What Happened to These 21 Famous TV Stars You Forgot

Although some actors use a hit show as a springboard to long successful careers, others struggle to find the same fame again after their iconic role.

This article explores where select actors from widely popular 1970s and 1980s shows are now, years after their once-beloved programs went off the air. We check back in with familiar faces that many fans lost touch with over time despite the indelible mark left by their memorable performances decades ago.

Find out what they pursued once their hit shows wrapped. (And click here to check out some of the most popular TV episodes of the 1980s.)

Pam Dawber

• • Played Mindy McConnell on “Mork and Mindy”
  • Currently 72 years old
  • Had moderate success on “My Sister Sam” with Rebecca Schaeffer
  • Married to Mark Harmon since 1987
  • Semi-retired from acting

Jimmie Walker

• Played J.J. on “Good Times”
• Appeared in 133 episodes
• Currently 76 years old
• Has had bit parts in film and TV since “Good Times”
• Still performs stand-up comedy

Demond Wilson

• Played Lamont Sanford on “Sanford and Son”
• Currently 77 years old
• Wrote “Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of The Sanford and Son Years”
• Has written 11 children’s books
• Lives in Palm Springs, California with his wife Cicily

Marla Gibbs

• Played Florence Johnson on “The Jeffersons”
• Currently 92 years old
• Appeared in 207 episodes
• Enjoyed success on “227”
• Owned a jazz club for 18 years in South Central Los Angeles

Paul Benedict

• Played Harry Bentley on “The Jeffersons”
• Served in the U.S. Marine Corp
• Had acromegaly, a condition in which the body makes too much growth hormone causing bones and tissue to grow quickly
• Also played The Number Painter on “Sesame Street”
• Died of a brain hemorrhage at age 70

Bonnie Franklin

• Played Ann Romano-Royer on “One Day at a Time”
• The daughter of Jewish immigrants
• Began acting at age 9
• Got an English degree from UCLA
• Died at age 69 of pancreatic cancer

Joyce DeWitt

• Played Janet Wood on “Three’s Company”
• Currently 74 years old
• Began stage acting at age 13
• Arrested for drunk driving in 2009
• Appeared in a music video for Davisson Brothers Band’s song “Home” in 2023

Priscilla Barnes

• Played Terry Alden on “Three’s Company”
• Age 69
• Discovered by Bob Hope and performed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with his troupe in 1973
• Called “Three’s Company” the “three worst years of her life”

Celia Weston

• Played Jolene Hunnicut on “Alice”
• Currently 71 years old
• Appeared on “Ryan’s Hope”
• Lives in New York City

Bernie Kopell

• Played Dr. Adam Bricker (“Doc”) on “The Love Boat”
• Currently 90 years old
• Served in the U.S. Navy
• Drove a taxi and sold Kirby vacuums early in his acting career
• Still performing on stage
• Has been married three times and has two sons

Robert Hegyes

• Played Juan Epstein on “Welcome Back, Kotter”
• Held degrees in Speech/Theater and Secondary Education
• Acted in and directed episodes of “Welcome Back, Kotter”
• Cousins with Jon Bon Jovi
• Died in 2012 at the age of 60 of a heart attack

David L. Lander

Source: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

From left to right, actors Meredith MacRae, Cindy Williams and David Lander at a Los Angeles Dodgers versus celebrities baseball game, Los Angeles, USA, 21st August 1976. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Source: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

• Played Andrew Helmut “Squiggy” Squiggman on “Lavergne & Shirley”
• Real name is David Leonard Landau
• Was an actor as well as a comedian, musician, and baseball scout
• Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1984
• Died in 2020 at the age of 73 due to complications from MS

Erin Moran

• Played Joanie Cunningham on “Happy Days”
• Began acting at age 5
• Accused her father of physical and mental abuse
• Appeared on VH-1’s “Celebrity Fit Club”
• Struggled with depression
• Died in 2017 from complications of stage four squamous cell carcinoma of the throat

Conrad Bain

• Played Phillip Drummond on “Diff’rent Strokes”
• Was an identical twin
• Became a U.S. citizen in 1946
• Had two sons and a daughter
• Died of a stroke in 2013 at age 89

Larry Wilcox

• Played Jonathan “Jon” Baker on “CHiPs”
• Age 76
• Is a Vietnam Veteran
• Married three times and has five children
• Races cars and has his pilot’s license

James Best

• Played Rosco P. Coltrane on “The Dukes of Hazzard”
• Born Jewel Franklin Guy in Powderly, Kentucky
• His uncle was Ike Everly of the Everly Brothers
• Served in the U.S. Army in World War II
• Began acting in 1949
• Died at age 88 of complications from pneumonia

Fred Berry

Source: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

American actor Fred Berry (1951 - 2003) at the Third Annual Bert Convy Boys Club of Hollywood celebrity football classic in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, 13th January 1979. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Source: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

• Rerun on “What’s Happening!”
• Grew up in the inner-city of St. Louis
• Was a member of L.A. street dance troupe “The Lockers”
• Was a millionaire by age 29
• Was a Baptist minister
• Died in 2003 at age 52 while recovering from a stroke

Gary Sandy

• Played Andy Travis on “WKRP in Cincinnati”
• Currently age 77
• Born on Christmas day
• Has appeared in more than 100 stage shows

Marsha Warfield

• Played Rosalind  “Roz” Russell on “Night Court”
• Currently 69 years old
• Comedian
• Appeared in Season 4 of “The Upshaws” on Netflix
• Waited until her mother passed to come out as gay

Ashley Johnson

• Played Chrissy Seaver on “Growing Pains”
• Took the role of Chrissy at age 6
• Currently age 40
• Plays guitar, piano, violin and cello

Greg Evigan

• Played Joey Harris on “My Two Dads”
• Currently age 70
• Began his career in theater
• Classically trained pianist
• Married with three children