Ted Williams
The year started out with a bang for Ted Williams, a homeless man in Columbus, Ohio, when a YouTube video revealing his "golden voice," perfect for radio or television announcements, went viral. The video was captured as Williams was panhandling on the side of a road; it took off after a newspaper posted it on its site in January. A gift he'd tried to capitalize on while panhandling, the Brooklyn native's smooth-as-butter voice soon landed him in the spotlight, with appearances on Today, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Early Show. Williams was also offered several high-profile jobs. Alas, the instafame he experienced took a hard toll, and the recovering alcoholic started drinking again. After several stints in rehab, the attention — and job prospects — began to dwindle. But the fleetingness of his fame may have been a good thing: Williams is reportedly back on the straight and narrow, and he landed a regular, albeit more low-key, job with New England Cable News.