# People who made a big splash, then either quit or died. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108 "2012-04-27T06:35:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/61 "2012-04-28T05:43:01Z")
Jack the Ripper. He was on quite a tear and just walked away for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/62 "2012-04-28T12:09:54Z")
Guess we should mention Jon-Benet Ramsey. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/63 "2012-04-28T12:16:39Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > Then walked off stage, never to return until her death in 1946. That seems like an odd time to return. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/64 "2012-04-28T12:41:31Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Guess we should mention Jon-Benet Ramsey. That is SO evil, Thanks for the laugh. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/65 "2012-04-28T15:24:36Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > šŸ†’ > > Just for that, [here](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/19/MNGENASPH31.DTL) is an exceedingly literal-minded link to some people who made a big splash and then died. see post #6 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/66 "2012-04-28T19:30:09Z")
Richard Farina.I have a hunch that had he lived, Bob Dylan would be but a musical footnote. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/67 "2012-04-28T20:31:27Z")
Bruce Lee and 20 years later his son Brandon ---
**Author:** ![wellanuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wellanuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wellanuff)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/68 "2012-04-29T00:54:21Z")
Phoebe Cates, whom Kevin Kline has kept all to himself. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/69 "2012-04-29T02:53:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Jesus > Iā€™m not a fan but I think you could say he made a big slash then died young. Iā€™m pretty sure he didnā€™t make a splash at all, if you believe the New Testamentā€¦ My vote is for Janis Joplin, but itā€™s probably for the best. Iā€™d hate to see her on the casino circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/70 "2012-04-29T06:15:54Z")
Charmian Carr, who played Liesl in _The Sound of Music_, the oldest daughter and the most prominent. It was her first movie, but she got her own song (ā€œSixteen Going on Seventeenā€). She was nominated for a Laurel award as one of the great ā€œnew faces.ā€ It was also her last movieā€”at age 22. Then she got married, made babies, started an interior decorating business, and that was that. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/71 "2012-04-29T06:44:01Z")
Grace Kelly started her acting carreer at age 20, then at age 26 became a princess and never acted again. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/72 "2012-04-29T10:01:15Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Okay. So, has anybody died, quit, and then made a big splash in that order? šŸ™‚ > > My money is on some military genius in the British military and it involves some paperworkā€¦ [Glyndwr Michael](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyndwr_Michael), the star of [Operation Mincemeat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat). šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/73 "2012-04-29T13:37:33Z")
[Grigori Perelman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman). While he did more than just one thing, he became famous for proving the Poincare Conjecture, and then quit mathematics. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/74 "2012-04-29T14:13:10Z")
Not to forget: Lee Harvey Oswald ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/75 "2012-04-29T22:28:19Z")
Sarah Holcomb was in Animal House and Caddyshack. Rumor has it she got into drugs and quit acting to get clean. > **[Sarah Holcomb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Holcomb)** > > Sarah Holcomb is an American former actress. Her first role was in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) as Clorette DePasto, the 13-year-old daughter of shady Mayor Carmine DePasto; Holcomb was age 19 when filming began in October, 1977.\[citation needed\] > Following Animal House, she had roles in other films, including Caddyshack, released in 1980. She was cast in Jaws 2 (1978), but was one of several teenage actors let go as that film went through many script revisions early in production. > A... This movie is based on her life > **[Stateside (2004) ā­ 5.8 | Drama, Music, Romance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0339727/)** > > 1h 37m | R ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/76 "2012-04-30T01:07:01Z")
Cincinatus seems like a good example. (Wikipedia quote: " When his son was convicted and condemned to death, Cincinnatus was forced to live in humble circumstances, working on his own small farm, until an invasion caused him to be called to serve Rome as dictator, an office which he immediately resigned after completing his task of defeating the rivaling tribes of the Aequians, Sabines, and Volscians. ") Possibly Alexander the Great would count? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/77 "2012-04-30T02:17:19Z")
Jack Batty, didnā€™t Anne Frank become famous after she died? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/78 "2012-04-30T02:42:26Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I donā€™t know if Rick Moranis counts as ā€œmaking a big splashā€, but he quit his acting career when his wife died of cancer, because he felt it was more important for his kids to have a full-time parent, which I think was a gutsy decision. I definitely think it counts. He was a bankable actor when he walked away. He shows up on ā€œWhere are they now?ā€ lists and heā€™s one of very few actors on such lists for whom the answer is ā€œwhere heā€™d rather be.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/79 "2012-04-30T04:03:41Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > My vote is for Janis Joplin, but itā€™s probably for the best. Yeah, Janis in Branson is not a pretty picture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108.md?page=3)