# Movie/TV stars who stepped away from the limelight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2021, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997 "2021-08-17T09:58:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/1 "2021-08-17T09:58:38Z")
Are there any movie/TV stars that said something like “I’ve made enough money for a lifetime, now I will go back to working in theater.” or something like that? I understand that in order to make it in the entertainment business, you need to be quite driven, so it is probably quite difficult to give up fame and fortune and adulation. The only one I can think of who stepped away was Rick Moranis, in order to look after his kids. (But I think he has a movie coming out soon…) ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/2 "2021-08-17T10:01:09Z")
Cameron Diaz has retired from acting, to name one very successful actor. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/3 "2021-08-17T10:26:16Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > The only one I can think of who stepped away was Rick Moranis, in order to look after his kids. Not quite “made enough money for a lifetime”, but how about a Rick Moranis costar? > **[Amy O'Neill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_O'Neill)** > > Amy O'Neill is an American actress and producer. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on The Young and the Restless in 1986, she was cast in her notable role as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award. She reprised her role as Amy Szalinski in the 1992 sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and appeared as Lisa Barnes in Where's Rodney? > O'Neill was born in Pacific Palisades, California, the daughter... ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/4 "2021-08-17T11:55:32Z")
Phoebe Cates is one that comes to mind. Not quite an A-list actor but she worked steadily through he 80s and 90s, then mostly stopped acting by the mid / late 90s, supposedly to focus on raising her two children. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/5 "2021-08-17T12:05:31Z")
**Bridget Fonda**. She hasn’t appeared in anything since about 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/6 "2021-08-17T12:10:28Z")
[Deanna Durbin](https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr9DuDnpBthRDIAWthXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1629230439/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fDeanna_Durbin/RK=2/RS=3nZ5MJKYr3xLxE8PWlwTeIAYLnc-) A major star for 20 years. More talented than Elizabeth Taylor. In 1949 she walked away and never looked back. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2021, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/7 "2021-08-17T12:12:28Z")
Gene Hackman and Sean Connery both retired from show biz. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/8 "2021-08-17T12:13:03Z")
[Kim Greist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Greist) stopped acting in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/9 "2021-08-17T12:13:07Z")
Very interesting. I guess we might also include Greta Garbo. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/10 "2021-08-17T12:14:59Z")
Was not aware that Diaz had retired. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/11 "2021-08-17T12:15:43Z")
So she ran away to join the circus? How cool is that? ---
**Author:** ![essaychess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2bfe46/32.png) [@essaychess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essaychess)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/12 "2021-08-17T12:36:34Z")
Dolores Hart, who starred in _Where The Boys Are_, retired from acting to become a nun. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/13 "2021-08-17T12:48:24Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Gene Hackman and Sean Connery both retired from show biz. Jack Nicholson too, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/14 "2021-08-17T12:55:18Z")
I’m not sure they count, as all were well into the usual retirement age. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/15 "2021-08-17T14:29:38Z")
James Cagney retired from acting in 1961, though he did come back to appear in _Ragtime_ in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/16 "2021-08-17T14:38:27Z")
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was in a number of big films in the late '80s and '90s, but film career essentially ended after 2000’s _The Perfect Storm_. Since then, she’s done some TV and stage work. I don’t know how much of that was a conscious choice on her part (she does have two sons), versus movie roles becoming rarer for her once she reached her 40s. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/17 "2021-08-17T15:37:06Z")
Meg Tilly was a big star in the 80s and early 90s. After 1995 she quit acting for 15 years, and when she finally came back, it was only rarely. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/18 "2021-08-17T15:37:36Z")
Maybe you should have a separate category for actors who started out as child actors and then stopped as young adults. Into which category I submit Angus T. Jones, from Two and a Half Men. He had one sitcom appearance after that, and nothing since 2016. Interesting quote from him on IMDB. Apparently he thought TaaHM was filth and didn’t want to be on it (no idea how old he was when he said or wrote that, but probably near the end of the run). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/19 "2021-08-17T15:54:32Z")
Jack Gleeson, the actor who played Joffrey in Game of Thrones, has claimed he is done with acting because he found playing the character and the audience reaction to him for it to be so unpleasant. Dan Stevens quit ‘Downton Abbey’, ostensibly because he disliked film and TV work and wanted to return to the stage. But since then he’s been in all kinds of stuff, so either he thought twice about it or was offered too much money, or it was We probably need a separate category for actors like Mira Sorvino, who ‘retired’ from Hollywood because she wouldn’t do Harvey Weinstein and he had her black-balled. I think there are a few of those… There are also actors who ‘retired’ but in actuality they were simply unable to get meaningful work. It sounds better to say you retired than that the only acting gig you can get is for a commercial for local car dealer, Greta Garbo retired at 36. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997/20 "2021-08-17T16:24:28Z")
[Theda Bara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theda_Bara). > [@](#): > > **Theda Bara** ([/ˈθiːdə ˈbærə/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [_THEE-də BARE-ə_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key);[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theda_Bara#cite_note-1) born **Theodosia Burr Goodman** ; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American [silent film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_film) and stage actress.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theda_Bara#cite_note-obit-2) > > Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema’s early [sex symbols](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_symbol). Her [femme fatale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_fatale) roles earned her the nickname “The Vamp” (short for vampire, a seductive woman),[[a]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theda_Bara#cite_note-5) later fueling the rising popularity in “vamp” roles that encapsulated exoticism and sexual domination.[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theda_Bara#cite_note-6) The studios promoted a fictitious persona for Bara as an Egyptian-born woman interested in the occult. Bara made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, but most were [lost](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_film) in the [1937 Fox vault fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Fox_vault_fire). After her marriage to [Charles Brabin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Brabin) in 1921, she made two more feature films and then retired from acting in 1926, never appearing in a sound film. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-stars-who-stepped-away-from-the-limelight/948997.md?page=2)