15 Reasons Why These Hollywood Celebrities Disappeared From The Public Eye

Hollywood is a finicky place. A lot of celebrities have much success there, but others experience stress, insecurity, and rejection from the people they thought were their friends. What's a celebrity to do?! For starters, they need to learn to detach from the expectations that others have of them and start being true to themselves. For another, they need to remember to stay true to who they are deep down inside. This is not always easy to do, as many celebrities do not know who they can trust. Lots of Hollywood celebrities have a lot of baggage and stress from their lives that they would like to move away from. They may end up taking less roles due to this or leaving the lime light completely. This is what they feel is the right thing to do for themselves and their families. Sometimes it is due to personal security reasons. Other times, there are family commitments. There is always a good reason. Regardless, their feelings need to be taken into consideration and they need to know they are trusted to be able to handle anything that comes their way. This is not easy, but necessary for an easy transition to another life. Here are the 15 reasons why these Hollywood celebrities disappeared from the public eye!

15 Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman is one of those actors that has quite the work portfolio. Many wondered why he even wanted to take a break in the first place. The thing is Gene was very happy with the work he had done, but has spoken out about needing to take a break in order to be truly content and be in a place where he does not have to be up all night working and stressing. What has Gene been up to? He has been writing fiction. His second novel "Pursuit" came out in 2014. He's been dabbling in other creative pursuits as well. Fans miss him in his movie roles, and hopefully when Gene has had his rest, he will return to the big screen and do the amazing things he does back in the acting world. Eleven years is a long time for die-hard fans to wait, but hey, we all need a break sometimes, right?!

14 Amanda Bynes

After her spectacularly stressful public breakdown a few years ago brought on by DUI charges, bizarre tweets in which she insulted other celebrities and said some very disturbing things, and disruptive public behavior, Amanda decided to take a break from the acting life. She enrolled in California's Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in January of 2014. She eventually got her license back as well. She had some setbacks after leaving the Hollywood scene as well, but came out publicly and said that she is struggling with manic depression. She received treatment at a clinic and began taking medication regularly as well as seeing a psychiatrist. She is now looking healthier and happier than ever, enjoying sketch classes, and still pursuing a degree in education and a career in fashion. She has also taken up yoga and admits that she is happy with her life now and is trying to live a “more balanced life.”

13 Greta Garbo

This star who once said the famous line, “I want to be alone”, really did end up leaving the limelight to do just that. After three Oscar nominations and tons of work on silent and talkie films, she decided to leave Hollywood. Apparently, at age 36 she retired after having taken a bad review on the 1941 film Two Faced Woman. She thought she was not welcome in Hollywood anymore. She became quite reclusive and stepped completely away from Hollywood. She went on to have a very private life. She never married or had children. In her later life she became an art collector. The art in her collections was worth millions of dollars at the time of her death. Work in the collection was from Pierre Auguste Renoir, Pierre Bonnard, as well as Kees van Dongen. She never regretted her choice, though the world missed her amazing acting and performances to be sure.

12 Jonathan Taylor Thomas

The actor starred on Home Improvement and when he got older, he decided to leave the business entirely. He must have had his reasons. Maybe he wanted to lead a more private life or maybe wanted some more space and time to pursue other things. After the series was over, he went to Harvard and then Columbia, which is super impressive. He has recently been back in the public eye with some small voice-over roles in shows like The Simpsons and The Wild Thornberries. He also appeared on the TV shows Last Man Standing and 8 Simple Rules. When he starred on Last Man Standing with his former television dad Tim Allen, he took the opportunity to make some inside jokes about their former successful sitcom. He's recently been trying to shop around a pilot, so we'll see what happens with that.

11 Phoebe Cates

Phoebe Cates is a very talented actress who rose to stardom in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. She starred in many other films, but after marrying fellow actor Kevin Kline, she decided to leave Hollywood and focus on raising her family instead. Many women (and men) will sometimes take an extended leave to focus on their families and though they are missed, we can't blame them if they want to prioritize the people closest to them. She and Kevin still have a very strong marriage, which is a rarity in Hollywood today for sure. She appeared in a movie with husband Kevin and children Greta and Owen called The Anniversary Party, and had some roles here and there but was pretty quiet for the most part. Kevin Kline was quoted as saying though they discussed one of them being home with the children while the other one worked, whenever it was her turn to pursue any roles she chose instead to remain home with the children. In 2005, Phoebe opened up her own clothing boutique in New York called Blue Tree.

10 Rick Moranis

Who didn't love Rick Moranis in all of his comic glory? We all still laugh at his turn as Dark Helmut in Spaceballs as well as his appearances in memorable roles in films like Ghostbusters and Little Shop of Horrors. Rick had a great Hollywood career going, but after his wife died in 1991 from liver cancer, he left acting behind in order to raise his children. It was a tough time for the family for sure, and of course family always comes first. Over the years, Rick has done some voiceover work on some animated films. The thing is he has kept his work commitments to a minimum to focus on being there for his children and working hours that imake it easy to be there for when his kids needed him. Rick's volume of work is memorable, and most people still love the movies he has been in and talk about his comedy and talent.

9 Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple was an incredibly talented child actress who brought in the audience as well as amazing reviews for her performances in films such as Bright Eyes and Captain January. Her famous song “On A Good Ship Lollipop” raised morale during the great Depression and earned a special award. As she grew up, she had some starring roles in films, but audiences sadly and unfortunately failed to accept her as a maturing actress. They still thought of her as the cute child star who was now all grown up. She struggled to find adult acting roles and when she saw that she was not being successful she decided to retire as an actress. Slowly, she got out of the acting life, and became a UN Ambassador and a US diplomat for the United Nations. She did much great work there, and made headlines once again when she joined Twitter in 2013. She passed away February 10, 2014 at age 85 in California.

8 Geena Davis

Geena Davis is an amazing actress who has taken on countless film roles with ease. Her famous turn as BFF to Susan Sarandon in Thelma and Louise is just one of her great roles that we love to watch again and again. She starred in many other great films, such as Beetlejuice, Tootsie, and The Fly. In recent years, Geena has stepped away from Hollywood and has focused on directing films and fighting for female actors to get equal wages to their male counterparts in films. She is also fighting for women to have a greater choice of roles that speak to them at all ages in their life and for greater awareness to the gender biased that still exists in Hollywood in the present day. She has formed her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media which is raising awareness of the challenges women face in media today, and that's really inspiring.

7 Ariana Richards

Most of us will remember Ariana from her role in Jurassic Park back when she was a kid. She was quite memorable in that film. She has had other smaller roles, but as she got older, she stopped acting and directing and decided she wanted to purse painting and sound production. She got a degree from Skidmore College in New York where she graduated with honors in the subjects drama and art. She has become one of the most celebrated portrait painters of our time, which is super awesome. She also composes music through her CFCO foundation and publishing company. She travels extensively with her family and divides her time between her two art studios. Art has always been a strong tradition in her family and her work shows influences from the old masters as well as Impressionist artists. Is it any wonder she moved from acting to painting?

6 Freddy Prinze Jr.

Freddie Prinze Jr was a teen star and had many TV and movie roles. He appeared with his now wife Sarah Michelle Gellar in the successful Scooby Doo movies, as well as I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel. He retired from acting in 2009 thanks to feeling super frustrated with the way that Hollywood is run. He also wanted more time to focus on raising his son and daughter with Sarah and free up his time for cooking, his passion (and now he's written a cookbook). He'll occasionally do some acting work, but only if it is around his family's schedule. We can't fault him for being a great husband and Dad and looking for balance in his life. Isn't that something we all want in our lives? It does not matter how famous we are, in the end it comes down to balance and being happy doing what makes us feel whole and centered.

5 Elizabeth Hurley

The very talented and beautiful Elizabeth Hurley studied theatre and dance in college. She began to get great roles soon after that. She also signed with Estee Lauder cosmetics and became even more famous when her then fiancée Hugh Grant had an affair with Divine Brown. After all the press died down about that, Elizabeth started acting again and soon produced her first film, Extreme Measures. She also started in Bedazzled and the Austin Powers franchise. She continued to act and direct over the years, but when her son Damian was born, she took a hiatus from Hollywood in order to move to the countryside and raise Damian, her only child, and give him the attention she felt she could not had she been working. She is now into clothing design and marketing her bikini line. At age 51 Elizabeth Hurley is still one of the most beautiful actresses out there.

4 Meg Ryan

Meg Ryan was definitely one of the most successful actresses in the 1990s. Her films, When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle made her a box office wonder and the public fell in love with the vivacious and perky actress. After that, she suffered through some box office flops and the high-profile demise of her marriage to fellow actor Denis Quaid didn't help her image since she was famous for being the wholesome girl next door. Unfortunately, people don't exactly associate divorce and perkiness together. This was a lot of pressure for Meg to deal with (and would totally suck for anyone, of course). This affected her life in the public eye so Meg decided to leave Hollywood behind amidst all the negativity. We can't say we blame her. It's hard enough to live up to the image of being happy all the time. Not many of us can do it. But when you are in the public eye, it is even more challenging and difficult.

3 Grace Kelly

We all know and love the beautiful Grace Kelly who was famous in the 1950s for starring in movies like High Noon and To Catch A Thief. Her reason for leaving Hollywood behind? She married the Prince Rainier of Monaco. Yup, that's a pretty good reason. She then became Princess Grace of Monaco and had two children with the prince. She lived happily and enjoyed her new life and didn't seem to mind that she left Hollywood completely behind. She would say that she couldn't work in the charity world, raise her three children, and act as well. She was very happy in her new life until her untimely death in 1982 in a fatal car crash. She suffered a stroke while driving on a winding country road in the Riviera. She was rushed to a hospital where her condition worsened overnight and she passed away at age 52.

2 Debra Winger

Debra was one of the most famous actresses in the 1980s. She was in a bunch of totally successful films like An Officer and A Gentleman, Terms of Endearment, Urban Cowboy, as well as lending her voice to the title character E.T. in that infamous movie. Although she was doing well and has been nominated for several Academy Awards, Debra wanted to take a break from Hollywood. In 1996, she left the world of movies behind and decided to focus on raising her family. Her children mean a lot to her which is nice to see. In order to keep her creativity alive and continue acting which she has always loved, she decided to start performing in plays again. She has also ventured into television and garnered tons of positive attention for her amazing work. Her fans are excited to see her acting again these days, but many wish she will receive a long awaited Academy Award for all her extensive acting work.

1 Josh Saviano

The actor is beloved for his role as Paul Pfeiffer on the television series The Wonder Years, Josh Saviano decided to retire from acting after the show wrapped up its five season run. There were some pretty crazy rumors flying around that Josh Saviano eventually transitioned into Marilyn Manson due to their similar physical build, but the rumors were eventually proved false. Josh studied political science at Yale University and then went to law school. He became a lawyer and married Jennifer Romer in the summer of 2002. They have one child together and he seems super happy, which is awesome. He had a recent reunion with his childhood pal and co-star, Fred Savage. The two are still really good friends and it's nice to see that Josh doesn't regret his time in the spotlight, but is glad to be living the life he is living now.