Kendall Jenner
While most of the names on this list used cheerleading as a way to build skills, get noticed, or start performing, for the famous Kendall Jenner, the opposite is true. This ultra-famous (for some reason) gal sometimes felt all the fame get to her and would escape from the limelight by donning a blue and white uniform and shaking a few pom poms.
As a member of the varsity squad of Sierra Canyon School, Kendall used this high school activity to, ironically, forget about being in the public eye instead of escaping into the world of competitive dance. Some have it all.
Kirstie Alley
There must be something about cheerleading that helps on the path to acting. Is it physical training? Is spending time convincing people to think a certain thing? Is it just a correlation? Whatever the reason, yet another famous actress, the late Kirstie Alley, cheered at her school, the Wichita Southeast High School in Kansas. Maybe it's the thing to do, or maybe cheering makes auditioning later on that much easier, how else can you explain the great success theses former cheerleaders have achieved?
After dropping out of Kansas State, she moved to Hollywood and proceeded to make it big, acting in the famous sitcom 'Cheers', and much more. She's even successfully gotten out of Scientology.
Miley Cyrus
Since she's the daughter of famous country music star Billy Ray Cyrus, it's no surprise Miley has made her way into the spotlight time and time again. Before she even appeared as the dual-living character in "Hannah Montana," seven-year-old Cyrus was already getting eyes on her as a cheerleader for the Tennessee Premiere soccer team in her Franklin hometown.
Performing is in her blood, but even the biggest names on this list usually get their start in high school, but not Miley – she was ready to start her career before even hitting ten. She is one of the youngest stars to succeed so tremendously and remain on top of the list for so many years.
Kathy Griffin
Kathy Griffin has been a gut-busting comedienne for a long time, and unlike the picture of Streep, it might be hard to tell who it is in this picture, but it is indeed the redheaded joker at a young and spry seventeen years old. She's come a long way since she was atop the pyramid as part of Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois.
There's no doubt she added plenty of spirit to her team's spirit squad. She’s also had a number of movie credits, including "The Cable Guy," "Her Minor Thing," "Suddenly Susan," and many animated movies to which she contributed her voice.
Dakota Fanning
Yet another actress on the list that took things the wrong way around: Dakota Fanning was acting long before she became a cheerleader during high school. There were plenty of roles to choose from for this young actress, including on television shows like 'ER', 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', 'The Practice', 'Spin City', 'Ally McBeal', and 'The Ellen Show'.
Already a well-known name in Hollywood, when Fanning returned to her education and the more social aspects of school, she also joined the varsity cheerleading squad at Campbell Hall School – and she was voted the homecoming queen, to nobody's surprise at all.