Ken Jeong may be noted as a comedian who never fails to make us laugh, but did you know that he is actually a medical doctor? He is best known for his roles as Ben Chang on the sitcom Community and as Leslie Chow in The Hangover film series, where he is immortalized as the man who jumped out of a trunk in his birthday suit. So who would ever think that this actor got an M.D. from the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, in 1995?
He finished his internal medicine residency in New Orleans while starting his stand-up comedy career at the same time. He is a licensed physician but is no longer practicing medicine. Jeong chose to focus on his acting career and is currently one of the panelists of the American reality singing competition television series, The Masked Singer.
Brian May Has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics
Brian May, the legendary lead guitarist and songwriter of the rock group, Queen, has a bachelor of science in physics degree he obtained back in the 70s. And mind you, he earned the degree with honors. May then went back to school at Imperial College London so he could complete his Ph.D. in astrophysics. He did his doctoral thesis on the motions of interplanetary dust.
Prior to earning a degree in physics, May was educated at Hampton Grammar School where he achieved ten GCE Ordinary Levels and three GCE Advanced Levels in mathematics, applied mathematics, and physics. Dr. May’s intellect is just as rockin’ as the songs he wrote and played in the band.
Lisa Kudrow Has a Bachelor's in Biology
Lisa Kudrow may be famous for playing the typical dumb blonde, like Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom Friends and Michele Weinberger in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, but she is nowhere near that in reality. Her world before acting actually revolved around medical research.
Kudrow’s father was a distinguished physician and researcher while her brother was a neurologist. Young Lisa Kudrow wanted to be on the same road as her family so she got a bachelor of arts, majoring in biology from Vassar College. She then worked on her father’s research team, which earned her credits. Just what was she researching, you ask? Turns out the Kudrow gang was focused on headaches.
Gabrielle Union Has a Bachelor's in Sociology
The charming Gabrielle Union wanted to pursue a career in law, but as we all know, that did not go as planned. A huge believer in education, Gabrielle first attended college at the University of Nebraska and played on the soccer team. She then went to Cuesta College but transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she graduated with honors with a bachelor of science in sociology degree.
As she was on her way to law school, Union worked at a modeling agency to pay her way, but ended up progressing to becoming a model. Her agent later found out that she could act and the rest, as they say, is history.
Conan O’Brien Is a Harvard Graduate
Who knew that this tongue-in-cheek talk show host came from a family of intellectuals? Conan O’Brien’s father was an epidemiologist, physician, and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, while his mother was a retired attorney. He graduated as valedictorian in high school and received a degree in American history and literature. O’Brien graduated magna cum laude in 1985.
He served twice as the president of the humor magazine, The Harvard Lampoon. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles and began his career as a writer. Conan was later asked to take over David Letterman’s role as a host on Late Night and so started his hosting career.