By Mark Gray
9:30pm PDT, Sep 2, 2023
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Fame: It's just not for everybody. While many celebrities' faces seem to be everywhere — from magazine covers and TV shows to social media and paparazzi crosshairs — there are a few well-known people who've left the limelight, some for a few years and others for a few decades.
Angus T. Jones made headlines in 2012 when he suddenly left "Two and a Half Men," which he called "filth." In a testimonial, the star — who was once the highest paid child actor on television thanks to his $300,000-per-episode salary — said he "found God" and urged people to stop watching the sitcom, which he starred on for nearly 10 years.
"I'm on 'Two and a Half Men' and I don't want to be on it. Please stop watching it and filling your head with filth. People say it's just entertainment," he said. "Do some research on the effects of television and your brain, and I promise you you'll have a decision to make when it comes to television, especially with what you watch."
Angus has not returned to the screen since then and is rarely seen in public. In May 2023, the former actor was photographed for the first time in a year and was unrecognizable with a full beard, glasses and a backward hat. (See the pics here.)
Three months later in August 2023, he was caught on camera again — this time with a newly shaved head — while texting on his flip phone as he headed to lunch in Los Angeles's Sherman Oaks neighborhood. (See the pics here.)
Keep reading to see other stars who've shunned the public spotlight for long stretches of time, or in some instances, until they passed away…
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After announcing his retirement in 2017, Daniel Day-Lewis retreated from the limelight and has rarely been seen. But on May 18 and 19, 2023, the three-time Oscar winner was photographed for the first time in four years — and he was practically unrecognizable. In the new photos, which were taken in New York City, the "Lincoln" actor sported long locks under a trucker hat. He paired his surprising look with a blue tracksuit the first day and the following day, Daniel was seen with his wife, Rebecca Miller. Again, he wore the trucker hat, but this time, he paired it with a black hoodie and baggy yellow pants (pictured).
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Jack Nicholson attended a Los Angeles Lakers game on Oct. 19, 2021, but he then suddenly departed from the public eye. It was 18 months before he made a public appearance again, doing so at Crypto.com Arena for the Lakers' playoff game against the Memphis Grizzlies on April 28, 2023. Once a courtside staple at Lakers basketball games, Jack's absence was noticeable, so his return to the arena was celebrated — he was greeted by LeBron James, Larry David and other notable names. The Oscar-winning actor even got a tribute on the JumboTron — the crowd roared when he was shown on the screen. Jack's official return to the public eye was also noted by the Lakers' Twitter and broadcast teams.
Prior to the April 2023 sighting, the "Departed" star had basically been a recluse at home. "He's made it clear his home is his castle. But people just wish he'd come out of the house and pop up to tell them how — or at least reassure folks he's OK," a source told Radar Online in January 2023, noting that the star of "The Shining" often spoke to his son, actor Ray Nicholson. "Jack's in touch with certain relatives — especially Ray, his protégé, who he's so proud of — but his socializing days are long gone," the insider added. Jack's only connection to the outside world these days is his kids. "It's like he doesn't want to face reality anymore — and that's just sad," the source said.
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Bridget Fonda was one of the most in-demand actresses of the '90s, having starred in notable films including "Single White Female," "The Godfather Part III" and "Jackie Brown." But she decided to step away from Hollywood in 2002 to start a family with musician and film composer Danny Elfman and she's rarely been seen since. In April 2023, however, the Emmy nominee was spotted at LAX Airport in Los Angeles where she told a paparazzo from Backgrid that she has no plans to delve back into the public sphere. "It's too nice being a civilian," she said.
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Richard Simmons made his last public appearance in 2014. Since his vanishing act, mystery has shrouded the fitness guru. In early 2015, friends worried that he was depressed or even being held hostage in his home by his housekeeper because of his absence from the spotlight. In June 2016, there was a completely unfounded story indicating he was changing genders. Richard has issued statements saying that he's fine and just needed a break from the limelight, but speculation persists.
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His family is incredibly public with their lives (some may say too public). But for a long time, Rob Kardashian didn't feel the same way. In 2014, he skipped out on sister Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West's wedding and retreated to his home. He was then only seen publicly in a handful of blurry paparazzi photos. It wasn't until Feb. 1, 2016, that Rob really showed his face for the first time in more than 18 months. He was then back in the limelight after having a baby with Blac Chyna. However, after their volatile split, he again shunned the spotlight.
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For the better part of two years in the '70s, Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson was entirely off the grid. After his father died in 1973, Brian retreated to a bedroom in his home. He hardly left the confined quarters during that stretch of time, later telling many media outlets that he was using drugs and chain smoking. In late 1974, Brian began reemerging. A book about his complicated life, "I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir," was released in 2016.
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In 1999, Lauryn Hill was on top of the world after winning five Grammys for "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." Two years later, though, she had largely vanished from the public eye. She stayed out of the spotlight for the most part until she reported to prison to serve three months for tax evasion in 2013. Since then, she's returned to public life and resumed touring. In 2012, she explained in a lengthy blog post that she had to "withdraw from society." She added, "I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda."
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On July 17, 1993, Guns N' Roses performed the final show of its "Use Your Illusion" tour in Argentina. Then the band went dormant. Lead singer Axl Rose also essentially went dormant. The singer was MIA for 10 years, holed up in his Los Angeles-area home. He reappeared in 2004 and then released "Chinese Democracy" in 2008. He then went underground again for a few months. It was really only in 2016 that Axl decided to completely rejoin society — in large part thanks to GnR's well-received North American tour following Axl's reconciliation with original guitarist Slash.
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His movies are classics that are still beloved and watched to this day. But director John Hughes? Well, he was hardly seen at all in his final years. John was the king of the '80s with films like "National Lampoon's Vacation," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Sixteen Candles," "Pretty in Pink" and "Home Alone" and its sequels. But he quit directing in 1991 and moved to Chicago in 1995. He never returned to Hollywood after that and lived out the rest of his days in self-imposed exile. He died of a heart attack on Aug. 6, 2009.
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She was a star in the 1950s and is often called the queen of the pin-ups. In 1957, though, Bettie Page walked away from modeling at 35, moved to Florida and went into seclusion. She died in 2008. For the last 50 years of her life, her name was linked primarily to bizarre acts and bits of news often tied to her mental illness. She often said she heard voices talking about devils and angels. Once, she held her husband and stepchildren at knifepoint and forced them to stare at a photo of Jesus. In another incident, she stabbed her landlady.
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Howard Hughes was an eccentric filmmaker and billionaire. He also didn't like being seen. In 1947, he even locked himself in a darkened screening room for four months and existed on a diet that consisted mainly of chocolate bars and milk. He was said to have relieved himself in empty bottles, rather than leave the room to use the bathroom. By 1950, he'd gone into complete seclusion. One of his greatest stories, though, came several years later: Howard went to Las Vegas in 1966 under the cover of darkness and stayed in the penthouse of the Desert Inn (where the Wynn and Encore stand today). Legend has it Howard had been there for more than a month when the hotel's general manager asked him to leave the room because it was needed for the expected influx of New Year's Eve guests. Howard decided to buy the hotel rather than leave. He died in 1976, with few people ever seeing him during the last 20 years of his life. Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed him in the 2004 film "The Aviator."
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Greta Garbo was an "it" girl of the '20s and '30s. The icon was in 28 films before retiring at 35. Even while she was lighting up the big screen, she was still very private, never signing autographs or even attending the Oscars, despite the fact that she was nominated three times and was given an honorary statuette in 1954. She lived quietly in her New York apartment, refusing all interviews. "I never said, 'I want to be alone,'" she once explained to a friend. "I only said, 'I want to be left alone.' There is all the difference."
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Easily one of the most famous recluses of all time was the author JD Salinger, who penned the classic "The Catcher in the Rye." Shortly after that book was published in 1951, JD went into seclusion. He was not seen publicly for the rest of his life. He published his final original work, "Hapworth 16, 1924," in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. He died in 2010. JD was such a master when it came to avoiding the public that he didn't even leave his home when a fire consumed more than half of it in 1992. Most of what we know about him comes from court transcripts (he sued a few people along the way) or his daughter's 2000 memoir, "Dream Catcher."
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Stars didn't come much bigger than Doris Day in the '50s and '60s. Then, poof, she was gone. The actress-singer retreated to a ranch in Carmel, California, resided there, out of the limelight until her death at 97 in 2019. She just preferred privacy and a life out of the spotlight. On her 90th birthday, she took photos with 200 fans who had gathered at her home, something she hadn't done in 20 years.
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Sly Stone was larger than life as the eccentric leader of the Family Stone, whose hits included "Everyday People" and "I Want To Take You Higher." But in the 1980s, he vanished and was rarely seen. Finally, in 2007, he sat down for a feature in Vanity Fair, giving his first interview in about a dozen years. Where had be been all those years? What was he doing? "Just traveling," he said, "going around, jumping in and out, and up and down." Asked why he wanted to rejoin the world after about 20 years, he said, "'Cause it's kind of boring at home sometimes."
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Harper Lee published one novel — maybe you've heard of it: It's called "To Kill a Mockingbird" — then retired in 1961 on the enormous success of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book. She wasn't a recluse like many others, as she'd show up from time to time at events, but it was very, very rare to actually hear her speak. When asked in 2007 to speak at an event, she declined, saying, "Well, it's better to be silent than be a fool." Her second book, "Go Set a Watchman," was published in 2015 and she died in 2016.
