There’s no business like showbusiness, but some television and Hollywood stars left the limelight because they felt that while acting was fun, a different career suited them much better.
For the average fan, it might seem that being a recognized actor is the best job on Earth! The fame, the money, the creativity, the glamor … all aspects of celebrity that look like a great time.
However, we don’t always consider that the lack of privacy, the intense public scrutiny, the fierce competition for roles and subsequent rejections, and the very long hours make being a famous actor more of a chore than a thrill.
While some professional thespians leave the industry because of their lack of success, the people on this list are all very accomplished and celebrated talents who simply walked away from fame because they didn’t want it anymore.
So, who are 10 actors who quit acting for other very different careers?
Frankie Muniz
Many fans remember Frankie Muniz from the teen comedy TV show Malcolm in the Middle. Muniz was the lead actor, and a massive star while it aired from 2000 to 2006.
He is still famous today because of that role due to the fact many viewers associate that show, and Muniz, with their own teen years.
But Muniz didn’t want to keep acting after the show ended. Instead, he made a complete career change and is now a race car driver on the Atlantic Championship formula race circuit.
Gene Hackman
What an accomplished actor Gene Hackman is! He won many awards, including winning two Oscars, and is beloved for his performances in films like Unforgiven, Bonnie and Clyde and The French Connection.
But, nothing good lasts forever. After starring in the badly-rated 2004 movie Welcome to Mooseport, Hackman decided that he had achieved enough in the field of acting and retired.
Now 91 years old, he spends his time co-writing novels, including Escape From Andersonville, Justice for None, and Wake of the Perdido Star. In fact, several major former actors have switched to being authors instead.
Mara Wilson
One such actor who made the change from acting to writing is former child actor Mara Wilson. Wilson is famous for her charming acting in two massive family movie hits from the 1990s; Mrs. Doubtfire starring Robin Williams,and a movie based on a Roald Dahl’s book, Matilda.
Fans were shocked when Wilson decided to retire from acting at the tender young age of 13, but she turned out to be multi-talented, because critics and fans alike love her writing work, including her autobiography about being a child Hollywood star.
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz ruled the 1990s. She was objectively gorgeous, and also had a talent for comedy.
She starred in the biggest movies of the day, including The Mask where she played opposite Jim Carrey, as well as being Ben Stiller’s love interest in the massively popular comedy There’s Something About Mary.
So, why did one of Hollywood’s hottest actors leave the business?
Diaz announced her retirement from acting in 2014, and pivoted to being an environmental activist and an author. So far, Diaz wrote two best-selling self-help books, although she will return to the screen opposite Jamie Foxx in Netflix action comedy Back in Action.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Another big deal from the 1990s is Freddie Prinze, Jr. Married to 1990s vampire slayer and scream queen Sarah Michelle Gellar, he was one of Hollywood’s biggest names at his peak.
He played handsome heartthrobs in top-grossing movies, including I Know What You Did Last Summer and She’s All That, with his looks and charm making him an A-lister.
So, it surprised many fans and industry professionals when Prinze Jr. made a sudden abrupt career shift to work with Vince McMahon in World Wrestling Entertainment from 2008 to 2009 as a member of the creative team, then from 2010 to 2012 as a producer and director.
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn is considered one of the most beautiful actors in Hollywood, and one of its most celebrated.
She is especially loved for her role in playing the charming and innocent Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, for which she got her fourth Oscar nomination. So, why did she walk away from it all?
In 1967, Hepburn announced her retirement, but it proved to just be a semi-retirement. She continued to act on occasion, and her last film was 1989’s Always In.
Hepburn wanted to concentrate more on being a mother and on doing good deeds. She became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1989, and did work with children until her death in 1993.
Danny Lloyd
This former child actor is famous for his character as the son of an author who loses his mind in the 1980 horror movie The Shining.
The brilliant Jack Nicholson played Danny’s dad, and while many kids think they’d love to act in a major movie, Lloyd’s experience was a negative one.
Not long after filming the Stephen King adaptation, Lloyd left the profession altogether.
Apparently, he experienced the trauma from shooting the shockingly scary movie while he was just six years old, and he did not want to ever repeat the experience. These days, Lloyd is a professor of biology at a community college in Kentucky.
Jeff Cohen
Another child actor who left the bright lights of Hollywood is the charismatic Goonies star Jeff Cohen. The Richard Donner classic follows a group of children on an epic adventure involving thieves, underground caves, and huge amounts of pirate treasure.
Cohen plays Chunk, a chubby child who is forced to do a humiliating dance called the “Truffle Shuffle” before he’s admitted into the whole where his friends are all playing together.
After retiring from acting, Cohen used his acting connections for creating business opportunities to help set up his now successful entertainment law firm Cohen & Gardner.
Kal Penn
Well, things took a serious turn here. Kal Penn is best-known for his hilarious role in the Harold & Kumar comedies, and he is also recognized for his great work on House and How I Met Your Mother, among other TV and film roles.
In 2009, Penn made a complete career change by taking on the serious role of working for The White House as Associate Director of Public Engagement under President Barack Obama.
Penn goes back and forth between acting and working for the government, and he used his political knowledge to not only act, but also serve as a consultant on the political drama series Designated Survivor.
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple was the original child star. Famous for roles in many films, including Bright Eyes and Curly Top, she began acting at the tender age of three in 1931.
Labor laws were very different back when she starred in movies, and children were often exploited and mistreated. Temple, for instance, was forced to dance on an injured foot and also to film right after ear surgery.
Following her retirement, Temple sat on the boards of corporations and organizations like the Walt Disney Company and the National Wildlife Federation, among others.
In 1969, she pivoted to a political role and represented the United States at a session of the United Nations General Assembly.