The comedian might have it made now – with successful Netflix specials, celebrity friends like Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and an estimated net worth of US$40 million – but before he was famous he grew up hidden away in South Africa’s Soweto township

He just bought a US$27.5 million dollar Bel-Air mansion, is dating actress/model Minka Kelly and his late night show, The Daily Show, continues to hit the sweet spot for audiences across the globe. But life was not always this luxurious for comedian Trevor Noah.

The cover of the book Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Photo: Spiegel & Grau Publisher

As per the title of his autobiographical book, he was ‘born a crime”: Noah is the child of a mixed-race couple, something that was illegal during apartheid in South Africa.

While now he gets to hang out with Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey, growing up he was hidden from sight and even had to turn to selling pirated music to make a living.

Here’s how life was for different for Noah growing up …

His mum had to pretend to be a stranger

A young Trevor Noah and his mother. Photo: @trevornoah/Instagram

Noah’s mum is black and his dad white. Since the prohibition of mixed marriages act of 1949 banned unions between “Europeans” and “non-Europeans”, the relationship between Noah’s parents was illegal. And because Noah had a light complexion, his mum, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, had to pretend to be a stranger when she and her son were out in public so that she wouldn’t get into trouble with the apartheid-era police.

He was locked inside

Trevor Noah with his grandmother. Photo: @trevornoah/Instagram

It was also because of these laws that Noah was kept indoors and hidden from sight throughout much of his childhood. He recalls living in the black Soweto township with his grandmother and his neighbours being encouraged to inform the police of any lawbreakers.