12 Stars Who Walked Away From Hollywood at the Height of Their Fame
5. Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman won two Oscars, for The French Connection and Unforgiven, and was one of the most respected actors of his generation.
After Welcome to Mooseport (2004), he quietly retired and never returned, turning down every offer. Instead, he wrote several novels and lived a private life in New Mexico until his death in 2025.
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6. Rick Moranis
In the 1980s and early ’90s, Rick Moranis was everywhere: Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, Little Shop of Horrors and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
After his wife died of cancer in 1991, he found it hard to balance filming with being a single father. In 1997 he stepped away from movies to raise his two children, later saying he simply missed them too much. He returned to music and occasional voice work instead.