If you already admired the ambition of these celebrities who pursued their dreams to become famous—consider this: they attended law school, too. Here are 17 famous people you didn’t know went to law school.
John Cleese
The hilarious actor from Monty Python is an alumnus of Downing College in Cambridge, England. He studied law there but in his spare time, he wrote plays and sketches that gained him admittance into the school’s popular drama club. It was his theatrical skills, not his law degree, that made him famous.
The former NFL star who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San Francisco 49ers is the great-great-great grandson of Brigham Young, the founder of Brigham Young University, the famous Mormon college in Utah. Steve Young earned his law degree from the university after retiring from the NFL.
The actor from “Stand By Me” took night classes at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, California. However, he did not complete his degree because a new acting role interfered with classes.
The actor from “The Skulls” graduated magna cum laude in economics and sociology from Brown University in Rhode Island, and with honors from Harvard Law School in Massachusetts. President Barack Obama was one of Harper’s classmates.
Singer Iglesias began his law degree at the CEU San Pablo University in Spain, where he played professional football. After an injury, Iglesias took a break from his studies and completed his law degree later at Complutense University of Madrid.
The famous singer from Italy who has been blind since the age of 12 earned his law degree from the University of Pisa. Keep in mind that this was through the help of braille and other assistance for the blind.
Stern, a former commissioner of the NBA, attended Columbia Law School. In an interview with the university’s magazine, Stern said that he believes lawyers “find solutions for the issues and problems of the day.”
The manager for the St. Louis Cardinals and former MLB player, Russa received his law degree from Florida State University College after retiring from professional baseball.
Cosell was a sports broadcaster for ABC and one of the original members of the broadcast team for Monday Night Football but before that, he had a brief career as a lawyer. Cosell earned his degree from New York University School of Law.
The “Nip/Tuck” actor studied law for one year at the University of Sydney in Australia but after his modeling career took off, he left school to model in Europe.
TV host and Fox News regular Rivera finished as one of the top five in his class at Brooklyn Law School in 1969 before being discovered by Eyewitness News executives.
In case you need more reason other than his Scottish accent and ridiculous good looks to like him, the 300 star worked as a lawyer for several years at a firm in Edinburgh after attending the University of Glasgow.
Long before Springer was helping people find their biological parents on national television, he attended law school at Northwestern, worked on the Robert Kennedy campaign, and had a radio show about politics.
Ever wonder what happened to the cute-faced kid from The Wonder Years? He made out alright. After getting his law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, he practices law in New York.
The French artist famous for his colorful printmaking granted his fathers wishes by attending law school in Paris, and even working as a clerk in a law office for some time. When he came down with appendicitis and couldn’t work for a long time, he kept himself busy with painting, and discovered his true love.
Button didn’t think several gold metals for figure skating were enough life accomplishments, so he attended Harvard Law School after his wins, and skated with the Ice Capades on his down time.