We met many celebrities and artists from the 80s and 90s who, after having gained fame, disappeared or ostracized.
Being famous is the goal of many people. Money, recognized everywhere, access to anything and everything. So many dreams of being on the big screen or playing for huge audiences. But this life can be very tiring and stressful.
Some celebrities can’t stand the pressure and end up giving.
Here are some of those stars that were very successful, but then decided to abandon everything.
Emilio Estevez
Emilio Estevez is the son of Martin Sheen and brother of Charlie Sheen, two stars who are still remembered and sought after to star in film and TV productions. Martin’s eldest son, on the other hand, seems to have been ostracized. Emilio Estevez shot to fame in 80s with The Breakfast Club (1985) and Stakeout (1987). But after The Mighty Ducks (1992) his career began to decline, until he no longer played a prominent role. He is currently recording a sequel for Mighty Ducks TV.
Andrew McCarthy
Andrew McCarthy, began his career in Hollywood in the 1980s. He starred in films such as: Class (1983), Mannequin (1987) and the excellent Weekend at Bernie’s (1989). In the 90s he participated in many TV series and TV movies. But as of 2010, he decided to sit in the director’s chair. He directed episodes of Gossip Girl, The Blacklist, Alpha House and eleven episodes of series Orange is the New Black.
Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis starred in some of the most worshiped ’80s movies of all time. Acting as the unemployed in Strange Brew (1983), or the insecure Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and the villainous Dark Helmet in Spaceballs (1987). But it was as an inventor in I Shrunk the Kids (1989), that he was more successful. He was also part of Ghostbusters (1984), a film starring three comedy giants.
In 1997, his wife, Ann, tragically passed away after a battle with breast cancer. Moranis hasn’t been seen on the screen since. He turned his focus to raising their two young children.
Jenette Goldstein
Jenette Goldstein made a name for herself as an actress by playing the tough no-nonsense Vasquez from Aliens (1986), a Space Marine gay who completely broke stereotypes. She also had roles as Meagan Shapiro in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) and Janelle Voight, the foster mother of John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
Goldstein remains extremely proud for good reason. Now she owns a company, Jenette Bras. She founded the company when she realized department store lingerie departments were rarely accommodating for women with smaller band-sizes combined with larger cup sizes.
Macaulay Culkin
At 12 years old, Macaulay Culkin was the most successful child actor of all time. But, after starring in a string of popular movies including Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2 (1992), My Girl, and The Good Son (1993), Culkin had enough of acting. The young star emancipated from his parents when he was 16 years old, at which point he had mostly retired from the industry. He has appeared in a few roles since then, but the artist still mostly chooses to stay out of the media.
Christopher Lambert
Christopher Lambert played immortal swordsman Connor MacLeod in cult 1986 hit Highlander, but any hopes the actor had of making the leap to bona fide action star were dashed by three terrible sequels.
He appeared in several other action films. Perhaps his biggest highlight was Raiden in the film Mortal Kombat (1995), but he couldn’t escape the Highlander’s shadow. When great offers stopped appearing and B films appeared, he decided to venture into new commercial ventures, including a winery in Provence. Apparently, everyone took off. Occasionally, he returns to the spotlight. In 2018, he appeared as the villain in Kickboxer: Retaliation.
Jennifer Grey
Jennifer Grey starred in two of the most popular films of the ’80s, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and Dirty Dancing (1987). Her iconic on-screen dance to the song Time of my Life with costar Patrick Swayze is still considered as one of the most exciting movie scenes of all time.
After her career peak, Jennifer started to fade away from the screens, unable to land another strong movie role. She did recently star in a comedy-drama series called Red Oaks.
Rick Astley
Rick Astley was successful in the 1980s with his hit “Never Gonna Give You Up”. In 1987, he was 20 years old and people loved to hear his voice on the radio. Six years and 40 million albums sold later, Astley retired from the music business. “I had a huge amount of money and fame, and that’s not very good for someone of that age”, told Sunday Express. He added, “Suddenly, I could have anything I wanted, and I was almost embarrassed by that. It made me feel uncomfortable.” In 2007 Rickrolling unexpectedly introduced Astley to a whole new generation. When asked if he felt the internet meme made him appear stupid, Astley replied, “I mean I look pretty stupid anyway in that video.”
Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio, Star of the very ’80s The Karate Kid trilogy, never quite escaped his past of karate master. Set 30 years after, Macchio reprised the role in the 2018 YouTube Red series, Cobra Kai, where Daniel squares off again against Johnny Lawrence. Macchio was happy to put on the headband again for one more fight. “Those films, whether I look back at them or not, they follow me around everywhere I go, in a good way. Generations have embraced this movie. It’s become a slice of everyone’s childhood, so I feel that this is the fans’ show, just like I feel the film has become the fans’ movie.”
Peter Weller
Peter Weller arrived in Hollywood during the boom in action films. Weller showed what he was capable of in the action satire The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984). In 1987, he starred in RoboCop, which would become a career-defining role, representing officer Alex Murphy.
Unfortunately RoboCop 2 (1990) was a bog-standard action movie. His career tapered off after that, and he eventually moved behind the camera for work, directing several episodes of Sons of Anarchy.
Weller moonlighted as a literature and fine arts teacher at New York’s Syracuse University for a time. But the return to the spotlight may be about to happen. Director Neill Blomkamp has expressed an interest in bringing him back to a planned RoboCop sequel.
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton represented agent 007 twice: The Living Daylights (1987) and License to Kill (1989), both appearances were well-received by the public and critics. But he did not get other successful roles and ended up being forgotten.
Jeff Cohen
Chunk isn’t fat anymore. Jeff Cohen had the chicken pox when The Goonies (1985) began filming and fearful for getting recast, he told no one. He hasn’t acted since 1991, officially making him a child star that has moved on. Nowadays, he’s an attorney, and founding partner of Cohen & Gardner, LLP. Early in 2014 he began writing about business, legal and political matters for the Huffington Post and CNBC.
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox forever marked hollywood history by starring the Back to the Future trilogy (1985-1990) in which he portrayed Marty McFly. On television, he played Alex P. Keaton on the American sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989) and Mike Flaherty on the ABC sitcom Spin City (1996–2000). He has won five Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at age 29. In 2001, he semi-retired from acting, a decade after he was actually diagnosed. He has since become an advocate for research toward finding a cure, and founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Sweden’s Karolinska Institute gave him a honoris causa doctorate on March 5, 2010, for his work advocating a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman was one of the greatest forces in American cinema for almost 40 years. He made films like Unforgiven (1992), Crimson Tide (1995) and The French Connection (1971) and was still the lovable villain in the role of Lex Luthor in Superman (1978).
Veteran actor Gene Hackman retired from show business after the film Welcome To Mooseport (2004). Since his retirement, Hackman has authored a number of novels.
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