I wrote earlier about Brad Renfro, a child star who seemed to make the successful leap into adult roles, but was found dead in his home yesterday. It seems that many child stars are just messed up, usually because the industry abandons them when they are no longer cute little kids anymore.
But what about the people that find fame, then just walk away from it? It seems to have such a tight hold on many people once they get a taste of it, but there are a few who just went “Eh, this is okay, but maybe I will do something else.” Here are a few examples:
Madolyn Smith Osborne
Madolyn was actually the one that made me think about doing this blog. In case you aren’t familiar with who she is, she plays the “other woman,” Pam in Urban Cowboy. Even though the movie is a bit dated, you can still see how beautiful Madolyn was. Urban Cowboy was her first film. After that, she was in a few more films, most notably Funny Farm with Chevy Chase. But, by the early 90s, she made a few appearances on television shows, and then just dropped off the map. From what I can tell, she married NHL player Mark Osborne, had children, and just decided to retire from the rat race.
Michael Schoeffling
When my little sister (now 22) first saw Sixteen Candles, she couldn’t get over how cute the actor that played Jake Ryan was. And I am sure 20 years from now, girls will still be swooning over Michael Schoeffling in the role that made him famous. He went on to appear in a few more movies (Vision Quest and Mermaids) before dropping out of sight in the early 90’s. What happened? Apparently, this former GQ model had just had enough. He “retired” from show business and the father of two now lives in Pennsylvania where he builds and sells handcrafted furniture.
Dolores Hart
Back in the 50’s, Delores starred in two movies with Elvis – Loving You and King Creole. She also appeared in one of the first spring break flicks, 1960’s Where the Boys Are. But, by 1963, people were wondering where Dolores was. She decided to leave Hollywood…to become a nun. She is a Reverend Mother today, but didn’t completely give up on Hollywood. She is the only nun who is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Bobby Sherman
Again, we are going back a ways, but Bobby Sherman was my first celebrity crush. Of course, I was all of five at the time (it was before I discovered the Monkees). Bobby was everywhere for a while – on television (“Here Come the Brides”) and the music charts (in 1969, “Little Women” peaked at # 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart). But, after a guest appearance on “Emergency!,” Bobby found a different calling. He volunteered with the LAPD and became a trained EMT in 1988. He taught first aid and CPR to thousands of officer cadets before eventually becoming the San Bernardino County sheriff in 1999. And even though Bobby is now 64 and a grandfather, he has maintained his movie star good looks.