The Olsen twins proved that not all child stars lose their minds in adulthood, but if anyone was primed for a breakdown, it was them. As children, the two starred in a ridiculous amount of TV shows and movies, including Full House and a whole host of direct-to-video children's movies. It would be enough to make any kid go insane.
However, while they may have stepped away from acting, the Olsen twins have stayed busy and successful well into adulthood. These days, the two are stars in the fashion world, and seem to be doing just as well financially, if not better, than they were as child stars. They have a combined estimated net worth of $100 million.
When it comes to retirement, Sarah Michelle Gellar just can't seem to make up her mind. She was most famous for her role as Buffy on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the late '90s and early 2000s. But after that, she took what fans worried was a permanent hiatus from acting.
During her time away, she pursued a career in the cooking world, releasing several cookbooks and food lines. However, she's recently returned to the world of Hollywood with roles in several shows like Sometimes I Lie, with other roles on the way. She currently has an estimated net worth of $20 million.
In the '80s and '90s, Geena Davis was an in-demand actress. She won an Academy Award for her role in The Accidental Tourist and nabbed another nomination for her iconic role in Thelma & Louise. However, Davis stated that as she got older, she found herself being offered fewer and fewer interesting roles. Eventually, she decided to call it quits with acting.
While she's had a few roles here and there in the 2010s, they're nothing compared to what she did earlier in her career. Davis now has an estimated net worth of $30 million, but that could continue to rise if she ever officially comes out of retirement.
Meghan Markle dropped one of the biggest retirement bombs when she retired from acting to marry a prince. Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, becoming the Duchess of Sussex. Before then, her most notable acting role was on the show "Suits," an American legal drama. She played Rachel Zane for a total of seven seasons.
She retired with $5 million to her name. Upon retiring from acting, she told People magazine, “I don’t see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change.” And indeed it was a big change. Meghan and Harry moved away from the royal family, however, to live in California and now have one child together: Archie.
Jessica Alba started working in Hollywood at age 13 and didn't let up for years. From Dark Angel to The Fantastic Four, Alba has done a little bit of everything when it comes to TV and movies. However, after more than a decade in the business, she left to focus on something more meaningful to her.
In 2012, Alba founded The Honest Company, which produces natural beauty and lifestyle products for children. While she's had a stray acting role here and there since then, it's clear that most of her focus is on her now million-dollar company. She has an estimated net worth of $200 million.
Shirley Temple might be a timeless Hollywood star, but her real-life career was surprisingly short. Temple only actually starred in 43 films from the ages of 3 to 21. Then, at age 22, she officially retired from acting. However, that wasn't the end of her unique career trajectory!
During her later years, Temple became involved in politics, including an unsuccessful run for office and a stint as a US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia under George H.W. Bush. She passed away in 2014 at age 85 due to COPD. Her highest estimated net worth was $30 million.
Grace Kelly's departure from acting was one of the most unusual in all of Hollywood history. In the 1950s, she had a successful career with numerous hit roles, especially in Alfred Hitchcock films like Rear Window. However, that all came to an end when she got married at age 26.
This wasn't just any marriage, either! She married Prince Ranier III of Monaco, which meant that she could no longer act because of her duties as the literal princess of Monaco. It's crazy to think of someone as rich and famous as Grace Kelly marrying up, but she somehow managed to do it! At the time of her death in 1982, she had an estimated net worth of $40 million.
Leelee Sobieski had a decade-long career in Hollywood before calling it quits. Her first major role was in 1998's Deep Impact, which was just the first of many apocalyptic-style movies she starred in. However, in a 2016 interview, she announced that she was officially done with acting and wanted to focus on being a mother.
"I don't do movie stuff anymore. I am just focused on my kids. I think that's mainly why I stopped. Also, ninety percent of acting roles involve so much sexual stuff with other people, and I don't want to do that." Despite her retirement, Sobieski seems to be doing just fine with her finances. She currently has an estimated net worth of $6 million.
Ali MacGraw first gained recognition thanks to her role in Goodbye, Columbus. She rose to international fame, however, because of her performance in Love Story for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. While she had done numerous roles over the years, she stopped acting by the early to mid-'90s.
One of her last roles was in the television miniseries The Winds of War and the television film Gunsmoke: The Long Ride. While she’s now retired, she does keep her time occupied with philanthropic work and as a yoga practitioner. He has a net worth of about $20 million to her name.
Phoebe Cates was one of the many "it" girls of Hollywood in the 1980s and early '90s. Her roles included majorly popular films like Gremlins, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Drop Dead Fred. However, after the birth of her children, she retired from Hollywood to raise them. She hasn't had a role since 2001.
These days, her life might be missing the Hollywood glitz and glam, but she's still found success in other ventures. She currently owns Blue Tree, which is a Madison Avenue boutique she opened in 2005. Her estimated net worth is somewhere around $5 million.
As a teenager, Danica McKellar starred as Winnie Cooper on the ABC sitcom The Wonder Years. However, she said that the transition from child actress to adult actress was a difficult one. So, she took some time off to go to college and study mathematics. While she's had a few guest appearances on TV and in movies over the years, it's nothing like the early years of her career.
That being said, she's started to make something of a comeback in the past few years, that is, if you know where to look for her! As strange as it may sound, she's become something of a superstar of Hallmark Christmas movies. It's estimated that her net worth is roughly $6 million.
Meg Ryan is know for her numerous classic films from the ‘80s and ‘90s like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and City of Angels. She was once the queen of romantic comedies and when you thought of any rom-com, a Meg Ryan movie undoubtedly came to mind. But all things come to an end.
Meg Ryan had done several movies in the 2000s such as Kate & Leopold and The Women, but the roles were much fewer and farther in-between after that point. She ultimately decided to retire from acting in 2018. At that point, she was retiring with $45 million, which is certainly enough.
The '90s were a golden age for child actors, and hardly any were as famous as Mara Wilson. As a child, Wilson starred in blockbuster hits like Mrs. Doubtfire, the remake of Miracle on 34th Street, and Matilda. However, she called it quits on acting in 2000. Since then, she's made a few appearances, as an actress but not many.
Since then, she's worked behind the scenes writing and directing a few projects, but it's rare to see her on screen these days. While her net worth has broken into the millions, it's still a respectable $500,000.
These days, Audrey Hepburn is known almost exclusively for her amazing work in famous films like My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Wait Until Dark. However, what most people forget is that Hepburn abruptly left Hollywood at the height of her popularity to spend more time with her family.
While she made a few appearances after her announcement, it was nothing like the glory days of her career. Later in life, Hepburn began work for UNICEF and traveled to areas like Ethiopia and Turkey on humanitarian campaigns. Hepburn died of cancer in 1993 with an estimated net worth of $55 million.
Portia de Rossi has had a massively successful career in Hollywood, with roles in everything from Arrested Development to Scandal. She also had a very high profile relationship with fellow celebrity Ellen DeGeneres, whom she has been married to since 2008. However, now it seems like her Hollywood days are behind her.
De Rossi announced on Ellen in 2018 that she was officially retiring from acting, save for any new seasons of Arrested Development that might crop up in the future. With an estimated net worth of $20 million, we don't blame her for retiring! With that kind of money, who needs to work anyways?
Doris Day had been retired for a while and had a net worth of $200 million. She starred in films such as Pillow Talk, That Touch of Mink and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, among other things. But it was for Pillow Talk that she earned an Academy Award nomination.
Although she made plenty of public appearances over the years, she had quit acting in films by the late ‘60s. "The Doris Day Show" was her last acting job, a series that ran from 1968 to 1973. After which point, most television appearances she made as herself. Doris Day died in 2019 at the age of 97.
Lisa Bonet was best known for her role as Denise Huxtable on "The Cosby Show," a role that earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She reprised the role in a spin-off series "A Different World." She’s also done some film work such as in Enemy of the State and High Fidelity.
Her last role as an actor was a recurring role in the Showtime series Ray Donovan in 2016. She now has a net worth of $16 million. She spends much of her time raising her family. Bonet has three children, including one who is a fellow actress and the daughter of Lenny Kravitz – namely, Zoë Kravitz. She’s been in a notable marriage with Jason Mamoa but the two recently announced they were going to divorce.
Teenage boys these days might have no clue who Debra Winger is, but in the 1980s, she showed up on more than just a few bedroom posters! However, Winger was more than just a hot lady—she was also an accomplished actress. Her roles in movies like An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment, and Shadowlands all earned her Oscar nominations.
However, in 1995, Winger called it quits on acting, saying that it was a move that she had wanted to make for years. She's made a few appearances on screen since then, but mostly she's withdrawn from the spotlight. Despite that, she still has an estimated net worth of $8 million.
Jessica Simpson is an American actress, singer and businesswoman. Her film debut as an actress came in 2005 for the film adaptation of Dukes of Hazzard. Other notable films have included Employee of the Month, and The Love Guru in which she played herself. On television, she had a recurring role in "That ‘70s Show" and had appeared as a guest in several others.
While she rose to fame as a pop star, she’s made most of her money after her retirement as a singer and actor. Now living as an entrepreneur, she has a net worth of $200 million. Her majority stake in the lifestyle brand called the Jessica Simpson Collection was sold – a company that brings in $1 billion annually.
Tyra Banks has been a woman of many talents. While she’s primarily known for her modeling and television persona, she’s also done a number of acting roles. Having begun modeling at the age of 15, she’s been one of the hardest-working celebrities for years. Her first acting job was on the sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and she made her film debut in Higher Learning.
Despite being retired, as of 2022, Tyra Banks has a net worth of $90 million. She hasn’t acted in a television nor film role since 2018 (Life-Size 2) and she publicly retired from modeling back in 2005. However, she did make a brief return for the cover of the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Cameron Diaz was once one of the most popular actresses of the ‘90s through the 2000s. She rose to fame thanks to the wildly popular comedy There’s Something About Mary. Other popular films in her filmography have included The Mask, Any Given Sunday, Charlie’s Angels, and Shrek - just to name a few.
In 2014, Cameron Diaz had announced she was retiring from acting. In that final year, she had three movies that were released: The Other Woman and Annie. In an interview with InStyle, she said, “I’ve given more than half of my life to the public…I feel it’s OK for me to take time for myself now to reorganize and choose how I want to come [back] into the world.” Diaz retired with $140 million to her name.
Amanda Bynes is an actress primarily known for her television work in the 1990s on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show "All That" and its spin-off "The Amanda Show." She won much acclaim for her work on those shows and it eventually allowed her to launch a film career. Her first role was in the 2002 film Big Fat Liar.
Amanda Bynes appeared in several movies before ultimately retiring such as What A Girl Wants, Hairspray, She’s The Man and Easy A. However, substance abuse and mental health issues led to her parents filing a conservatorship. As of February 2022, Bynes filed to end the conservatorship. She is worth $4 million.
You might not recognize her these days, but if you were alive in the '90s and saw Jurassic Park, you know exactly who Ariana Richards is. She, along with fellow actor Joseph Mazzello, were the young child stars in the movie, making them the envy of '90s kids everywhere who wanted to run for their lives from real-life dinosaurs.
While Richards had a few other movie roles in the '90s, her work dropped off dramatically in the new millennium. These days as an adult, she's focused on her painting career and hasn't been seen on the big screen since 2013. Still, she has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million thanks to the blockbuster success of Jurassic Park.
Will Smith may have been the star of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but Karyn Parsons was a close second—Carlton be damned! She played the snobby-yet-not-too-bright eldest daughter of the family, Hilary Banks. While she had a few TV appearances after this, nothing comes close to the success of Fresh Prince.
While she may not have officially retired from acting, it's clear that Parsons has moved on to other things. She has her own studio that produces animated movies, and she's also written two books for children. She currently has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million. Looks like those Fresh Prince syndication checks are still paying the bills!
Elizabeth Hurley is an actress who gained wide recognition for her role in the comedy film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. She also had notable roles in Bedazzled and in the series "The Royals" which ended in 2018. While she hasn’t officially announced a retirement, she’s certainly strayed away from acting.
Her last film was in the 2021 film Father Christmas Is Back. She had married in 2007 but divorced in 2011. She now runs a farm for pigs, cows and sheep and currently has a net worth of $35 million. And it’s also worth mentioning that she still looks just as beautiful as ever.
