30 Favorite Breakfasts Of Historical Figures That Expose Their Unusual Tastes

Elvis is undoubtedly one of the greatest music stars America has ever seen, but he’s hardly remembered as a healthy eater. What he ate for breakfast on occasion only confirms that he was a man not entirely in control of his appetites. There’s not a doctor in the land that would recommend hot fudge sundae as a breakfast food. But the King didn’t just eat one of those to start his day: he’d have five. 

Marilyn Monroe told the world what she liked for breakfast in a 1952 interview with Pageant Magazine. The Hollywood star told her fans, “Before I take my morning shower, I start warming a cup of milk on the hot plate I keep in my hotel room. When it’s hot, I break two raw eggs into the milk, whip them up with a fork, and drink them while I’m dressing.”

Leading the British to victory in WWII was no task for an underfed man and it’s certainly true that Winston Churchill enjoyed a hearty breakfast. In fact his first meal of the day was so generous that his servants needed two trays to serve the meal. He liked a drink first thing as well — and we don’t mean tea or coffee. He’d often wash his breakfast down with a glass of wine or a whisky and soda. Then he’d top off his meal with a fat cigar. 

Hunter S. Thompson wrote his own breakfast menu, quoted in magazine The Atlantic. It needs no embellishment from us. “Four Bloody Marys, two grapefruits, a pot of coffee, Rangoon crêpes, a half-pound of either sausage, bacon, or corned-beef hash with diced chilies, a Spanish omelette or eggs Benedict, a quart of milk, a chopped lemon for random seasoning, and something like a slice of key lime pie, two margaritas.” Yikes.