# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**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 15, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/81 "2008-07-15T20:27:46Z")
Jack Lord. During the last season of “Hawaii Five-O,” he produced a pilot for a series that was not picked up (“M Station: Hawaii”). When Five-O ended, he called it a career, and retired. He was set for life, not just for 12 years of a hit series, but he owned a piece of the show. Interestingly, I read somewhere that he was one of the people up for the role of “Captain Kirk,” and wanted a piece of “Star Trek,” if he got the job. According to that same article, Roddenberry didn’t think too much of that. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/82 "2008-07-15T20:30:52Z")
Gene Hackman is 78. That’s plenty old enough to just plain retire. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/83 "2008-07-15T20:32:31Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Damon has only made one movie with Scorsese (_The Departed_), which Pesci wasn’t in. You may be thinking of _The Good Shepherd_, directed by Scorsese-regular Robert DeNiro but which Marty himself had nothing to do with. [/QUOTE] [Ed McMahon]You are _correct_ sir![/Ed McMahon] Sorry about that. Anyway, he did it strictly as a favor to DeNiro. Like Rick Moranis, he decided to concentrate on his singing (though nobody else seems to have concentrated on it). [Vincent Laguardia Gambini Sings Just for You](http://www.amazon.com/Vincent-Laguardia-Gambini-Sings-Just/dp/B00000DCHN/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1216153842&sr=8-1) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/84 "2008-07-15T20:43:08Z")
Most of the cast of _Head of the Class_ seems to have stopped acting (or it quit them, one or the other). Tony O’Dell- the cute snobby one- is now a massage therapist according to one source, while Dennis (the fat sloppy computer nerd) moved behind the camera and produces/directs some hit shows for the Disney channel. The redhead, Khrystine Haje (even _I_ had a crush on her) still turns up occasionally (probably as a hobby since she never was that great as an actress and [according to a “where are they now?” article some years ago] she’s independently wealthy from really good high-tech investments with her HotC paychecks). ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/85 "2008-07-15T21:00:20Z")
[QUOTE=bauble] What about Jan Smithers? I can’t remember the last time I saw her in anything. [/QUOTE] She was my nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/86 "2008-07-15T21:59:39Z")
That’s Hackman’s voice on Home Depot commercials, isn’t it? ---
**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 15, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/87 "2008-07-15T22:10:30Z")
I was about to say [Cary Elwes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000144/) who played Wesley in the Princess Bride, but then I looked at his IMDB entry and realised he’s been in a shit load of films and TV shows, including ones I’ve seen. I never realised he was the same guy who played Jerry in Liar Liar. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/88 "2008-07-15T23:34:59Z")
[Ken Wahl](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906261/) walked away due to illness, then addiciton. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/89 "2008-07-16T00:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Most of the cast of _Head of the Class_ seems to have stopped acting (or it quit them, one or the other). Tony O’Dell- the cute snobby one- is now a massage therapist according to one source, while Dennis (the fat sloppy computer nerd) moved behind the camera and produces/directs some hit shows for the Disney channel. The redhead, Khrystine Haje (even _I_ had a crush on her) still turns up occasionally (probably as a hobby since she never was that great as an actress and [according to a “where are they now?” article some years ago] she’s independently wealthy from really good high-tech investments with her HotC paychecks). [/QUOTE] The one who has done really well behind the camera is Brian Robbins, who played Eric. According to [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005367/) the shows that he has produced or exec produced include One Tree Hill and Smallville, in addition to some movies like Wild Hogs. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/90 "2008-07-16T04:10:23Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] Source: [Gene Hackman - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman) [/QUOTE] that explains it, cuz I was wondering where the hell he went. I know he does Lowes voice overs though… ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/91 "2008-07-16T07:15:07Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I can’t believe that this is post 52 and nobody’s mentioned Joe Pesci. [/QUOTE] He didn’t stop, he paused. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/92 "2008-07-16T07:33:02Z")
Oops, left something out of that last post. [Pesci’s new movie.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1125929/) [QUOTE=Krokodil] Arnold Schwarzenegger. Took a bit of a pay cut, I’m told. Wayne Rogers Lisa Gerritsen [/QUOTE] Taking a break for a few years is not really the same as giving up acting. Schwarzenegger had a leading role in 2003 (Terminator 3), a minor role as recently as 2004 (Around the World in 80 Days), and will be able to devote a lot more time to his film career soon if he so chooses. He might never star in another blockbuster, but he’ll probably be in demand for celebrity cameos for the rest of his life, and he seems to enjoy it. Wayne Rogers appears not to have gone more than two years between movies from 1959 to 2003, when he turned 70. That includes periods when he was a regular on TV series. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/93 "2008-07-16T13:32:16Z")
[Dolores Hart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Hart) who left show business to become a nun after starring with Elvis. ---
**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 16, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/94 "2008-07-16T14:15:34Z")
[QUOTE=TWDuke] Wayne Rogers appears not to have gone more than two years between movies from 1959 to 2003, when he turned 70. That includes periods when he was a regular on TV series. [/QUOTE] And may do more with the market going down: [http://tipstraders.com/tipster.php?tp=567](http://tipstraders.com/tipster.php?tp=567) ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/95 "2008-07-16T14:29:01Z")
[QUOTE=pepperlandgirl] He still acts, though. He was on **Numb3rs** last season, and while he seems to be more sanguine over whether or not he gets a part, he does still go to auditions and readings. [/QUOTE] And I’ve seen him on those VH1 shows before where celebs, comedians, and media personalities talk about 70s/80s/90s/00s, other celebs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/96 "2008-07-16T16:16:29Z")
[QUOTE=myskepticsight] And I’ve seen him on those VH1 shows before where celebs, comedians, and media personalities talk about 70s/80s/90s/00s, other celebs, etc. [/QUOTE] But to be fair (to me ;)), that’s not really _acting_. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/97 "2008-07-16T21:22:00Z")
[QUOTE=Roderick Femm] He would only work in England\*, though, so many of them weren’t popular here. \*His last film was Inn of the Sixth Happiness, which might have been filmed at least partly outside of England. [/QUOTE] Though _The Inn of the Sixth Happiness_ notoriously used [Wales as a substitute for China](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051776/locations). Not England, but not abroad either. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954/98 "2008-07-16T22:56:42Z")
I was going to say McLean Stevenson, but looking at his IMDB page he was working last in 1993, and died in 1996, so I guess he has a good reason for not doing anything more recently. (He’s another guy whose IMDB list is surprisingly long!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-suddenly-stopped-acting/455954.md?page=4)