Will Smiths life got flip turned upside down when he owed the IRS 2.8 million in taxes in 1989.

Vincent van Gogh only sold one painting out of 900 in his life, Red Vineyard at Arles.

Lady Gaga got dropped by a major record label after only three months.

Sidney Poitier was brutally rejected by the American Negro Theater for his Bahamian accent and difficulty reading.

Michelle Yeohs dreams of being a ballerina were crushed by a spinal injury.

Steven Spielberg was denied by USCs prestigious film school not once, but twice.

In her lifetime, Emily Dickinson published fewer than a dozen of her 1,800 poems.

Lisa Kudrow was cast as the original Roz in Frasier, but cut shortly after.

Dr. Seuss first childrens book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was refused by 27 publishers.

Ang Lee failed Taiwans college entrance exam TWICE.

At 18, Frida Kahlo was in a car accident that caused her to have more than 30 operations in her lifetime and left her unable to bear children.

Allegedly, Bruno Mars was passed over by a music industry exec because he wasnt white.

Winston Churchill lost his first campaign for Parliament.

Vera Wang failed to make the U.S. Olympic figure-skating team.

And Oprah Winfrey was fired from Baltimores WJZ-TV for being too emotionally involved with the stories she reported.