# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/21 "2008-07-10T14:59:04Z")
Michelle Meyrink (_Revenge of the Nerds_, _Real Genius_, _Nice Girls Don’t Explode_) reportedly felt Hollywood was too fast-paced and went on a three-month hiatus, which subsequently became permanent. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/22 "2008-07-10T14:59:13Z")
Chris Makepeace from _Meatballs_ and _My Bodyguard_. A few roles in the 80’s, four in the 90’s, and a pilot in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/23 "2008-07-10T14:59:22Z")
[Yvonne Lime](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0510768/) married producer Don Fedderson (“The Millionaire,” “My Three Sons,” “Family Affair”), and stopped waiting for calls from her agent. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/24 "2008-07-10T15:05:17Z")
[QUOTE=Cicero] 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. [/QUOTE] By the same token, Cary Grant’s acting career slowed down after 1960 and stopped completely in 1966–twenty years before his death. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/25 "2008-07-10T15:14:15Z")
**Gabe Kaplan** from _Welcome Back, Kotter_. From what I read on The Motley Fool, he invested wisely and didn’t have any uncontrollable habits. According to imdb, in 2007 he had his first film or tv appearance since 1984, so this may be a comeback of sorts. ETA: My mistake, he’s also a poker enthusiast, and so has been providing commentary at a number of celebrity poker tournaments. ---
**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, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/26 "2008-07-10T15:19:17Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] ETA: My mistake, he’s also a poker enthusiast, and so has been providing commentary at a number of celebrity poker tournaments. [/QUOTE] “Did I ever tell you about my great-uncle Eugene, who lost his house playing poker with Al Capone?” ---
**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:** [July 10, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/27 "2008-07-10T16:56:59Z")
Jimmy Cagney didn’t appear on screen from 1961 through 1981 (from _One, Two, Three_ to his final appearance, in _Ragtime_). Acc. to Wiki, he had health problems, was learning to paint, and just liked puttering around on his farm in upstate New York. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/28 "2008-07-10T17:18:39Z")
I was gonna say [Claudia Wells](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920148/), but IMDb says she’s in something new. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/29 "2008-07-10T17:35:54Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] [Yvonne Lime](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0510768/) married producer Don Fedderson (“The Millionaire,” “My Three Sons,” “Family Affair”), and stopped waiting for calls from her agent. [/QUOTE] That’s what you call a “good career move.” I usually assume that actresses I haven’t seen lately have at least partially retired because they have married well. Even a woman who is past her prime as far as the silver screen is concerned can make fine and impressive arm candy for some rich old goat to show off at the country club. That’s a happier assumption than “she ODed in a gas station bathroom.” I can fully understand why someone, especially someone who has invested wisely or married someone with money or a good job, would quit acting. It seems glamorous if you do not look at it too closely but close up it seems to be a really miserable job with long hours, long stretches away from ones family, seemingly endless repetion, and the constant threat of rejection, either at the box office/TV network or when trying out for a new role. I think of acting as long stretches of unemployment and unsuccessful job interviews punctuated by an occasional really boring job. It can even make trading on ones fame to sell more real estate or insurance sound attractive. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/30 "2008-07-10T17:46:00Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] [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 (!) [/QUOTE] :dubious: I assume you’re making some kind of Whoosh-joke here… ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/31 "2008-07-10T17:49:29Z")
I would have to go with Leonard Whiting (played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in 1968). He won the Golden Globe for that and had a few very minor films but basically quit acting. I suppose that that film has been watched by more people than almost any other so I guess he was forever destined to compete with himself. But porbably more people have seen his bare butt than anyone else (with the possible exception of the Coppertone ad girl) in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/32 "2008-07-10T18:00:08Z")
[Ilan Mitchell-Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilan_Mitchell-Smith), best known for playing Wyatt to Michael Anthony Hall’s Gary in **Weird Science** left acting in 1991, eventually earned a Ph.D from Texas A&M, and is now professor in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/33 "2008-07-10T18:05:26Z")
Whose the kid who played **Ralphie** in A Christmas Story? He did nothing for years then I just saw him in Break-up with Vince Vaughn and Jenn Anniston. When I saw him I said to my wife: Holy shit that’s Ralphie! ---
**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, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/34 "2008-07-10T18:12:14Z")
Good Career Move would be like Jennifer Jones, who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1944 for _Song of Bernadette_. She married David O. Selznick, and after he died she made only two more movies (she made only two dozen all told anyway). ---
**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, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/35 "2008-07-10T18:20:13Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Whose the kid who played **Ralphie** in A Christmas Story? He did nothing for years then I just saw him in Break-up with Vince Vaughn and Jenn Anniston. When I saw him I said to my wife: Holy shit that’s Ralphie! [/QUOTE] Peter Billingsley. And he (along with the aforementioned Anthony Michael Hall) sure did grow up nicely! He was in _The Breakup_ because he’s fairly good friends with Vince Vaughn. He’s been involved mostly on the other side of the camera, as a director and producer, although he HAS been acting occasionally, as well. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/36 "2008-07-10T18:29:03Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] Child acrors could fill this catagory - likr the dude frin Willy Wonka [/QUOTE] Peter Ostrum. I watched a show about child stars recently and learned that he is now a veterinarian. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/37 "2008-07-10T18:32:57Z")
“Star” may be a bit of a stretch, but I recently saw on CNN that [Isaak Lidskey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0509240/), of “Saved by the Bell 2” is now [clerking for Sandra Day O’Connor.](http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/20/blind.law.clerk/) Even more impressively, he’s the first legally blind law clerk in Supreme Court history. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/38 "2008-07-10T19:11:48Z")
Except for a few predictable cartoon voiceover roles, Burt Ward pretty much stopped acting for years after the Batman TV series ended. Of course, there was a reason for that. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/39 "2008-07-10T19:20:02Z")
Jennifer Runyon – probably most famous for her small part in _Ghostbusters_ as the favored subject of one of Bill Murray’s psychic experiments. Or for being on _Charles in Charge_ 1.0. I had a huge crush on her in my early adolescence. Per IMDB, she [hasn’t worked since '93](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0001690/), when she did _Carnosaur_. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/40 "2008-07-10T19:53:11Z")
Kaki Hunter who played Wendy in the Porkys trilogy. According to IMDB, she had a bit part in 1991, but essentially quit Hollywood after those movies and now lives in Utah building what look suspiciously like hobbit dwellings. [Earthbag Buildings.](http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3842) I gotta admit it looks like a pretty cool idea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954.md?page=3)