‘Which celebrity knew when to walk away and left their legacy intact?’ – 22 stars who gave up while the going was good

‘Billy Joel. His last studio album was in 1993. He did one collaborative album in 2001 but he doesn’t perform on it, it’s all classical compositions written by him and played by others. He still plays live shows when he feels like it but otherwise he’s retired.

He was once asked why he stopped putting out albums and he answered that he’d said everything he had to say and didn’t feel it was right to pump out songs just for the money, if he was releasing a song it had to be right, and he was lucky enough to be financially stable so he didn’t have to worry about it.

As a result all his work is high quality and he can stand by it.’
–lowercase_underscore

‘Tom Anderson (Myspace Tom). Built a social media app while it was fun and cool, dipped out with his fortune before becoming scroogle-level greedy. Now we all hate Zuck, Elon, etc but still have fond memories of Tom in our top 8.’
–vwcx

‘I’m pushing the definition of celebrity but Bill Watterson. The creator of Calvin and Hobbes.’
–The_Final_Words

‘Freddie Prinze Jr and Sarah Michelle Gellar! Because OF LOVE! Freddie was like “I don’t really care about acting so I’m just gonna not,” and Sarah Michelle was like “I like to act when I feel like it so I’m just gonna do that.”

If these two ever divorce, I will never believe in love again.’
–hellogoawaynow

‘Jimmy Carter. Not as much a celebrity as just a politician, and he certainly had some missteps as POTUS, but he stepped completely out of politics afterwards and went home to his peanut farm where he used his name and money to build houses for the poor.’
–mccoyeherold2111

‘Stan Laurel, of Laurel and Hardy fame. He had a few unsuccessful movies after the silent era ended, then when Hardy died he just didn’t have the heart for it any more. He got his honorary Oscar and decided that was enough to cap off his career so gracefully bowed out.

He spent the rest of his life sitting at home answering phone calls from fans. Wish I’d been alive to experience that, what an amazing phone call that must have been.’
–zerbey

‘Rick Moranis. Dude had a brilliant career as an actor and comedian, but he put his family first. Dropped out of City Slickers to spend time with his spouse when she was sick. He did the admirable thing, and was smart enough to understand his kids needed him more than the audience in the wake of his wife’s passing in 1991.

We have to appreciate when a person is talented enough to find their joy in life as well as wise enough to cherish it before all things.’
–ironpathwalker

‘Second guy in Wham! Andrew Ridgeley. He knew it was time to let go and let George Michael shine as a solo artist. He settled down with a member of Bananarama and retired to the English countryside, collecting fat royalty checks for Careless Whisper, Last Christmas, etc.’
–Calculusshitteru

‘Enya. Lives alone in a castle in Ireland with her cats.’
–Tolann

‘This isn’t so much a walk away as just knowing exactly what to do and when to do it, and then vanishing.

Daniel Day Lewis. Pops up, does an amazing job, wins an Oscar (or is at least nominated) then vanishes again.’
–UMDSmith

‘Peter Ostrum who played Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

He did plays at school, then one huge movie that gave him a big ol’ chunk of change and then decided he’d had enough and used his money to put himself through Veterinary School.’
–Acting_Normally

‘Cary Grant. He retired 20 years before he died.’
–CalagaxT