industry heads, you name it.

Not my class, but people within a few years of me, including people who went to other high schools (a big chunk of my cohort attended Catholic High school and lived where 3 towns came together so I knew about people in the other two high schools. Anyway, here's the list:

Bob Golic--pro football player, lived behind us, knew him thru his older brother Jayne Kennedy (and her sister whose name escapes me) --beauty queen/actress, next town worked with her neighbors Matt Wickline--sitcom writer, younger brother of a classmate Clark Kellogg--pro basketball player, friend of a neighbor

This thread is useless without specific names.

Yes, Nick Jonas. Nice guy.

Yes, me.

Linda Emond (a year ahead of me) and Gwen Stefani (several years after me).

Haha, who are you, R5? C'mon, tell us.

Yeah Dagmar.

Yeah, Zac Effron.

Sharon Stone did quite OK for herself. She was always a beauty.

No, I'm just kidding, R7. LOL. I'm an administrative assistant at a famous law firm though. Does that count?

One guy got to be a CNN sports anchor. I had no interest in what he was saying, but damn he was pretty enough to endure his segments.

The major geek made out well. I don't know how. I know it takes a geek in the computer world, but the boy could not carry on a conversation or go 10 seconds without acting weird, while his twin sister was way personable. He'd do things like crying loudly in class if he got a 99 on a test instead of 100....at age 17. He got my tri-county home area on the internet, ended up with a huge computer company.

A couple of people from my high school went to Hollywood to become actors although neither "made it" - one was on Buffy and not much else, while the other was in one of those stupid Olsen twin movies

Yes, biggest douchebag even back then. Every gay man I know who has encountered him in Cph hates him for being an arrogant and vile asshole. He truly is mean spirited to ordinary people.

Gary sinese.

r14, who is that guy? He is handsome

Hair dresser.

It was a good thing he dropped out of HS and attended beauty school instead. He was academically challenged to say it politely. Don't ask him to do simple equations.

Lisa Todd, who was a Fly Girl on "In Living Color". Linda Cardellini's brother was in my class. Linda is about 9 years younger than I am. We also attended the same high school.

Actually, no, and I'm kind of surprised by the fact.

The smartest guy in my class-- I just googled--is a scientist at a university. Prestigious, of course, but I would have put money on him becoming an Elon Musk type.

Oh, and I new a baseball player who went pro straight out of high school--huge signing bonus, great future, whole nine yards. Injured in his first year, and then dropped from the minor team (that was attached to the major team that signed him). So forced to retire at 18 or 19. Always feel bad for that guy.

Dana Plato

and?

In golf cirlcles, he's pretty well known - Pat Goss. We were close friends until our early 20's - then I moved to Europe.

Robert Sean Leonard.

R9 prove it by telling me what city Zac was in. 'cuz I knew him when he was an unknown.

Yes, Susan Smith

I'm not so sure about famous, but noteworthy. We didn't graduate together~his family moved. His name is George LaVoo and he makes films. He's worked as a screenwriter, director, and producer, and won several awards. His parents kindly allowed me to come along when they went to museums, theaters, and musical events my folks never would have attended~making me the cultural sophisticate I am today. We used to get up to all sorts of hijinks and mowed lawns together for spending money after school. I knew something was up when [italic]The Advocate[/italic] quoted George about a film several years ago.

Congradulations George! I miss you.

There's an actress who was in a few ABC shows, including Desperate Housewives, and had been in a few movies that was from my area - not exactly my hometown (which was really small) but close by. Her siblings were well known as figure skaters, too.

I graduated from James Madison HS in BROOKLYN NY class of '65. my older brother knew Bernie Sanders and Carole King

I went to high school with the girl who was engaged to the Craigslist Killer. Does that count?

They made a Lifetime movie about her...

He SHOULD HAVE graduated with the rest of us in the Evergreen Park (Ill.) High School Class of 1960.

Instead, because of his genius level IQ, he got into Harvard when he was 16.

His name? You ask?

Ted Kaczynski.

AKA "The Unabomber."

Yes. Trina Turk.

One guy had a stint running one of the top teams in Nascar. He and his brothers were always rabid about cars and he went the Charlotte NC area (where most teams are based) determined to get a job with a race team and willing to sweep floors.

It's a curious thing to pursue, but it's also something very, very difficult to pull off so I've always admired the guy a lot, both for taking a shot at it and for doing extremely well.

I'm from Long Island, everybody had someone famous from their school. Right now Amy Schumer and her director Judd Apatow and "Pixels" Kevin James, all from LI, have the top movies of the week.

Lucie Arnaz

Mary Tyler Moore

Heidi Fleiss

Joan Jett. The quintessential Randolph Hills girl.

Went to grade school with the brother of one of Ellen's girlfriends. Went to high school with one of those guys that do make-overs on some TV show. Also went to High School with a girl who has many commercials over the years (Macy's, AOL, Target, Time Warner), was in a play on Broadway with Angela Landsbury, was in a Paul Rudnick show off-Broadway, did a few episodes of OITNB, and had a major arc on Devious Maids last year. I like to look at her IMDB, and think: We were best buds in High School.

Robert Piest and Rick Johnston victims of John Wayne Gacy

Busy Phillips and Jenny Mollen were both a year behind me

Olympic speed skater Dan Janssen-- very sweet guy.

Some posters in this thread don't understand the meaning of the phrase "from your high school CLASS".

R41 *Most* posters in this thread don't understand the meaning of the phrase "from your high school CLASS".

Gerri Willis from Fox Business Network. She was a real plain Jane in high school.

Was Jenny Mollen as obnoxious back then as she is now? She strikes me as someone with a serious diagnosis of mental illness.

[quote] Some posters in this thread don't understand the meaning of the phrase "from your high school CLASS"

It's okay. Some of the "6 Degrees of Separation" cases are interesting to read.

Besides, most people here wouldn't have an immediate class member who became famous, but might know of someone a year or two behind them, or even in their hometown.

Remember, people from small towns post here too, so the person who "made it big" from their small town is probably someone that everyone there knew.

Yes, my good friend Artemis Pebdani!

University High. Graduated in same class with punk rock pioneer Darby Crash (Paul Behn), Mary Bond Davis (Maybelle in Bways "Hairspray) and local entertainment reporter Sam Rubin.

R46, the OP said FAMOUS.

I graduated with (Everybody Loves) Ray Romano.

Steve Guttenberg

Juice Newton

[quote]Yes, my good friend Artemis Pebdani!

What is she doing now? She is so mothefuckin’ funny in her IASP episodes. Like stomach hurtin funny.

The class snob (she looked like a MTF but her family had money) married a famous U.S attorney who was a radical in the 1960s, wrote a bestseller about the JFK assassination, and was a personal friend of Jane Fonda.

A girl in my grade did a couple of soaps but she moved back to our hometown to be a receptionist for her dad and marry some local dude.

Yes, Tom Brady.

[quote]Oh, and I new a baseball player who...

Cthulhu wept.

A girl I was friends with skipped college (semi-scandalous where I'm from) and went to Broadway. She's been in a bunch of shows, was a lead in Spring Awakening and now is in Hamilton. She's the understudy for the lead.

She's one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Always smiling and outgoing.... on the surface. Secretly she's very insecure, can hold major grudges, and can be a massive bitch to those she has it out for.

r56 "Secretly she's very insecure, can hold major grudges, and can be a massive bitch to those she has it out for."

She should do well on Broadway then.

R31 Tell us about Ted Kaczynski!

Sorry- did we ever identify the guy in r14's post? He looks familiar.

A familiar face in movies and tv but not a familiar name. Brian Howe was in my HS class in Rhode Island. Was majorly bullied in Junior High by the closeted gym teacher and then went onto be in at least 7 Spielberg movies. Happily married now and doing well. Also Sean Spicer is from my town but didn't go to the HS. The local newspaper had an interview with him over the holidays.

Hell no. 98% stayed within 100 miles of our small, Kansas town. Myself and one other (out of 40) moved the farthest away: East and West Coast. Should I go to my 35th reunion this year?

That is so cool about George LaVoo, R37! I've been wanting to see Real Women Have Curves like forever, but haven't seen it yet. Cool that there are people like him making movies.

Meant R27, not R37

Nathaniel Crosby, Bing's youngest son;

Bill Amend, creator of the FOXTROT cartoon;

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce

Omg, yes R60! Catch Me If You Can. Good for him. His resume is neverending... Sure works all the time.

I went to an arts high school so yes, many did including me.

I went to high school with that bitch Dana Perino, George W's press secretary and now just another blonde Faux News anchor twat. She was just as cunty in high school as she is today.

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Dan Castalleneta, Helene Alexopoulos, Jane Hamilton, Kathy Griffin

Before the heroin plague, dozens of my classmates were given very long prison terms for manufacturing methamphetamine.

Judging by the local crime page photos, they're the few who haven't ballooned into obese people.

Hey r60, I used to know Brian Howe from working together in NYC before he started working all the time. I can't imagine him being bullied, he's a wonderful guy, and I always saw him as so secure, warm, and funny. He's also a big guy, I'm surprised any bully ever came for him.

A guy from my class is a hugely successful ad ma, tv commercials director and wunderkind. He is the most successful person in that line of work in the world, and everyone agrees. He is a super nice, hilarious guy, who never stood out in HS, other than being a regular well-liked kid.

*ad man.

I am the very worst proofreader on the planet!

John Marzano. Attended Central High School. I was skipped a grade and ended up in his home room. Nasty guy, bit of a racist and a bully. Played for the Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Mariners. Steady but undistinguished career. Kind of hot though. Heard he died of a massive heart attack or something, smothered in his own vomit.

Darren Hayes

I went to a top ranked school in Virginia--it's hilarious how few people have become famous from it.

One guy plays for the Jets. Another is Liz Cheney, yes, that evil bitch

Benji Olson, of NFL fame, same high school. We also went to the same college My friend slept with him, and reported his penis to be average, blue veins. with dark blonde/reddish pubes. Uncut. Had big bright pink balls. She said it was nothing to write home about.

Not my class year, but the same high school in Tacoma Washington: Glass artist, Dale Chaluly (spelling?) and serial killer Ted Bundy.

Louis Freah, FBI director...

Candis Cayne: Transgender actress.

I made her some gowns when she was just a theatrical man.

Yes, actually a few. Some were in my class, or a year ahead, or a year below:

Renaldo, (skeetsy), Nehimiah

Marc Shaiman (he played the piano for me!)

Marissa Acocela (in the papers recently)

Dave Brown (Giants football player--he went to a nearby high school but I knew him)

There are a few others but I really don't keep up that type of stuff.

Elliott Smith, dead musician, lost Oscar to Celine for the Titanic theme. Very sweet guy, very supportive of gay rights. He was like a meteor. I lost touch with him when he moved to LA and got into drugs.

Matt Groening also went to our high school, but that was years before we did. I am not really famous, but I have credits in major films and television series.

Charlemagne.

No, I graduated with a whole bunch of underachievers, I would tell you about and NBA player that graduated a few years after me but I don't what to trigger R41 and R42

Me ? No. My mom went to high school with Glenn 'DIVINE' Milstead. My godson was in school with Michael Phelps from 7th grade onward. Phelps was visiting my godson at Salisbury University when he had his first DUI. Later Phelps was allegedly rude to my godson's then fiance and that ended their friendship.

Not high school, but I DID go to elementary school in NY with Patty Duke...

How can you be so sure, R85? Perhaps it was her identical cousin.

A state senator from Pennsylvania. He was a dick.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold...

Went to elementary school with the captain of the 2016 Olympic USA women's soccer team. She was sporty even back then.

Not my high school class but my high school. Bob Griese the quarterback. His youngest sister was in my senior graduating class. Thick and horse-faced but she was picked as a cheerleader because of her brother's past football triumphs in varsity ball. The sister was actually nice to everyone. Definitely not a Plastic.

A professional baseball player, a drug kingpin, a notable jazz musician, and a serial killer.

It was a big hs.

Austin Powers. Doctor Evil. That slut Miss Colorful (though she later took on the pretentious "Frau Farbissene" as her name). Otherwise, the details of my life are quite inconsequential.

Kay Lenz was in my class of '68.

Michael Phelps

No, but John Corbett went to my high school. I'm decades younger than him, but he once visited when I was a student there.

I was friends with Peter Krause in high school--he was in the class ahead of mine.

Weirdly, a number of other TV stars went to my high school, including Loni Anderson and Richard Dean Anderson, even though it's just an ordinary high school in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul.

My mother went to high school with Barbara Streisand, they were not good friends, but they were acquaintances. My mother is now an Orthodox Jewish housewife with 7 kids, and we all know how Miss Streisand turned out. As a young gayling, my friends would all come over on Saturday for lunch and listen to my mothers tales of her time with Barbara, and eat cholent with potato kugel.

[quote]John Marzano. Attended Central High School. I was skipped a grade and ended up in his home room. Nasty guy, bit of a racist and a bully.

Being "a bit of a racist and a bully" is like being "sorta pregnant".

People still not processing the your high school CLASS part of it. An NFL Hall of Famer. And some other athletes and a famous musician went to my high school, but they WEREN'T IN MY CLASS.

I went to hs with Paul Wesley back when he was Paul Wasilewski. Don't remember him though.

Yes, journalism was big in my HS circa 1973:

Rick Stengel

Mara Liasson

BIG Tome journalists.

Went to H S in Dallas with Billy Crudup and his older brother Tommy. I thought Tommy was cuter though I recall he struggled with his weight. Possibly gay too. He has also had a successful career in show business as a producer, including the Rachel Ray Show. Didn't really know Billy, and they moved when he was a freshman.

Like R97's mother, I went to Erasmus Hall. Bern Nadette Stanis who played Thelma in Good Times was in my graduating class. She was Bernadette Stanislaus back then.

If you consider Gwyneth Paltrow "famous," then yes.

Not so famous...but the actress who played Marilyn on "The Munsters" graduated from my high school in 1950.

I went to high school with Yosemite Sam, of course he didn't have the mustache then.

Not in my class, but from my high school: Linda Lavin, Andrea Martin, and Anna Kendrick.

R104 Tell us about Gwyneth!

I was in 9th grade algebra with former NFL footballer player Tubucky fuckin' Jones. I don't remember whether he was in 9th like me or 10th grade. The math teacher catered to him because he had to keep up his GPA. We would spend entire classes going over a single problem (easy ones we all understood).

Parents complained because he was assigning work without going over it first. The teacher came in one day and yelled at us. He said teaching style didn't matter, and if we didn't get it was our own fault.

If my dad hadn't stayed up helping me, I never would have passed. I went to another high school the following year.

I think we're all aiming for "infamous" now.

Melania Trump

R88, no way! Glad you're okay.

R104, Goop stories pls. The trashier the better.

Two working actors. One is an actress on Orange is the New Black. The other is an actor on a cable tv show. Everyone expected a lot more of the 2nd one.

College a different story, lots of famous and working actors.

Jeremy Renner and Timothy Olyphant.

Wtf is wrong with the people who don't provide the names of the people you went to school with. "Oh I went to school with an actor on Orange is the New Black but I'm not gonna say who." F&F everyone who does this.

R115 Timothy olyphant went to school in Modesto. You in Cali?

R105

Which one ? There were two actresses who played Marilyn Munster on the tv series:

BEVERLEY OWEN & PAT PRIEST

r116, Vicky Jeudy.

She wasn't in my year. I think she is doing quite well for herself. Her b-day was yesterday.

Scott Hamilton, DL ice-skating favorite.

I went to school with Elle MacPherson. She was pretty but very tall even then and so was not a huge hit with the boys. She also worked at the local chemist on the weekends. One of my friends had to buy a box of tampons fro his mentally ill mother and she was really discreet about it and didn't make him feel like a jerk. I always liked her for that.

[quote] Some posters in this thread don't understand the meaning of the phrase "from your high school CLASS"

RULES. MUST. BE. FOLLOWED. TO. THE. LETTER!!!

r121 Oh my.

Jill Soloway. She was a pretty, popular girl (as was her sister, Faith). I worked with her right around "Afternoon Delight"s release, and when I told her that, she was stunned- she always thought that she was an "outsider", which I found amusing- I had 10 friends in a school of 4000.

So weird to see both them so butch now.

Not me, but my sibling. Same school as the Hemsworths. Same class as Luke.

Does Michael Berresse count?

Gwyneth poster, please spill!! We just *know* she had to have been a mean girl in high school. So, [R104], I guess that means you attended the illustrious Spence school for girls in NYC? Was Gwyneth Queen Bee while in school?

Not exactly famous, but I went to high school with the President and CEO of The Humane Society. Seeing him in TV fundraising commercials and on shows like Bill Maher representing the organization is cool.

While in HS, a classmate modeled, and he appeared in some national TV commercials. Again, it was wild to see him in random commercials during primetime.

A third guy from HS was an actor and after college landed a role in a soap opera (Guiding Light perhaps) and then on Beverly HiIlls 90210.

I knew someone who went to HS with Kellie Pickler. Said she wasn't very friendly in school.

Buddy Mondlock, Brian Middleton, and Theresa Renteria

I grew up in L.A. so some people were already famous. Candace Cameron went to my middle school when she was shooting Full House. I don't remember anyone who became famous later.

Too many to count, OP

Elle MacPherson - or Elanor Gow as she was known back then. Very pretty, but very tall, so the guys kind of ignored her. Was very sporting and just a fun girl.

Steven Breyer

Carol Channing

Greg Dobbs (newscaster)

Not famous but one guy from my HS. He wasn't in my class, he was the year ahead of me and we did school plays together. He showed up on Law and Order SVU as the pedo of the week on their "Michael Jackson" episode.

[quote] Joan Jett. The quintessential Randolph Hills girl.

r36- Just curious- how was she as a classmate?

Hey, R21. If Dana Plato went to your high school, then we ALL went to Taft High. I graduated in '77. How about you?

Whew none has mentioned me.

I'm the most famous from my high school for swallowing the most semen in the bathroom of a gay bar Downtown.

Not really names worth mentioning. I recently discovered a theatre geek from HS is kind of Youtube famous. Hasn’t been doing it too long and has half a million subs. Lots of views and collabs with very famous YTers so I think it’s legit. (Well, legit as in, “she didn’t buy subs.” It’s questionable how legit YT fame is.)

Another played MLB. Didn’t get very far. Back to triple A, and given that we graduated a few years ago, it’s probably over. Really nice guy, even as a jock in HS. Both are on my Facebook I seldom go to.

I’d still like my name to become an eponym or contribute to some advancement in medical research. It’s not “famous” in the traditional sense, but I’d like it. And I’m an asshole for even admitting such a thing, but where else can I except for DL?

R121 and r133 are classmates!

Yes. One guy won a Npbel prize in economics, another woman because a well-known commercial photographer, another had a sex change and became a Las Vegas showgirl, another became a sex offender on the national registry, another did the background murals for a David Mamet play..

Little Benicio del Toro (or Beno as he was known) was in 6th grade when I was a high school senior. We attended a small K-12 parochial Catholic school so everybody knew each other.

He was tall for his age and had a basketball court in his home so a lot of the jocks used to hang out at his place.

He got kicked out after middle school so he didn’t accept an invitation to a recent fundraiser that was put together featuring alumni who had made it big in show business. I don’t blame him.

David Duchovny and Michael Lewis were my college classmates. I was pretty good friends with Lewis. Great guy.

No, R139, you're the most infamous.

"Little Benicio del Toro (or Beno as he was known) was in 6th grade when I was a high school senior."

Michael, I think the school's lawyers have been very clear about what a non-disclosure agreement means. Remember we have the IP address of the place in Saugatuck. We are in contact with the national registry.

R145...

What?

Who is R14's photo?

R81 Dish on young Elliott Smith. He's only one of the most talented musicans of the last 40 years.

I went to school with America's Choice, who I THINK was the least-fat contestant ever on the Bigger Loser. She was nice, but all the melodrama on her storyline...honey, you were well-liked by teachers and your classmates. Yes, your friends were all skinnier than you, but I never saw you get shit for it.

Ryan Gosling went to my high school here in Cornwall, Ontario. Some of his family still live here.

Jake Ryan graduated a year before I did.

Could the Michael Berresse classmate give us some lowdown on what he was like then?

Just a couple of NHL hockey players.

I've posted about going to high school (and being friends with) Peter Krause before,.

What was that like, R154?

He was actually in the year ahead of me. I thought he was gorgeous, but he wasn't all that popular--the popular kids thought he was sarcastic. He was a gymnast who did the pommel horse, but senior year he gave it up to do a play, which is where we became friends. (I did see his dick in the dressing room--it was pretty big!) He was very funny, and cuter then than now--he had an amazing ass.

We lost touch in college--he went to Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota, and I went to college out of state. I would be embarrassed now to contact him since he's become famous.

Sandra Joseph— Broadway performer (Phantom of the Opera), in high school we knew her as Sandy. She was a few years ahead of me. Nice girl. Was in choir & plays with my brother.

Gregg Alexander—. Lead singer of The New Radicals. He was 2 years ahead of me and I did not know him well. He was a loner. I liked his music. Too bad he said F$ck you to the music biz!

Yep.

Bunch of football and basketball players. Which is indicative of the priorities of the school - sports were more important than academics.

r109 I remember Tebucky Jones. I always remember him saying that sometimes Bill Belichick would say hi, and sometimes he would just walk right past Tebucky like he wasn't even there.

Tebucky attended my friends high school in Connecticut. I think he’s in the most famous person out of New Britain.

I went to high school with former Indiana Senator, Joe Donnelly. He was two years my junior. Nice kid.

John Meglen was in my high school class. He's Co-CEO of Concerts West, so he has represented or promoted Prince, The Rolling Stones, produced Michael Jackson "This is It", Brittany Spears "Live from Las Vegas"promoted Dixie Chicks, Eagles, Britney Spears, Andrea Bocelli, presented Celine Dion's show at Caesars Coliseum, promoted Fleetwood Mac, Ozzfest, George Strait Country Music Festivals, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, Hank Williams Jr., Paul Simon, The Beach Boys, John Denver and Neil Diamond. So he's not famous himself except in the concert promoting business, but famous-adjacent.