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Q: Did the boy who played Charlie Bucket in the original "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" ever do anything else?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

Peter Ostrum didn't do any other screen work after "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971), and that's fine with him.

Ostrum was 12 years old and doing some small-town theater work, with no grander acting ambitions, when he was spotted by a talent agent scouring the country for an actor to play Charlie. He got the role, turned in a shockingly good performance for someone so inexperienced, and then left the business. He was offered a three-picture deal but turned it down.

He has been incredibly publicity-shy ever since, and so his exact motivations aren't a matter of public record, but he has said that film stardom just wasn't a life he wanted, and that he's happy with his choice.

These days he works as a large-animal veterinarian in New York state and he loves it. He avoids talking about his "Wonka" role, except once a year to a grade-school class in his area. He indulges them in their questions about the chocolate river (not really chocolate) and the rest of the amazing things he did, briefly, for a living.

He made an exception to his no-interviews rule recently when he appeared at a fan convention with some of his co-stars. There, in an interview with HollywoodChicago.com, he gave a hint of the sort of advice he gives the kids at his annual closed-door talks.

"Keep all [your] opportunities open, and when new experiences knock, open up the door and follow through. I don't have any regrets at all."

 

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