Brad Pitt grew up in Springfield, Missouri, to conservative Baptist parents and dropped out of college in 1986 to go West and make a name for himself.
Rare portraits of a young Brad Pitt in a yellow jersey made in 1988.
In 1988, Pitt landed his first “beach boy” role in the aptly titled Hunk. He began his film career with minor cameo roles, followed by appearances on sitcoms.
Pitt began dating Shalaine McCall shortly after moving to Los Angeles and reportedly met her on set in Dallas. It was her second acting role, playing Randy’s boyfriend, McCall’s character, in a four-episode run.
In June 1988, Pitt stepped out with his new girlfriend, Jill Scholene, at the Los Angeles premiere of “Red Heat.” The couple met on the set of The Class, and it was the second time Pitt had fallen for his co-star. In 1989, Pitt and Sholen got engaged, but their relationship only lasted three months. In a 2011 interview, Pitt revealed that he went to visit his fiancée in Budapest, where she was shooting a movie. And when he arrived, Jill said she fell in love with the director of her movie, and they broke up. Pitt later said that Cholen was his first major heart attack.
