Why Wonka Peter Ostrum Wonka’s Child Star has left Hollywood

As a beloved star one of the largest and most popular family movies ever, he looked Peter OstrumCharlie Bucket played in 1971’s Willy Wonka and the chocolate factoryHad a bright future in Hollywood.

And yet, by the age of 12, the child’s star knew the entertainment industry was not for him. In fact, he never acted again. Now at 67, the former actor looks back dearly for being caught fame as winner of the sweetest, most angelic golden ticket of the film – but is also proud that he has dedicated his life to a fulfilling career as a veterinary surgeon.

The movie, starring Gene Wilder Like Wonka, was the first cinematic adjustment of Roald DahlA novel and was a modest success on its release, bringing in $ 4 million at the box office – which is broadly equivalent to $ 75 million. However, over the years, his popularity increased and, naturally, everyone was wondering what had come from his charming young star.

“There was a small amount of fanfare but not much and the movie died quiet,” remembered Ostrum in an interview in 2018 with the Daily mirror. “Back then when the movie came out there was no red carpet première. I was in my hometown of Ohio. He had lukewarm reviews and people forgot about it. He only resurfaced until a video 10 years later and took his own life.” He added: “We had no idea at the time that he would have any kind of success at all so he is quite tidy that he was still so loved.”

Ostrum got the part of Charlie when he was seen by talent agents at a children’s theater show in Cleveland, Ohio. He then got only 10 days to leave his school and move to Munich, Germany for five months to shoot the film, with Wilder – Ostrum says “treated people with respect and dignity” taking a fatherly role and training it in acting. When the Hollywood legend died in 2016 at the age of 83, Estrum sid It was “like losing a parent” even though the pair had lost contact.

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When wrapping a shooting, Ostrum rejected a three -film deal. After spending a week in California falling over his options, he eventually decided that Showbiz’s life was not his thing. What he really loved was animals, not Oompa Loomcas – something he realized when his parents bought him a horse to celebrate the release of the film and came to know a local veterinarian.

“This person really enjoyed what he did for a living,” he said in an interview with the American Veterinary Medical Association. “My father was a lawyer, and I didn’t have a clue what he did all day. If I did not pursue that, I would always kick myself.

Surely, after a high school, he spent time tinkling with horses in Pennsylvania before enrolling at Cornell University where he graduated with a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1984. “I’m a veterinarian,” he told Hollywoodchicago in 2011. “Being in the film industry as a child was difficult, and we can’t keep it going. But in the end leaving was a right decision.”

Ostrum enjoyed a long and rewarding career with animals, mainly at the countryside veterinary clinic in Lowville in New York Upstate and Loretta married wife in 1987 – who only discovered for his secret chocolate past when she was serious enough to present her to her mother. “Once I saw him, I realized – ‘Wow, he had a big part!’,” He remembered at the Snowtown Film Festival in 2018. The couple shares two children, Helenka and Leif, who said Ostrum who enjoyed reading the story as children.

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Sometimes, usually when the movie celebrates a birthday or gets another restart – like 2005’s Charlie and the chocolate factorystarring Johnny Deppand 2023’s Wonkawith Timothée Chalamet – Losterum comes outside retirement to celebrate his short life in the spotlight, appearing in film festivals and giving talks in schools.

“You can’t kill Wonka,” said Ostrum during the 2021 virtual reunion hosted by Yahoo. “It’s being played over and over again, whether the original or the re -done with Johnny Depp. And he brought that attention back to our film. Children saw the Johnny Depp version, their parents said, ‘You need to see the original.’ Anything talking about Wonka is good for the Wonka story. It’s a great story and needs to be re -reported, no matter who produces it or who makes it.

When Ostrum talks to children about his unlikely career track, he has an important message. “I want them to know they have options in their lives, and when one door closes, another opens,” he said Veterinary practice news In 2023. “It is important for children to realize that you do not have to be locked in one specific thing. It’s okay to change your mind.”

At the Snowtown Film Festival, Ostrum also revealed that he still gets royalties from the film shown on TV – adding up to about $ 8 to $ 9 every three months. Okay, so we’ve firmly heard of a more profitable passive income, but it sounds like working with animals and leading a quiet, stable existence with his family has brought Ostrum into a richer, happier life than the one who saw himself in Hollywood. “Everybody could be so lucky to have an experience like this and then go in a completely different direction,” he told the Today Showed in 2015. Yup, that sounds like the ultimate golden ticket to Us.