Former Stars That Left the Limelight to Have a Normal Life

Gene Hackman was a name to be heard in 1967 when “Bonnie and Clyde” just came out in theaters.

In the 90s, Hackman went on to star in several films, including “Crimson Tide” (1995), but his final role was in 2004. That year, Hackman appeared on Larry King and announced that he had no acting projects coming up. He went on to write three successful novels.

Sean Connery is the first actor to play James Bond in a movie and starred in 7 Bond films between 1962 and 1983. In 2007, he confirmed his retirement, saying, “retirement is just too much damned fun.”

Moran got her breakthrough acting role at the age of 13 when she was cast in the hit series Happy Days. She was hardly seen after the ’80s, and admitted she suffered from depression and couldn’t secure acting gigs. She died in April 2017.

He was famous for playing Mike Seaver in Growing Pains, but over time Kirk Cameron lost his focus for acting. Rather, he turned his attention to becoming a full-time author, as well as a religious activist.

He was known for starring as the bespectacled Paul Joshua Pfeiffer in The Wonder Years. His last television appearance was in 1989, and he went on to major in political science at Yale University. He is now a corporate lawyer.

Cary Grant is one of the biggest stars from ‘Classic Hollywood.’ At age 62, he decided to step away from the cameras and focus on raising his daughter, Jennifer. In addition, he took on a board seat at Fabergé.

The thrice Academy Award-nominated actress retired at age 35. Garbo enjoyed a life of leisure in retirement, traveling the world and starting a massive art collection worth millions.

As one of the founding members of rock band Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett performed with the band for barely four years before leaving in 1968 to live with his mother in Cambridge. While there, he took up painting abstract canvases and gardening. He passed away in 2006 from pancreatic cancer.

Danny Lloyd played the young boy in The Shining, but retired from acting at the age of 8, two years after the film’s release. He now works as a biology professor in Kentucky.

MC Hammer’s musical career peaked during the ’80s and ’90s. Despite all his success, he was unable to manage his finances and had to file for bankruptcy. He now lectures at Ivy League schools and develops iPad apps.

Jeff Cohen was one of the child stars in the film The Goonies, but the actor did not choose to pursue acting in his adult life. He has since founded his own law firm, Cohen & Gardner, and writes for The Huffington Post.

Gary Coleman was a household name during the ’70s and ’80s after starring in the hit show Diff’rent Strokes. He left the limelight and went on to work as a security guard before passing away in 2010.

Carrie Henn starred alongside Sigourney Weaver in Alien when she was 10 years old, but said she would not return to acting after. She turned to teaching in her adult life, and now works in a school in Atwater, California.

Doris Day was at her prime during the ’60s and ’70s, becoming one of the biggest and most iconic stars in Hollywood. However, she stepped away from stardom to focus on her family life and nursing injured animals back to good health.

Voorhies starred on the hit ’90s show, Saved by the Bell. She left Hollywood and her passion for acting behind and went on to become an accomplished author.

He stole our hearts as a child actor when he starred in The Never Ending Story, but Barret Oliver did not continue his career in Hollywood as an adult. He now works as a successful photographer, with his work being displayed in museums and galleries.

The Canadian actor is well-known for appearing in Hollywood films such as Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. In 1991, Rick’s wife sadly passed away, and Moranis decided to retire from acting completely in 1997 so he could focus on raising his two children.

She was the cute little girl in The Little Rascals, but it seems that there was not much more in the acting world for Ashton after. As of 2016, Holmes was living in Los Angeles, working at Starbucks, and studying for a degree in political science.

At 7 years old, Shirley Temple was awarded a juvenile Oscar for her contribution to film in 1935. However, by the age of 22, Temple lost her appeal for acting and ended up in the spotlight for other reasons. She became a politician and diplomat, as well as the US ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1989.

He was the heartthrob on Melrose Place for seven years during the ’90s, but following his success on the series, he became one of the world’s most famous mommy bloggers. Shue co-founded CaféMom, a blog for parenting content, advice, and recommendations, alongside his childhood best friend, Michael Sanchez.

Amanda Bynes was a hugely successful child star that has a huge repertoire of films and series to add to her resume. However, after personal struggles, Bynes disappeared from the limelight. She graduated from California’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising earlier this year, and plans to kickstart her fashion career.

He starred as the funny kid on Two and a Half Men and even continued his starring role in the show into his teen years. After 10 years, Jones ditched his acting career to become a member of the Seventh-day Adventists Church, and has since joined the management team for an event production called Tonite.

He was on one of the biggest shows of the moment, but after he played King Joffrey on Game of Thrones for three years, Jack Gleeson decided to quit acting and study philosophy and theology at college.

It seems that Sullivan followed suit with his former co-star Frankie Muniz and chose to leave Hollywood after his stint in Malcolm in the Middle. Sullivan went on to attend the University of Southern California and focus his attention on his studies.

She was a hit during the ’80s and a well-known Hollywood actress starring in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. However, Cates took a break from Hollywood altogether and turned her focus to charity, as well as raising awareness for Juvenile Diabetes.

She starred alongside Will Smith on the hit series, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, playing cousin Hilary.

Having starred on such a successful show during the 90’s, and had a few more acting stints for the years that followed, Parsons chose to turn her back on acting and focus on another passion of hers. Rather than starring in front of the camera, Parsons founded her own company. The company, called Sweet Blackberry, funds animated films about unsung black heroes.

Charlie Korsmo will probably be best remembered for his role as Jack in Steven Spielberg’s take on Peter Pan – Hook. Getting the chance to star alongside Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman must have been a dream come true.

However, he ultimately decided that acting wasn’t for him and enrolled at MIT before moving on to Yale Law School. Korsmo is now a qualified lawyer and a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Probably best known for starring alongside Molly Ringwald in the classic ’80s movie Sixteen Candles, Michael Schoeffling was the man who played the hunkish Jake Ryan.

After a few years in the game, he quit acting altogether in 1991 due to the lack of opportunities. Moreover, Schoeffling was growing a family and had many mouths to feed. He needed money quickly, otherwise, things could’ve proved to have been very difficult. Since then, he has been the owner of a woodworking shop, creating his own furniture.

Mike Vitar had a handful of notable roles during the 90s, appearing in movies such as The Sandlot, as well as the two sequels to the hit movie The Mighty Ducks.

At the turn of century, Vitar tried his luck as a firefighter and has been a member of the Los Angeles Fire Department since 2002. The former actor ran into legal trouble in 2015, when he and a bunch of firefighters were charged with misdemeanor battery after assaulting someone. He didn’t contest the charges.

Arguably the most iconic custodian of a mustache in the history of pop culture, Tom Selleck is undoubtedly a TV superstar. Winning numerous awards and making an absolute fortune from his time on the hit show Magnum P.I., Selleck has taken it easy and spends much more time keeping busy at home, with rare exceptions, like acting in Blue Bloods.

Nowadays, he enjoys nothing more than quiet life on his 60-acre Californian ranch, where he manages his own avocado farm.

Canadian actor, Hayden Christensen, became a household name after he starred in Life as a House in 2001, and won international fame after appearing as Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise.

While Star Wars certainly gave Christensen the platform to pave his way in the entertainment world, the actor chose to buy a farm with some of his earnings. He worked on his own farm before starting his own clothing company and launching a production company.

Mara Wilson will be best recognized for her roles in the ’90s hits Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda, but the child star is now all grown up.

Mara found it difficult to win acting roles as she grew out of her “cute” phrase following the box-office hits, and decided to pursue other interests of hers. These days, Mara has been finding sporadic work as an actress, while spending most of her focus on her new profession as a writer.

The man behind one of the most iconic one hit wonders of all time is undoubtedly Vanilla Ice. Winning numerous awards for his hit single “Ice Ice Baby,” the man born as Robert Van Winkle has traded in his rap skills for real estate endeavors.

In 2009, Ice started a reality show called The Vanilla Ice Project, which focuses on home renovation. Every single episode deals with a different house. He even had a book published that teaches how to be successful in real estate. Finally, it seems his time in the spotlight has ended.

Richard Corey Harrison, mostly known as “Big Hoss”, is an American television personality you’ll probably recognize from Pawn Stars. Hoss underwent a massive weight transformation between 2010 and 2011, where his weight went from 365lb to 250 lb.

Most recently, Harrison divorced his wife in 2015 and announced his second marriage to Kiki Harrison in July 2017. Since 2016, Harrison has remained out of the spotlight, which may be because after asking his father and grandfather for a 10% partnership in their store he was only given 5%.

In the 70s and 80s, Swedish pop group ABBA was one of the biggest bands in the world. After the band’s breakup and her subsequent solo career, singer Agnetha Falskog stepped away from the music industry for a while — until 2004!

In her time off, she bought an isolated country house in Sweden to focus on the things that meant most to her. Falskog spent her time in Ekero studying astrology, doing yoga, and riding horses. She claims that she did not sing at all for a 13-year stretch, after which, she returned to music.

He played the young Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but this was to be Ostrum’s first and last role in Hollywood.

While his younger face may be recognized by millions who have watched the film and envied the character which he played, Hollywood was not the path Ostrum continued to follow. His focus turned to animals, and he now resides in New York state, where he works as a vet specializing in large animals.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas voiced the role of Simba in The Lion King and played Randy Taylor on ABC’s sitcom, Home Improvement during the 90’s.

After a successful seven years on the show, starring alongside Tim Allen, he decided to leave the show in 1998. Thomas decided to leave the show, as well as Hollywood altogether at this time so he could focus on his studies. With all his work and efforts, Jonathan went on to earn himself a degree at Columbia, after another stint at Harvard.