For every A-list celebrity, there are countless aspiring actors and actresses hoping to make
it big in Hollywood.
But the truth is, not everyone in Tinseltown wants to be there.
In fact, some celebrities have decided to leave the acting world behind to pursue more
traditional career paths.
Watch till the end to discover some of the celebrities who turned down the spotlight.
Phoebe Cates Kline Phoebe Cates Kline is one of those celebrities
who gave up acting to work a normal job.
She was born in New York City and started her career as a child model, appearing in
magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.
She made her film debut in 1981's Paradise, which led to roles in films like Fast Times
at Ridgemont High and Gremlins.
In 1994, Cates retired from acting at the age of 29.
She cited the fact that she "never really loved" acting as her reason for leaving the
business.
After her retirement, she opened a boutique called Blue Tree in New York City with her
husband, actor Kevin Kline.
These days, Cates is focused on her family and occasionally makes public appearances,
but for the most part, she's out of the spotlight.
Jack Gleeson Jack Gleeson is best known for his role as
Joffrey Baratheon on HBO's Game of Thrones.
He was just 21 years old when he was cast in the role, which made him one of the youngest
actors on the show.
Gleeson announced in 2014 that he was retiring from acting, after saying that it had "lost
its allure" for him.
He explained that he had been thinking about giving up acting for a while, and that Game
of Thrones was his "last hurrah."
Since then, Gleeson has gone on to study at Trinity College Dublin and graduated with
a degree in philosophy in 2019.
He has also co-founded Collapsing Horse, an Irish theater company.
Peter Ostrum Peter Ostrum is best known for his role as
Charlie Bucket in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
After starring in the film, he decided to leave acting to pursue a career in veterinary
medicine.
Ostrum was just 12 years old when he was cast in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
He beat out hundreds of other child actors to win the role.
After the film's release, he received numerous offers to continue acting, but he decided
to turn them all down.
In an interview, Ostrum explained that he enjoyed acting but didn't want it to be his
full-time job.
He also didn't want to move to Los Angeles, where most of the offers were coming from.
Instead, he chose to return to his home state of New York and pursue a career in veterinary
medicine.
Ostrum graduated from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984.
He then went on to work at a small animal hospital in upstate New York.
He later opened his own practice, which he still runs today.
Geoffrey Owens Geoffrey Owens is an actor best known for
his role as Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby Show.
In 2018, Owens made headlines when photos of him working at a New Jersey Trader Joe's
were published online.
Owens said that he had been working at the store for about 10 months and that he was
happy to have a job.
He also said that he didn't think there was anything wrong with working at a grocery store.
After the story made national news, Owens received support from many people, including
Tyler Perry, who offered him a 10-episode role on "The Haves and the Have Nots."
In an interview with Good Morning America, he claimed that after more than 30 years of
teaching, acting, and directing, he reached a point where it simply didn't quite add up
and he chose to explore other things.
Willa Ford Willa Ford is an actress and singer who is
best known for her 2001 smash "I Wanna Be Bad," which peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard
Hot 1000.
She also starred as the titular character in the movie "Anna Nicole"
According to Ford's interview with Refinery29, she first became interested in interior design
after she relocated to a new home following her divorce.
She subsequently began assisting friends in the process and decided to pursue that profession.
Later, she founded W Ford Interiors, and collaborated on a home improvement show with Scott Disick.
Carrie Henn Carrie Henn is probably best known for her
role as Newt in the 1986 film Aliens.
She was just 10 years old when she played the part, and it was her only film role.
She even received the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor for her excellent
performance.
For the next few years, Henn attended school and lived a relatively normal life.
She chose to leave the entertainment industry behind and pursue a career in education instead,
so she enrolled in California State University, Stanislaus, where she earned a bachelor's
degree in liberal arts and child development Danny Lloyd
Danny Lloyd is an American actor who is best known for his role as Danny Torrance in the
1980 film The Shining.
Prior to quitting acting at age 9, he only participated in one more project, the 1982
TV movie "Will: G. Gordon Liddy."
After being in the movie, Lloyd decided to stop acting and go into a more normal job.
Lloyd attended college at UCLA, where he studied biology.
Later on, Lloyd was appointed associate professor of biology at Elizabethtown Community and
Technical College in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, in 2004.
In the Shining sequel Doctor Sleep, which came out in 2019, he had a short part as a
baseball fan.
This was his first acting job in 36 years.
Lloyd says that he doesn't regret giving up acting, and that he's happy with the life
he's built for himself outside of the Hollywood spotlight.
Jeff Cohen Jeff Cohen is an American actor and lawyer
who is best known for his role as Chunk in the 1985 film The Goonies.
After appearing in the film, Cohen decided to leave acting and pursue a more traditional
career path.
Cohen attended college at UCLA, where he studied political science.
After graduation, he worked as a lawyer for a few years before returning to school to
get his law degree.
He now works as an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles.
Cohen says that he doesn't regret giving up acting, and that he's happy with the life
he's built for himself outside of the Hollywood spotlight.
Danielle Fishel Danielle Fishel is an American actress and
television personality who is best known for her role as Topanga Lawrence on the ABC television
series Boy Meets World.
After appearing on the show, Fishel decided to leave acting and pursue a more traditional
career path.
Fishel attended college at California State University, Fullerton, where she studied psychology.
After graduation, she worked as a journalist for a few years before returning to school
to get her master's degree in counseling psychology.
She now works as a counselor and speaks about her experiences with depression and anxiety.
Vanilla Ice Vanilla Ice, real name Robert Van Winkle,
is an American rapper and actor who found fame in the early 1990s with his hit single
"Ice Ice Baby".
Born in Dallas, Texas, in 1967, Ice began skating at the age of two and won his first
rap contest at age sixteen.
He released his debut album, Hooked, in 1989 and followed it up with To the Extreme in
1990, which contained "Ice Ice Baby" and became the first hip-hop album to top the Billboard
200 chart.
In recent years, Ice has been working as a real estate agent and has appeared on reality
TV shows such as The Vanilla Ice Project and Dancing with the Stars.
Josh Saviano Josh Saviano is probably best known for his
role as Paul Pfeiffer on The Wonder Years.
He was one of the breakout stars of the show, which ran for six seasons from 1988 to 1993.
Saviano continued acting after The Wonder Years ended, appearing in films like Camp
Cucamonga (1990) and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991).
But by the mid-'90s, he had largely left Hollywood behind, opting instead to attend Yale University.
Since then, Saviano has worked as a lawyer and an entrepreneur.
He's also written two books: The Equalizer (2011), a young adult novel about a teenage
math prodigy who turns to online gambling to make money for his family, and Legalize
This!
(2013), a non-fiction book about the legalization of marijuana.
Jennie Garth Jennie Garth is an actress who is best known
for her role on Beverly Hills, 90210.
She appeared on the show for all ten of its seasons.
Garth opted to pursue other interests after acting in a few other parts.
She left Hollywood in 2008 to focus on her family and her three daughters.
She has since then occasionally appeared on television, but she has largely avoided the
spotlight.
In 2013, she wrote a book called Deep Thoughts From a Hollywood Blonde.
She currently owns the online gift subscription firm TheGiftBox.com.
Taran Noah Smith Taran Noah Smith was just seven years old
when he was cast as Mark Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement.
He played the role for eight years, until the show ended in 1999.
He made a decision about what he wanted to accomplish with his life in 2001, and part
of that decision included giving up acting.
Smith along with his then-wife, Heidi Van Pelt, founded Playfood, a restaurant and manufacturer
of non-dairy cheese with a focus on vegan and organic meals, in 2005.
In addition to instructing people on how to operate submarines, at the Community Submersibles
Project, he also works at SpaceX as an integration technician.
Nikki Blonsky Nikki Blonsky is an American actress and singer
who began her career as a child star.
She gained fame for playing Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 movie Hairspray.
In 2009, Blonsky announced that she was taking a break from acting to focus on her studies.
She enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she studied cosmetology.
Since then, Blonsky has appeared in a few independent films and television shows.
However, she has mostly left the Hollywood spotlight to pursue a more normal life.
Blonsky's story is a reminder that not all child stars are able to make a successful
transition into adulthood.
For many of them, the pressure of living up to their past successes is simply too much.
There you have it.
It's now time to hear from you.
Which other famous person do you know who left the spotlight in favor of a regular job?