Charlie and the Chocolate Factory child star never acted again after iconic film – but still gets paid for role
A CHILD star from the iconic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film never acted again after his debut but he still gets paid for his role.
Lots of child actors go on to have spectacular careers like Jodie Foster and Daniel Radcliffe but for some the stage isn’t for them.
Peter Ostrum starred as Charlie in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and played the role of a poor blonde boy that dreamed of a golden ticket.
He eventually wins one of the five coveted tickets and goes on a tour of Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory.
But inside the factory, strange and dangerous things happen to the other four children while on the tour.
Augustus is sucked up a pipe after falling into the Chocolate River and Violet chews an experimental gum and swells into a giant human blueberry.
Veruca falls down a garbage chute in the Egg Room, and Mike is shrunk to the size of a chocolate bar after misusing the Wonkavision teleporter.
At one point, Charlie samples Fizzy Lifting Drinks, causing him to float dangerously close to a fan but he ends up being the only child to survive the tour.
The classic film is loved by many but despite enjoying filming with Gene Wilder, Peter decided acting wasn’t for him.
In a 2018 interview, Peter said he received a payment from the Willy Wonka film every three months of about $8 to $10.
He had turned down a three picture deal after the success of Willy Wonka but he doesn’t regret doing so.
Peter said: “Do I regret turning down the movie offer?
“I don’t think so, I love the job I am doing right now.
“Granted, it is about as far away from Hollywood as you can get.
“I made a choice that fit what I wanted, and it shaped how life unfolded for me.
“Would life have been better if I took the movie offer? Maybe, but I’ll never know, and it’s something I’ll never question.”
The UK's highest-grossing Christmas movies of all time
1. The Grinch (2018) – £424,000,000
2. Home Alone (1990) – £376,000,000
3. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) – £283,000,000
4. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (2000) – £273,000,000
5. A Christmas Carol (2009) – £256,000,000
6. The Polar Express (2004) – £250,000,000
7. Elf (2003) – £180,000,000
8. The Holiday (2006) – £162,000,000
9. The Santa Clause (1994) – £150,000,000
10. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) – £137,000,000
Figures accurate as of November 2024
After he returned home from filming the blockbuster movie in Munich, he found that his parents had bought a horse and was impressed by the care the vet offered their new family pet.
This inspired him to become a vet and instead, he went on to have two kids with his wife Loretta Lepkowski, who he married in 1987.
In 2000, in an interview with The American Veterinarian Medical Association, he said: “Everybody thinks that acting is such a glamorous profession, but it’s a difficult profession.
“I can remember the veterinarian coming out and taking care of the horses, and it made a huge impression on me.
“This person really enjoyed what he did for a living. My father was a lawyer, and I really didn’t have a clue what he did all day.
“But I knew exactly what the veterinarian did. Someone making a living from something he enjoyed so much really sparked my interest.”
After his interview Dr Peter refused to give interviews about his time in the limelight for a while, even claiming it was his brother who had acted in the film for a while to avoid the spotlight.
But now he speaks regularly to students on graduation day, about Willy Wonka and probably everything else that’s chocolate based.