Early Life
Tatum was born and raised in Cullman, Alabama. His mother, Kay (née Faust), is an airline worker, and his father, Glenn Tatum, worked in construction. He has a sister named Paige. His ancestry includes Irish, French, German, and Native American. Tatum's family moved to Mississippi when he was six, and he grew up in the bayous near the Mississippi River, where he lived in a rural setting.
Tatum was athletic while growing up, playing football, soccer, track, baseball, and performing martial arts; he has said that "girls were always biggest distraction in school." As a child, he practiced wuzuquan kung fu under the lineage of 10th dan Grandmaster Chee Kim Thong. Tatum spent most of his teenage years in the Tampa, Florida area, and initially attended Gaither High School, before going to Tampa Catholic High School. He graduated in 1998 and was voted most athletic. Afterward, Tatum attended Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia on a football scholarship, but dropped out. He returned home and started working odd jobs. US Weekly reported that around this time Tatum began working as a stripper at a local nightclub, under the name "Chan Crawford." In 2010, he told an Australian newspaper that he would like to make a movie about his experiences as a stripper. (That somewhat came true in 2012, with the release of Magic Mike) He later moved to Miami, where he was discovered on the street by a model talent scout.
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