Alexandra Bastedo - best known for playing Sharon McReady in the secret agent show The Champions - has run an animal sanctuary for the last 25 years, although she still takes the occasional bit part on tv and appears on stage sometimes…
What is it with Animal Sanctuaries & actresses?
Linda Blair formally of The Exorcist also set one up and runs a charity.
http://lindablairworldheart.org/
Robert Blake, star of the movie In Cold Blood and the TV series Beretta planned to change careers and become a convicted murderer serving life in a California jail. Circumstances prevented this happening and instead he became a recluse.
From what I hear, she’s still turning heads, though.
I understood Tippi Hedren was forced out of acting by Alfred Hitchcock, in retaliation for refusing his advances while filming “The Birds”. He had enough connections to blackball her effectively.
John Kerr, who played Navy lawyer Lt. Joe Cable in “South Pacific”, was inspired by the character to go into a legal career himself. He didn’t get to marry France Nguyen, though.
She was written out of the show and didn’t leave of her own accord.
Andrea Thompson quit NYPD Blue to get into TV news.
Rick Lawless of Herman’s Head fame now manages part of a proposals group in a high tech company that I’m fairly intimate with.
Apparently the woman who played Blossom is back acting (looked this up the other day in response to this thread, can’t be arsed to find the name now), having taken time out to get a PhD (!) in Neurology (!).
Mayim Bialik (sp?) has appeared in several episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Lauren Tewes (Julie, on the Love Boat) is a cheese steward (whatever that means!)
She was under contract with him, but no longer wanted to work on his films. So he kept her on payroll for two years, refusing to lend her out to other production companies. By the time she got free of him, she was also turning down work from Universal, and she wasn’t hot stuff any more. I don’t think there was anything sexual or romantic about it–he just wanted to control her career, kind of like baseball owners in the reserve clause days.
She’s still in acting, working here and there. She also runs some kind of lion preserve.
Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t doing much acting these days (other than tourism commercials for our state), busy governing. Similarly, Jesse Ventura gave up show business for a time (he was the governor of Minnesota) but I guess he’s back on TV these days.
Harry Reems left the adult movie world in his past and became a real estate agent.
LA did finally convict a celeb of murder, Phil Spector, but it took them 2 tries.
Michael St. Gerard, who was gorgeous back in the day (pics), and is best known for starring in the original (non-musical) HAIRSPRAY and for playing Elvis in a couple of vehicles, left acting to become a youth minister in Harlem.