The dream of struggling actors and actresses to land a lucrative television or movie role will make them rich and famous. Once meeting, some performers experience a change of heart and want to leave for various reasons, including branching out into other interests, pursuing other acting jobs, or even dissatisfaction. This gamble pays off for some and not so much for others, as the names on this list demonstrate.
1. David Caruso, NYPD Blue
Caruso went from obscurity to stardom with his starring role as Detective John Kelly in the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue. He walked away from the show after its first season, which went on to air for 11 more seasons, to pursue movie acting roles. His star turns in dual box office flops Jade and Kiss of Death put Caruso's career on ice until his role as Horatio Caine in CSI: Miami.
2. Denise Crosby, Star Trek: The Next Generation
During the show's first season, the actress asked for her character, Security Chief Tasha Yar, to be killed so Crosby could pursue movie roles. Aside from the lead female role in the 1989 horror film Pet Sematary, her movie career didn't take off as planned. Star Trek: The Next Generation remained a highly successful syndicated series with several big-screen movies.
3. George Lazenby as James Bond
After taking over the James Bond franchise from Sean Connery, Lazenby starred in a single Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, before walking away from what he felt was a clichéd role. Lazenby starred in a few other films before becoming a footnote in film history.
4. Katherine Heigl, Grey's Anatomy
Despite the fame brought by her character Dr. Izzie Stevens, Heigl was publicly vocal about her displeasure with the show, famously withdrawing her name from the list of potential Emmy Award nominees in 2008. While she enjoyed box office success with the films Knocked Up and 27 Dresses, tensions with the show's creative team and a reputation for being difficult to work with led to her character being killed off the show.
5. Megan Fox, Transformers
Fox was one of the stars of the first two Transformers live-action movies but was fired from the franchise before the production of the third installation for her comments in which she stated working for director Michael Bay was like working for Hitler. A seventh film in the widely seen series has a June 2023 release date.
6. Shelley Long, Cheers
With five seasons and several awards to her credit, Shelley Long left the hit show to focus on her young family. Her departure was controversial due to fears her absence would tank the show. Actress Kirstie Alley, hired to play bar manager Rebecca Howe, helped Cheers continue for another six seasons.
7. Terrence Howard, Marvel Cinematic Universe
After starring in the original Iron Man, Don Cheadle replaced James “Rhodey” Rhodes (aka War Machine), Howard for Iron Man 2, and subsequent MCU movies. His reason for walking away from the role? He wanted to avoid taking a temporary pay cut that substantially reduced his contracted salary.
8. Suzanne Somers, Three's Company
The smash 1970s sitcom about three coed roommates made Suzanne Somers a household name. At the start of the fifth season, Somers asked for an ownership stake in the show and an increase in her salary equal to what John Ritter was making. After studio executives rejected her requests, Somers lost her job.
9. Chevy Chase, Saturday Night Live
Notoriously difficult to work with, Chevy Chase left Saturday Night Live during the second season because his future wife wanted to stay in Los Angeles instead of relocating to New York City. Chase had a successful box office run in the 1980s with Caddyshack, Fletch, and National Lampoon's Vacation series. However, in his most recent return to network television's Community, Chase was written off the show in the fourth season because of his allegedly frequent use of racially insensitive language.
10. Michael Learned, The Waltons
Her meteoric rise to stardom in the early 1970s was from her role as Olivia, the supportive family matriarch in the one-hour television drama. After becoming frustrated with the lack of character development, she left at the end of the seventh season. Learned found critical acclaim for her series Nurse but never achieved the same level of fame as she did from The Waltons.
11. McLean Stevenson, M*A*S*H
As fan favorite Colonel Henry Blake, McLean Stevenson grew unhappy with being a second banana to Alan Alda's Hawkeye Pierce and asked for a release from his contract. At the end of season three, his character was discharged from the Army, only to be killed in an airplane explosion. Subsequent television shows starring Stevenson were short-lived.
12. Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men
Sheen's explosive exit from the sitcom occurred after he publicly made incendiary comments about the show's producer Chuck Lorre. He went on to star in the series Anger Management for three seasons but has since expressed regret for his earlier actions.
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This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
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