# Actors who surprise you by the brevity of their career **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772 "2011-06-24T22:58:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/61 "2011-06-26T16:10:48Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I’m actually surprised Topher Grace hasn’t gotten more roles since leaving That 70s Show. > > I don’t remember him in anything after Spiderman 3. > > Also, from way back, I remember every girl in middle school have a crush on the Jake Ryan character from 16 Candles and thought he’d go on to be the next Tom Cruise but he just disapeared. He’s had a string of disappointing romantic comedies and he had a fairly big role in the Predators remake/reboot in the last few years. But I don’t think he can be much of a leading man or movie headliner. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/62 "2011-06-26T16:41:21Z")
I always thought that Lorna Patterson, who played Randy in _Airplane!_. I see where she did work, at least semi-steady. But IMDB doesn’t have a credit for her since 1993. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/63 "2011-06-26T21:17:21Z")
(shrug) Like a lot of pretty actresses. Lorna Patterson married fairly well (to director Michael Lembeck) and got out of the rat race. Acting looks easy, but I suspect the days when you are working are long and stultifying, and the days when you aren’t leave you waiting for your agent to call about an audition, which is like a job interview for a short-term temp job that you probably won’t get. And with the market like it is for middleaged former ingenues can you blame her for bailing, getting married, and maybe do some real estate to keep busy? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/64 "2011-06-26T21:55:17Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Wasn’t he in a major car wreck that messed up his face? Kind of adds a certain resonance to his being cast as the Joker. But most anyone would count themselves blessed to have had his career as a voice actor; > **[Mark Hamill | Actor, Producer, Director](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000434/)** > > Known for: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/65 "2011-06-26T22:04:15Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > [Michelle Meyrink](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Meyrink) from Real Genius and Revenge of the Nerds. Gave up Hollywood and got into Zen Buddhism. She and her family are almost certainly better off for her career change, but as a fan I’m sorry she didn’t have a longer career in films. For that matter, I was always disappointed that Gabe Jerret (who played Mitch) was never really in anything much after that. Just bit parts off to the side with no real lines. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/66 "2011-06-26T23:55:05Z")
Jane Hitchcock. She was a model back in the sixties and seventies. She appeared in a couple of movies but apparently wasn’t really interested in acting. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/67 "2011-06-26T23:57:42Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [Mia Sara](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000214/) and [Claudia Wells]([http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920148/\](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0920148/%5C)) Why do you want people to link chase? Geez, it has to more work to look up the site, and link to it than just adding a one answer. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/68 "2011-06-27T00:05:44Z")
The first person I thought of was Ken Wahl. He was an undercover agent Vinnie Terranova in a tv show called Wiseguy. He dropped off the face of the earth; supposedly because of his life basically falling apart after a motorcycle accident. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/69 "2011-06-27T00:08:30Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > But most anyone would count themselves blessed to have had his career as a voice actor He had his accident before the end of filming Star Wars. The next two featured the reconstructed Mark Hamill, so he didn’t end up a Frankenstein’s monster. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/70 "2011-06-27T00:19:58Z")
If you go back to the silent film era of the 1920s, there are a lot of stars who disappeared: Harold Lloyd, Pola Negri, Clara Bow, Gilbert Roland. Major stars like Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Sr as well. They remained big but the pictures got smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/71 "2011-06-27T01:10:22Z")
Deborah Foreman. She was so cute and funny.0 ---
**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:** [June 27, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772/72 "2011-06-27T01:12:43Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > If you go back to the silent film era of the 1920s, there are a lot of stars who disappeared: Harold Lloyd We all should wash up as well: [Harold Lloyd Estate - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Lloyd_Estate) > [@](#): > > Major stars like Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Sr as well. They remained big but the pictures got smaller. Um, I can think of a few United Artists hits, and Pickford sold out for $1.5m in 1955 money. So she quit acting and became a producer. That’s where the REAL money is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-surprise-you-by-the-brevity-of-their-career/586772.md?page=3)