1990s sitcom stars who vanished from Hollywood to work entirely normal jobs

Jason Zimbler first began acting at six years old on The Edge of Night, before joining Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All as Ferguson Darling when he was just 14 years old. His role on the Nickelodeon series even earned him a nomination for the Young Artist Award.  

But despite his early acting success, after filming finished for Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All, Jason decided to focus on his studies. He studied and graduated from the University of Notre Dame with degrees in business administration and theatre directing.   

While Jason first stayed in entertainment, albeit off-camera as a software designer for HBO, he now works in an entirely different field as Light Duty Vehicle Director at CALSTART, a leading electric vehicle deployment programme. 

Taran Noah Smith started acting at just seven years old on Home Improvement, a family comedy sitcom that parodied home improvement programmes. His role as Mark Taylor won him two Young Artist Awards. 

Yet having grown up on-screen, when Taran retired from acting at 16 years old when the Home Improvement series came to an end, he reported feeling lost and directionless.   

He said: "I never had the chance to decide what I wanted to do with my life. When I was 16, I knew that I didn’t want to act anymore." 

Soon after the show ended, he married American chef and businesswoman, Heidi van Pelt, 16 years his senior. The couple filed for divorce in 2007 and share a son together, Nolan Eric Smith.  

Taran has lived a varied life since quitting acting in 1999. A vegan, in 2005, he set up a non-dairy cheese manufacturer called Playfood with his former wife. Now, some twenty years later, he works as an integration technician at SpaceX.   

Brandon’s breakthrough role was as Hobie Buchannon for series one of NBC’s Baywatch, which he later left in 1990 to focus on his studies. Brandon returned to acting the following year in 1991 to play the role of J.T. Lambert in the sitcom Step by Step.   

After the series ended in 1998, Brandon retired from acting and withdrew from public life, keeping his reasons private. Information about Brandon’s life now is limited, but some reports suggest he had a daughter in 1998 and now works at a family-owned gas station.  

Appearing on-screen alongside Will Smith as Nicky Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at just five years old, Ross Bagley’s acting career spanned from 1994 to 2015, with his last acting appearance as Landon in the 2015 Gnome Alone.   

Ross now works as a real estate agent in Los Angeles. Speaking to the Hip Hop Uncensored Podcast in 2020, he said: "I wanted to live a more normal type of life... I live a relatively under-the-radar life and that’s how I am." 

Michael appeared alongside his co-star Danny Tamberelli as Big Pete Wrigley on Adventures of Pete and Pete, and later in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York as Kevin McCallister’s older brother, Jeff. In the 2000s, Michael appeared on 40 Days and 40 Nights as well as Sex and the City before stepping away from acting in 2013 to focus on his family and personal life.  

Michael now works off camera as an electrician on film and television sets in New York and hosts Adventures of Danny and Mike with his former co-star Danny Tamberelli.   

Michael briefly revisited acting in 2024 with a small supporting role as Neighbour #1 on I Saw The TV Glow, but prefers to focus on his life off camera.