# Actors who left hit shows for "better opportunities" and disappeared **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693 "2013-02-18T14:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/101 "2013-02-19T09:13:12Z")
More Star Trek: Didn’t Denise Crosby leave TNG for “better opportunities”, or was that just a cover story? All I can remember of her after she left was that she showed up in the lead role of a very short-lived series that was set in the Florida Keys or the Bahamas or somewhere. Nothing after that, aside from a couple returning guest appearances on TNG. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/102 "2013-02-19T10:49:06Z")
Andy Richter gave up his spot as Conan O’Brien’s co-host in 2000 to pursue a film career, which ended up consisting of bit parts in comedies that nobody saw. He eventually got his old job back when Conan took over the Tonight Show and followed him to TBS. Paul Campbell, who played Billy Kekeiya in the 2000s Battlestar Galactica, left midway through season 2 to do other projects, and has since proceeded to co-star in the failed Knight Rider remake and do a whole lot of nothing otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/103 "2013-02-19T11:13:59Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Just stopping into thank ThelmaLou for quoting me in the OP. Makes me wanna scuff my toe and say “aw shucks”. You’re welcome. Thank _you_ for the inspiration. Didja get that royalty check yet? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/104 "2013-02-19T11:39:04Z")
Mischa Barton. She left The O.C. and hasn’t been in very much since. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/105 "2013-02-19T12:05:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What generally happens is an actor gets a hit series and thinks _“Finally, my career is taking off. I need to make my move now and take my career to the next level while I’m hot.”_ > > The problem is that for most of them, they don’t realize that being a regular on a hit series will be the peak of the career. The last thing they should be doing is rushing off in search of some illusionary higher peak. Yes, but the other problem is that for a few select people, it’s true. They do need to make a move. See Clooney. Or Travolta. How do you know if you’re a potential star if you never take that shot? I imagine it would be a very tough career decision. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/106 "2013-02-19T13:18:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Dennis Weaver as Chester Goode on _Gunsmoke._ He claimed he was glad to get out of the role when he did, but it was another ten years or so before he resurfaced as McCloud. he needed time off, his leg was bothering him. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/107 "2013-02-19T14:25:17Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Yes, but the other problem is that for a few select people, it’s true. They do need to make a move. See Clooney. Or Travolta. How do you know if you’re a potential star if you never take that shot? I imagine it would be a very tough career decision. This is important. No one can predict in advance how far he or she is going to get. Every one of them, with the advice of agents, has to try to time things just so. It’s simply a fact that most of them are going to fail, because there’s only so much room at the top. But how will they know unless they try? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/108 "2013-02-19T14:32:00Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Bill Murray was ready to beat the shit out of him when he guest hosted _SNL_. It almost happened while they were getting ready to go on the air. Murray’s greatest line, in angrily yelling at Chevy : “Medium talent.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/109 "2013-02-19T15:02:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Julianna Margulies left ER for greener pastures, never really found them and returned for the final season (I don’t know how many appearances). Minor trivia: if you remember the pilot episode of ER, her character had attempted suicide at the beginning of the episode. The original plan was for the character to have died. I think the deal was that the producers liked her, so they had the character survive. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/110 "2013-02-19T15:14:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Andy Richter gave up his spot as Conan O’Brien’s co-host in 2000 to pursue a film career, which ended up consisting of bit parts in comedies that nobody saw. He eventually got his old job back when Conan took over the Tonight Show and followed him to TBS. Richter was the lead in two or three sitcoms which were both really funny and really weird and so never won any ratings. That’s technically failing by Hollywood standards, but doing good material that turned out not to be popular isn’t a stupid move. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/111 "2013-02-19T15:17:24Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > More Star Trek: Didn’t Denise Crosby leave TNG for “better opportunities”, or was that just a cover story? The story I heard was that she was “let go” after pressing too hard to have her character developed more. Like Nichelle Nichols in _TOS_, she basically wanted more to do than just sit or stand at a console and say the same few lines every week. Nichelle, BTW, was on the verge of quitting herself but was talked out of it by none other than Martin Luther King. He convinced her that she was an important role model for young blacks. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/112 "2013-02-19T16:23:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Richter was the lead in two or three sitcoms which were both really funny and really weird and so never won any ratings. That’s technically failing by Hollywood standards, but doing good material that turned out not to be popular isn’t a stupid move. Andy Richter Controls the Universe was an amazing show. It really should have lasted longer. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/113 "2013-02-19T17:06:55Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > More Star Trek: Didn’t Denise Crosby leave TNG for “better opportunities”, or was that just a cover story? > [@terentii](#): > > The story I heard was that she was “let go” after pressing too hard to have her character developed more. Like Nichelle Nichols in _TOS_, she basically wanted more to do than just sit or stand at a console and say the same few lines every week Hmm. And then Worf was promoted to Tasha’s position, and his character was developed more. A good move, because Worf was a great character, but it makes me wonder if there wasn’t a certain amount of “rubbing it in” going on there. Wil Wheaton related the story about how he requested permission to take a role in movie, which would have required his being off the TNG set for a time. The producers denied him, explaining that Wesley Crusher was going to play an important role in the first couple episodes of the next season and so they needed him on-set. So Wheaton turned down the offered movie role, only to find himself written out of the first episode of the season. He described it as the producers’ way of letting him know who was in charge. OTOH, Roddenberry was still alive and involved when Crosby left the show, while Wheaton’s situation happened after Gene’s death, and Wheaton didn’t seem to think Gene would have pulled that kind of crap. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/114 "2013-02-19T17:14:41Z")
Geez, it sounds like the show was being run by Dickens characters. "Please, sir, may I do a movie? I mean, if you won’t be needing me anyway – Wesley can just be concentrating on his studies and be out of the picture for a while and NOT saving the ship and making the adults look foolish for a while – I mean, it’s not like my character is indispensable – " “NO! You little pipsqueak! Get back in line! How DARE you try to develop your career as a young, up-and-coming talent! We’ll SHOW you! Now we’ll MESS with your career, just to show you who’s BOSS!” :rolleyes: ☹ Poor Wil! I wonder what movie it was. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/115 "2013-02-19T17:56:45Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Andy Richter Controls the Universe was an amazing show. It really should have lasted longer. I also really like the series in which he was a tax accountant/private-eye. It was akin to the later Bored to Death, but withouth the hipster angst. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/116 "2013-02-19T18:04:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Minor trivia: if you remember the pilot episode of ER, her character had attempted suicide at the beginning of the episode. The original plan was for the character to have died. I think the deal was that the producers liked her, so they had the character survive. The same thing happened to the Ptl. Bobby Hill and Andy Renko characters on _Hill Street Blues_. They were shot at the end of the series premiere and were supposed to have been killed, but Bochco liked the characters too much to let them die. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Andy Richter Controls the Universe was an amazing show. It really should have lasted longer. Agreed. I really enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/117 "2013-02-19T18:06:32Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The story I heard was that she was “let go” after pressing too hard to have her character developed more. Like Nichelle Nichols in _TOS_, she basically wanted more to do than just sit or stand at a console and say the same few lines every week. There’s one on ensemble show; they become convinced that the show should revolve around their character, or that some vast expansion of their character would improve every single episode. And when it doesn’t become ST:Tasha Yar’s Adventures, they huff and bitch and screw up production and finally quit or get booted. The poster gal, IMHO, is Andrea Thompson, who was convinced she was the real star of B5 and huffed her way into getting erased. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/118 "2013-02-19T18:10:07Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Hmm. And then Worf was promoted to Tasha’s position, and his character was developed more. A good move, because Worf was a great character, but it makes me wonder if there wasn’t a certain amount of “rubbing it in” going on there. Wil Wheaton related the story about how he requested permission to take a role in movie, which would have required his being off the TNG set for a time. The producers denied him, explaining that Wesley Crusher was going to play an important role in the first couple episodes of the next season and so they needed him on-set. So Wheaton turned down the offered movie role, only to find himself written out of the first episode of the season. He described it as the producers’ way of letting him know who was in charge. > > OTOH, Roddenberry was still alive and involved when Crosby left the show, while Wheaton’s situation happened after Gene’s death, and Wheaton didn’t seem to think Gene would have pulled that kind of crap. George Takei missed several episodes in TOS because he was in John Wayne’s masterpiece on the Vietnam war “The Green Berets”. So perhaps a live Roddenberry would have let Wheaton miss a few episodes although the producers did give the people what they wanted by getting rid of Wesley (not by spacing him as I hoped). We have some people mention Farrah Fawcett. I wonder if the same could be said of her co-star Kate Jackson. Jackson was unhappy with the quaility of the scripts, she refused to wear a bikini, most of her scenes have her standing behind the bar because she was wearing jeans and she didn’t like Cheryl Ladd (Farrah and Jaclyn Smith she liked). She had been offered the role of Dustin Hoffman’s wife in “Kramer vs Kramer” and Aaron Spelling refused to let her go. Meryl Streep got the role and an Academy award nomination with it. Jackson did have some success several years later with a four season run on “Scarecrow and Mrs King”. Interestingly the ratings, which declined slightly when Farrah left, really went into the dump when Jackson left although the public was probably tiring of the bad scripts like Jackson was. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/119 "2013-02-19T18:32:22Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Actor’s continually undervalue that TV puts them in people’s homes every week. The big screen has the prestige and critical acclaim, but TV is a star-maker. Most of these actors mistimed their pivot or shouldn’t have pivoted in the first place. TV may be a star-maker but the type of fame it produces is like phosphorus; it may burn as hot and intense as movie fame but it also burns out more quickly. That’s why many actors who achieved stardom on TV shows seem to drop off the radar once their series ends. Movie fame, in contrast, is seen as longer-lasting and more substantial. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693/120 "2013-02-19T18:42:35Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > The poster gal, IMHO, is Andrea Thompson, who was convinced she was the real star of B5 and huffed her way into getting erased. And this on a show that not one year earlier had replaced its lead actor. Not smart. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-left-hit-shows-for-better-opportunities-and-disappeared/650693.md?page=7)