The College Dropouts
Hall of Fame

You don't have to go to college to be a success. Even if you go for awhile, you don't have to graduate to be a success. Here are just a few of the people who have become famous and/or successful without graduating from college and/or high school.

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Gene Hackman, actor. Discharged after six years in the Marines, he entered college as a journalism major but after six months he dropped out for good. Since then he's earned an Academy Award for best actor (The Conversation) and an Academy Award for best supporting actor (Unforgiven).

Thomas Haffa, billionaire German media mogul. Dropped out of high school.

Joyce C. Hall, founder of Hallmark. Started selling greeting cards at the age of 18 while living at a YMCA in Kansas City. Did not attend college.

Josh Halloway, actor. Did not attend college.

Harold Hamm, billionaire oil wildcatter, Continental Resources, Hiland Holdings. Left home at the age of 17, finished school a year later. Became a gas jockey before becoming a wildcatter. Never attended college.

Armie Hammer, actor, born into wealth. Did not graduate from college: "I tried college at UCLA. I gave it a fighting effort and I just couldn't do it."

Tom Hanks, Oscar-winning actor. Dropped out of CalState University after a few years to work as an intern at the Great Lakes Theater Festival.

William Hanna, cartoonist, Hanna-Barbera. He briefly attended college but dropped out at the beginning of the Great Depression.

Beck Hansen, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist. Dropped out of high school to pursue his musical career.

Elizabeth Hardwick, literary critic and co-founder of The New York Review of Books. Graduated from the University of Kentucky but dropped out of a Columbia University doctoral program.

Melissa Joan Hart, actress, singer, director, producer, candy store operator. Started acting at the age of 3. Appeared in hundreds of commercials before getting the job of acting in the Sabrina TV show. Attended New York University for two years but deferred further studies when she got the TV show.

Sheldon Harvey, Navajo artist, winner of the Best of Show at the 2008 Santa Fe Indian Market. Dropped out of high school to care for his wife and son. "When I dropped out of school, no one in my family thought it was the end of the world. My grandparents were from the old school, traditional people who didn't think an education was necessary to make your way in the world." He later convinced the people at Dine Community College to let him attend even though he had not graduated from high school. He took classes there but apparently did not graduate.

Anne Hathaway, actress, The Princess Diaries. Began acting professionally at the age of 16. Briefly attended Vassar and New York University, but has not graduated from either.

Leif Hauge, inventor. Never finished college.

Louise Hay, one of the bestselling authors in history and founder of Hay House. Of other famous women authors, Levine Breaking News has noted, "They did not change the spiritual landscape of America and several of its Western allies. They were not pregnant at 15 and they did not lack high-school diplomas." Louise Hay did.

Amber Heard, actress. Quit a Catholic high school during her junior year to move to Hollywood to become an actress. She quickly landed a small role in Friday Night Lights.

William Randolph Hearst, newspaper publisher and movie producer, was thrown out of Harvard for poor grades (apparently due to heavy partying).

Kenneth Hendricks, billionaire founder of ABC Supply, the largest supplier of roofing and siding materials to contractors. Dropped out of high school and eventually joined the family roofing company.

Kevin Hendricks, roofing store operator. Skipped college to go into the roofing business. His high school graduation present was $100, a nail bag, and a roofing hammer. Later, he turned a money-losing store into ABC Supply's biggest profit center.

Lance Henriksen, actor. He dropped out of the eighth grade and ran away from home. He barely learned to read. After a stint in the Navy, he did odd jobs such as picking fruit and shrimping. As he began acting, he taught himself to read.

Patrick Henry, Virginia governor, revolutionary patriot. Home schooled. Later studied on his own and became a lawyer.

John Henton, actor, comedian. Never finished at Ohio State University. "I never ended up going back to Ohio State. I just wanted to be a comedian, you know, and I was getting a good response."

Tony Hillerman, mystery novelist. In 1943, he dropped out of college to enter the army. He later returned to college to get his degree and also earn a master's degree.

Paris Hilton, model, realty show star, singer, professional celebrity, socialite, fashion designer. Expelled in her senior year from the Canterbury Boarding School for violating school rules. Later earned her GED. Never attended college.

Cheryl Hines, actress and director. Never attended college. Had a short stint in beauty school.

Stanley Ho, billionaire casino operator, King of Gambling. Dropped out of college.

Eric Hoffer, longshoreman, philosopher, and author. A self-educated philosopher, he was at various times a dishwasher, lumberjack, gold prospector, migrant farm worker, and longshoreman. He is author of The True Believer, Working and Thinking at the Waterfront, and Reflections on the Human Condition.

Dustin Hoffman, two-time Oscar-winning actor. Enrolled at Santa Monica College, caught the acting bug after taking an acting class for an easy grade, then left after a year to join the Pasadena Playhouse.

Ernest Holmes, founder of the Science of Mind churches and author of The Science of Mind, ended his formal schooling when he was fifteen.

Katie Holmes, actress. Her acceptance letter for Columbia University came a week after she did the pilot for the Dawson's Creek TV show. She spent the next six years acting in the TV series. She now admits that going to college as a celebrity would be very difficult. "But," she says, "Maybe I could hire a cute professor to home-school me."

Odetta Holmes, the queen of American folk music, singer, songwriter, actress, and human rights activist. Studied music at night at the Los Angeles City College, but did not graduate.

Dustin Hoffman, Oscar-winning actor, director. Dropped out of college in his first year. Worked odd jobs such as fragrance tester, coat checker, typist, and lei stringer between building a career as an actor.

John Hughes, director, producer, and screenwriter. Dropped out of Arizona State University in his junior year.

D. L. Hughley, sales manager, actor, comedian. Never finished high school. He got his job as a sales manager by paying "a guy I knew at Cal State Long Beach $100 to tell personnel that I was just a few credits short of graduating from college."

H. Wayne Huizenga, billionaire founder of WMX garbage company, builder of Blockbuster video chain, owner of Miami Dolphins. Skipped college to join the Army. Later dropped out of Calvin College after three semesters. Started business in 1962 with a used garbage truck.

Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, billionaire oilman. Only had a fifth grade education. Worked as a farmhand until he began investing in an Arkansas oil field.

John Huston, Oscar-winning director, actor. High school dropout.

Dropouts with last names starting with I

Drop out of school before your mind rots from our mediocre educational system. — Frank Zappa, musician, liner notes from the Freak Out album