Live Poll: The American Dream: Most Inspiring Hollywood Immigration Stories

A couple of important things: 

A. The sources are varied, but I fact-checked every one, and the bios are accurate unless I've made an oversight somewhere. 

B. I understand the term 'American Dream' is vague and a bit loaded. What I mean here is an immigrant who either took a huge risk or rose up from a difficult place and found great success.

C. I think the poll would be best at around 10-12 people. Suggestions are more than welcome.

Haing S. Ngor is a man with a biography who fits your question.  This was an incredible man.

Typo in #7:  the consul 

FYC:  Rudolph Valentino, born in Italy in 1895, moved to the US in 1913 for a fresh start after failing in various ventures. He rose from being a taxi dancer to becoming the iconic latin lover and one of the biggest stars in silent cinema.

Hedy Lamarr, born in the Austria, daughter of a Jewish banker, she had a short film career in Czechoslovakia including a controversial erotic film. She married a Jewish Austrian arms merchant who had ties to the Facist and Nazi goverments of Germany and Italy. Her marriage became unbearable and she ended fleeing the country in 1937 just before WW2, in London she was persuaded to travel to Hollywood where she became a star and she was also an inventor who helped in world war 2 developing a guidance system for torpedoes that decades later made possible bluetooth and wi-fi.

@ethan ,

For your consideration:

Djimon Hounsou - Came to Paris from Benin at the age of 13, couldn't find a job and ended up a vagrant, sleeping under bridges and rummaging in trash cans for food. Things changed for the better when fashion designer Thierry Mugler discovered him and made him a fashion model. Hounsou has graced the catwalks of Paris and London as a popular male model. He has since left his modeling career and has worked on Gladiator (2000) by Ridley Scott and Amistad (1997) by Steven Spielberg.

Charlize Theron - Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg area, in South Africa, the only child of Gerda Theron (née Maritz) and Charles Theron. Theron received an education as a ballet dancer and has danced both the "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker". However, an injured knee put a halt to her dancing career. In 1994, her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, and Charlize started visiting all of the agents on Hollywood Boulevard, but initially without any luck. Her first role was in the B-film Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995), a non-speaking part with three seconds of screen time. On February 29, 2004, she won her first Academy Award, a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Monster (2003).

Sofía Vergara - Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara was born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia. She was educated at a private bilingual Spanish/English school. She then went on to study pre-dentistry. However, Sofía was discovered by a photographer, whilst at the beach, and this led to various jobs in modeling and television. At age 23, she was a runway model. From 1995 to 1998, she co-hosted a travel show, Fuera de serie (1995), which gave her exposure in the United States. Her first film role was the criminal comedy Big Trouble (2002). Her breakthrough role was as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the American television series Modern Family (2009). In 2010-2013, she received four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for this role.

Andy Garcia - Garcia was born Andrés Arturo García Menéndez on April 12, 1956, in Havana, Cuba. Garcia's family was relatively affluent. However, when he was two years old, Fidel Castro came to power, and the family fled to Miami Beach. Forced to work menial jobs for a while, the family started a fragrance company that was eventually worth more than a million dollars. His first break came as a gang member on the very first episode of the popular TV series Hill Street Blues (1981). His role as a cocaine kingpin in 8 Million Ways to Die (1986) put him on the radar of Brian De Palma, who was casting for his gangster classic The Untouchables (1987).

Ana de Armas - Ana de Armas was born in Cuba on April 30, 1988. At the age of 14 (2002) she began her studies at the National Theatre School of Havana, where she graduated after 4 years. At the age of 16 (2004) she made her first film, Virgin Rose (2006), directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón. A few titles came after until she moved to Spain, where she continued her film career, and started on TV. In 2014 she moved to Los Angeles. She has appeared in films such as War Dogs (2016), Hands of Stone (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Keanu Reeves - Keanu Charles Reeves was born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. After his parents' marriage dissolved, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister, Kim Reeves, to New York City, then Toronto. Reeves popped up on critics' radar with his performance in the dark adolescent drama, River's Edge (1986), and landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons (1988) with director Stephen Frears. His first popular success was the role of totally rad dude Ted "Theodore" Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989). In 1994, the understated actor became a big-budget action star with the release of Speed (1994). He struck box-office gold again a few years later with the Wachowski siblings' cyberadventure, The Matrix (1999).

Please correct #10: Hounsou 

It's at 12 now, which I think is a good number to end it at. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

Congratulations, @ethan !

The American Dream: Most Inspiring Hollywood Immigration Stories

Live Poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/V-etfW_Om3lDLgX8uU6BvQ/ 

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