It seems every time you turn on the television you see some other superstar adopting a third world child and toting it around like the must-have fashion accessory of the year. On the other side, sometimes staying in Hollywood isn’t what’s best for everyone. Here are 8 actors who left behind Hollywood to help raise their family.
It can’t be easy to walk away from the bright lights and the big city that is Hollywood. But these men saw that family, and your children come first and made the difficult choice to walk away from the spotlight.
- Kel Mitchell: After becoming a household name with Keenan Thompson on Keenan and Kel, Mitchel avoided the spotlight. Instead of chasing after fame, he instead turned to religion and raising his family. Good on you, Kel. He appears in projects from time to time, but it appears the time off has done him and his family well.
- Cary Grant: One of the biggest Hollywood stars in the 50s wound up leaving it all behind to care for his daughter. Because he wound up not having many documented childhood memories due to losing many records from World War II bombings, he made sure that his daughter had plenty to remember him by.
- John Hughes: The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles. To say Hughes created some of the most quintessential coming-of-age films of the 80’s would be an understatement. Hughes wound up leaving the director’s chair behind to be a father in 1994 after actor and friend John Candy died of a heart attack, the same thing that took Hughes’ life in 2009.
- Michael Schoeffling: After staring in several commercially successful films in the 80s like Sixteen Candles, Schoeffling and his wife moved away from the L.A. spotlight to raise their kids in Pennsylvania far from the spotlight. In addition to being a parent, Michael and his wife have made a living selling handcrafted furniture.
- Dave Chappelle: There was more than a little speculation and head scratching when Dave Chappelle seemingly walked away from show business at the top of his game. Later, Chappelle would comment that it was all due to family, noting that the spotlight was growing and that it wasn’t conducive to raising a family. I think we can all respect that.
- Bruce Willis: It’s not often that one of the biggest starts decides to call it quits, but Bruce Willis did just that when he and his wife Demi took a brief hiatus, moved to Idaho, and focused on raising their children. Bruce returned to acting, but the experience appears to have worked for the kids who have led relatively normal lives, outside of the limelight.
- Justin Timberlake: J-Tim and Jessica Biel haven’t quit acting exactly, but they have decided to raise their family primarily in Montana, far from the prying eyes of the New York and Hollywood tabloid pages. While they continue to work, they’ve kept a noticeably lower profile since becoming parents.
- Rick Moranis: One of the biggest (pun intended) stars of the 80’s and 90’s with hits like Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Ghostbusters, My Blue Heaven, Spaceballs, and more. Rick Moranis left it all behind to raise his children after his wife tragically passed away due to cancer in 1997. It was supposed to only be a temporary break, but he found that he enjoyed being a father far more than putting up with the stress of being a star. Although he doesn’t appear on camera anymore, he has occasionally lent his voice to animated films such as Brother Bear.
It can’t be easy to walk away from the bright lights and the big city that is Hollywood. But these men saw that family, and your children come first and made the difficult choice to walk away from the spotlight.
