There's another thread about kid actors, but did any adults have one long running sitcom role and then leave acting? I guess I'd leave out kids and people who left acting due to health or (obviously) death.

John Wright, who played Willy on McHale's Navy, was more interested in music. He did 138 episodes of McHale's Navy, plus the two movies. He was only 24 when that ended, but went back to music and only had five imdb credits over the next 20 years. Did anyone else more or less walk away after a long running series?

Jerry Seinfeld. He does the Comedians In Cars, but that is a talk show.

Crystal Bernard hasn't been very prevalent since "Wings" ended back in the 90's. She did a few TV movies in the 2000's but hasn't done a series since. Her last regular TV gig was 16 episodes of "According To Jim."

Crystal Bernard hasn't been very prevalent since "Wings" ended back in the 90's. She did a few TV movies in the 2000's but hasn't done a series since. Her last regular TV gig was 16 episodes of "According To Jim."

I forgot about her! She was great.

Doris Day stopped acting after The Doris Day Show ended(1968-1973).
She did have her own talk show and appeared on other talk shows, but her acting credits stopped after 1973 according to imdb.com.

I'd say Jan Smithers, of WKRP fame, fits here. She did a handful of guest star roles after WKRP ended, and it looks like one movie, and that's it. Doesn't appear that she's acted in 30 years!

Also, Gary Burghoff, of M*A*S*H. Besides the ill-fated "Walter" pilot, he pretty much "fell of the radar" after M*A*S*H, and left acting altogether, aside from a movie in 2010.

Doris Day stopped acting after The Doris Day Show ended(1968-1973).
She did have her own talk show and appeared on other talk shows, but her acting credits stopped after 1973 according to imdb.com.
Doris Day didn't even want to do that sitcom.

Not a sitcom and he had a pretty reasonably lengthy career beforehand, but Dennis Franz pretty much retired the moment that NYPD Blue finally went off of the air in 2005.

Doris Day didn't even want to do that sitcom.

Yeah Treky is right. She was forced to do it after her husband died because he had put her in debt and signed a television deal without her knowledge or consent. :eek:

I will add Don Grady from "My Three Sons" to the list. The only son to steadily appear on TV after the show ended was Barry Livingston (Ernie). Stanley Livingston (Chip) and Tim Considine (Mike) occasionally did/do guest spots, but Don Grady focused more on his musical career.

Yeah Treky is right. She was forced to do it after her husband died because he had put her in debt and signed a television deal without her knowledge or consent. :eek:

I will add Don Grady from "My Three Sons" to the list. The only son to steadily appear on TV after the show ended was Barry Livingston (Ernie). Stanley Livingston (Chip) and Tim Considine (Mike) occasionally did/do guest spots, but Don Grady focused more on his musical career.
Don Grady actually works for Disney in their music department and he is a producer of many of Disney's children's music albums while his daughter Ginny Grady has also sung on many of Disney's children's albums as the singing voices of some of the Disney Princesses. What a surprise that Don Grady and his daughter are part of the Disney family now and I never knew that Don Grady was on My Three Sons before working for Walt Disney Records now
Bestie

Don Grady actually works for Disney in their music department and he is a producer of many of Disney's children's music albums while his daughter Ginny Grady has also sung on many of Disney's children's albums as the singing voices of some of the Disney Princesses. What a surprise that Don Grady and his daughter are part of the Disney family now and I never knew that Don Grady was on My Three Sons before working for Walt Disney Records now
Bestie

Sadly, Mr. Grady died in 2012.

Thank you very much for the info Ronny G. No wonder why I haven't seen Don Grady's name on many of Disney's music albums as producer anymore and he was wonderful having an amazing job working for Disney
Bestie

Kari Michaelsen from GAB. Unlike the other actresses that portrayed the Kaniski daughters, she only had two other roles between 1986 and 1991...

Girl Talk and Full House where she played Joey's girlfriend Stacey.

She later retired from acting.

Crystal Bernard since Wings has concentrated a lot on her singing career. She's released several country music albums/cds. I have a cassette copy of one of them. I think she's a terrific singer and I really like her stuff.

Larry Linville. After he left the role of Frank Burns on the hit sitcom M.A.S.H. he did the failed spinoff from The Jeffersons that centered on Marla Gibbs' character Florence Johnston. It only lasted a few months and I don't think he ever acted again after that.

Ed.

Crystal Bernard hasn't been very prevalent since "Wings" ended back in the 90's. She did a few TV movies in the 2000's but hasn't done a series since. Her last regular TV gig was 16 episodes of "According To Jim."What was her role?

All four main actors from ALF.

All four main actors from ALF.
No. The dad, Max Wright, went on to be the 2nd boss on "Norm". An underated sitcom that drove off their core audience after the network was pressured by special interest groups because "the show was too white."

No. The dad, Max Wright, went on to be the 2nd boss on "Norm". An underated sitcom that drove off their core audience after the network was pressured by special interest groups because "the show was too white."

Ah, I see. The more you know.

Jerry Seinfeld. He does the Comedians In Cars, but that is a talk show.

In all fairness, those standup comedian turned sitcom actors never really did go very far. Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano, and Roseanne Barr are at least three examples who never were able to go past their sitcoms based on their personal experiences.

In all fairness, those standup comedian turned sitcom actors never really did go very far. Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano, and Roseanne Barr are at least three examples who never were able to go past their sitcoms based on their personal experiences.

Yeah, because none of them are really actors, when you think about it. Roseanne's made a couple of movies, and Ray was on that TNT show, but they still just play some variation of themselves.

And really, good for them for recognizing that they are really comedians, not actors. Like Eastwood said a long time ago, "a man's got to know his limitations."

In all fairness, those standup comedian turned sitcom actors never really did go very far. Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano, and Roseanne Barr are at least three examples who never were able to go past their sitcoms based on their personal experiences.

Add Brett Butler to the list. Haven't seen much of her after Grace Under Fire.

Add Brett Butler to the list. Haven't seen much of her after Grace Under Fire.

She had a recurring role on FX's "Anger Management" and recently popped up on ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder".

She had a recurring role on FX's "Anger Management" and recently popped up on ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder".
Oh, good. Glad she cleaned up her act.
I just remembered another one: Dick York from Bewitched. Left the show because of health issues. Absent from the screen throughout the 1970s. Tried to get back into acting years later in the early '80s with a few guest appearances but that was it.

Don Grady actually works for Disney in their music department and he is a producer of many of Disney's children's music albums while his daughter Ginny Grady has also sung on many of Disney's children's albums as the singing voices of some of the Disney Princesses. What a surprise that Don Grady and his daughter are part of the Disney family now and I never knew that Don Grady was on My Three Sons before working for Walt Disney Records now
Bestie

Also, Don died in 2012. (sorry, should have looked at next post.)

In all fairness, those standup comedian turned sitcom actors never really did go very far. Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano, and Roseanne Barr are at least three examples who never were able to go past their sitcoms based on their personal experiences.

I've never thought about that before, good point. Tim Allen must be the exception to the rule.

I've never thought about that before, good point. Tim Allen must be the exception to the rule.

Or that one guy named Robin Williams.

In all fairness, those standup comedian turned sitcom actors never really did go very far. Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano, and Roseanne Barr are at least three examples who never were able to go past their sitcoms based on their personal experiences.


Or could it be that these three shows were all extremely successful and the title actors/co-executive producers whose material they were based on simply didn't feel the need to try and top their extremely successful and lucrative series?

She had a recurring role on FX's "Anger Management" and recently popped up on ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder".

I've always suspected that Brett Butler got blackballed due to erratic on-set behavior on Grace Under Fire, which ultimately lead to its premature demise.

Yes Grace Under Fire was cancelled by the network because of Brett Butler's outrageous behavior. I've read that she actually flashed her breasts at the child actor who was playing her son on the show and then his parents refused to let him work on the show anymore after that happened. And rightly so I say. So it was her own stupid fault her show failed.

As for Jerry Seinfeld, I've heard he's making lots of money off of the Seinfeld reruns in syndication so he doesn't really need to work anymore.

Ed.