When you look at these photos, first and foremost you see adorable children and teenagers doing some ordinary things: riding bicycles, playing games, spending time with their families,and not even suspecting what future lies ahead of them. But when the time comes, they will all become famous and successful — some will act, others will sing, and some will even lead nations.
These 20 photos were taken long before they had their moment of glory. Take a took.
A seven-year-old George Clooney will turn out to look exactly like his father Nick.
An 18-year-old Theodore Roosevelt in 1876.
The 26th president of the United States was a sickly asthmatic child. However, he built up his health through boxing and rowing while studying at Harvard.
A four-year-old Barack Obama learns to ride a bicycle, 1965.
17-year-old Fidel Castro plays basketball in high school, 1943.
Although young Fidel Castro wasn’t the best student at his school, he did excel in sports, especially baseball and basketball.
Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, Jr., at the age of 12 in 1954.
A 19-year-old John Wayne in 1926.
The 13-year-old Cher in 1959.
She got arrested in 1959 for ’borrowing’ her mother’s car and driving without a license.
Frank Sinatra at the age of ten in 1925.
A 19-year-old Marilyn Monroe in 1945.
Norma Jeane Baker, the future Marilyn Monroe, while working at the Radioplane factory. The photo was taken by the photographer David Conover, who helped Marilyn become a model.
A 17-year-old John Lennon with then-girlfriend and future wife Cynthia in 1957.
Audrey Hepburn at the age of 13 in 1942.
Audrey was born in Belgium and spent her early years in the Netherlands. After the war ended in 1945 her family moved to London, where Audrey eventually became a famous actress.
An eight-year-old Andy Warhol in 1936.
The 14-year-old Winston Churchill in his Eton school uniform, 1889.
Ben Stiller, aged 13, on a trip to New York with his father, Jerry Stiller in 1978.
A seven-year-old Robert de Niro back in 1950.
Stephen Hawking at the age of 12 in 1954.
Back in his childhood, Steven Hawking wasn’t experiencing any major health problems. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease years later, while he was at Oxford University.
The then-simple Italian girl Monica Bellucci in 1975.
A nerdy-looking young Jean-Claude Van Damme
Eight-year-old Paul McCartney with his father in 1950.
