Famous Self-Made Millionaires a to z

Actress Jane Alexander won Emmy Awards for her roles in Playing for Time and Warm Springs. In 1992, she became chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Shaun Alexander is a former running back for the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins who’s one of the leading touchdown scorers in NFL history.

American television personality Steve Allen is best known as the first host of The Tonight Show. He also starred on The Benny Goodman Show, and was an accomplished musician, composer, author and actor.

Woody Allen is an American comedian, filmmaker and writer who directed and starred in two of his most famous films, Annie Hall and Manhattan.

Judd Apatow is an Emmy-winning screenwriter, producer and director known for films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and This Is 40.

Beauty pioneer Elizabeth Arden opened the red doors of her first spa in 1910.

Fur trader and real estate investor John Jacob Astor was one of the leading businessmen of his day and the founder of an American fur trade dynasty.

Angela Bassett is an Academy Award- and Emmy Award-nominated actress known for roles in What's Love Got to Do With It, Waiting to Exhale, Malcolm X and The Rosa Parks Story.

Irving Berlin was one of the most prolific and popular songwriters of the 20th century, counting among his many hits "White Christmas" and "Cheek to Cheek."

Michael Bloomberg is a billionaire buisnessman and a three-term mayor of New York City.

Jerry Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer who brought audiences the film Top Gun and the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

George Burns was a comedian who worked in vaudeville, radio, film and television. His long-time performance partner and wife was comedienne Gracie Allen. Burns lived until age 100.

Former pro-tennis player Jennifer Capriati is known for her incredible comeback after several personal struggles. In 1990 she was the youngest player to ever be ranked in the Women's Tennis Association top ten.

With hits such as "Vision of Love" and "I Don't Wanna Cry," pop diva Mariah Carey holds the record for most No. 1 debuts in Billboard Hot 100 history.

Andrew Carnegie, a self-made steel tycoon and one of the wealthiest 19th century U.S. businessmen, donated towards the expansion of the New York Public Library.

With her trademark suits and little black dresses, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today.

Steve Chen is best known as the co-founder and chief technology officer of the video-sharing website YouTube. Google bought YouTube for $1.64 billion in stock.

Ben Cohen is the co-founder of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s.

Tom Colicchio is a restaurateur and author who stars in the award-winning reality TV show Top Chef.

Oscar-winning Scottish actor Sean Connery played "007" in the first James Bond spy movies. He also played the Indiane Jones's father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Child actor Jackie Cooper was in the Our Gang short film series and the Little Rascals television show. He also starred in the 1931 film The Champ.

David Copperfield is a world-famous magician whose tricks include making the Statue of Liberty disappear and walking through the Great Wall of China.

Director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola is best known for creating The Godfather film series starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

Roger Corman is a film director and producer who helmed B-Movie classics and helped launch the careers of James Cameron, John Sayles, Ron Howard and others.

Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor and producer, who has played a major role in the development of more positive portrayal of African-Americans on television.

Famous in the NBA for his zealous management of the Dallas Mavericks, entrepreneur Mark Cuban has also owned multiple Internet startups and a theater chain.

Soccer player Ronaldo starred for the Brazilian national team and several European clubs over the course of a career that spanned nearly two decades.

Ruby Dee is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, activist, poet and journalist, perhaps best known for starring in the 1961 film A Raisin in the Sun. She's also known for her civic work with husband Ossie Davis.

John Deere was an American inventor and manufacturer of agricultural equipment. In 1837, Deere started an eponymous company that went on to become an international powerhouse.

French-Canadian singer Celine Dion dominated the pop charts in the 1990s. She remains a popular entertainer and is the second-highest earning musician in history.

Shannen Doherty is best known for her roles as Heather Duke in the film Heathers and on TV as Brenda in Beverly Hills, 90210 and as Prue in Charmed.

Jack Dorsey is an American businessman best known as the founder of the social networking site Twitter.

Jeff Dunham is a popular comedian and ventriloquist, known for his crass yet clever antics with his puppets.

Roger Ebert is an American film critic best known as one half of the popular Siskel and Ebert film critic television show.

Inventor Thomas Edison created such great innovations as the electric light bulb, the telephone and the phonograph. A savvy businessman, he held more than a 1,000 patents for his inventions.

Rayful Edmond III was a notorious drug dealer in the 1980s in Washington, D.C., who made millions supplying the city with crack cocaine.

Eminem is an American rapper, record producer, and actor, who is known as one of the most controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century.

Melissa Etheridge is a rock singer-songwriter and an environmental activist. Her hit songs include "I’m the Only One" and "Come to My Window."

American Country music singer-songwriter Sara Evan made the hit albums Real Fine Place and Stronger. Her song "Born to Fly," won a 2001 Country Music Award.

One of America's foremost industrialists, Henry Ford revolutionized assembly-line modes of production for the automobile.

George Foreman is a retired American boxer who twice won boxing's heavyweight championship. After retiring, he became a popular pitchman.

James Gandolfini is an American actor best known for his role as a mobster in the hit 1999 HBO television series The Sopranos.

American Actress Jennifer Garner earned notice for her role on the hit show Felicity, and was subsequently cast as the star of the ABC television drama Alias.

Rudy Giuliani is a former major of New York City who served during the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001.

Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records, the most successful black owned music company in the history of the United States.

Jay Gould was a prominent American railroad builder and financier. He illegally issued new stock for Erie Railroads in the "Erie War" with Vanderbilt.

Hetty Green was an American businesswoman who lived in the 1800s and was best known as one of the first women to make a fortune on Wall Street.

Solomon R. Guggenheim was an American business magnate and art lover who provided the initial collection and name for the Guggenheim Museum.

With her late-night talk show, Chelsea Lately, Chelsea Handler became one of the most-watched women in comedy.

Jim Henson was an American puppeteer best known for creating TV characters, including the Muppets, and for his work on the popular children's show Sesame Street.

American manufacturer and philanthropist who founded the Hershey Chocolate Corporation and popularized chocolate candy throughout much of the world.

Roy Horn is half of the headlining Las Vegas magical duo Siegfried & Roy who survived severe injuries after an onstage tiger attack.

Ron Howard is best known for his roles on the shows Happy Days and The Andy Griffith Show, and as the director for films, including A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13.

Jennifer Hudson is an Oscar and Grammy-winning actress and singer known for roles in Dreamgirls and Sex and the City.

Arianna Huffington is a prolific author and international media mogul who started the award-winning news platform The Huffington Post.

Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician whose band, the Fugees, hit it big in the mid-1990s with The Score.

Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computers with Steve Wozniak. Under Job's guidance, the company pioneered a series of revolutionary technologies, including the iPhone and iPad.

Elton John is a British singer, pianist and composer who was one of the most popular musicians of the 20th century. Along with selling more than 250 million records he has found success on Broadway, composing the music score for the Tony award winning hit Billy Elliot (2008).

Howard Johnson was a 20th century entrepreneur who opened up a pioneering chain of restaurants and motels.

Lonnie G. Johnson is an engineer and inventor who worked on the Cassini mission to Jupiter and invented the Super Soaker.

Sheila Johnson is an African-American entrepreneur who co-founded Black Entertainment Television (BET) and is part-owner of the three sports teams in the NHL, NBA and the WNBA.

Augustus D. Juilliard was a successful businessman whose 1919 bequest for music education led to the creation of the acclaimed Juilliard School.

Herb Kelleher is the founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines, one of the first airlines to offer low-cost fares by eliminating unnecessary services.

Jeff Koons is a famous contemporary artist whose work is influenced by an eclectic array of sensibilities.

Ray Kroc was an American entrepreneur best known for expanding McDonald’s from a local chain to the world’s most profitable restaurant franchise operation.

Jessica Lange is an award-winning American actress best known for her roles in King Kong, Tootsie and Grey Gardens.

British-American actress Jane Leeves played Daphne on the Emmy Award-winning NBC sitcom Frasier, and began playing Joy on TV Land's Hot in Cleveland in 2010.

Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez is one of Hollywood’s leading ladies who’s also forged a successful pop and dance music career.

By the 1960s, gangster and drug kingpin Frank Lucas had constructed an international drug ring that spanned from New York to South East Asia.

Susan Lucci is an American actress, best known for portraying Erica Kane on the daytime drama All My Children.

Henry R. Luce was a journalist and publishing mogul who started the magazines Time, Life, Fortune and Sports Illustrated.

Yo-Yo Ma is an acclaimed cellist and songwriter who has produced dozens of albums and won more than 15 Grammy Awards.

Bernarr MacFadden was a well known physical culturist, and became the preeminent advocate for healthy living and exercise.

Bernard Madoff was a stockbrocker who ran his multibillion-dollar firm as a grand scale Ponzi scheme. He is currently serving a 150-year prison sentence.

Pop legend Madonna is known for her constant reinvention as a performer. Her biggest hits include "Papa Don't Preach," "Like a Prayer" and "Vogue."

Herman J. Mankiewicz was a journalist and screenwriter who won an Academy Award for his work on the film Citizen Kane.

A co-founder of Apple Computers Inc., Mike Markkula laid the groundwork for the company's success with his management and marketing vision.

Scott McNealy co-founded the computer technology company Sun Microsystems, a fervent rival of Windows.

English stage and film director Sam Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty, and went on to direct films like Jarhead, Revolutionary Road and Skyfall.

Tammy Faye Messner was the wife of disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, with whom she hosted The 700 Club and the Praise the Lord Club. The couple split in 1992, after Jim Bakker's affair with a church secretary surfaced.

Stephenie Meyer is best known for authoring the Twilight book series, which was later adapted for a film franchise.

Barry Minkow is a convicted felon who used his carpet-cleaning business as a front for a massive Ponzi scheme and investor fraud.

Sun Myung Moon was founder and leader of the Unification Church, a religious movement whose followers were labeled "Moonies."

Roger Moore is a British actor best known for his role as James Bond in seven films from 1973-'85.