Summary
- Former child actor, Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, left the spotlight after the film and pursued a career as a veterinarian.
- Ostrum shared a close bond with Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka, and compared his grief at Wilder's passing to "losing a parent."
- Ostrum initially kept his role as Charlie a secret but started speaking about his experience in the 90s and recently shared thoughts on the upcoming Wonka prequel film.
After playing the role of Charlie in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), former child actor Peter Ostrum all but disappeared from the spotlight. At 12 years old, Ostrum made his acting debut in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, the first film adaptation of Roald Dahl's 1964 novel, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. Ostrum played the young Charlie Bucket, a poor but hopeful boy who is one of five children to find a Golden Ticket and win a chance to visit Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.
Ostrum was in the sixth grade, performing in the Cleveland Play House children's theater, when he was scouted by agents for the part of Charlie. Ostrum has shared that, while filming in Munich, Gene Wilder, who played the titular chocolatier in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, took the newcomer under his wing and showed him the ropes of acting. When Wilder passed in 2016, Ostrum compared his grieving experience to "losing a parent" (via Variety). Ostrum did a great job as Charlie Bucket in the film, but the experience wasn't enough to inspire him to continue in the business.
Where The 1971 Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory Cast Are Today
With a new Wonka movie on the horizon, let's see where the cast of the 1971 Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory classic movie are today.
Peter Ostrum Never Acted Again After Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
Ostrum's first-ever acting role was also his last. After filming wrapped, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory producer David L. Wolper offered Ostrum a three-film contract. However, Ostrum opted not to sign, later confiding in his dialogue coach that he wanted to retain the freedom of his future projects. However, going forward, he never acted onscreen again.
Initially, Ostrum was reluctant to speak about his role as Charlie in Willy Wonka and even went so far as to hide it from the people in his life. "I wanted people to judge me on who I was, not what I’d done," he told Express about his decision to keep his singular famous film role a secret. However, starting in the 90s, Ostrum began speaking out in interviews about Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and his short-lived experience as a child actor. In 2021, he and some of the original cast shared their thoughts on Timothee Chalamet playing Willy Wonka in the 2023 prequel movie Wonka.
Peter Ostrum Became A Veterinarian Instead Of Pursuing Acting
Rather than continue as a child actor, Ostrum left the film business for good and opted to pursue a career as a veterinarian instead. After taking an interest in his family's horses, Ostrum attended Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, where he received a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. In July 1985, Ostrum began practicing as a veterinarian at Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Lowville, NY, before retiring in September 2023. Today, the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory star still lives in New York with his wife, Loretta, with whom he has two adult children, Helenka and Leif Ostrum.
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Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- Summary:
- A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.
- Release Date:
- 1971-06-30
- Budget:
- $3 million
- Cast:
- Jack Albertson, Gene Wilder, Peter Ostrum, Denise Nickerson, Julie Dawn Cole
- Director:
- Mel Stuart
- Genres:
- Family, Musical, Fantasy
- Rating:
- G
- Runtime:
- 100 minutes
- Writers:
- Roald Dahl
- Studio(s):
- Paramount Pictures
- Distributor(s):
- Paramount Pictures
