Stranger Things.
The Americans.
"San Junipero" . '80s nostalgia is back, and the cultural fixation on the decade that brought
us slap bracelets and the mixtape shows no signs of slowing down.
That decade launched the careers of some major stars, but there are quite a few from that
neon-drenched era who have seemingly disappeared into obscurity.
Some for personal reasons, others due to their marketability going the way of the Trapper
Keeper.
If you're wondering what happened to your favorite '80s stars while they were out of
the spotlight, watch on!
Phoebe Cates
The textbook definition of the '80s "girl next door," Phoebe Cates brought the cute
to such classics as Gremlins and Drop Dead Fred.
But it was her role in 1983's Fast Times at Ridgemont High that really made her a star.
Really, it was one scene that did the trick.
Cates married Kevin Kline in 1989, retired from acting in 1994, and now owns and operates
a high-end boutique on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
She caught the acting bug again for one last role when she appeared in 2001's The Anniversary
Party, which was co-directed by her best friend and Fast Times co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Emilio Estevez
As the jock at Saturday detention, Emilio Estevez shot to fame in 1985's The Breakfast
Club, forever placing him in the pantheon of teen cinema.
His next iconic role came six years later in The Mighty Ducks.
But since D3 came out in 1996, his acting career has floundered.
Unless you count an animated made-for-TV movie called Abominable Christmas as not floundering.
Lately, Estevez has made efforts behind the scenes as well, trying his hand at writing
and directing.
2006's Bobby dramatized the events leading up to Robert Kennedy's assassination.
In 2010's The Way, he directed and starred opposite his father, Martin Sheen.
And 2018's The Public, which he also directs and appears in, is about a group of homeless
people refusing to leave a library during a bout of winter weather.
Forgotten?
Maybe, but still very busy.
Rick Moranis
Comedy legend Rick Moranis starred in some of the most iconic '80s movies of all time:
Strange Brew, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs, Parenthood, and of course, Honey, I Shrunk
the Kids.
Not to mention, he totally stole the show in Ghostbusters.
"Do you want some coffee Mr Tully?
Do I?"
"Yes, have some"/"Yes, have some"
Moranis was successful enough that he could have chosen any project he wanted.
But in 1997, his wife Ann tragically passed away after a battle with breast cancer.
He turned his focus to raising their two young children and hasn't been seen on the big screen
since, save for a voice performance in 2003's Brother Bear and some small-screen voice roles.
In 2015, he told The Hollywood Reporter,
"I took a break, which turned into a longer break."
He isn't officially retired, though.
In 2018, he reprised the iconic role of Dark Helmet on The Goldbergs, and he's scheduled
to appear in Netflix's SCTV reunion documentary next year.
Jami Gertz
Chances are if you were alive in the '80s, you had a crush on Jami Gertz.
Whether you saw her in Square Pegs, Less Than Zero, or Sixteen Candles, she was the doe-eyed
brunette you wanted to ask to the dance.
Then came The Lost Boys, and you may have wanted to up that offer to a marriage proposal.
Gertz unfortunately kicked off the '90s by turning down the role of Monica on Friends.
She went on to play one of Jerry's girlfriends on Seinfeld, and then had a recurring role
on ER.
The 2000's welcomed a guest run on Ally McBeal and four seasons on the CBS sitcom Still Standing.
And in the 2010s, she put in two years on ABC's alien sitcom The Neighbors.
But Gertz doesn't need to worry about paying the bills, because in 2015, she became a minority
owner of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.
Rick Astley
Rick Astley's Number 1 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" dominated the radio in 1987.
When people tuned into MTV, they were surprised to discover that his soulful voice belonged
to a 20-year-old English redhead.
Six years and 40 million albums sold later, Astley temporarily retired from the music
business to focus on his family.
In 2018, he told the Sunday Express,
"Suddenly, I could have anything I wanted, and I was almost embarrassed by that.
It made me feel uncomfortable."
Astley quietly release a couple more albums in 2001 and 2003, but then in 2007, Rickrolling
introduced Astley to a whole new generation.
He remains a good sport about it, and he's officially returned to the business.
His 2016 album 50 hit Number 1 in the UK.
Alan Ruck
Forever known as Cameron Frye, the hypochondriac best friend in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Alan
Ruck has worked steadily over the years.
He managed to nab small roles in '90s blockbusters like Young Guns II, Speed, and Twister before
turning his sights to television.
He found a home on the political sitcom Spin City, where he appeared as a regular for 140
episodes.
It's been mostly TV ever since: Scrubs, Psych, Burn Notice, Ghost Whisperer, Stargate Atlantis,
Justified, Fringe, Hawaii Five-O, CSI, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Exorcist, and a whole lot
more.
Pick any show from the last 20 years, and chances are Ruck was in it.
"I'm dying"
"You're not dying you just can't think of anything good to do"
Ralph Macchio
Wax on, wax off.
Sweep the leg.
As the star of The Karate Kid, we assume Ralph Macchio can't go anywhere without someone
asking him to block a kick like Daniel LaRusso.
Macchio found success again in 1993 with My Cousin Vinny, and he appeared in several episodes
of Ugly Betty, but he never quite escaped his past as the Jersey boy turned California
karate master.
He reprised the role in the 2018 YouTube Red series Cobra Kai, where Daniel squares off
against Johnny Lawrence once again 30 years later.
Jennifer Grey
In the early and mid '80s, Jennifer Grey had a few notable credits, including the jealous
sister in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
But it wasn't until 1987 that she became a household name as Frances "Baby" Houseman
in Dirty Dancing.
The film was an astronomical success, but she was unable to enjoy her newfound stardom.
Two weeks before the film's release, Grey and her then-boyfriend, Matthew Broderick,
were involved in a head-on collision in Northern Ireland that ended the lives of a mother and
daughter.
In 2010, she told People,
"My head was never the same, my ambition was never the same."
In the early '90s, Grey underwent two rhinoplasty procedures that changed her appearance so
drastically that it derailed much of her career, though she's worked steadily since then, even
though she's harder to recognize.
In 2010, she won the 11th season of Dancing with the Stars, and she recently starred on
Amazon's '80s-set dramady Red Oaks.
As for her personal life, she's been married to Clark Gregg since 2001.