Tippi Hedren
Discovered by Alfred Hitchcock in a TV commercial, acting came naturally to Tippi Hedren, as we can see from her movie “The Birds.” Fitting Hitchcock’s ideal of the cool blond, Hedren was mentored by the king of suspense. Though some would see this as a plus, his counseling ultimately ended her career. He kept her under a contract that disallowed her from taking roles anywhere else after she rejected his advances. This prevented her from cashing in on other roles and ruined her future as an actress.
Shirley Temple
The adorable, curly-haired Shirley Temple dominated box offices at the height of her career. There was nothing this little cutie couldn’t do. She tap-danced, sang, and cried believably in films of all sorts, and while she had the potential to continue as a teen and adult, she retired at 22 years old, marrying and living a quiet life until the 1950s, when she began to make TV appearances. In the 1960s, she switched career paths to be a US diplomat.
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was anything but ordinary. Besides her extraordinary beauty and acting skills, she also invented a radio guidance system, which is the basis for tech like WiFi. Later in her career, she was known for being a recluse, and she made her last movie in 1958. She started to get protective of her image and wasn’t afraid to take legal action against anyone she thought was trying to cash in on her fame. In the ‘80s, she only communicated with her best friends on the telephone and lived the last 20 years of her life in complete seclusion.
Greta Garbo
Garbo is famous for saying, “I want to be alone.” And she wasn’t joking. The Swedish silent star arrived in Hollywood in 1925, when she began to work for MGM. Unfortunately, her final film, dubbed “Two-Faced Woman,” failed, and as a result, she announced she was retiring from Hollywood despite being its biggest star at the time. Her life afterward was very private and guarded, and she lived almost half a century in solitude after retiring.
