Tony Danza, Brian Boitano, Omarosa & More: Unlikely Celebrity Second Acts

Fame does funny things to people.

Tony Danza, Brian Boitano, Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth and Joaquin Phoenix are some of the stars raising the curtain on unlikely second acts.

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It turns the boss (no, not that Boss) into a tenth-grade teacher. It throws a figure skater from the Olympic flame into the kitchen's fire. It sends a reality-TV villain from the no-holds-barred boardroom to the God-exalting seminary.

Tony Danza, Brian Boitano and Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth are just a few of the bold-faced names to raise the curtain recently on unlikely second acts. Below, check out their deviations from the beaten path and others who just strayed from the road that initially led them to fame.

Tony Danza

This academic year, former "Who's the Boss" and "Taxi" star Danza takes on a new lead role: heading up a tenth-grade English class at Philadelphia's Northeast High School. While the 58-year-old actor holds a history-education degree from Iowa's University of Dubuque, he won't be going it alone in the classroom. Danza will enlist the help of a co-teacher to impart the literary lessons of such classics as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Animal Farm."

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Danza's not exactly making a career switch -- he's keeping one foot planted in the TV biz, as A&E cameras capture his stint in school for the reality series "Teach." But, the actor claims, imparting a grade-A education is his end goal: "[I am] humbled, honored and so grateful that the City of Philadelphia has decided to let us try this," Danza said in a statement to reporters. "I have always wanted to teach, so this is a gift for me. I will work hard to make sure I don't let anyone down, especially the kids."

Brian Boitano

Not only can Boitano land a triple-lutz in the rink, he can also ace a mean coq au vin in the kitchen. The 1988 Olympic gold medalist has traded his ice skates for an apron to show off his lesser-known cooking talents on a new Food network series: "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" -- a play on the "South Park" movie's ode to the athlete, "What Would Brian Boitano Do?"

Each episode of the show, which premiered Aug. 23, features Boitano, 45, cooking at his Santa Monica home for a group of friends, which ranges from a single guy with 20 would-be girlfriends to an all-girl roller derby team. While Boitano takes pride in crafting rustic classics, he's not taking his latest endeavor as seriously as, say, vying for Olympic gold.

"People who watch skating think I'm so serious, and I am when it comes to skating," Boitano told the Los Angeles Times. "But my off-ice personality is kind of goofy, and one of the things I like best about the show is that everybody will finally get to see that."