Regarding Donnie Wahlberg…
His music career hasn’t really gone anywhere, but his acting has. He’s been in Blue Bloods for 6 years now. And while it was 15 years ago, he had a major role in one of the greatest works of tv/film ever - Band of Brothers (he played Carwood Lipton).
He & his brothers are now also enjoying success in the restaurant industry, operating Wahlburgers.
In 1989 she portrayed murderer Diane Downs in Ann Rule’s Small Sacrifices. IIRC she received widespread acclaim for her acting in that movie.
Steve Martin is an accomplished banjoist who sometimes collaborates with the band Steep Canyon Rangers. In 2011 they won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.
Here he is sitting in with Earl, Gary, & Robert Scruggs, Marty Stuart, Leon Russell, Paul Schaffer, Albert Lee, Jerry Douglass, Glen Worf & Harry Stinson:
[QUOTE=Crafter_Man]
I had a crush on Kate Jackson
[/quote]
I certainly did, but it wasn’t because of Charlie’s Angels. She hooked me in The Rookies.
He was on TMZ last week, getting arrested for causing a disturbance at an airport TSA checkpoint (I guess he thought he could kick 100% of their asses).
She married Kevin Kline & has been mostly a stay-at-home mother.
I don’t think Doritos would be around today if it weren’t for Avery Schrieber.
[quote=“Hocus_Pocus, post:243, topic:772761”]
Steve Martin is an accomplished banjoist who sometimes collaborates with the band Steep Canyon Rangers. In 2011 they won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.
Here he is sitting in with Earl, Gary, & Robert Scruggs, Marty Stuart, Leon Russell, Paul Schaffer, Albert Lee, Jerry Douglass, Glen Worf & Harry Stinson:
[/QUOTE]Most definitely is. And I left off Vince Gill.
Michael Dudikoff looked like he was following the Chuck Norris martial arts movie star trajectory in the mid to late 1980s. Then, nothing.
Shannon Elizabeth looked like she was going to be a breakout star after American Pie, but all that happened were some underachieving roles, a spot on Dancing With The Stars, then…not much.
Similarly, Mya was looking like she’d be an R&B star with staying power, then not much until a Dancing With the Stars appearance, then…also not much.
Oops, almost forgot to post the big gun!
It’s hard to overstate just how big Werner Erhard and his est (Erhard Seminars Training) program was in the mid-70s. And yet, I’d be surprised if more than a handful of people under 45 have ever heard of him or it. (It looks like the current TV show The Americans had a plotline about it, so at least some might know. If not for that reference, forget it!)
I’ve been to a Wahlburgers. Meh.
Surprisingly, he was only on 12 episodes of “My Mother the Car” as Captain Manczini, who was constantly trying to buy the 1928 Porter and mispronouncing Dave Crabtree’s name
So he was in 40% of the episodes. 
Patricia Hearst
-She ended up marrying a bodyguard and quietly raised two daughters. One being a haute couture model Lydia Hearst who is now married to Chris Hardwick who now hosts Talking Dead on AMC amongst founding Nerdist.com and hosting game shows.
If anyone didn’t know, Rick Moranis went into near retirement after the death of his wife as he was raising their young children on his own.
One random kid star well the one who played Cousin Oliver on Brady Bunch I mentioned about looking up a cartoon I watched as a little frond, Kidd Video and didn’t connect that the Whizkid there was the same actor ten years later. Robbie Rist ended up doing lotsa voiceover work and doing music for projects such as, Sharknado.
I watched the end of As the World Turns in 2010, and noticed most of the cast is largely unemployed sadly. One of their biggest stars was Jennifer Landon, (daughter of Michael) who won 3 Emmys for her role there. She somehow had not landed any big tv/film roles, but not a total loss as she did inherit 10 million dollars from late father’s will. She was ten when he passed.
Cybill Shepherd
Daryl Hannah
I wonder if this thread wouldn’t be better the other way around; would it be easier to list celebrities from 30 years ago who haven’t disappeared from the public eye? Somebody get a 1986 TV Guide, the one with the preview of all the new fall shows, and see how many actors and actresses from it are still recognizable names.
And if we’re allowed to nominated things that used to be famous:
TV Guide
New fall shows
Mike Tyson—actually also does voiceover work for Adult Swim 's Mike Tyson Mysteries, a sendup of Scooby Doo.
So watching Sunday Night Football, randomly aired INXS’s New Sensation music. Whoa. I know Michael Hutchence died, but their appeal had been waning with the rise of Alternative rock. Then I thought about his Ex Helena Christensen, and the short careers of supermodels, with most of them retiring or semi-retiring once they start having children, or when they reached their thirties.
I see Gigi Hadid all over the covers/online, and once upon a time a starlet named Bridget Hall had that many deals and covers and press. After modeling and dating celebs, she quietly retired to the Hamptons.
She had special billing in Netflix’s Sens8 a couple of years ago in a limited but recurring role. When I saw her name on the credits I was like, wow, hadn’t thought of her in ages…
A twenty-something local TV news reporter completely mangled the pronunciation of Zsa Zsa Gabor’s name yesterday evening. She must not have heard of her.
That’s what I see as the big difference between now and when I was young. It used to be that people were famous for 50-70 years. I grew up watching people on TV that started out in vaudeville, moved to movies, went to radio then finally television, including those you mention, Berle, Bing, Hope, Benny, Burns and Allen, etc. There were literally a hundred or more names that pretty much anyone in the country would recognize in an instant and who had been around since your parents were kids. That would be like somebody who started in the 50s still being at the top of their fame today.
There really isn’t that kind of “old guard” any more. Some people maintain fame for 10, maybe 20 years. But I have a hard time thinking of more than a few who have pushed past that and stayed relevant who came to prominence in the last 40 years.