Celebrity Lorry Drivers
Actors, athletes and mass murderers - it takes all sorts to drive
lorries. With brief details of their involvement in the trade and
subsequent celebrity, here is a countdown of the top 10 stars who worked
as lorry drivers before they were famous, with varying degrees of
success.
# 10 Chris Tarrant:
This radio and
television presenter, best known for hosting the TV game show 'Who Wants
to Be a Millionaire?', pursued a number of jobs before finding his feet
in television. Tarrant's former roles include long-distance lorry
driver, security officer and schoolteacher.
# 9 Chris Eubank:
Chris Eubank is notable for being the only member of our list to have taken up lorry driving after he
become famous. October 2003 saw a politically motivated Eubank
descending on Whitehall in his personal HGV to protest against the war
in Iraq. The former world middleweight champion boxer ended up being
arrested for blocking the entrance gates to Downing Street, driving
around Parliament Square sounding his horn, with a knife in his pocket,
and reversing into a delivery van.
# 8 Rock Hudson:
Hudson
was a popular American film and television actor and a romantic leading
man in the 1950s and 1960s. During WW II, Hudson served as a Navy
airplane mechanic and after the war he was a truck driver. His size and
good looks got him into movies.
# 7 Chevy Chase:
Our
number seven is an Emmy Award-winning American comedian, writer, and
television and film actor. Before his breakthrough as a comedian, Chase
worked as a truck driver, cab driver, motorcycle messenger, waiter,
busboy, construction worker, audio engineer, produce manager in a
supermarket, salesman in a wine store and theatre usher.
# 6 Long Distance Clara:
The
only woman on our list and, unfortunately, fictional,
juggernaut-driving Clara was the star of 80s children's cartoon 'Pigeon
Street'. Some see Long Distance Clara as an unsung feminist icon - her
marriage to chef Hugo demonstrated a refreshing reversal of gender
stereotypes.
# 5 Charles Bronson:
Charles Bronson
was an American actor of 'tough guy' roles who made his name starring in
a number of major Hollywood flicks including 'The Great Escape' and
'The Dirty Dozen'. Before becoming famous, Bronson was drafted into the
army and was assigned to the Air Corps in 1943. He started as a truck
driver and then trained as a pilot, winning awards for good service.
# 4 Richard Pryor:
Pryor
was the first African American stand-up comedian to speak candidly to
mixed audiences using the language and jokes of the black community. He
worked in numerous jobs before finding fame, including truck driving and
meatpacking.
# 3 Liam Neeson:
Liam Neeson is a
movie star most well known for his role as Oskar Schindler in the 1993
blockbuster 'Schindler's List'. Irish-born Neeson once worked as a truck
driver as well as a forklift operator for Guinness, an assistant
architect and an amateur boxer.
# 2 Sean Connery:
This
retired Scottish actor is best known for starring as James Bond in
seven Bond films. Heart-throb Connery joined the Royal Navy after
leaving school but was discharged on medical grounds. He went on to a
succession of jobs, including lorry driver, labourer and lifeguard.
# 1 Elvis Presley:
The
American singer, musician, actor and cultural icon took up truck
driving as one of his jobs after graduation. The future 'King' drove a
truck for the aptly named 'Crown Electric Company'. Presley even took up
wearing his hair longer with a 'ducktail' - the style of truck drivers
at the time. A musician for whom a young Elvis Presley auditioned
advised him to 'Stick to driving a truck, because you'll never make it
as a singer'.
The Mass Murderer - Peter Sutcliffe:
Quite
possibly the most evil and deranged presence in the history of lorry
driving, the 'Yorkshire Ripper' is far too nasty to make it into our top
10. Between 1975 and 1984, this lorry driver and former gravedigger
killed 13 women in a five-year reign of terror before being sentenced to
a minimum of 30 years in jail. On his arrest, Sutcliffe claimed that
God had told him to go out and kill prostitutes. A sad blemish on the
good name of lorry driving.
Celebrities who were lorry drivers
before they were famous - a heady mixture of the talented, the
eccentric, the unpleasant and the downright brilliant. Who knows what
magical creatures are sitting behind the wheels of our country's lorries
today?
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