Why These Former Child Stars Left The Spotlight After One Big Movie

By Johny in Entertainment On 20th November 2016

While a one-hit wonder of any size and shape is interesting, a child star one-hit wonder left the industry with their entire life ahead of them. If they left acting after one big movie, what did they do after that? Where did they go? What do they look like now? The massive changes in their lives between then and now make them much more interesting than most. That’s what this list is about. Child stars who had one big hit and then left the industry, or at least left the spotlight. The kids on this list were all in big films. They were also all big actors in that one film. If we have the information, we’ll try to catch you up with their lives since we last saw them as well.

#1 Peter Ostrium – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Peter Ostrium has one acting credit on his resume, that of Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. After filming in Germany finished, Ostrium was offered a three-year film contract, but he turned it down. He's now a veterinarian and talks to kids about the film every so often, but he's tried to avoid any interviews about his childhood stint in the film industry, saying, "I wanted people to judge me on who I was, not what I'd done," which makes him a very insignificant for our purposes.

#2 Jake Lloyd – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Phantom Menace is the film that everyone remembers Lloyd in, playing a little Anakin Skywalker. Not long ago, Lloyd made headlines for taking police on a car chase through two counties in California. All his experience pod racing was put to the test as he raced through the city streets. Sadly, the hero lost this race. He was arrested and put in jail, but, recently, he was sent to a psychiatric facility to help manage his schizophrenia. So, that's pretty much what he's up to these days.

#3 Hal Scardino – The Indian in the Cupboard

In 1995, the world was introduced to Hal Scardino, the boy who played Omri in The Indian in the Cupboard but his career never took off further than that. Soon after, Scardino left acting and went to Columbia University. Nowadays, he runs Aperta Productions, a non-profit organization that helps promote and stimulate the arts in some deprived sections of society.

#4 Jason James Richter – Free Willy

Jason James Richter, everyone's favorite actor from the Free Willy film, is coming back to Hollywood. Technically, he's already back, but most of his new stuff hasn't come out yet. Richter was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the star, Jesse, in Free Willy. He beat out 4,000 kids in an enormous casting call to win the role and it would spawn two sequels that no one saw. In 1997, he walked away from acting and, with the exception of one small role in 2001, didn't return until 2009. Since then, he's been in some small things, but he was mainly focused on making music with his band. Probably because his band never made any money, Richter has once again set his sights on acting. Good luck young sir.

#5 Carrie Henn – Aliens

She was Newt in James CameronâÂ€Â˜s Aliens and she was splendid. So, where'd the actress, Carrie Henn, go after making this film? Henn had no acting experience before getting the role of Newt and she never got any after the Newt role. She settled down, became a school teacher and that's that.

#6 Noah Hathaway – The NeverEnding Story

Noah Hathaway was the coolest kid in the world in the mid 80s. The NeverEnding Story was the bee's knees and Atreyu was the legend of that legend. He wasn't much longer for the acting profession though, as he moved to dance, then martial arts, then motorbikes and motorcycles. Nowadays, he's come back to acting, but at a much, much lesser stage. He doesn't really look like you'd expect he would, but he still looks pretty badass.

#7 Daniel Tay – Elf

When Daniel Tay got the role of Michael, Will Ferrell's half brother in Elf, the world was his oyster. He was going to be a major star. Nope. He wasn't. So, where is he now? Who knows? He fell off the map and we can't find him. We looked. Truthfully, since we watch Elf every year at Christmas, it's kind of like Tay never went away.

#8 Alisan Porter – Curly Sue

The year was 1991 and Alisan Porter was the cute little girl in Curly Sue. Right after that film, Porter left the acting world behind. As an adult, Porter became a mother and struggled with addiction for some time. Last year, Porter returned to the stage, but this time it was for singing as she was a contestant on The Voice. Porter went on to win the show, a bunch of money and a recording contract.

#9 Danny Lloyd – The Shining

Danny Lloyd, the little boy who played Danny Torrance in The Shining, was only six-years old when he was cast in one of the biggest horror movies of all time. After The Shining, Lloyd did one more film, a small TV movie, and then called it quits. Today, he's a farmer and a biology teacher at a Kentucky community college.

#10 Jeff Cohen – The Goonies

Jeff Cohen, the boy who played Chunk in "The Goonies", was one who never really did anything else. Cohen would leave the acting profession behind, setting his sights on the business side of the entertainment world. He went to college, used his industry connections to get summer jobs and then graduated with a law degree. Now, he's an entertainment lawyer.

#11 Jimmy Workman – The Addams Family

This one is interesting. So, Jimmy Workman goes to an audition with his sister, Shanelle Grey. She's trying out for the role of Wednesday in The Addams Family, so, while she reads for the part, Workman is playing and waiting. The filmmakers see Workman and they think he's perfect for the role of Pugsley. He's chubby and looks weird. They cast him and send his sister packing. After that role, Workman doesn't do a whole lot. Workman has become a working man (terrible), staying in the film and TV industry as part of a technical crew.

#12 Peter Billingsley – A Christmas Story

Peter Billingsley has stuck with the industry through the years, but he'll always be known for one role and one role only, that of Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Billingsley stuck with acting after that iconic role, but he would never again touch stardom again. Lately, he's dabbled in producing (Iron Man) and directing (Couple's Retreat). He's also made a few cameos in big films, like Elf, Iron Man and Four Christmases. He says people will still stop him on the street and say, "you'll shoot your eye out." Imagine that encounter for a second, would ya? Hey, you! "You'll shoot your eye out." Heh. Awkward silence. Eyebrows raised. You remember that Ralphie? "Yeah man I remember. My name's Peter."

#13 Bradley Michael Pierce – Jumanji

Bradley Michael Pierce has only ever been in one big film and that film was Jumanji. Pierce played the little boy, Peter, the one who turned into a monkey. That was just gross. Pierce technically didn't "disappear" after Jumanji, since he was still doing some quality voice work, but when we say acting, we mean in front of a camera. These days Pierce is running a production company called ZFO Entertainment with Joey Zimmerman, the kid who played Dylan on Halloweentown, another one-hit wonder himself.

#14 David Dorfman – The Ring

The creepy little kid who played Aidan in The Ring, David Dorfman. This little guy was strange looking from an early age, doing his best acting work by the age of nine and basically disappearing from the scene in 2005. What was significant was his academic career afterward. This little freak was accepted into UCLA at age 13, Doogie Howser style. He also graduated as class valedictorian and was accepted into Harvard law at age 18.

#15 Amber Scott – Hook

Amber Scott, the little girl who played Maggie Banning in Steven SpielbergâÂ€Â˜s Hook. A decade ago, Scott was said to have graduated from Trinity College and maybe she became a model or was a model, but it looks like she's trying to escape her childhood fame at any rate. She'd be singing that song she sang in Hook and doing interviews trying to leverage her old fame for some money. Maybe, when you look like her, you don't need money.

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