What happened to Charlie from Willy Wonka?
What about Newt from Aliens?
And which child sitcom actor teaches people to pilot submarines?
All that and more ahead!
James Cameron's "Aliens" went in a decidedly different direction than its Ridley Scott-directed
predecessor.
While "Alien" was essentially a haunted house movie in space, the sequel became an action-packed
military adventure film.
Instead of a single xenomorph feeding on the crew of one ship, dozens of the creatures
battle Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, and the team of space Marines sent to wipe
them out.
The director's cut of the Cameron film also added depth to the Ripley character by letting
the audience know that she lost her daughter while in hypersleep.
So when she comes across a lost little girl named Rebecca Jorden that everyone calls Newt,
her maternal instincts kick in and her mission becomes to keep this girl alive.
Newt was portrayed by Carrie Henn, who was only 10 at the time.
Following the success of the film, one would imagine she'd want to build on that momentum.
Instead, she decided to let herself be a normal kid.
While talking to AVP Galaxy, she explained that she'd been living in England until the
military transferred her father back to the United States.
Now she was the odd person out and wanted to be as "normal" as possible, so she left
acting behind.
As an adult, Henn decided to become a teacher, satisfying a childhood dream.
The family sitcom "Home Improvement," starring Tim Allen, ran for eight seasons from 1991
to 1999.
The show chronicled the life of delusional television personality Tim "The Tool Man"
Taylor trying to relate to his family.
The youngest of those sons, Mark, is more sensitive and introverted than the rest of
his family.
He was played by young actor Taran Noah Smith.
Following the end of the series, Smith decided to leave acting behind.
When he was 17, the actor had a public dispute with his parents over the handling of the
money he earned during the production of "Home Improvement."
While talking with HNGN, Smith said he enjoyed acting but after doing so for his entire childhood,
he wanted to try something else.
As mentioned in the interview, Smith has helped with typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines
and with various art installations.
He and his former wife also started a vegan food and restaurant business, called Playfood,
in 2005.
Another one of his jobs, however, is teaching people how to pilot submarines, which he had
been doing as late as 2019.
Ross Bagley started acting at the age of six when he appeared as Buckwheat in the 1994
big screen reboot of "The Little Rascals."
In 1996, he joined the cast of the Will Smith sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," where
he played Will's youngest cousin Nicky.
That same year he worked with Smith again in the blockbuster "Independence Day."
While his IMDb page shows that he continued to pop up in small roles for the rest of the
'90s, Bagley seems to have left acting behind.
During an appearance on the "Hip Hop Uncensored Podcast," Bagley discussed his time on "The
Fresh Prince" and his life following the end of the series.
Before getting cast as Nicky, he loved watching the show.
He has fond memories of working on it, but now prefers to live a more low-key lifestyle
out of the public eye.
Instead of pursuing the constant grind that is a show business career, Bagley has a more
steady job as a realtor.
Margaret Langrick started acting when she was 14.
Her first film role was Sandy Wilcox in the 1985 film "My American Cousin."
She followed that up with the Bigfoot comedy "Harry and the Hendersons."
IMDb lists her final acting credit as "Sweet Angel Mine" in 1996.
Since then, Langrick has gone on to have an impressive and prolific career in the world
of publishing.
According to her website, the former actress spent 15 years working as an editor in the
UK and Canada.
This work included serving as the Arts and Life editor for the Vancouver Sun.
After years of making people happy with her film and television roles, Langrick continues
to motivate people through her publishing.
In 2013, she founded LifeTree Media, which is now called Wonderwell, a hybrid non-fiction
publishing house specializing in books that, quote, "help, heal and inspire."
Jeff Cohen was all over the place during the early years of the '80s.
Starting in 1983, the young actor was all over our TV screens, though he’s mostly
remembered from the film "The Goonies."
He played Chunk, the hilarious kid with a penchant for telling tall tales and clumsiness.
His performance in that film was so confident and assured that the fact that he is no longer
performing is mind-boggling.
But it turns out that the former actor has a theory as to why his career ended after
only eight years.
While talking to the Daily Mail, Cohen clearly stated that he wasn't the one who gave up
on acting.
He started his career as the funny overweight kid.
That was how the business saw him, so when he started hitting puberty and losing the
weight, they weren't quite sure what to do with him.
He said,
"It was terrible.
My first love was acting but puberty had other ideas.
It was a forced retirement.
I didn't give up on acting.
Acting gave up on me."
With the help of his friend, "The Goonies" director Richard Donner, Cohen learned more
about the film business and studied law at UCLA.
In 2002, he co-founded his law firm Cohen Gardner LLP, which is based in Beverly Hills
and specializes in the many legal aspects of film and TV development, production and
distribution.
Josh Saviano was 12 when he started acting.
His very first role was as Kid Belz in "The Wrong Guys" from 1988.
That same year he was cast as Paul Pfeiffer in the coming-of-age TV classic "The Wonder
Years."
During that show's five-year run, audiences watched as both Kevin Arnold, played by Fred
Savage, and his best friend Paul navigated the turbulence of the 1960s and their teenage
years.
While most of his co-stars continued their careers in show business, Saviano left acting
behind.
Aside from a few guest appearances on "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," and being
confused for Marilyn Manson, Saviano has stayed out of the spotlight.
When "The Wonder Years" ended, Saviano attended Yale Law school.
According to his LinkedIn page, he is now putting his knowledge of show business to
use by helping artists make the most out of their careers through his own firm, Spotlight
Advisory Group.
He told Yahoo,
"What I'm trying to do these days is help individual artists and talent brand themselves
— whether it is through a reality television show, or through just being a social media
meme, or other skill set that they have."
Lisa Jakub started working in show business when she was seven and worked like crazy from
1985 to 2000.
The young actress starred in all kinds of productions before landing her most memorable
role in the 1993 Robin Williams comedy "Mrs. Doubtfire."
She played Lydia in the film about a divorced dad who dresses up as a matronly Scottish
woman to spend more time with his kids.
That wasn't her only big movie of the '90s either.
In 1996, she appeared in the alien invasion hit "Independence Day."
Despite these successes, however, she decided to leave acting.
On her blog, she discussed her reasons.
After all that time, the pressure and competitiveness of the job got to be too much.
She wrote,
"I decided I should leave, before I became one of those alcoholic/eating disorder ravaged/drug
addicted train wrecks of a former child actor.
I had no desire to be a cautionary tale."
The experience had taken such a toll on her that she refused for a long time to engage
in discussions about her early life.
Instead, she focused on being a normal person out of the spotlight.
But she's since made peace with that time of her life and has even written extensively
about it.
Her other passion is yoga instruction.
"All That" was Nickelodeon's 1990s answer to "Saturday Night Live."
Like the sketch comedy juggernaut, it helped launch impressive careers for its stars.
Perhaps one of the more fascinating post-Nickelodeon careers is that of Lori Beth Denberg.
The actress was best known on "All That" for the Loud Librarian, who shushed anyone who
made even the slightest noise, while she went on yelling and making a racket.
“No talking!
This is a libary!
It must be quiet!”
Her other recurring segment was "Vital Information for Your Everyday Life," where she would often
give viewers terrible advice.
As discussed during an interview with Vice, Denberg decided to try other things as she
got older.
“My work here is done.
Goodbye everyone.”
Aside from the touring she does with fellow "All That" alum Danny Tamberelli, she also
officiates weddings.
In the "about" section of her website, she explains the kinds of wedding experiences
she has, writing,
“Personalized, quirky weddings, vow renewals, and commitment ceremonies for couples looking
for something a little different, a little less sterile, and a little more fun."
From "Beverly Hills 90210" in 1990 to "Without A Trace" in 2006, Ross Malinger worked as
an actor on a regular basis.
He is likely best remembered for roles in "Kindergarten Cop" and the 1993 romantic comedy
"Sleepless in Seattle."
In "Sleepless in Seattle," Malinger played Jonah Baldwin, the son of Tom Hanks' character,
Sam Baldwin.
Sam is a widower who relocated from Chicago to Seattle and shows no visible signs of interest
in finding love.
His son calls into a radio show and asks his father to discuss his feelings following the
loss of his wife.
Jonah is essentially responsible for the entire plot of the film.
Malinger's ability as an actor is obvious from the very beginning and clearly served
him well for years.
Still, after one last guest shot in 2006 on "Without A Trace," the actor left his profession
behind.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, he then went into automotive sales, working as a manager
at one dealership until it went out of business in 2009 and finding work at others around
Los Angeles since then.
Released in 1971, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is a classic.
The film tells the story of an eccentric candymaker named Willy Wonka who opens his whimsical
factory to the public for the first time.
To be allowed into his bizarre domain of lickable wallpaper, chocolate rivers, and Oompa Loompas,
you have to find one of the golden tickets he scattered in Wonka Bars across the globe.
A desperately poor kid with a big heart named Charlie Bucket is one of the lucky few who
discovers a ticket.
The film is about how his kindness makes all his dreams come true when Wonka realizes he
is the person who should inherit his factory.
Charlie was played by a young Peter Ostrum and is his only credited role as an actor.
These days, instead of working with chocolate, he works as a dairy veterinarian with Countryside
Veterinary Clinic in Lowville, New York.
While speaking with the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Ostrum
explained that after working on "Willy Wonka" he fell in love with taking care of animals.
He said,
"Acting was fine, but I wanted something more steady, and the key is to find something that
you love doing, and that's what my profession has given to me."
Julianna Rose Mauriello started her acting career at the age of six when she appeared
in "Sesame Street: Fiesta!" in 1996.
She went on to do the voice of Ruby in the animated series about bunnies, "Max and Ruby,"
in 2002.
Perhaps her best-known role, however, is that of Stephanie on the hit Nickelodeon series
"LazyTown."
Why did she stop acting and what has she been doing since 2013?
Based on the lack of details from official sources, any statement on her reason for leaving
show business would be speculation.
What is clear, however, is that Mauriello is now working as a pediatric occupational
therapist.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she attended Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians
and Surgeons and is practicing in a clinic environment.
Whatever her reasons for leaving her old career, one would hope she is happy and fulfilled
with her new one.
“I think this year’s gonna be different!”
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