Becoming ... Brad Pitt

How did this midwestern boy top Hollywood's A-list? See the defining moments in Brad Pitt's path to super-stardom. By Lucy Maher

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ON HIS WAY

A year after dropping out of the University of Missouri, Columbia, and heading to Hollywood, Pitt in 1987 gained roles on TV shows such as Dallas and Growing Pains. "I saw his picture in the casting office and I said, 'You have to hire him,'" recalls Pains star Tracey Gold. "It was just like, Hell-o, hell-o, my God!"