Contrary to parental warnings, the lack of a high school diploma does not necessarily doom one to minimum wage drudgery. A surprising number of Silver Screen Legends forwent education and began early careers, although not necessarily in acting. Most were not plucked from obscurity, forced to abandon instruction and thrust into the limelight by their astounding talent. Instead, the reasons behind leaving school were often linked to deaths, financial necessity, expulsion and escape from abuse. Perhaps these early tragedies facilitated the Legends' acting by later providing an emotional reservoir from which to draw.
父母曾告诫我们：中学学位都捞不到的人注定一辈子都会做着最累的活，领着最低的工资，事实证明这句话也不是绝对的：尽管出来接的第一份工作并不是演戏，很多银幕大咖还是走出学校，早早工作了。而且，并不是自身天分引导他们脱离学校，站在镁光灯下，一步步从无名小卒熬成银幕大腕的。相反，他们离开学校的原因多和死亡、经济困难、逃避虐待有关。也许正是因为早年入世，他们才在银幕上那么游刃有余。
The following is a list of the Top 10 Screen Legend High School Dropouts, along with the circumstances surrounding their departure from school and later endeavors. Individuals were ranked in terms of their accomplishments, on-screen and off, along with adversities overcome.
下面就是十位在中学辍学的电影演员，我们会提到他们离校时的状况以及他们后天的努力，人名按银幕内外成就及经历困难大小排名。

10.Greta Garbo
10.葛丽泰·嘉宝

Born in the slums of Stockholm, Greta Lovisa Gustafsson hated school and preferred imaginative playacting with her chums. Her father succumbed to the Spanish flu which ravaged Sweden in 1920, leaving the family destitute. Greta happily left formal education at 14 and began work as a soap-lather girl in a barbershop and later a gofer in a department store. Her unusual beauty was noticed and she began posing for the store's catalogue. This soon lead to more lucrative modeling jobs and commercial appearances. She studied acting for two years until her mentor's friend, Louis B. Mayer, placed her under contract and brought Garbo to Hollywood. Despite her Swedish accent, she successfully transitioned from silent film to "talkies" and became known as The Queen of MGM.
葛丽泰·洛维萨·格斯塔夫森出生在斯德哥尔摩贫民区，嘉宝打小就讨厌学校生活，喜欢跟朋友一起演戏。1920年，西班牙流感肆虐了整个瑞典，嘉宝的父亲在这场流感中不幸殒命，生活更加拮据。随后，14岁的嘉宝便告别了学校生活，在一家理发店做洗头妹，后来又在百货商店做勤杂工。渐渐的，人们发现了嘉宝不凡的相貌。嘉宝开始做商品展示员，接着又接到了更有钱途的模特和商演工作。随后，嘉宝在学校进修表演专业，遇到导师的朋友路易·B·梅耶，梅耶不仅带着她签了经纪公司，还领着她打入了好莱坞。尽管满口的瑞典味英语，嘉宝还是从无声电影走进有声电影，成为米高梅电影制片公司的一姐。
Garbomania reached its peak in the 1930s thanks to her roles in Grand Hotel (1932), Queen Christina (1933), Camille (1936) and Ninotchka (1939). After acting in 33 films and receiving 4 Oscar nominations, Garbo's career floundered due to the critical failure of Two Faced Woman (1941)– a film she later refer to as "my grave." Over the next decade, she rejected some movies and others imploded financially. In imposed retirement, she hid from publicity but was not reclusive, noting the difference between "wanting to be alone" and "wanting to be left alone." In 1951, Greta became a naturalized United States citizen and moved to a large Manhattan apartment. She was an avid art collector and could frequently be seen hiding under sunglasses touring the streets of New York until her death at the age of 84.
30年代，嘉宝参演的一系列电影带着她登上了演艺生涯的顶峰：1932年的《大饭店》、1955年的《瑞典女王》、1936年的《卡米尔》、1939年的《妮诺奇嘉》。至此，嘉宝参演了33部电影，曾4度获奥斯卡提名，直到1941年的《双面人》，嘉宝因这部电影遭到观众狠批，事后，嘉宝也把这部电影称为自己的事业"坟墓"。40年代期间，嘉宝推掉了几部电影，经济来源受损，本人也遭到公司雪藏，雪藏后的嘉宝离开了公众视野，但并没有隐退。孤独的嘉宝也明白了"主动孤独"和"被动孤独"的区别。1951年，嘉宝拿到美国绿卡，搬入曼哈顿区更为舒适的公寓，人们可以经常看见嘉宝戴着大大的墨镜漫步在纽约街头，嘉宝是个狂热的艺术品收藏家，84岁辞世。

9.Marilyn Monroe
9.玛丽莲·梦露

Born Norma Jean Mortenson but raised Norma Jean Baker, Marilyn Monroe grew up in foster care. Her mother was mentally and financially unfit and her father was absent. Although Monroe was sexually abused in some foster homes, her mother obstinately refused permanent adoption by suitable families. At 16, she learned of her current foster family's move from California to Virginia and plans to abandon her. Rather than face returning to the system, Marilyn married her boyfriend. She took a job in an airplane factory spraying parts where she was photographed by Yank Magazine. The photographer encouraged Monroe to pursue a modeling career which quickly lead to a Hollywood contract.
梦露有着诺玛·珍·莫天森的出生背景，长大后却成为诺玛·珍·贝克。梦露从小在收容所长大，父亲下落不明，母亲心智不全，家里十分困难。梦露曾屡次遭到收容家庭的性侵犯，然而母亲却一再拒绝让富足家庭长期收养。16岁时，梦露得知自己目前的收养家庭将举家搬离加利福尼亚在弗吉利亚定居，甩掉自己。为了避免自己再次掉入短期收养又被抛弃的恶性循环中，梦露毅然和男朋友结了婚。婚后，梦露开始在一家飞机制造厂工作，负责给飞机零部件上漆，期间，她的照片登上了《北方人》，《北方人》摄影师鼓励梦露改行做模特，自此，梦露开始了自己的好莱坞之旅。
There is evidence that Monroe attended some high school but because of her marriage and career, she abandoned formal education. Nonetheless, Monroe was a voracious reader and enjoyed classical music. She eventually became an iconic sex symbol, earning a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy for Some Like it Hot (1959). The bombshell appeared in 33 movies, most notably Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Let's Make Love (1960). After marrying Joe DiMaggio and having an affair with President John F. Kennedy, Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose at the age of 36.
梦露上过中学，但是出于工作和婚姻问题，梦露半途而废了。不过，梦露很喜欢读书，热爱古典音乐。最终，梦露成为性感的标志，凭音乐剧《热情如火》捧回最佳女主角的金球奖，这位美女曾参演33部电影，在《绅士喜爱金发女郎》（1953年）《愿嫁金龟婿》（1953年）《让我们相爱吧》（1960年）中有着不俗的表现。梦露后来成为了乔·狄马乔的妻子，也曾和肯尼迪总统风流过，最后因服用过量安眠药而香消玉殒。

8.Al Pacino
8.阿尔·帕西诺

Alfredo James Pacino was born in East Harlem to Italian American parents who divorced when he was just 2 years old. He moved with his mother to his maternal grandparents' tenement in the Bronx. Al was a troublemaker who rebelled by smoking cigarettes at 9 and graduated to alcohol and marijuana at 13. Wanting to become a professional baseball player, Pacino did not concentrate on his studies and flunked out of high school at 17. With his dreams of playing ball cut short, Pacino concentrated on performing but was initially rejected by Manhattan's Actors Studio. Frequently homeless and couch surfing, he studied at less prestigious studios. Not accepting defeat, he was eventually accepted to the Actors Studio. His career skyrocketed after Francis Ford Coppola saw him play a heroine addict in Panic in Needle Park (1971) and cast him as the leading actor in the Godfather (1972).
艾尔弗雷多·詹姆斯·帕西诺出生在东哈莱姆区，父母是意大利裔美国人，并在阿尔两岁时迅速离婚。随后，阿尔便住进了外祖母的破旧租房，年幼的阿尔十分叛逆：9岁开始吸烟，毕业时，又沾上了酒精和毒品。阿尔一直梦想成为一名职业棒球运动员，因此也没在学习上下功夫，17岁就科科亮红灯，被学校开除。阿尔的棒球梦也就此停止，不得不开始在演艺圈摸爬滚打，也曾吃过曼哈顿演员工作室的闭门羹，被拒后，阿尔开始居无定所的生活，同时在小型工作室里慢慢学习，最终赢得了演员工作室的青睐。阿尔饰演《毒海鸳鸯》吸毒者一角带他走向了事业的巅峰，当时这一角色深得导演弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉的青睐，此后，他便让阿尔担任《教父》主角（1972年）。
Along with his Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar for Scent of a Woman (1993), Pacino has received 41 nominations and 34 total awards. Other memorable films include Scarface (1983), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Heat (1995). He is also an accomplished stage actor, writer, director and producer. Despite dropping out of high school, Pacino was awarded Honorary Patronage of Trinity College's Philosophical Society in 2006. Pacino continues to be a box office draw and received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement and the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 2006.
阿尔还凭《闻香识女人》（1993年）斩获奥斯卡最佳男主角。此外，阿尔一生曾获41次提名，34座奖杯，其他可圈可点的作品还包括《疤面煞星》（1983年）《冲突》（1973年）《黄金万两》（1975年）《盗火线》（1995年）。另外，阿尔还是一位出色的舞台剧演员、作家、制片。尽管连中学毕业证都没有，阿尔仍是功勋累累：2006年，阿尔成为三一学院哲学系的荣誉赞助，同年，身为票房保证的他获得西塞尔·德米尔终身成就奖以及美国电影学会的终身成就奖。

7.Clark Gable
7.克拉克·盖博

Mistakenly listed on his birth certificate as a baby girl, William Clark Gable was born to an oil well driller and a housewife. At the age of ten months, Gable's mother died from a brain tumor. When he was two years old, his father remarried. Clark was a well-dressed child who enjoyed playing instruments and repairing cars. Because of financial hardship, Gable's father was forced to relocat and try his hand at farming. Gable was an outcast in the neighboring rural Ohio town and was unhappy with the move. Despite pressure to work on the family farm, 16 year old Gable took a job at a tire factory after dropping out of school. Upon inheriting money from a distant relative at 21, he moved to Portland, Oregon, working as a tie salesman and taking acting lessons. After a new hair style, dental work and lessons to lower his high-pitched voice, Gable left for Hollywood. He flunked his first screen test but managed to get work as an extra until being discovered.
盖博在出生证明上被标为女孩，父亲是石油工，母亲是家庭主妇，10个月大时，母亲患肿瘤身亡。2岁时，父亲再婚，平时，小盖博穿着得体，喜欢乐器，爱好修车。由于拮据的经济条件，父亲决定举家搬迁，并亲手下田务农，搬家后，小盖博遭到周围邻居的冷遇，他也对此次搬家感到沮丧。16岁时，盖博辍学，放弃帮助父亲，独身前往奥勒冈州波特兰市，一边当销售营生，一边学习表演。随后，盖博弄了个新发型，修了牙，把自己的大嗓门毛病改掉后，便开始向好莱坞进发。盖博打入好莱坞的首轮测试以失败告终，他便在剧组跑龙套，直到得到大家的肯定。
Nicknamed "The King of Hollywood," Gable is considered the seventh Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. In the 1930s, his popularity was second only to Shirley Temple. He starred in such memorable movies as It Happened One Night (1934), Gone with the Wind (1939), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and The Misfits (1961). Gable voluntarily took a leave of absence from acting during WWII and served in the Army Air Corps. The Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar he won for It Happened One Night was purchased by Steven Spielberg sixty two years later and donated to the Motion Picture Academy. After performing in 81 films, he died at the age of 59 from a heart attack.
盖博被誉为"好莱坞之王"，曾被美国电影学会提名为"百年百大明星"。30年代期间，盖博的名声开始紧逼秀兰·邓波儿，在一系列电影中有着精彩的表现：《一夜风流》（1934年）《乱世佳人》（1939年）《叛舰喋血记》（1935年）《乱点鸳鸯谱》（1961年）。二战期间，盖博自动退出影坛，在陆军航空队服役。盖博曾凭《一夜风流》获奥斯卡最佳男主角，61年后，大导斯蒂芬·斯皮尔伯格买下盖博的奖杯并赠给了美国电影学会。盖博一生曾参演81部电影，59岁时因心脏病去世。

6.Humphrey Bogart
6.亨弗莱·鲍嘉

Born to a successful illustrator mother and surgeon father, the Bogarts had high hopes for their eldest child. After attending private New York elementary schools, Humphrey was sent to the prestigious Phillips Academy in Massachusetts to prepare him for Yale Medical School. Bogart was shortly thereafter expelled for some unknown combination of bad behavior– drinking, smoking, throwing a staff member into a lake and/or bad grades. His parents were despondent and Bogie was incredibly ashamed of his failure. With limited career prospects, he enrolled in the Navy. WWI ended soon after and he returned home in reserve capacity. Bogart worked a few mundane jobs until a childhood friend's father hired him to work at World Films.
鲍嘉的母亲是一名成功的插画家，父亲是一名医生，鲍嘉对自己的大儿子寄予厚望，小学在纽约私立小学就读，随后升学进入马塞诸塞州著名的菲利普斯中学，父母希望他中学毕业后考入耶鲁大学医学院。然而，鲍嘉在学校抽烟喝酒、将教职员工推下池塘，各科成绩更是惨不忍睹，学校便将鲍嘉开除了。父母对他大感失望，鲍嘉本人也对自己的所作所为感到十分羞愧，然而木已成舟，前途未卜的鲍嘉加入海军，上了一战战场，那时一战已近尾声，鲍嘉便转为储备兵，又前前后后做了很多杂活，后来，鲍嘉发小的父亲将他举荐到电影世界工作。
Despite never returning for an equivalence degree, Bogart was well-read and enjoyed the company of intellectuals. He appeared in a total of 75 films and is regarded as The Greatest Male Legend by the American Film Institute. Bogie acted in several unforgettable classics including High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) and Sabrina (1954). Although he received nominations for Casablanca (1942) and The Caine Mutiny (1954), he won the Best Actor Academy Award for The African Queen (1951). After fighting a long battle with throat cancer, with wife Lauren Bacall at his side, he died at the age of 58 in 1957.
尽管此后鲍嘉再无缘学校，但鲍嘉博览群书，也很喜欢和知识分子待在一起。鲍嘉一生共参演过75部电影，被美国电影学会誉为"百年百大明星"，他的经典作品有：《高岭》（1941年）《枭巢喋血战》（1941年）《碧血金沙》（1948年）《叛舰喋血记》（1954年），曾凭《非洲女王号》（1951年）获得奥斯卡最佳男主角，此后，鲍嘉患了喉癌，缠绵病榻，妻子劳伦·白考便陪伴在侧，1957年，58岁的鲍嘉去世。

翻译:赵一力 来源：前十网