Known for: Anne of a Thousand Days
Net worth: $2 million
At 71 Geneviève Bujold said, “I am incapable of doing things I don’t want to do. I live modestly, so that I’m never forced to do a job to pay a mortgage, and I don’t own anything.” Her point being, “All the external decorations are less important than giving yourself the gift of time.”
Canadian-born Bujold spent her childhood in Montreal’s Hochelaga Convent. It was a stifling experience. She finally got kicked out after getting caught reading an unapproved novel. She became a stage actress and then a French film actress. When she played Anne Boleyn in Anne of the Thousand Days in 1969, her performance was so spectacular she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. It was her American film debut. She went on to do other American movies like Earthquake, Coma and Dead Ringers.
Drew Barrymore
Known for: E.T.
Net worth: $125 million
Drew Barrymore was born into Hollywood stardom. Almost every member of her family has showbiz creds. Her godfather, for example, is none other than Steven Speilberg. He’s also director E.T. , but no one could have predicted the rebellious ’80s teen icon she would become. She was so damn cool that Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love asked her to be the godmother of their baby daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. And she’s still wildly popular, agelessly appealing to each new generation.
Despite being born to Hollywood royalty, no one could have predicted she would star in the highest-grossing film of the 1980s. Fame doesn’t come without its problems. Childhood actors are doubly cursed. For Drew Barrymore, superstardom landed her in drug and alcohol rehab by age 13. She was nine the first time she got drunk, at Rob Lowe’s birthday party, incidentally. Shortly thereafter, she was a regular at the club scene. (The hedonistic Eighties were kind of a crazy decade). She’s lucky she survived to adulthood. The fact that she’s been one of the most prolific and continuously working stars in the business, is another blessing. Drew has a philanthropic heart and has supported a wide variety of charitable organizations. Fighting hunger is one. After being named Ambassador Against Hunger for the U.N. World Food Programme, Barrymore donated $1 million to the cause.
Cloris Leachman
Known for: The Last Picture Show and Young Frankenstein
Net worth: $21 million
This actress/comedian is best known for her hilarious role as Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore show. Her Phyllis character was so popular Leachman went on to do her very own spin-off sitcom called Phyllis. She also appeared in the Mel Brooks film Young Frankenstein and continued to work with Brooks for many years.
On television, she was known as Beverly in the wildly popular 1980s show The Facts of Life. In the film, she portrayed Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993). Leachman set a record winning eight Primetime Emmy Awards. She also won a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Phyllis. Her performance in The Last Picture Show earned an Oscar. Her last role was performed in the 2018 movie I Can Only Imagine, a Christian-themed movie based on the pop-sensation song of the same title. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa on April 30, 1926. She grew up in Des Moines and lived there until she attended Illinois State to study drama, and then graduated from Northwestern University. She started her film career soon after, but not before participating in Miss America in 1946.
Anthony Michael Hall
Known for: Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club
Net worth: $8 million
“Brat Pack” go-to geek Anthony Michael Hall starred in most of John Hughes’ blockbusters, beginning with National Lampoon’s Vacation playing one of Chevy Chase’s kids. Hughes kept him in mind for Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club and Weird Science . But Hall, who has a slight resemblance to future tech-geek Mark Zuckerberg, turned down roles Hughes wrote for him in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Pretty in Pink . (Enough with the typecast!)
Of the “Brat Pack” experience, Hall said, “I had the time of my life.” However, as with many of our iconic child actors from the Eighties, Hall took a two-year break to deal with a drinking problem. He returned to screen with Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder in Edward Scissorhands playing a villain. Six Degrees of Separation was another box office hit. One of Hall’s charitable efforts includes assisting at-risk youth by offering literacy programs. His initiative offers an opportunity to learn literacy in films, music, lyrics, scriptwriting, and novels.
Carol Kane
Known for: Hester Street and Wicked
Net worth: $5 million
Carol Kane took on theatre as a child growing up in N.Y.C. She continued to study acting at the prestigious HB Studio until making her theatrical debut in the 1966 production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie . She played a teenager who was raped and left pregnant in the WWII Wedding in White when she was 20 years old. Kane received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the independent film, Hester Street (1975), leaving people agreeably surprised.
Kane received two Emmys and a Golden Globe nomination for her work on Taxi. She appeared on the television series from 1980 to 1983. The Princess Bride and Scrooged from the late ’80s garnered her plenty of attention. To all kinds of acclaim, she played Madame Morrible. Her face is recognized everywhere as the evil headmistress in the insanely popular Wicked Broadway musical. She premiered with the original tour on March 9, 2005.