Self-taught

Self-taught on the public courts of Los Angeles, Gonzalez, the son of Mexican immigrants, won back-to-back titles at the U.S. championships in Forest Hills in 1948-49 and won two matches to help the U.S. team beat Australia for the 1949 Davis Cup.

Pancho Gonzalez inducted into US Open Court of Champions Reuters 2011

Self-taught artist Bill Traylor spent the end of his life sitting on the sidewalks of Montgomery, Ala., making drawings on found cardboard about city life and his past as a slave.

Don't Miss: Feb. 4-10 2012

Self-taught and self-reliant, Kerchache bided his time for several months before he was finally invited to take part in his first voodoo ceremony.

Voodoo Still Casts Its Spell Tobias Grey 2011

Self-taught, he emulated his hero and namesake, the French magician Jean Eug è ne Robert-Houdin.

The Magician Escapes the Show Lance Esplund 2011

Self-taught, he plays "everything in C" with surprising panache.

Family life 2011

Self-taught on the public courts of Los Angeles, Gonzalez, the son of Mexican immigrants, won back-to-back titles at the U.S. championships in Forest Hills in 1948-49 and won two matches to help the U.S. team beat Australia for the 1949 Davis Cup.

Pancho Gonzalez inducted into US Open Court of Champions Reuters 2011

Self-taught, Blahnik says he learned the art of shoemaking by trial and error; his interest piqued by watching his mother make espadrilles for fun though her sartorial tastes tended toward couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Manolo Blahnik: Feet First Tina Gaudoin 2012

Self-taught chocolatier Frank Sarris started out burying his duds in the back yard.

He Gave the City of Steel a Sweeter Side Tim Carroll 2010

Self-taught chocolatier Frank Sarris started out burying his duds in the back yard.

He Gave the City of Steel a Sweeter Side Tim Carroll 2010

Self-taught chocolatier Frank Sarris started out burying his duds in the back yard.

He Gave the City of Steel a Sweeter Side Tim Carroll 2010