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Ah, yearbook photos. How we agonize over the best head-to-toe outfit for a shot that only shows our shoulders up, how we stress about the perfect smile, and how we fear the day these snapshots will finally come back to haunt us. For one famous funnyman, that day has come.
This photo of a studious looking young scholar surfaced on Twitter on Thursday. Though today, the celebrity still often finds himself in suit and tie, and still bears a pair of trademark glasses, he's still come a long way from his grade school days.
He might look pretty collegiate, but this guy would eventually get thrown out of Kent State University for his bad grades -- twice. He didn’t find his true calling of comedy until later in life, in his late 20s. But it didn’t take too long for him to rise in the standup ranks, get his own sitcom, and transition into his current gig as game show host.
And if you haven’t already guessed, this photo was most likely taken in Cleveland, Ohio – this comedian’s hometown.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Yes, it’s Drew Carey! “The Price Is Right” model Manuela Arbalaez unveiled the photo to the Twitterverse this week.
“Nice hair @DrewFromTV” she wrote to the "Price is Right" host, with the photo attached.
“Another wig ;)” replied Carey, now 54.
See also: 'The Price is Right' hires its first male model
Carey has gone through a few image changes in his lifetime. First, he rocked the “nerd chic” look in grade school. He played the cornet and trumpet for his high school band at James Ford Rhodes High School, from which he graduated in 1975.
Carey's U.S. Marines photo.
After his attempts at post-secondary education didn’t go as planned, Carey started a new life in 1980, at the age of 22, and served six years the United States Marine Corps Reserve. In his photo in his Marines uniform, Carey looks neither nerdy nor jovial. (Here’s a fact you can’t un-know – this was probably around the time he “used to have [his] nipples pierced.”)
In his days on “The Drew Carey Show” days, which ran on ABC from 1995 to 2004, Carey was known for his short dirty blonde crew cut, plaid button-down shirts, his round frame, and (of course) his black square-framed glasses – which served more as a prop after he received surgery to correct his vision. He switched to suits when he hosted the improv game show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” from 1998 to 2006.
See also: Aaron Paul's 'Price is Right' past
But Carey again went through a drastic makeover in 2010, when he went on a strict diet and exercise regime and dropped 80 lbs in seven months – a transition that is visible on his current gig hosting the iconic game show “The Price Is Right.”
"I like being skinny," Carey told People at the time. "I was sick of being fat on the camera. Really, I just got sick of it. Once I started losing weight, again, like once I started dropping a couple pant sizes, then it was easy 'cause once you see the results, then you don't wanna stop."
Now that “Whose Line?” is returning to the small screen with Aisha Tyler as host, we just might see a trimmer Carey make a few guest appearances. Let’s hope he brings these wigs he speaks of with him too.