Business Insider Edition
Fame can be quite fleeting, and show business comes with a lot of pressure.
So it's no surprise that celebrity can have an adverse effect on people, especially child stars, USA Today reported . The plight of Hollywood icons who achieved success, only to fall from grace due to drug use or erratic behavior, is well-documented.
But not all stars fall. Some just fade into a less visible line of work after their brush with fame.
Here's a look at some former stars who ended up in completely different careers:
Warner Bros. and The Morning Show
Claim to fame: Cohen shot to fame for his turn as clumsy, bad-luck-prone Chunk in the classic 1985 adventure film "The Goonies."
What he does now: Growing up, he was able to use his stint as a child actor to land roles at movie studios, according to the ABA Journal . He decided to go into law , earning his J.D. from UCLA after attending Berkeley.
Cohen went on to cofound the entertainment-oriented law firm Gardner Cohen LLP .
ABC and Danica McKellar / Youtube
Claim to fame: McKellar acted alongside her sister Danica in the television series "The Wonder Years."
Both sisters had been considered for the main role of Winnie, but Danica won out, and Crystal was brought on to play Becky Slater instead.
What shedoes now: During their time in show business, education was always a priority for the McKellars, according to Biography.com . McKellar went on to study at Yale and Oxford, and she earned her J.D. at Harvard.
Today, she's the managing director and legal counsel for Mithril Capital Management .
Wikimedia Commons and InnoTown Conference/Youtube
Claim to fame: Baxter was a founding member of Steely Dan and later joined the Doobie Brothers.
The guitarist has led quite a lengthy career in rock and roll, working with acts and artists like Dolly Parton, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, and others as a session guitarist.
What he does now: The storied guitar-for-hire now has top security clearances. In the 1980s, his interest in recording technology prompted him to research and become fascinated with military software and hardware.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a paper Baxter wrote on missile defense attracted the attention of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. He became a defense consultant for the US Department of Defense and other defense entities, Guitar Player reported.
Paramount Pictures and Wikimedia Commons
Claim to fame: Ostrum appeared in the 1971 classic"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" as protagonist Charlie Bucket. After the film, he declined to sign on for any more movies and left show business, according to IMDb .
What hedoes now: After leaving acting, Ostrum found a new calling when he purchased a horse with some of the money he'd made from the film, according to Express .
He decided he wanted to work with animals and went on to earn his doctorate in veterinary medicine from Cornell. Today, Ostrum practices at the Countryside Veterinary Clinic in upstate New York.
TriStar Pictures and Wikimedia Commons
Claim to fame: The North Dakota native achieved success as a child actor, landing roles such as "the kid" in "Dick Tracy," Siggy in "What About Bob?" and Peter Pan's son in "Hook."
What hedoes now: After leaving Hollywood, he ended up attending MIT, graduating with a B.S. in physics, and then earned his J.D. from Yale, according to Cleveland.com .
In 2011, US President Barack Obama nominated him to the board of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. He now teaches law at Case Western Reserve University .
Warner Bros. and fansoffilmmusic/Youtube
Claim to fame: At the age of six, Lloyd portrayed "Danny Torrance" in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining."
The young actor was "closely guarded by Kubrick," according to IMDb , and did not realize the film was a horror movie.
What hedoes now: Lloyd quit acting in high school and told the New York Daily News he leads "a pretty normal life now ." The former child star is a biology professor at a Kentucky community college.
New World Television and Time Life/Youtube
Claim to fame: Saviano's biggest role was that of the geeky Paul Pfeiffer in "The Wonder Years."
What he does now: Like his co-star McKellar, Saviano chose not to pursue acting shortly after "The Wonder Years" ended. And while his best-known character may have attended Harvard, Saviano chose to study political science at Yale, according to IMDb .
He earned his J.D. at Yeshiva's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and worked as a partner at international law firm Morrison Cohen for 11 years before founding the entertainment startup Act 3 Advisors.
Universal Pictures
Claim to fame: Schoeffling is best known for playing popular jock Jake Ryan in eighties comedy "Sixteen Candles."
What he does now: Shortly after his turn as Molly Ringwald's love interest, Schoeffling quit acting altogether, citing his need to support his two kids .
He largely disappeared from the public eye, but opened up his own woodworking shop in rural Pennsylvania in the nineties, according to IMDb .
20th Century Fox and Red Carpet News TV/Youtube
Claim to fame: Henn was discovered by "Aliens" casting agents in the school cafeteria of a US Air Force Base, according to People .
She ultimately landed the role of Newt, the sole survivor of an alien attack who forms a close bond with Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley.
What she does now: Despite receiving accolades for her performance , Henn chose to forego an acting career. Wired reported she instead went into teaching in Northern California.
Buena Vista Pictures and PondertheMiniHaHa/Youtube
Claim to fame: Katz is most famous for his portrayal of candle-lighting virgin Max in Disney's spooky cult classic "Hocus Pocus."
What hedoes now: According to IMDb , Katz has left the world of acting to work as a hairdresser.
MGM/UA Entertainment Co. and EncoreAustralia/Youtube
Claim to fame: Billingsley has appeared in numerous films and television shows over the years.
His most famous role is that of Ralphie Parker, a young boy determined to get his hands on an "official Red Ryder carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time" in the 1983 Yuletide classic "A Christmas Story."
What hedoes now: Billingsley never left the entertainment world. Now he just works behind the scenes, with a few cameos here and there (like his brief appearance in "Elf" ). He's been able to transition from child actor to what Buzzfeed calls "a steady and successful Hollywood player."
According to IMDb , he's worked as a producer on "Iron Man," "Dinner for Five," "Zathura," and "Made." He also directed the romantic comedy "Couples Retreat."
Buzzfeed reported that Billingsley has also cofounded Wild West Picture Show Productions with friend and frequent collaborator Vince Vaughn.
Warner Bros. and twopalms/Youtube
Claim to fame: Oliver is most known for his role as the alliteratively-named Bastian Balthazar Bux in "The NeverEnding Story."
What hedoes now: IMDb reports Oliver is now working on the other side of the camera. He teaches photography and even authored a book on the nineteenth century photo process, " A History of the Woodburytype ."
Disney and LifeWithGela / Youtube
Claim to fame: Lawrence played the irritating, bacon-loving Beans in Disney's "Even Stevens," which ran from 2001 to 2003.
What hedoes now: The Daily Mail reported Lawrence now teaches seminars at USC, Berkeley, and in California high schools while acting in the odd commercial.
According to the Mercury News , he also surprised fans when he appeared as one of Santa's helpers at a California mall in 2015.
NBCUniversal Television Distribution and YPO Global
Claim to fame: Lidsky portrayed the nerdy Weasel during the first season of "Saved By the Bell: The New Class." Shortly after, he received news he had retinitis pigmentosa and would ultimately lose his vision, according to the Tampa Bay Times .
What hedoes now: There's a reason TED invited the former child actor to discuss his " eclectic rsum " in 2016. Lidsky left Hollywood in order to pursue his education, enrolling at Harvard at the age of 15 and graduating with degrees in computer science and applied mathematics, the Tampa Bay Times reported .
He went on to pursue a legal career , clerking for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as the first legally blind law clerk in the history of the US Supreme Court, according to CNN .
In 1999, he also co-founded a business that would become x+1, which Ad Age reported Rocket Fuel bought for $230 million in 2014. Inc. reported that Lidsky's also established a construction firm in Florida.
See Also:
SEE ALSO: 'It's not worth losing your job over': Bachelor, Amazing Race, and Survivor alums explain how reality stardom affected their careers
