'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The progression from sports to acting is a path that has become quite the norm as athletes cash in on their popularity earned through their sporting careers. Here are 20 of the top such transitions from athlete to actor.
#20 Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris was one of the best exponents of martial arts. As a skilled karate pprofessional, he took on Joe Lewis and Louis Delgado and won the Professional Middleweight Karate championship title.
Norris has acted in numerous movies with some of the famous ones being Way of the Dragon, An Eye for an Eye and The Delta Force.
#19 Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain is most famous for being the only player in the NBA to score 100 points in a single game.
The American also acted in Conan the Destroyer which was his only movie appearance.
#18 O J Simpson
Simpson played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL and also played a role in The Naked gun trilogy, The Towering Inferno and Roots.
#17 Johnny Weismuller
Weismuller was a 5-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming and has also acted in the movie Tarzan.
His acting career spanned over 40 years and he has acted in dozens of movies.
#16 Hulk Hogan
Everyone knows that the legendary Hulk Hogan was a great wrestler but he has also acted in movies like Rocky III, The Ultimate Weapon and a number of other movies.
#15 Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw spent 13 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and won 4 Super Bowl championships.
He also made appearances in TV shows such as 8 Simple Rules, Malcom in the Middle and Failure to Launch.
#14 Rick Fox
Rick Fox played in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers and was part of 3 championship winning sides.
Fox has also appeared on multiple TV shows such as Dirt, Single Ladies and The Big Bang Theory.
#13 Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Kareem Abdul Jabbar is not only the highest scorer in the NBA but also an actor whose most famous movie appearance came in Airplane!
He has also made cameo appearances in movies like Uncle Buck and 21 Jump Street.
#12 Jason Statham
While everyone knowsJason Statham the actor for his roles in movies like The Expendables, The Transporter and The Pink Panther, very few know that he was an athlete on the British National Diving team.
#11 Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was both admired and feared for his martial arts prowess.
Lee has acted in many movies, some of them being The Kid, In The Face Of Demolition and The Wrecking Crew.
#10 Stacy Kiebler
Stacy Kiebler began her acting career in 1998 and was a WWE diva from 1999-2006.
Kiebler has made appearances on many TV shows such as How I Met Your Mother, Samurai Girl and Mayne Street.
#9 Jim Brown
Brown had a hugely successful career with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL and is considered to be one of the greatest players to have ever played in the league.
He has also acted in many movies with the most famous ones being Running Man, The Dirty Dozen, Any Given Sunday and Dream Street.
#8 Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors played both professional baseball and basketball in the United States of America.
Connors has also acted in over 20 movies including The Big Country, Last Flight to Hell and Airplane II. He also made several appearances in TV shows.
#7 Andre The Giant
Andre Rene Roussimoff was a professional wrestler in the late 1980s and early 90s.
He also dabbled in acting with his most famous role being that of a giant which he played in the 1987 movie, The Princess Bride.
#6 Ray Allen
Ray Allen has won two NBA titles - one with the Boston Celtics and one with the Miami Heat - as well as an Olympic gold medal for the USA at the 2000 Olympics.
Allen has also acted in movies like He Got Game and Harvard Man.
#5 Bob Uecker
Bob Uecker played 6 seasons in Major League Baseball before going on to become a sportscaster and an actor.
His role as 'Harry Doyle' in the movies Major League I, Major League II and Major League : Back to the Minors are few of his most popular ones as an actor.
#4 Jason Lee
Jason Lee in known worldwide for his movies such as Enemy of the State, Alvin and the Chipmunks series and the hit TV show My Name Is Earl.
But many people do not know that Lee was a professional skateboarder in the late 1980s and early 90s. Lee was also the first skateboarder who actually popularised the 360 flip.
#3 Carl Weathers
Carl Weathers played football at Long Beach City College and San Diego State University. He realised soon enough that football was not his cup of tea and moved to pursue an acting career.
Weathers is most remembered for his role in the Rocky series of movies and his role in Predator.
#2 Dwayne \'The Rock\' Johnson
Dwayne Johnson, known popularly as 'The Rock', is a professional wrestler in the WWE. Johnson was also a college footballer and won a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes in 1991.
'The Rock' is also a popular star in the movies with his films like The Scorpion King, The Game Plan and Fast and Furious 6 being huge successes.
#1 Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold was a professional bodybuilder in his younger days who went on to winthe Mr.Universetitle at age 20 and went on to win theMr.Olympiacontest seven times.
Arnold's movie career though needs no introduction with the 'Terminator' star having appeared in a number of classics such as Commando, Raw Deal and Total Recall.
