1. Stephen King

In Maine, Stephen King was my both my mom and my dad’s English teacher in high school. Pretty much what you suspect; quiet and restrained teacher. From what I’ve heard about him though, he would apparently go off on huge tirades about why the state of Maine should be wiped off the face of the earth.

2. David Bowie

There’s one of David Bowies reports in my old Secondary School, which reads, “David is a quiet student who needs to stop playing with his motorcycles and learn that music will not make him a livable wage.”

3. Pope Francis

Kind of a reverse of the question, but my host dad in high school had a teacher named Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a young Jesuit seminarian who was very kind and humble. He is now better known as Pope Francis.

4. Biggie and Jay-Z

Not me, but my history teacher taught both Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z in middle school. She said Jay-Z was pretty shy and well-behaved, but she hated Biggie because he was obnoxious and flipped.

5. Adam Sandler

There was a science teacher in my high school who taught Adam Sandler. She was horrible and one of his first recognized songs, “I hate Mrs. K” is all about her.

6. Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio—didn’t get along well with the other kids, came in during lunch to eat with the teachers and faculty.

7. Nicolas Cage

My grandmother was the secretary at a Beverly Hills High School when Nicolas Cage was attending. She said he was always late and often at the principles office for goofing off. Apparently he dropped out of school for a bit. She also described him as charming in a Ferris Bueller sort of way.

8. Megan Fox

Went to high school with Megan Fox for about a year or so. I didn’t really know her, but we hung about the same people. She was pretty typical, I guess. Nose a bit up in the air, but no more so than the other girls in that somewhat ‘popular’ clique at the time (If you can even call it that. There were only like 26 of us in our grade). We always heard stories about her mom being kind of nuts and taking her all over the place for auditions, which is why she missed most of our year. I guess that paid off though.

9. Katherine Heigl

I live where Katherine Heigl grew up. My old Spanish teacher had taught her. Never paid attention, she just sat there putting her makeup on and chatting all class–she dropped out after her sophomore year.

10. Martin Lawrence

My dad’s ex-wife was martin Lawrence’s teacher when he was younger, I believe around middle school. He was a very disruptive kid in class so she suggested that he try stand-up. The rest is obviously history. Unfortunately she has passed away recently and when she was really sick Martin was on a late night talk show and gave her a shout out wishing her all the best and thanking her. At least some people never forget where they come from.

11. Edward Norton

Dad went to high school with Ed Norton. Said he was the sweetest kid, but a little bit nerdy. Apparently, he was killer at trivia. Years later, my grandmother asked my dad what job she thought Ed had ended up at. Dad guessed a U.S. ambassador or an executive at a company, but she whipped out the local newspaper article about his latest movie. Both were completely shocked, thought he’d make more use of the brains. (Not dissing acting as a thought-less career, they had just all assumed he’d pursue something more…academic?).

12. Denzel Washington

My school adviser went to college with Denzel Washington and of course he was the best in acting class, very serious and polite. I attended school with Blake Lively from 7th-12th grade. She was in choir all those years and she’s actually a pretty good singer, I have nothing but nice things to say about her. Very sweet, polite, and bubbly girl, I’m really happy to see how far she’s come; she deserves it!

13. Kurt Cobain

I grew up in a small Oregon coastal town. My middle school science teacher (Mr.Johnson) taught Kurt Cobain. He was visibly shaken the day we learned of his death. He said he was very quiet and kept to himself.

14. Lady Gaga

One of my professors taught Lady Gaga at NYU. She said Gaga used to stand up after class every day and tell everyone to come out and see the gigs she was playing in. Lady Gaga wasn’t doing very well in the class, so my professor asked to meet with her. She told her that maybe if she focused more on her school work and less on her gigs, she’d be more successful…Awkward…

15. Wiz Khalifa

I went to high school with Wiz Khalifa. He was pretty much as expected, a pothead and surprisingly a nerd.

16. Michelle Trachtenberg

I was in Academic Decathlon with Michelle Trachtenberg and while she was a very sweet and intelligent girl, I was a 12-year-old hormonal wreck. I had a big crush on her, which manifested itself as being just terrible to her. I am sure she doesn’t remember me, but obviously I remember her. Puberty was a weird time.

17. Rob McElhenney

The principle of my old high school taught Mac from Always Sunny while he was in high school, he said he was exactly how you would expect, a trouble maker and a smart-ass, but surprisingly he sucked at theater and school plays.

18. Jamie Foxx

My mother was a teacher for 40 years before she passed away. Mainly she taught elementary school and some special classes. Well one year she was teaching 3rd grade in Terrell Texas and she had a student named Eric Bishop. He was a wild child, always running around and making the class laugh, but he was also a sweetheart and a caring person like his grandmother who raised him. Mother had many sit downs with Eric and his grandmother and ultimately helped him not only pass 3rd grade, but also to channel his energy into appropriate times and places. Eric later became Jamie Foxx the comedian and actor. I still have the decorative bowl that he gave my mother and the letter he wrote her once he made it to Hollywood.

19. Ryan and Devon Lochte

I went to high school with Ryan and Devon Lochte. Once in biology class Devon Lochte leaned over and asked me how to spell “cell.” I kind of wish I were kidding. Nice kids though, regardless of IQ.

20. Ke$ha

Went to middle school with “Ke$ha”. She was totally normal girl that just liked to sing. Did a number at a talent show that I remember. Was definitely the best singer of the school. Fairly quiet in general and seemed nice.

21. Lorde

Was her English teacher two years ago. She was incredibly bright and wrote one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. She was 14 at the time.

22. Miley Cyrus

I went to school with Miley Cyrus. She got bullied a lot by this group of girls. They attacked her in the cafeteria and I’m pretty sure they locked her in a bathroom. Anyway she was really nice. She sat at my table in English and social studies in 6th grade. She was actually really funny and kind. She shared her lunch with me a couple of times. She missed school a lot and one day she just never showed up again. After seeing her become the most famous pop star in the world, I’m happy for her. I don’t care how raunchy she is because I know she is a nice person.

23. Beyoncé

My seventh grade science teacher taught Beyoncé years before me. Said she was friendly but not especially bright, a little ditzy. I am not sure what age this was.

24. Daniel Tosh

My mom went to High School with Daniel Tosh. She didn’t know him personally but I think these pictures from his senior year (maybe Junior too lazy to check) sum up what kind of student he was.

25. Shaq

Not me, but my girlfriend’s mother was a P.E teacher in a San Antonio elementary school where she had Shaquille O’Neal in one of her classes. She noted that he always wanted to be an NBA player, but everyone told him that he would never be good enough, even all the way through high school.

26. Demi Lovato

My high school was right across the street from the middle school Demi Lovato went to. All my friends knew her and all my friends hated her.

You know that story she told about being constantly bullied in middle school? Yeah, that’s a lie. She was the bully. Apparently she was full of herself, tore people down to make herself feel better, and was just a bitch in general.

Whenever people called her out on her attitude, she would say they don’t matter because she was going to move to Hollywood and become famous. Who knew it would actually turn out that way.

27. Uma Thurman

From my father: I taught Uma Thurman briefly in high school, but I didn’t really ever get to know her – she was always taking time off to model/act, never did her work, and was generally entitled, but spent so little time in the classroom I really didn’t get a chance to get a more positive impression of her.

28. Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp, not me, my High School science teacher. She told us she was his teacher when he was in High school and she said he was a disrespectful drug dealing hooligan that would rarely show up, and whenever he did he would just be really distracting and rude…She couldn’t stand him or the fact that he was now so highly respected. She said he eventually dropped out.

29. J.K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling used to be a teaching assistant in my school (before I was there – this was when she was struggling for work and living in Edinburgh) apparently when she was asked what her interests were she would mention in passing that she was trying to write a book. She was pretty shy and mostly kept to herself.

30. Chris Farley

One of my university professors had Chris Farley as a student when he was there, and reported him to have been exactly what you’d expect: Nice guy, very funny, lots of clowning around. Considered his death to be a huge waste.

31. Taylor Swift

I went to high school and was in the same graduating class as Taylor Swift (go commandos). Even had a few classes with her. She was pretty cool, but certainly not the ugly unpopular duckling she portrays. Was pretty cool having her preform at talent shows, etc. News crews would follow her around the halls as she began to blow up. She even preformed at a mutual friends funeral.

32. David Byrne

I had an English teacher in High School (Baltimore area) that taught David Byrne. She said he was a good student but very quiet. That is all.

33. Will Ferrell

My mom’s friend was a teacher where Will Ferrell attended school.

Apparently he was the ultra class clown and performed his famed cheerleading routine at a pep rally before it was famous.

34. Daniel Radcliffe

I go to the school, which Daniel Radcliffe went to. We never crossed over, but teachers have said that he was quiet and not especially outgoing. When he started work on Harry Potter he took lots of time off school, and I think he eventually dropped out. There are lots of rumors that he was badly bullied (locked into his own locker and told to magic his way out etc.), according to teachers none of them are true.

35. Eminem

My psychology teacher used to tutor Eminem when he was a kid. She kept him out of trouble and was apparently a big part of his childhood.

36. Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen was a few years above me (Superbad is based on my high school). I never met him, but evidently he was a well-liked class clown. One of my math teachers said that he would give Seth the floor at the beginning of class and just say “Go”; Seth would do stand-up for as long as he could to stall math. Must’ve been a hero.

37. Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera went to my high school (North Allegheny). My psychology teacher said she was a bitch and smelled like uncooked hot dogs.

38. Snoop Dogg

My dad went to high school with Snoop Lion. He said he wasn’t at school much and got in trouble with drugs many times. Also Cameron Diaz was a cheerleader there and was supposedly a super nice and outgoing person.

39. Kate Bosworth

I’m not a teacher, but Kate Bosworth lived near me when I was growing up and attended my high school. She used to occasionally babysit some of my friends and me when I was younger. I guess towards the end of high school her acting career was starting to blow up and she was absent more often than not her senior year of high school.

40. Lindsay Lohan

My swim coach/science teacher taught Lindsay Lohan in 7th grade. He said she was actually the sweetest, funniest kid. When she was hosting SNL for the first time she called him and said she was going to tell a whole story about her incredibly brave, gay science teacher (he was not gay; not that there’s anything wrong with it if he was). She said she would tug on her ear right before she did it too so she kept messing with him but putting her hands by her ear.

41. Jay Leno

One of my high school math teachers taught Jay Leno when he went to Andover high school. He remembers him as being an average student who thought everything he said was hilarious.

42. Freddie Mercury

My father went to school with Freddie Mercury back in like 1971 or something (before he changed his name to Mercury, they still called him Fred/Freddie though). He was apparently a quite shy guy who kept to himself and drew/wrote in class. However once you got to know him he was really loud and talking very rapidly, and he wouldn’t stop going on about Jimi Hendrix and Aretha Franklin. He was also very confident and never putting too much work in school, since he “knew” he was going to be a star. But generally he was a very nice and intelligent guy. And no; no one knew or thought he was gay.

43. Drake

I worked with a guy that went to high school with Drake. I saw his yearbook picture and in the little shout-out section under his photo he wrote: “Dance team, whattttt!! Attendance crew, yeah!”