Famous for: Home Improvement, The Lion King
Current job: Writer
Known for ABC’s hit sitcom, Home Improvement in the ’90s, Jonathan Taylor Thomas also voiced the role of Simba in The Lion King. In 1999, Thomas left Home Improvement so that he could focus on his studies. “I’d been going nonstop since I was 8 years old,” Thomas said. “I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break.” Now, he spends most of his time writing and directing.
Famous for: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Current job: Veterinarian
Peter Ostrum played Charlie Bucket in the classic 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Actually, this was his first and last film. After completing his studies, he went on to become a large-animal veterinarian.
Famous for: I Think We’re Alone Now
Current job: A boutique owner
As an ‘80s pop star, Tiffany achieved success with hits like her 1987 song, ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’. After this period of stardom though, she then returned to the simple life. In 2002, after a failed comeback album, she posed nude in Playboy. Now, she is the owner of a vintage shop called “Tiffany’s Boutique.”
Famous for: Magnum PI
Current job: An Avocado Farmer
Do you remember Tom Selleck in Magnum PI, the amazingly mustachioed private eye who solved cases in Hawaii? These days you’ll find him taking up a pretty unusual second career. He runs an avocado farm!
Famous for: Let’s Stay Together
Current job: Pastor
A musician with eight top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the ‘Let’s Stay Together’ singer Al Green is now a pastor at the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis, Tennessee and has been for more than 40 years.
Famous for: Who’s The Boss
Current job: Teacher
As an Emmy Award and four-time Golden Globe Awards nominee, Tony Danza is best known for starring on Who’s The Boss. However, after he walked away from acting, Tony Danza worked as a high school English teacher in Philadelphia.
Famous for: Thelma and Louise, A League of Their Own
Current job: Social activist
In 1988, Geena Davis won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Accidental Tourist. Since then, she decided to play an active role in increasing the presence of female characters in the media by founding the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Its purpose is to raise awareness of and improve gender equality in entertainment, sports and more.
Famous for: Two and a Half Men
Current job: Event Planning
Angus T. Jones starred in the CBS series Two and a Half Men as Jake Harper with Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen. After Jones stopped his acting career, he established Tonite, a “multimedia and event company” with Justin Combs (son of Sean “Diddy” Combs).
Famous for: Boy Meets World
Current job: Journalist
In the ABC series Boy Meets World, Danielle Fishel starred as Topanga. Nowadays, she works for PopSugar as a reporter.
Famous for: Growing Pains
Current job: Religious Activist
The two-time Golden Globe Award winner Kirk Cameron was best known for his role as Mike Seaver in Growing Pains. However, after quitting acting, he became a full-time author and religious activist.
Famous for: The Goonies
Current job: Lawyer
Can you believe that the 1985 classic The Goonies actor Jeff Cohen is now a lawyer?! He founded a law firm called Cohen Gardner LLP with a friend.
Famous for: Home Improvement
Current job: A volunteer in an NGO
Taran Noah Smith hasn’t acted since Home Improvement ended in 1999. At the age of 17, he sued his parents for spending his hard-earned money on a mansion. At the same time, Taran Noah Smith married vegan chef, Heidi van Pelt. He then invested the money he received from the lawsuit in a vegan dairy farm and catering service. The couple went on to divorce in 2007. The Last time Taran was heard of was after Hurricane Harvey, where he worked as a volunteer with Burners Without Borders, and he stayed in a camp outside Corpus Christi in Texas.
Famous for: Ice Ice Baby
Current job: House Flipper
In 1990, Vanilla Ice reached the top of the charts with the single ‘Ice Ice Baby’. However, in the mid-90s, his music career hit a rocky patch, and he got into the real estate business. But Vanilla hasn’t completely abandoned his musical career, and he is currently performing on the “I Love the 90s Tour.”
Famous for: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Current job: Entrepreneur
Sarah Michelle Gellar was a child star who acted in blockbuster hits such as Cruel Intentions, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I Know What You Did Last Summer. After her acting career wound down, she co-founded FoodStirs with two longtime friends, a cooking- and baking-kit company that deals in organic and non-GMO ingredients.
Famous for: All That, The Amanda Show
Current job: Fashion student
A successful child star, Amanda Bynes started out on the comedy sketch show, All That and then graduated on to star in her own series The Amanda Show. However, she struggled in the subsequent years with drug addiction. After a recent stint in an addiction treatment clinic, she swapped acting with fashion classes at L.A.’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. “I am really loving school and I feel that I am learning a lot,” she said.
