parents were "pretty weird people, but they loved me and I loved them." His parents eventually divorced, mainly owing to financial problems, and LaBeouf had what he has described as a "good childhood", growing up poor in Echo Park with his mother, who worked selling fabrics and brooches. LaBeouf's uncle was going to adopt him at one stage because his parents could not afford to have him anymore and "they had too much pride to go on welfare or food stamps." As a way of dealing with his parents' divorce, he would perform for his family, mimicking his father. LaBeouf has stated that during his childhood, his father was "on drugs" and was placed in drug rehabilitation for heroin addiction, while LaBeouf's mother was "trying to hold down the fort." During a period when his father was in rehab for his addictions, when Labeouf was around the age of 10, he overheard his mother being raped by a stranger in their home. Labeouf then lived with his father from the age of 12 whilst he was filming Even Stevens, with his father serving as his on-set guardian. During this time, he accompanied his father to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. LaBeouf has also said he was subjected to abuse by his father, who once pointed a gun at his son during a Vietnam War flashback. LaBeouf remains close to and financially supports both of his parents. He attended 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles (LAUSD) and Alexander Hamilton High School, although he received most of his education from tutors. In an interview, LaBeouf said that, looking back on his childhood, he feels grateful and considers some of those memories as scars. LaBeouf completed the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon on March 21, 2010, with a time of 4 hours, 35 minutes and 31 seconds. Career 1996–2006: Career beginnings and Even Stevens Prior to acting, LaBeouf practiced comedy around his neighborhood as an "escape" from a hostile environment. At age 10, he began performing stand-up at The Improv, describing his appeal as having "disgustingly dirty" material and a "50-year-old mouth on the 10-year-old kid." He subsequently found an agent through the Yellow Pages and was taken on after pretending to be his own manager. LaBeouf has said that he initially became an actor because his family was broke, not because he wanted to pursue an acting career, having originally