9781422276877

They Were Masonry Workers!?

Actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg has played a nun ( Sister Act ), psychic ( Ghost ), and many other popular film roles, but did you know that before achieving cinematic fame, she was a bricklayer? As a fledgling actress, she worked as a bricklayer and in other jobs to pay the bills. Here are a few other well-known people who worked as bricklayers: • Arnold Schwarzenegger , the famous bodybuilder, actor, and former governor of California, started his own bricklaying business with a bodybuilder friend to make ends meet before he hit the big time. • Before actor Sean Connery became the swashbuckling spy James Bond in the popular British film series, he worked as a bricklayer to support himself. • The famed British leader Winston Churchill was an amateur bricklayer. He built the walls of a garden at one of his homes, as well as a cottage for one of his daughters.

A career as a mason can be physically demanding, but it’s also interesting and rewarding. A well-constructed brick home or other structure can last hundreds of years. There are not many careers in which the worker can walk down the street and say, “I built that!” Masonry is one of them.

■ ■ Check out the top ten reasons to become a bricklayer:

12