At first glance, this adorable face donning cheeks that simply beg to be pinched by doting Italian grandmas does not betray its boxing moniker, “Dangerous” Tony Danza. To wit, he was a scrapper! Starting out fighting on the streets of Brooklyn, Danza got a hold of some gloves and went pro. Out of 15 fights, “Tough” Tony won 12, each by knockout. Never mind that he lost the remainder by knockout.
On the side, he graduated from the University of Dubuque in Iowa on a wrestling scholarship and then became an actor. Playing cab driver and boxer Tony Banta on the TV classic Taxi, Danza continued to dream of being a boxing world champ. Instead, his lovable persona on Who’s the Boss? earned him even more adoring “awws” from fans.
James Dean
The Rebel Without a Cause actor went too soon. The young talent's acting made him a cultural icon for teens in the 50s. However, before he was the poster teen for disillusioned teens and outcast youth, James Dean was known for something else. He was the multi-talented athlete called the "boy in glasses."
Dean played basketball, baseball and ran track, setting school records, winning medals in his senior year. Before the actor went on to shoot hoops in college, he was a basketball star on his high school team, The Fairmount High Quakers, in his hometown in Indiana. It was clear he had a zest for life.
Kevin Garnett
Considered one of the greatest power forwards of all time, Garnett won both the Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year awards. Aside from his incredible accomplishments on the court, the athlete has recently created waves on the screen, thanks to the Safdie brothers, the dynamite directing duo of "Uncut Gems."
His performance in that was surprisingly good and brought tons of intensity to an already cutting-edge film. It stars Adam Sandler too! So far, he has only had one role, but we can expect to see him popping up in the future.
Kate Hudson
According to People Magazine, our golden girl Kate Hudson gave up on a soccer dream to pursue acting. In an in-depth interview with Vogue, the actress admitted that she was at one point very serious about pursuing soccer full time and was even about to play in college. The Almost Famous star began to realize that the competitive sport was taking time away from her dancing and had a change of heart.
Hudson then made the move to pursue facing, acting, and singing more seriously. Of course, we all know where that took her. The Bride Wars actress has expressed how much she missed the game and tries to play it with her kids.
LeBron James
We all know LeBron James for his accomplishments on the court, but in recent years, his career on screen has been on the serious incline. The star basketball player turned heads in the Amy Schumer comedy "Trainwreck."
Even the great comedians in the film expressed how impressive his comedy chops were. Since his debut, he has been consistently appearing in more and more films and is even starring in the "Space Jam" reboot.