45-year-old Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known by his stage name "Eminem", is a highly successful actor, rapper, record producer and singer-songwriter. Over the years "Eminem has grown as an artist", he has broken many records and received countless awards. Some of his biggest achievements include: becoming the first rapper ever to receive an Oscar for "Best Original Song" in 2003, releasing an album in 2003 called "The Marshall Mather EP" which allowed him to become a Guinness record holder World Record for "The Best-Selling Rap Album in a Week", and received his sixth "Best Rap Album" award (9 total) at the 2015 Grammy Awards, making him the most awarded rapper of all time. "The Slim Shady LP" in 1999, "The Marshall Mathers LP" in 2000, "The Eminem Show" in 2002 and "Encore" in 2004 have sold over 30,000,000 copies in the United States alone. He was named the "best-selling rap artist" of the 2000s by Rolling Stones magazine. However, his fame and success did not come easily as he went through a series of trials and tribulations to live the life of luxury he has now. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Eminem grew up in a family where his father was never present. His father, Marshall Mathers Jr., abandoned the family when he was only three years old. Eminem's father also rejected his numerous attempts to contact him when he was a child, so, as a result, he was raised in a family with a single mother by Deborah Mathers. Deborah was never able to stay employed for more than several months at a time, forcing the family to move constantly as they spent most of their time staying in various public housing projects in Missouri and Detroit, Michigan. “I would change schools two, three times a year. This was probably the hardest part of all.” Eminem recalled in an interview with Anderson Cooper, a CBS reporter. Moving schools so frequently led Eminem to develop an itinerant lifestyle that ended up having a big impact on his personality. As a result, Eminem was never able to form close friendships. During school he mostly kept to himself, but altercations with classmates were often inevitable. “Beaten in the bathroom, beaten in the hallways, pushed into the lockers,” he recalled. “You know not to sound corny or anything like that, but I felt like a fighter coming in, man. I've been attacked for this or that reason, and I have to fight to overcome that," he said. Problem solving against hardships like bullying is extremely important in the development of his character, and was equally critical to the advancement of his career because it teaches him to be self-sufficient. Eminem discovered rap in his early teens, and it was through the use of street smarts and 'tough talk' where he had a sudden realization, that rap was the his passion. “I knew I wanted to be a rapper when I was about 14.” Eminem attended Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, where he struggled in his classes three times 17 year old high school dropout. Although he was a substandard student throughout school, he always had an affection for language arts. He spent most of his free time reading books and studying the dictionary. "I found that no matter how bad I did in school, and no matter how low my grades were at times, I was always good at English... I just felt like I wanted to.