--- title: Successful People Who Made it Big Later in Life description: From the late Alan Rickman to Vera Wang canonical: https://time.com/4274259/famous-people-later-in-life/ author: Maggie Parker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-30T19:10:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:39:18.775Z og:title: 9 Successful People Who Made It Big Later in Life og:description: From Jane Lynch to Vera Wang og:url: https://time.com/4274259/famous-people-later-in-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 9 Successful People Who Made It Big Later in Life twitter:description: From Jane Lynch to Vera Wang twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 9 Successful People Who Made It Big Later in Life by [Maggie Parker](https://time.com/author/maggie-parker/) ## Maggie Parker Mar 30, 2016 7:10 PM UTC by [Maggie Parker](https://time.com/author/maggie-parker/) ## Maggie Parker Mar 30, 2016 7:10 PM UTC It’s easy to be down on yourself for not having achieved everything you’d hoped to at this point in your life. Fear not, though, because there are tons of people who didn’t accomplish their goals in their 20s, either. Next time you’re feeling behind because you haven’t yet started your own business, nabbed a six-figure salary or landed your dream job, just read through this list of late bloomers. ### 1\. Jon Hamm  Actor Jon Hamm arrives at the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 28, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin—FilmMagic Jon Hamm appeared as an extra in productions like _Larger Than Life_ and _The Practice_ and was [struggling right up until he got cast](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/03/jon-hamm-don-draper?iid=sr-link7) in _Mad Men_. It was his lack of experience at the age of 35 that made him perfect for _Mad Men,_ as Matthew Weiner was looking for a fresh face that wouldn’t cost AMC a ton of money. ### 2\. Connie Britton  Connie Britton arrives for Premiere Of "FX's "American Crime Story - The People V. O.J. Simpson" held at Westwood Village Theatre on January 27, 2016 in Westwood, California. Albert L. Ortega—Getty Somehow, Britton stayed under the radar until she was cast as Tami Taylor in _Friday Night Lights_, which premiered when she was 37. [_Subscribe to the Motto newsletter_](http://pages.email.time.com/motto/?source=article%5Fmotto&xid=article%5Fmotto) _for advice worth sharing._ ### 3\. Bethenny Frankel  Bethenny Frankel attends Skinny Girl Candy Launch at Dylan's Candy Bar on January 26, 2016 in New York City. John Lamparski—WireImage/Getty Images Before becoming a Real Housewife, Bethenny Frankel appeared on [_The Apprentice: Martha Stewart_](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2070126,00.html) at the age of 35 as the owner of a cookie company that later failed. She was in her 40s when she launched a low-calorie margarita company that became her [Skinnygirl](http://www.bethenny.com/skinnygirl/) empire. ### 4\. Jane Lynch  Actress Jane Lynch attends the premiere of HBO's "Everything Is Copy" at TCL Chinese Theatre on March 10, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Vincent Sandova—WireImage/Getty Jane Lynch’s [breakout role](http://www.ew.com/article/2009/10/23/spotlight-jane-lynch?iid=sr-link4) was in Christopher Guest’s _Best in Show_—and she was 40 when the film came out. After nabbing supporting parts in _The L-Word_ and _The 40-Year-Old Virgin_, she got the gig that would make her a household name: Portraying _Glee_’s Sue Sylvester. ### 5\. Alan Rickman  Alan Rickman attends the World Premiere of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 2 at Trafalgar Square on July 7, 2011 in London, England. Ian Gavan—Getty Images [The late actor](http://time.com/4180354/alan-rickman-dead/) got his big break when he was 42 and played [Hans Gruber](http://www.people.com/article/alan-rickman-hans-gruber-die-hard-greatest-screen-villain) in _Die Hard._ ### 6\. Vera Wang  Designer Vera Wang pictured backstage after her presentation during New York Fashion Week in New York September 15, 2015. Trevor Collens—AFP/Getty Images [Vera Wang ](http://www.verawang.com/)started out as a figure skater, and then she tried her hand at journalism. She didn’t open her first bridal boutique until she was [40](http://time.com/3958885/highly-successful-people-after-age-40/), but now she’s famous for her designs. ### 7\. Samuel L. Jackson  Actor Samuel L. Jackson attends the premiere of The Weinstein Company's 'The Hateful Eight' at ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on December 7, 2015 in Hollywood, California. Kevork Djansezian—Getty Images Believe it or not, there was a time when Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t famous. [Quentin Tarantino changed that](http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20972047%5F20977468,00.html). Jackson appeared in _True Romance_ in 1993, and after that, Tarantino created the _Pulp Fiction_ role of Jules Winnfield specifically for Jackson, who was in his early 40s at the time. ### 8\. Judi Dench  Dame Judi Dench arrives at The London Critics' Circle Film Awards at The May Fair Hotel on January 17, 2016 in London, England. David M. Benett—Getty Images Now, Dench may be one of the most revered actresses out there. But 20 years ago, most people didn’t even know who she was. Dench was [in her 60s](http://www.ew.com/article/2013/11/08/actress-judi-dench-nothing-dame?iid=sr-link6) when her film career took off. While she had a fruitful career in the U.K., it was her role as M in _Goldeneye_ that made her well-known in the U.S. **_Read more:_** [_Diane von Furstenberg Wants You to Know She Gets Down on Herself Sometimes, Too_](http://motto.time.com/4268037/diane-von-furstenberg-strength/) ### 9\. Melissa McCarthy  American actress Melissa McCarthy poses during a photo shoot at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Sydney, New South Wales ahead of the premiere of her new film 'The Boss'. Newspix—Getty Images _Gilmore Girls_ junkies have known Melissa McCarthy since she was in her 30s. However, the actress didn’t hit it big until she was 41, thanks to her hilarious work in _Bridesmaids_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4274259/famous-people-later-in-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4274259/famous-people-later-in-life/"},"headline":"9 Successful People Who Made It Big Later in Life","datePublished":"2016-03-30T19:10:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:39:18.775Z","description":"From the late Alan Rickman to Vera Wang","url":"https://time.com/4274259/famous-people-later-in-life/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maggie Parker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maggie-parker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4274259/famous-people-later-in-life/","name":"9 Successful People Who Made It Big Later in Life"}}]}] ```