# Actors who suddenly stopped acting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954 "2008-07-10T05:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/1 "2008-07-10T05:57:56Z")
Track the careers of most actors and you typically find after their glory years a long cooling-off period of TV movies, voice-over work, or sitcom cameos. Which actors enjoyed notable success, were perhaps beloved or at least widely recognizable, still young, seemingly at the peak of their trajectory and then just suddenly stopped acting? For no obvious reason such as illness or legal trouble. I have a couple of random ones: **Quentin Dean** , a southern-accented actress, an attractive brunette, who appeared in _In the Heat of the Night_ and the westerns _Will Penny_ and _Stay Away, Joe_, plus some TV appearances, all in about a two-year span. And then nothing. **Joy Bang** , whose name always stands out in credits. Cute, sort of a jailbait look (she was older than she seemed), a very authentic presence. She was memorable in many big movies of the early '70s such as _Cisco Pike_ and _Play It Again, Sam_; lots of television roles. Then, after 1973, absolutely nothing. What others? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/2 "2008-07-10T05:59:40Z")
Bridget Fonda. She said “I do” to Danny Elfman and that was it. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/3 "2008-07-10T06:28:28Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Bridget Fonda. She said “I do” to Danny Elfman and that was it. [/QUOTE] Ditto [Phoebe Cates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Cates) upon marrying Kevin Kline. I suspect that the rate will be higher with female actors in this thread. Partly through wanting to raise children, and partly due to the probably lower shelf life for an actress’ career (e.g. only good till they’ve shown their tits a few times.) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/4 "2008-07-10T07:03:49Z")
[Rand Kingsley](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455545/) nearly gave up acting completely after appearing in _3 Ninjas_ as the villain Hugo Snyder. Since his debut in _3 Ninjas,_ which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor (!) he has appeared in only ONE movie, _The Gardener,_ and that was ten fucking years ago. I don’t know why he would abandon such a promising career, but there you have it. What caused his sudden downfall? Was it a debilitating drug addiction? A religious cult? Was he put in federal prison for tax fraud? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/5 "2008-07-10T07:24:38Z")
Rick Moranis, retired. Apparently, the HONEY, I SHRUNK movies did VERY well for him. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/6 "2008-07-10T07:24:51Z")
The canonical examples are Greta Garbo and Grace Kelly. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/7 "2008-07-10T07:27:44Z")
Child acrors could fill this catagory - likr the dude frin Willy Wonka ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/8 "2008-07-10T09:33:54Z")
Doris Day ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/9 "2008-07-10T09:49:07Z")
Jaye Davidson who played Ra in the film Stargate and Dil in The Crying Game. Was nominated for an oscar for the latter role but after Stargate quit acting and went back to working in fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/10 "2008-07-10T10:43:57Z")
According to various online sources, Joy Bang quit acting to become a nurse and now lives in Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/11 "2008-07-10T10:57:22Z")
I think Randolph Scott- although not young would be one who quit on his terms. He just said- it is no longer part of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/12 "2008-07-10T11:01:29Z")
A lot of the SNL crowd. Chris Farley, John Belushi, Phil Hartman. What? Seriously, the one I always think about is Sarah Holcomb from **Animal House** and **Caddyshack**. The drugs and partying caught up to her, and she developed mental problems. According to rumors she’s been living quietly and has mostly gotten her act together, but her celebrity days are over. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/13 "2008-07-10T12:57:16Z")
Robert Donat won a Best Actor Oscar in 1939 for \*Goodbye, Mr. Chips \* and largely was forced to retire after that because of asthma. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/14 "2008-07-10T13:52:11Z")
[QUOTE=audit1] Doris Day [/QUOTE] I was all ready to contradict you when I went to IMDB and saw you were right…Day hasn’t had an acting role since 1973 when her variety show went off the air. I think I was actually thinking of Debbie Reynolds, who _does_ keep her hand in with TV and movie roles. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/15 "2008-07-10T14:00:58Z")
[Christine Cavanaugh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Cavanaugh) , a very talented voice (Chucky on _Rugrats_; Babe in _Babe_) quit doing voice work and is living in obscurity. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/16 "2008-07-10T14:07:47Z")
I was going to say Melinda Dillon. I don’t think I’ve seen her in anything other than “Close Encounters” and “A Christmas Story”, but according to IMDB she’s still plugging away in movies and TV, just stuff I haven’t seen. So, um, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/17 "2008-07-10T14:26:33Z")
[Deanna Durbin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002052/), who was a huge star in the 30’s and 40’s, retired at age 28 and has lived a reclusive life ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/18 "2008-07-10T14:40:31Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Bridget Fonda. She said “I do” to Danny Elfman and that was it. [/QUOTE] I was going to say this one, but since you got there first, I’ll say Debra Winger instead. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/19 "2008-07-10T14:44:36Z")
Chris Tucker is the first one that comes to mind for me. His resume for the last 10 years is Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3. He’s stated that it isn’t because he can’t find work (on the contrary, he turns down work) but because he doesn’t enjoy the career and prefers to do stand up comedy, and will only make an exception to work with Jackie Chan. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/20 "2008-07-10T14:50:33Z")
There are two child actors I can think of: [Peter Ostrum](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0652578/), who played Charlie Bucket in **Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory**. Apparently just decided making movies wasn’t for him; now, apparently, he’s a large animal vet in the state of New York. And of course [Carrie Henn](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001343/), who played Newt in **Aliens**. Quit acting after that one role. Today she’s a schoolteacher. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954.md?page=2)