Stars Who Stumbled and Strived for Reinvention

Jason Kempin/Getty Images; Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Richard Drew/Associated PressFrom left: Alec Baldwin; the Rev. Al Sharpton; Robert Downey Jr.; Pee-wee Herman; Don Imus.

Perez Hilton is one in a long line of figures to attempt a public personality makeover.

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Don Imus In April 2007, CBS Radio canceled “Imus in the Morning” after an outcry over sexual and racist comments Mr. Imus made against members of the women’s basketball team at Rutgers. Eight months later, he returned to radio (syndicated by a different broadcaster) after a public apology and a pledge to be nicer.

 Alec Baldwin When Mr. Baldwin called his young daughter, Ireland, a “rude, thoughtless little pig” in 2007, his popular appeal cratered. But with the success of “30 Rock” and his penchant for self-deprecating charm, even as he wrangles with flight attendants and paparazzi, Mr. Baldwin has become Manhattan’s favorite cranky neighbor who one day may run for mayor.

 Robert Downey Jr. Hailed as one of Hollywood’s most talented stars in the early 1990s, Mr. Downey has battled drug and alcohol addiction most of his life, which included time in prison. By the early 2000s he was branded unbankable. But in 2008, a sober Mr. Downey starred as Tony Stark, the genius superhero in the popular “Iron Man,” which spawned a multibillion-dollar franchise.

Pee-wee Herman In 1991, Paul Reubens, better known as the popular children’s film and television character Pee-wee Herman, was arrested in Florida for masturbating in an adult movie theater. By the mid-2000s, he had returned to television and movies, cast in small roles. And in 2010 he starred on Broadway in the hit “The Pee-wee Herman Show.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton Embracing the cause of Tawana Brawley, the black teenager who claimed in 1987 that she was sexually assaulted, threatened to kill the political career of Mr. Sharpton. (Authorities later called it a hoax.) But defying critics who dubbed him a publicity seeker, he has undergone any number of reinventions, from shedding pounds on his once-stout frame to asserting himself as a forceful voice and staunch advocate of civil rights, most recently as the host of the show “Politics Nation” on MSNBC. 

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 18, 2012

An earlier version of this article online misspelled Alec Baldwin’s name.  It is Alec, not Alex.

View the original article here