8 Child Stars Who Left Hollywood to Get Normal Jobs as Adults

For lots of kids, fame and a place on the silver screen is the dream. But some who achieve it before adulthood decide it’s not for them.

Here are 8 child stars who got ‘real’ jobs as adults:

8. Danny Lloyd

Lloyd was just 6 when he starred in The Shining (1980), which grossed $47.3m. That would prove to be his only major film role.

Now 50, he’s a Professor of Biology in Kentucky and has a net worth of $400k.

7. Mara Wilson

Wilson burst onto the acting seen as Nattie in the hugely successful Mrs Doubtfire that pulled in $441.3 million. She also starred in A Miracle on 34th Street and Matilda but fell out of love with acting after her mother died.

Now 35, her net worth stands at $500k.

6. Jeff Cohen

As Chunk, Cohen delivered one of the standout performances of the legendary 80s movie The Goonies. While he chose not to continue acting, he did get into the business aspect of Hollywood and was inspired to study law after finding out many top execs had law degrees.

At 49, he runs his own law firm and has a net worth of $4 million – which is what The Goonies made at the box office.

5. Peter Ostrum

Now 65, Ostrum is unrecognisable from the 12-year-old who starred as Charlie Bucket alongside Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka. That remains his only movie credit, and he’s now a successful vet and dairy consultant in New York.

Ostrum has a net worth of $550k. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory grossed $4 million at the box office – but that was in 1971.

4. Ross Malinger

After playing Tom Hanks’ son in Sleepless in Seattle, Malinger went on to voice TJ Detweiler in Recess.

Eventually, though, he stepped away from acting and is now a finance manager in the automotive industry with a net worth of $300k. Sleepless in Seattle made $227.8 million at the box office.

3. Carrie Henn

Henn was still counting her age in single figures when she played Newt in Aliens. But acting didn’t grab her in the way you might imagine, and she went on to become a teacher.

The film grossed $183.3 million, and Henn’s net worth is estimated at $1.2 million.

2. Kay Panabaker

32-year-old Panabaker played Nikki Westerly in Summerland and Jenny Garrison in the 2009 movie Fame. But the biggest-grossing film she appeared in was Monsters Inc. where she voiced the Garbage Monster.

Now a veterinarian, her net worth stands at $1 million.

1. Ross Bagley

Now 34, Bagley works in real estate and is a part-time DJ.

After rising to fame as Buckwheat in The Little Rascals, Bagley played Nicky Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, before teaming up with Will Smith again on Independence Day – a movie that grossed $817.4 million.