What are your favorite '90s child actors up to today? There's always that moment, usually right before you're about to fall asleep, when the thought hits you out of nowhere: "Whatever happened to that actor? I loved them." Invariably you're thinking of a star you really liked while growing up in the '90s. Whether you wonder about that sitcom fan favorite who dropped off the face of the earth, or the film princess who seemed to have a great career ahead of her but gave it all up, this list as all the info on what these '90s stars who quit acting have been doing to fill their days.
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- The Wonder Years
- ABC
Best known for playing Paul Joshua Pfeiffer on the classic comedy-drama The Wonder Years, Josh Saviano left the set to earn a degree in political science at Yale University, and ultimately became a lawyer, handling mergers dealing with intellectual property.- Age: 48
- Birthplace: White Plains, New York, USA
- Profession: Actor, Lawyer
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- Home Improvement
- ABC
He was the teen heartthrob of Home Improvement fame, but Jonathan Taylor Thomas quit acting after the '90s and threw himself into academics, eventually getting into Harvard, then studying abroad in Scotland, and basically kept his head in the books for over 10 years. He hasn't made a big return, but has quietly made a few very brief appearances with his former TV dad Tim Allen on Last Man Standing. These days, he's more focused on writing and directing.
- Age: 43
- Birthplace: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
- Profession: Actor, Voice acting
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- The Wonder Years
- ABC
Crystal McKellar played Becky Slater on The Wonder Years. For a time, she and her sister, Danica McKellar, competed for acting roles, but eventually, Crystal decided to become an attorney, going to Yale University and graduating from Harvard Law School.- Age: 48
- Birthplace: La Jolla, San Diego, California, USA
- Profession: Actor, Lawyer
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- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
- 20th Century Fox
Jake Lloyd is known for playing young Anakin Skywalker in 1999's The Phantom Menace. He was just 10 years old when Episode I premiered and subsequently disappointed Star Wars fans across the board. Though he was only doing his job, the young actor faced bullying because of the film and disappeared from the spotlight.
In January 2020, Lloyd's mother updated fans on her son's well-being, revealing that he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but that he continues to focus on his health and lives a fairly peaceful life.
- Age: 35
- Birthplace: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
- Profession: Actor
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- Parker Lewis Can't Lose
- Fox
Troy Slaten
In what seems to be a theme among a lot of these child actors, Troy Slaten, who played Jerry in Parker Lewis Can't Lose, left acting young, graduated from UCLA, and went to law school at Pepperdine University. He now practices criminal law and litigation in southern California.- Age: 49
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Profession: Lawyer
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- Jurassic Park
- Universal Pictures
Most famous for her role as Lex Murphy in the original Jurassic Park, Ariana Richards remains mostly retired from the craft, instead living in Salem, OR and becoming a successful impressionist painter.
- Age: 45
- Birthplace: Healdsburg, California, USA
- Profession: Painter, Actor
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