Ever wondered about the comedic mastermind behind Hollywood box-office hits, such as The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), and the most recent You Don't Mess With The Zohan (2008)? Although USC-dropout Judd Apatow has been in the business for almost 20 years, he is slowly but surely becoming a hot household name.

A native of Long Island, Judd Apatow, got an early start to his career as the host of Club Comedy, a program on his high school radio station. Taking advantage of his mother's comedic connections, a teenage Apatow was able to interview the likes of Howard Stern, John Candy, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jay Leno. At 17, he started to perform stand-up comedy.

During his two years in USC's screenwriting program, Apatow took an active role in the comedy scene both on campus and in Hollywood. However, Apatow took a life-changing move when he decided to drop out and move in with fellow-comedian Adam Sandler. Realizing that life as a performer was not for him, Apatow began writing for other people. His great networking skills landed him jobs as a TV producer/writer for the Emmy Award-winning yet short-lived The Ben Stiller Show and also The Larry Sanders Show. He later moved on to the film business as script writer for The Cable Guy (1996) and The Wedding Singer (1998).

Judd Apatow's career skyrocketed in 2004 when he produced Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. From then on, he has been credited for a string of hit comedies, including (2006), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Superbad (2007), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), and the upcoming Pineapple Express (2008) set to be released in theaters August 8.

So what would have happened if this hot USC dropout had stayed in school? The world would have likely been without Ron Burgundy, Ricky Bobby or McLovin'. Scary...

But who's to say? Judd Apatow worked at LA comedy clubs while he simultaneously attended USC. Spending two more years in school to earn his degree probably would not have changed his career path so drastically. As a student, he had already put his foot in the door of the Hollywood community, rubbing shoulders with rising stars, such as funny-man Adam Sandler. Had he stayed, Apatow would have graduated around 1990, two years before his first real gig as a producer of The Ben Stiller Show. His career may have taken root around then, but honestly, his fame and fortune has only grown in the past few years--at least a decade later from his start.

True, Judd Apatow could have easily graduated from the USC film school and subsequently achieved the same success, but maybe Entertainment Weekly was right in naming him #1 on their list of 50 Smartest People in Hollywood. By ditching two remaining years at USC, Apatow saved himself tens of thousands of dollars in tuition.