10 Badasses Who Became Hollywood Stars

Charles Bronson

We remember Charles Bronson from the "Death Wish" films, where he played an urban vigilante cleaning up the streets one creep at a time, but the actor showed his badass credentials long before he stepped in front of a camera. The first of fifteen children of a Polish-American coal miner, Bronson started working in the mines himself at just ten years old, taking home a dollar for each ton he brought to the surface. The family was so dirt poor that he sometimes had to go to school in his sister's dress. When World War II broke out, Bronson enlisted in the Air Force and won a Purple Heart for being injured in the line of duty. After the war ended, Bronson knocked around the east coast before joining a theatrical group in Philadelphia and starting a 40-year career in film and TV.

Robert Mitchum

One of the most iconic American actors of all time, Robert Mitchum was well known in his youth as a firecracker. When he was 12, Mitchum was expelled from school and decided to travel the United States as a vagrant, riding the rails and working odd jobs while also taking on all comers as a professional boxer. Young Mitchum got busted by the police and even spent time on a chain gang. He led a daring escape, fleeing to California to live with his sister. Then, he got a job as a machine operator for Lockheed Martin but a nervous breakdown led him into acting. He also spent time in the Army.

Victor McLaglen

This one might be a little before our time, but the dude was a serious badass. Victor McLaglen was born in Kent, England in 1886 and left school at 14 because he was desperate to join the Army and fight in the Boer War. Unfortunately, he was stationed far from the front and when his real age was found out was forced to unenlist. A few years later, he moved to Canada where he worked as a wrestler and boxer, even going six rounds with the legendary Jack Johnson. McLaglen had no interest in acting, but when he relocated to Los Angeles he started getting more character parts than he could handle, working alongside John Wayne in "The Quiet Man" and playing dozens of other roles.

Mickey Rourke

One of the more troubled stars in Hollywood, Mickey Rourke started training in boxing and martial arts as a young teen. He won his first boxing match at the age of 12 and sparred at the Golden Gloves, eventually building up an impressive 27-3 record. After suffering multiple concussions, doctors recommended he retire from the ring. On a lark, he took a role in a play and fell in love with acting, moving to New York City soon after. He went back to boxing in 1991 for personal reasons, suffering serious facial damage that required heavy plastic surgery, which is why he looks the way he does today.

Jack Palance

Craggy-faced actor Jack Palance hit all the badass notes growing up, so it's no wonder he became one of Hollywood's go-to tough guys. Born in rural Pennsylvania to a Ukrainian coal miner, Palance followed in his father's footsteps, digging for black rocks deep underneath the earth when he was still a child. His penchant for fisticuffs led him to pursue a boxing career under the name Jack Brazzo, and he racked up a staggering 15 straight wins, 12 of them knockouts, before going the distance with Joe Baksi and leaving the fight game. From there, he went straight into the Air Force, where he distinguished himself, as well. In 1944, he was discharged and worked a number of odd jobs before getting his acting break as Marlon Brando's understudy and eventual replacement in "A Streetcar Named Desire."

Danny Trejo

The path to Hollywood stardom definitely takes some twists and turns, as Danny Trejo could tell you. Born in Echo Park, Los Angeles, Trejo discovered he had a talent for boxing and briefly pursued a career as a pugilist until his second career - as a store robber - landed him an 11-year prison sentence. While he was in the clink, Trejo joined a 12-step program to turn his life around, and once he was released he kept going to meetings to stay clean. At one, he met a fellow addict who brought him to a film set, where he was hired to teach boxing to Eric Roberts. The director was so impressed that he gave Trejo a role in the movie, and from there he became one of Hollywood's coolest tough guys.

Chuck Norris

Take away all of the jokes and Internet memes and you still have a real badass in Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris. Norris started practicing martial arts after joining the Air Force and being stationed in South Korea. He trained in Tang Soo Do and branched out to karate as well, working his way up to a black belt and then opening a chain of karate schools throughout California. He also competed in the International Karate Championships, racking up six years of undefeated competition. He made his acting debut in 1969 and quickly became one of the top stars in action cinema.

Lawrence Tierney

One of the most notorious tough guys of the 1950s, the Brooklyn-born son of a policeman never let his success on-screen temper his rough temper. Tierney roamed the country as a young man, working odd jobs until finding his way to acting. His breakthrough role was playing notorious gangster John Dillinger in a 1945 biopic. As he rose to fame in Hollywood, Tierney could never shed his penchant for violence, and was arrested numerous times for assault and drunk & disorderly charges. That behavior eventually all but killed his career in the 1960s, and in 1973 he got stabbed in a New York bar fight. Tierney was crazy until the end, too. When he did a guest spot on "Seinfeld" he had to be removed from the set for threatening Jerry Seinfeld with a stolen butcher knife.