Mike Rowe

In the early 2000s, Mike Rowe established himself as an archetypal Everyman, willing to do nearly anything, no matter how slimy, sickening or scatological, to show the tough work required in the routine maintenance of civil society. The host of Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" (2003-12), Rowe tried his hand at testing shark repellent, castrating sheep, cleaning septic tanks, wading through or handling nearly every kind of fecal matter and likely vomiting on-air more than any other television host. A former opera singer, he cut his teeth in television by hawking products for QVC, and later leveraging his mellifluous baritone voice into commercial and voiceover work. In 2003, he sold Discovery Channel on "Dirty Jobs," which soon became the network's flagship show, and resulted in Rowe hosting or narrating a number of the channel's reality-TV series including its various "Deadliest Catch" shows, "American Chopper" (2002-10) and "American Hot Rod" (2004-08). His real-guy authenticity prompted any number of corporations to come calling, with Rowe most prominently signing on as the face for Ford Motor Co. in a long-term deal. He would use his growing celebrity as a sounding board for the central theme of "Dirty Jobs"' - the integrity and vitality of skilled trades. Consistently cited as one of the most trustworthy personalities in American pop culture, Rowe translated what could have been a gimmick reality-TV gig into a what he called a concerted PR campaign to re-establish respect for blue-collar labor and the notion of hard work as something to aspire to, not to avoid.