Surprising Lives of Famous Child Actors
Growing up in the spotlight comes with unique pressures that most people never experience. Some child actors transition seamlessly into adult stardom, while others decide the entertainment industry isn’t for them anymore.
What happens next can be fascinating. Here is a list of famous child actors whose lives took unexpected turns after their time in Hollywood.
Peter Ostrum
The boy who played Charlie Bucket in the 1971 classic ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ had a golden ticket to Hollywood, but he chose a different path entirely. After filming wrapped, Ostrum’s family bought a horse, which sparked his interest in veterinary medicine.
He never acted again, instead pursuing his passion for animal care and eventually earning his doctorate from Cornell University. Today, he works as a successful veterinarian and dairy consultant in New York, helping farmers rather than entertaining audiences.
Jeff Cohen
Chunk from ‘The Goonies’ might have done the truffle shuffle on screen, but his real moves came later in the courtroom. Cohen left acting in his early twenties after appearing on shows like ‘Family Ties’ and ‘The Facts of Life’.
He went to law school and co-founded Cohen Gardner LLP, an entertainment law firm in Beverly Hills. His clients apparently get a kick out of the fact that their lawyer once starred in one of the most beloved adventure films of the 1980s.
Shirley Temple
Perhaps the biggest child star of all time didn’t stay in Hollywood forever. Temple retired from acting at just 22 years old and embarked on an impressive political career.
She ran for Congress in 1967, served as United States Ambassador to Ghana in the 1970s, became the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States, and later served as Ambassador to Czechoslovakia. She was even there when Soviet-backed forces invaded the country, witnessing history firsthand rather than just performing in front of cameras.
Mara Wilson
The adorable star of ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ and ‘Matilda’ gradually stepped away from acting after her mother’s tragic death in 1996. Wilson found that she no longer had the same enthusiasm for performing and wanted more creative freedom.
She reinvented herself as a writer, working across multiple media and becoming an advocate for progressive causes and mental health awareness. Her writing career has brought her back into the public eye, but on her own terms this time.
Wil Wheaton
Wesley Crusher from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ took an unusual detour after leaving the show. Wheaton moved to Topeka, Kansas, to work for NewTek, where he helped develop and promote the Video Toaster 4000 expansion card.
He did product testing and quality control, using his public profile as a technology evangelist. After returning to Los Angeles and attending acting school, he became a prominent voice in geek culture, hosting board game shows, writing memoirs, and narrating audiobooks like ‘Ready Player One’.
Kay Panabaker
After appearing in multiple Disney Channel projects, Panabaker retired from acting following ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva la Fiesta!’ She told an interviewer that she no longer had the passion for performing that she once did.
Instead, she became an Associate Animal Keeper at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World, trading scripts for animal care and finding fulfillment working with creatures rather than cameras.
Mayim Bialik
The star of ‘Blossom’ took a significant break from Hollywood to pursue academics. She earned a PhD in neuroscience in 2007, becoming Dr. Bialik in real life.
After completing her doctorate, she realized that acting would actually be better for balancing family life than working as a researcher. She returned to television with a role on ‘The Big Bang Theory’, playing a brainy scientist that wasn’t too far from her actual reality.
Danielle Fishel
Topanga from ‘Boy Meets World’ enrolled at California State University, Fullerton after the show ended. She was also recruited to work at Bloomingdale’s after a manager noticed her impressive gift-wrapping skills while she was wrapping a present for a former co-star.
She initially planned to only work through the holidays but ended up keeping the job longer because she excelled at customer service. She also worked as a math tutor during college before eventually returning to acting.
Paul Petersen
The former star of ‘The Donna Reed Show’ earned a Lifetime Achievement award for his role in the series, but his most important work came later. In 1991, Petersen founded A Minor Consideration, an organization dedicated to helping former child stars after several young actors faced serious problems and tragedies.
He’s been an activist for over 40 years, focusing on improving working conditions for child actors. He also obtained a literature degree and wrote sixteen adventure novels.
Taran Noah Smith
The youngest son from ‘Home Improvement’ knew that acting wasn’t for him by the time the show ended. Smith built a career as an entrepreneur, forming the vegan cheese brand Playfood among other business ventures.
In mid-2022, he became an integration technician for SpaceX, working on cutting-edge space technology instead of television sets.
Andrea Barber
Kimmy Gibbler from ‘Full House’ left acting for academia after the show wrapped. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Whittier College and a master’s degree in women’s studies from the University of York.
She then worked at Whittier College’s Office of International Programs as the assistant to the director. Over two decades later, she returned to acting to reprise her beloved role on ‘Fuller House’.
Danny Lloyd
The child who played Danny Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ left Hollywood entirely after his haunting performance. Lloyd never pursued acting as an adult, choosing instead to live a quiet life away from the horror of the entertainment industry.
His performance remains iconic, but he preferred normalcy over the pressures of maintaining a Hollywood career.
Clayton Snyder
— Photo by s_bukley
After filming ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie’, Snyder felt guilty about missing a month of water polo practice with his high school varsity team. He decided to retire from acting and pursued his athletic passion instead.
He played water polo at Pepperdine University, then played professionally in Italy before transitioning into real estate as an agent.
Quinn Cummings
After earning an Academy Award nomination for her very first film performance in ‘The Goodbye Girl’ at a young age, Cummings had an interesting acting career that included starring opposite Patty Duke. She eventually changed careers as an adult, working as an agent for several years before becoming a successful author.
Her books include ‘Notes from the Underwire’, ‘The Year of Learning Dangerously’, and ‘Pet Sounds’.
David Dorfman
The child actor who broke out as Naomi Watts’s son in ‘The Ring’ had an intense childhood both academically and professionally. A UCLA student at just 13 years old, Dorfman was a valedictorian graduate and Harvard Law student by 18.
He was still acting regularly when he began his illustrious law career, but eventually dedicated himself fully to legal work, including positions in multiple U.S. House of Representatives offices.
Ross Malinger
Tom Hanks’s son in ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and the voice of T.J. in Disney’s animated series ‘Recess’ ultimately left the pressures of Hollywood in his early twenties. Malinger followed his father’s footsteps into sales, becoming a seasoned automotive dealership salesman and manager in the Greater Los Angeles area.
He traded red carpets for showroom floors and found his perfect role outside of entertainment.
Where They Are Now
The paths these former child stars took show that fame at a young age doesn’t have to define an entire life. From veterinary clinics to diplomatic missions, from law firms to space technology companies, these actors found success and fulfillment far beyond the cameras that once followed them.
Their stories remind us that childhood stardom is just one chapter, and sometimes the most interesting stories happen when the cameras stop rolling.
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