Stars who hated their fame

[punkypunk77]

Does anyone know of any celebrities who earnestly despised their fame?

Kurt Cobain is a gimme.

[Retrovintro]

Woody Allen
Joaquin Pheonix
Harrison Ford
Charlize Theron

[Warren G]

That's a pretty rare bird...

Attention is one of the prime motivations here, besides money.



Oh...and Joacquin Pheonix is full of shit...

[punkypunk77]

Here's an interview with Gillian Anderson conducted by John Preston originally for The Telegraph which suggests she found her rise to stardom less than glorious. Choice quotes:

"I spent nine years on a film set...Nine fucking years! To begin with it was all right, but gradually it all became incredibly gossipy and incestuous. It's like living in this disgusting microcosm when everything becomes condensed like that."

"I couldn't get out of it; I didn't have a choice. I had to sign a contract for five and a half years before I even went to my last audition – when I didn't even know if I'd got the part. Back then I was all innocent and I thought, 'Wow, that sounds wonderful.' But then, when I started, I realised I'd be in a Canadian wood working 16 hours a day for nine months a year. And the reason I stayed so long was because the only way I could get more money was to commit myself to doing it for another couple of years."

"I remember once I went on a break and I had a really hard time spending money on flights – I just couldn't bring myself to waste my wages on that kind of luxury. So I decided that I'd do some interviews for the show while I was away. That way, the production company could pay for my holiday. So I basically worked on my only fucking time off, dragging my husband and child to God knows how many fucking countries. One of the stops was in Australia and I showed up in this shopping mall in Sydney to see 15,000 people there. I couldn't believe it."

And my favorite part (and where I actually agree with her).

"So you mean you'd never do another big American series again – no matter how good the money was?" "Oh, shut the fuck up!" she cries. "Are you kidding me? My God, I don't even watch television. I don't like television. I never have liked it. The whole concept of sitting down in front of a TV feels like one of things that's destroying society as far as I'm concerned."

Soon after, she responded to the immediate buzz on her official fansite.

[lothian]

Van Morrison , Surely
Bob Dylan certainly hated his " voice of a generation " tag
David Cassidy has said that the adulation was fun for about five minutes.
Elvis Presley didn't exactly bask in the limelight .
Kate Bush did one tour then hid in the studio for the rest of her career.
And others in the ' if fame made em happy gawd help us if they got miserable ' gang
include Lou Reed , Stevie Nicks , Debbie Harry , Roy Orbison , Johnny Cash , Ritchie Blackmore , Ginger Baker and everybody in Pink Floyd.

[hurricane4916]

I'm sorry but,in my opinion, "Stars" prolly all start out wanting fame. And then, once it is achieved, find portions of fame that they hate. Almost every interview of "Stars" I have read, the "Star" has said that unless you are famous, you have no idea how bad the downside of fame can be.
Now, having said that, (I put quotes on stars for a reason) growing up, a star (no quotes) had to work extremely hard, whether it be in movies, T.V. ,theater or music ect. to gain their fame.
However, in this day and age, you can gain extreme fame, without any hard work at all. You can actually become famous by being terrible at what you do.
You can gain international fame by buying storage units or having your Father be one of OJs lawyer. You can become world renown by having a bunch of kids or losing on a diving show. Okay, sorry for ranting. I just wanted to give a preamble to my answer.
So, as I said at first, I believe that at one time or another, all actors, musicians,dancers,authors or, anyone that gains fame through hard work and love of their craft, hates what the fame brings them.
I'm sure at the same time, they also crave it.

[Brecht]

Sterling Hayden and Mickey Rourke. They turned their backs on fame.

[scoundrel]

From Gene Tierney's wikipedia article:

In June 1943, while pregnant with Daria, Tierney contracted rubella during her only appearance at the Holleywood Canteen. Daria was born prematurely in Washington D.C., weighing only three pounds, two ounces (1.42 kg) and requiring a total blood transfusion. Because of Tierney's illness, Daria was also deaf, partially blind with cataracts, and had severe mental retardation. Tierney's grief over Daria's condition led to many years of depression and may have begun her bipolar disorder.Some time after Daria's birth, Tierney learned from a fan who approached her for an autograph at a tennis party that the woman (who was then a member of the women's branch of the Marine Corps) had sneaked out of quarantine while sick with rubella to meet Tierney at her only Hollywood Canteen appearance. In her autobiography, Tierney related that after the woman had recounted her story, she just stared at her silently, then turned and walked away. She wrote, "After that I didn't care whether ever again I was anyone's favorite actress." Biographers have theorized that Agatha Christie used this real-life tragedy as the basis of her plot for The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side. The incident, as well as the circumstances under which the information was imparted to the actress, is repeated almost verbatim in the story. Tierney's tragedy had been well-publicized for years previously. During this time, Howard Hughes, an old friend, saw to it that Daria received the best medical care available, paying for all of her medical expenses. Tierney never forgot Hughes' acts of kindness.

Sometimes the price of fame can be high in very unexpected and cruel ways.

[richardoe]

One of the old school of Hollywood actors who really didnt seem to enjoy the limelight was James Stewart. During wwii he served as a B24 pilot and flew over 25 missions from England, and did he talk about it? No he didnt.

[DTravel]

Originally Posted by punkypunk77

Here's an interview with Gillian Anderson conducted by John Preston originally for The Telegraph which suggests she found her rise to stardom less than glorious. Choice quotes:
And my favorite part (and where I actually agree with her).

I think that's not so much hating her fame as hating the job. It also drops my opinion of her considerably. One of the most basic human behaviors is to gather around and tell stories. We did it around the coals of the fire we used to cook the gazelle we were lucky enough to spear half a million years ago. Television is just the modern version of it.