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20 Celebrities Who Went to Harvard

Famous people who went to harvard

Harvard University is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, producing eight US degrees. uu. presidents and 161 nobel prize winners, plus elle woods in legally blonde, of course.

among the alumni of the university of cambridge, massachusetts, there are many celebrities who attended the school before making it big in show business, as well as those who enrolled after becoming a household name.

here are 20 celebrities who were educated at harvard.

natalie portman

In the early years, Natalie Portman played Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. At that very moment, in a galaxy not far, far away, Portman was studying at Harvard.

The actress graduated from high school and enrolled at Harvard in 1999 to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology, graduating four years later.

A year after graduating, she earned her first Oscar nomination for closer.

conan o’brien

Before he became the king of late-night talk shows, O’Brien was an incredibly bright student, graduating high school valedictorian.

he enrolled at harvard and majored in history and literature, later graduating with a bachelor of arts degree magna cum laude in 1985.

while at harvard, o’brien wrote for harvard lampoon magazine.

matt damon

matt damon enrolled as a student in the class of 1992, but left before receiving his degree (12 credits before his degree) to take on a lead role in the film geronimo: an american legend.

however, college was also the foundation of his advancement in hollywood.

Damon, from cambridge, massachusetts, wrote an initial treatment of his script for finding goodwill for an english assignment while at harvard.

He began serious work on the script with his friend Ben Affleck, and after the film hit the big screen, the pair won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

look sorvino

Before her roles in Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion and The Mighty Aphrodite, Mira was one of the top students at Harvard.

He graduated from Harvard magna cum laude with a degree in East Asian studies in 1989, and while there, he also helped found the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones, one of Harvard’s co-ed a cappella groups.

Sorvino spent a year of her career as an exchange student at ciee in beijing, where she became fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

john litgow

It was at Harvard, where he starred in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Utopia Limited, that John Lithgow decided he wanted to be an actor.

resident of adams house, lithgow graduated with an a.b. magna cum laude in 1967, in history and literature, and went on to win a fulbright scholarship to study at the london academy of music and drama.

He has had a distinguished and acclaimed career on stage, television and film.

colin jost

Colin Jost majored in History and Literature, with an emphasis on Russian Literature and British Literature, at Harvard, graduating cum laude in 2004.

However, perhaps it was his time as a Harvard satire editor that prepared him for his career in comedy.

A year after graduating, Colin landed a role on Saturday Night Live’s Writers Room, where he has remained ever since. In addition to being a lead writer, Colin is currently the co-host of the Weekend Update.

rashida jones

Rashida Jones, the daughter of Peggy Lipton and Quincy Jones, was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by her high school peers. boy, were they right.

After initially planning to be a lawyer, Jones studied religion and philosophy at Harvard, graduating in 1997.

While there, the parks and recreation star was very active in college societies and was a member of Hasty Pudding Theatricals, Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Harvard Opportunes, Black Students Association and Signet Society.

bj novak

Before breaking into comedy on Punk’d and the Office, B..J Novak was a student at Harvard, graduating from college in 2001.

He majored in English and Spanish literature, wrote his doctoral thesis on Shakespeare’s Village movies, and was a member of the Harvard Lampoon team and the Hasty Pudding Club.

ashley judd

ashley judd was already a screen star with roles in an era to kill, heat up, double jeopardy and kiss the girls below her belt when she returned to education in the nineties.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky, Judd earned a master’s degree in public administration from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2010.

dean norris

dean norris was a straight high school student who decided to continue his college education at harvard, where he studied the interdisciplinary social studies concentration.

He was also a member of Hasty Pudding Theatricals, which set him on the path to an acting career.

Twenty years after graduating, Norris landed the biggest gig of his career yet: Hank Schrader on Breaking Bad.

tommy lee jones

while at harvard on a need-based scholarship, tommy lee jones roomed with another future famous face at dunster house, future vice president al gore.

In 1969, he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English, having written his senior thesis on “The Mechanics of Catholicism” on the works of Flannery O’Connor.

While in college, Lee Jones played guard on the Harvard football team and participated in the infamous 1968 game in which Harvard tied Yale.

stock change

Before rising to fame as one of cinema’s most iconic high school students, Rizzo, in Grease Stockard, was a student at Harvard.

He studied history and literature at Harvard University’s Radcliffe College, graduating summa cum laude in 1965.

Channing pursued an acting career, landing legendary roles in Grease, The West Wing, and Six Degrees of Separation.

terrence malick

You’d need a degree to understand some of director Terrence Malick’s most confusing movies, so it’s no wonder he went to Harvard.

the director of the thin red line earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from harvard university and graduated summa cum laude and phi beta kappa in 1965.

darren aronofsky

After attending school in Kenya, training as a field biologist, and backpacking Europe, Darren Aronofsky enrolled at Harvard in 1987.

He majored in social anthropology and studied film, graduating in 1991, and it was at Harvard that Aronofsky became interested in becoming a filmmaker.

He directed his first feature film, pi, seven years after graduating.

lemon jack

During his time at Harvard, Jack Lemmon was President of the Hasty Pudding Club and Vice President of the Dramatic and Delphic Clubs, but due to his academic probation, he was banned from performing on stage.

However, this did not stop him and he used pseudonyms to perform.

After dropping out of college when he was commissioned into the United States Navy, Lemmon graduated from Harvard in 1947 with a War Service Bachelor of Science degree.

elisabeth shue

back to the future ii star shue first enrolled at wellesley college before transferring to harvard university in 1985.

however, he dropped out of harvard a semester before getting his degree to pursue a career in acting.

After succeeding in film, Shue returned to his alma mater to complete his bachelor’s degree. in political science, officially graduating in 2000.

scott weinger

In 1992, Weinger expressed many of our childhoods by playing the title character in Disney’s Aladdin. six years later, she was graduating from harvard.

The full house star graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English and American literature from the university in 1998, and then returned to acting, starring in shows including what I like about you, scrubs and fuller house.

michael schur

Another Harvard satire president, Michael Schur graduated from Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. specialization in English from Harvard University in 1997.

Like Colin Jost, a year later, he landed a job at Saturday Night Live and went on to create and co-create the acclaimed sitcoms The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

greg giraldo

stand-up comedian greg giraldo graduated from columbia university with a bachelor’s degree in english in 1987, but that wasn’t enough for him.

He achieved a near perfect score on his Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), scoring in the 99th percentile of students who took the test, and was admitted to Harvard Law School.

giraldo achieved his j.d. graduated from Harvard Law in 1990, and passed the bar, working as a lawyer for eight months. However, he soon discovered that he did not like the practice of law and, in 1992, he began working as a comedian.

amy brenneman

although amy brenneman studied comparative religion at harvard, it seems theater was her true love, as she co-founded the cornerstone theater company while there.

amy graduated in 1987, and a few years later landed her first major television role on nypd blue.

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