About 15 years ago, I was at a party and saw an older blond fellow who looked familiar. I went over and asked if he were Dennis Cole, and he confirmed that he was. (If you’re not my age: he was a popular TV actor from the mid-60s to the early 80s.)
I asked him why he hadn’t been acting lately. He said, “Well, one day the phone stopped ringing. And I said, ‘okay, that’s that, time to do something else.’” So he moved to Florida, became a realtor and said he’d never been happier. (It turns out he was in town visiting family.)
I thought that this was a very smart man, considering the number of performers who refuse to believe their careers are over and are grimly determined to keep going, often making nuisances of themselves. Sadly, he passed away a couple of years later, but it was nice to have met him and pleased he found happiness out of the spotlight.
ETA: Wow, over a thousand upvotes. Quite a surprise. Thanks, everyone.