For any actor, making it big with your very first role would be a dream come true. For many, it would mean the start of an illustrious movie career, but for some, that one experience in the spotlight is enough.
Here are 15 actors who made it big with one movie and then called it quits:
1. Carrie Henn played Newt in Aliens in 1986, but she stopped acting afterward because her family moved from London back to the US.
2. After starring as Charlie Bucket in 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Peter Ostrum turned down a three-movie deal, and his life went "back to normal."
3. Though singer Gwen Stefani has been in several movies and TV shows as herself, the only movie character she ever played was Jean Harlow in 2004's The Aviator.
4. In 1984, Tami Stronach played the Childlike Empress in The Neverending Story, but, after a brief venture into music and an onslaught of unwanted attention, her family decided that she wouldn't pursue acting anymore.
5. Emmanuel Schotte, a former soldier, starred in the 1999 French film L'humanité as Pharaon de Winter, and even though he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, he chose not to pursue a film career.
6. In 1971, Dennis Wilson, cofounder of The Beach Boys, made his one and only onscreen appearance as the Mechanic in Two-Lane Blacktop.
7. In 1966, model Dorothy McGowan starred as the titular supermodel in the French film Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? and then disappeared from the public eye.
8. Maria Callas, a famous opera singer, only ever starred in one movie — the 1969 Italian production Medea, in which she played the titular role.
9. In 2003, Robert Tsai played Lawrence in School of Rock, and afterward, he went on to study at Dartmouth College.
10. In 1987, Sarah Pickering played the titular character in the Charles Dickens adaptation Little Dorrit and then disappeared from the entertainment world to live a quiet life.
11. Eleonora Duse, an accomplished stage actor, only made one film — 1917's Cenere, in which she played Rosalia Derios.
12. In 1967, Nadine Nortier gave her only onscreen performance as the titular character in Mouchette.
13. In 1991, Amber Scott played Maggie Banning in Hook, but she never took on any other movie roles.
14. Stefan Güttler's only acting credit is Huttenbesitzer in the 1976 film Heart of Glass, in which he was hypnotized by director Werner Herzog.
15. And finally, Sonja Skiba, whose only acting credit is Ludmilla in Heart of Glass, was also hypnotized during her performance.
