True enough, but so what? The thread isn’t only about actors who weren’t well known before they were on a successful series that they then left, it is about actors who left successful series.
McLean Stevenson, the poster boy for this thread, was well known for being on The Doris Day Show for three years before signing on to MAS*H, after all.
Bill Cosby left The Electric Company after a season or two.
He did pretty well. 
I’m sure that there was more than one reason for her depature. The bottom line, however, is that she didn’t simply leave. Rather, she was let go from the series (cite).
Coupling (UK) was dealt a blow when Richard Coyle (Jeff) left.
A couple of casualties from Ally McBeal:
[ul]
[li]Lisa Nicole Carson, Ally’s roommate, was allegedly fired (she was also fired from ER). Doesn’t look like she’s done much in show business since then.[/li][li]Gil Bellows, Ally’s ex, left the show to star in a CIA show called “The Agency”. He’s still finding work, but arguably not as well-known as he was in Ally McBeal.[/li][/ul]
Couple who haven’t done so well post departure:
Lisa Bonet (The Cosby Show)
Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Home Improvement)
But it was necessary for the wind-up of the series. If Jeff had remained, there would have been loose ends (and Jeff was not capable as a character of doing what Oliver did).
Harry Morgan left December Bride to go to the spinoff series Pete and Gladys. He continued to star in TV shows for years after that.
A successful ensemble show has a decent chance of survival when one cast member leaves. But how many examples are there of a series carrying on despite the loss of the star after whom the series was named?
Valerie Harper left Valerie after two seasons, but the show survived for a couple more years. (The name changed, of course, but the setting and most of the cast were the same.) Harper has continued to work, but hasn’t had quite as high a profile since.
???
MASH didn’t start until well after 1965, and I don’t think anyone knew or cared about Wayne Rogers then.
Did you mistype twice, and mean 1974-75?
Otherwise your post baffles me.
Well, yes, but originally they were going to get rid of Garrett Wang (Harry Kim). But he made People magazine’s People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People, so they decided to keep him. Since they only had contracts for nine actors, someone had to go. Lien was not still under contract, and had allergies to the glue used for her ears, and the producers decided it was easier to let her go than to fix it. No one knew until they got the script for the departure episode.
You’ll note that Wang’s character almost dies in the last episode of season 3. Yet, in season 4, he miraculously gets better (with Doc’s help, of course). You’ll also notice performers acting out of character in some season 4 episodes, since their part was originally written for Lien.
Just saw something about him a few weeks ago. He was originally panned for his decision to leave Kotter, his choices of work did very little to enhance his career. It wasn’t till he turned badass in Pulp Fiction that his career really took off.
Well, a pilot. Set in Chicago, so the kids are looking forward to seeing him film establishing shots. They seem to be Housing him and it could work.
Lola Glaudini left *Criminal Minds *after a season and 1/2. I don’t think she has done much since.
Vanessa Ferlito left *CSI:NY *after about the same. As I recall, she left because the series filmed in LA and she missed her boyfriend in New York.
Sasha Alexander has already been mentioned. I have wondered about her though…How does it feel to leave a show and then have it become a #1 hit?
Incidentally, I watch all 3 of these shows and wound up liking the replacement actress much better than the original…
That article was either a put-on or written by someone below the age of 25 with poor research skills.
Travolta had two consecutive megahits (Saturday Night Fever and Grease) around the time he left “Welcome Back Kotter”–a show that was imploding due to internal strife. It’s absurd to claim Travolta hurt his career by choosing to leave a show that was already on its last legs when he was one of the top box office draws in the world.
Rob Lowe, far from being an unknown whose career was made for him by being on West Wing, was already a name brand by then and apparently given the notion that he was to be its star. Rumor has it that he was not real happy when it mutated to become far more of an ensemble show than one with a main star or two, and that that’s why he left. It doesn’t seem to have done his career much good, and West Wing rolled on quite nicely in his absence.
I might be dreaming, but I seem to remember Patrick Duffy leaving Dallas. And then reappearing. Barbara Bel Geddes also left, came back with a different body and face, and then came back as the original.
How many actors/actresses have left Law and Order over the years?
Roseanne’s daughter (Lecy Goransen) left the show, another actress replaced her years (Sarah Chalke) later, then Lecy came back, and and then Sarah was back. George Clooney was also a semi-regular character on Roseanne in the first season.
The neighbor husband in Married W/ Children left, and then came back sporadically.
Didn’t Gordie leave the Mary Tyler Moore show leave and then come back as Florida’s husband? And then he died? Florida, who worked as maid for Maude where apparently she had a long commute from Chicago.
Delta Burke and Jean Smart left Designing Women. Julia Duffy replaced Delta, who then also left.
Jimmy Smits was in the first five seasons of L.A. Law. He was also Sonny Crockett’s original partner in Miami Vice.
I believe Delta Burke was fired from Designing Women, as was her replacement Julia Duffy.
You know, I always heard she was forced out of the show because of drug or alcohol problems. I already thought Voyager was a pretty crappy show and this just makes me think even less of it.
Right, i was aware of that. I was focusing on his career after he chose to leave NYPD Blue.
What show would that be? The only one I recognize on her list is Dawson’s Creek which was already popular.
Wow, Navy NCIS was more popular than I thought.