Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory star Peter Ostrum reportedly still receives royalty payments from his role as Charlie Bucket in the 1971 movie.
The former actor, 67, was just 14 when he played the good-natured boy who won the lucky golden ticket, before turning his back on acting and becoming a vet.
According to Unilad Peter earns between $10–11 every three months a whopping 53-years after the film’s release which starred comedy icon Gene Wilder as the famous chocolate factory boss.
Following the film, young Peter turned down a potentially lucrative three-film deal following his success in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory to concentrate on his studies before specialising in treating cattle and horses.
Discussing his brief acting career with the Daily Express in 2014, the Ohio born father-of-two recalled: Looking back, my pay cheque was paltry, but it was during filming that I really became interested in medicine.
‘So I bought my first horse with my earnings and that started my current career path as a vet’.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory star Peter Ostrum (pictured 2022) reportedly still receives royalty payments from his role as Charlie Bucket in the 1971 movie
The former actor, 67, was just 14 when he played the good-natured boy who won the lucky golden ticket, before turning his back on acting and becoming a vet (pictured in the film with Gene Wilder)
Peter earns between $10–11 every three months a whopping 53-years after the film’s release which starred comedy icon Gene Wilder as the famous chocolate factory boss
‘People tell me they watched Willy Wonka so many times growing up that they wore out their VHS copy. We had no idea we were making a classic, which even coined a new phrase: ‘I’ve found the golden ticket’.
Recalling how he continued living a normal life despite starring in the now iconic film, he told Daily Mirror: ‘Back then when the film came out there was no red carpet premiere. I was in my hometown in Ohio and they had an opening there and I was the only one there’.
‘There was a little bit of fanfare but not much and the film died a quiet death. It had lukewarm reviews and people forgot about it’.
Before adding: ‘It wasn’t until video 10 years later that it resurfaced and it took on a life of its own.’
As of September 2023 Peter was retired from his Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Lowville.
Julie Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen co-narrated the Willy’s Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody’ at the Edinburgh Fringe.
The duo played Veruca Salt and Mike Teavee in the classic 1971 film, based on Roald Dahl’s 1964 book, tells the story of five schoolchildren who win the chance to tour the magical factory belonging to candy man Wonka after finding golden tickets hidden inside chocolate bars.
For some of the child stars it helped propel them into successful showbusiness careers, while others shied away from the limelight in favour of a life as an accountant or vet.
Following the film, young Peter turned down a potentially lucrative three-film deal following his success in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory to concentrate on his studies before specialising in treating cattle and horses (pictured 2023)
Discussing his brief acting career he said: ‘ Looking back, my pay cheque was paltry, but it was during filming that I really became interested in medicine’.
‘People tell me they watched Willy Wonka so many times growing up that they wore out their VHS copy. We had no idea we were making a classic’
The film has been remade twice with Johnny Depp (L) as Wonka 2005, followed by Timothée Chalamet (R) in 2023
Here MailOnline takes a look at where the stars of the hit film are now.
Julie Dawn Cole
The 66-year-old played spoilt brat Veruca Salt – the girl that always wanted more.
She ends up plummeting down a garbage chute in the film when she stands on an eggdicator when it shows her to be a ‘bad egg’.
The mother of two from Guildford starred on television shows including Fat Families long-running soap operas Emmerdale and EastEnders, and hospital drama Holby City.
(L-R) Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner), Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson), Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka), Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole), and Mike Teavee (Paris Themmen)
Julie Dawn Cole is a qualified psychotherapist but regularly revisits her childhood role, having starred in 2010 Edinburgh Fringe show Willy Wonka Revisited: The Veruca Salt Sessions
Julie Dawn Cole, 66, continued to act after starring in the 1971 hit film and has also worked at a hospice
Cole is best known for her role as Veruca Salt, the spoilt brat who belligerently begs her father to get her the goose that laid the golden eggs
In the film she ends up plummeting down a garbage chute after an eggdicator shows her to be a ‘bad egg’
Cole shakes hands with leading man Gene Wilder in a scene from the iconic 1971 film
Cole singing her famous ‘I Want It Now’ song in the geese room of the factory in the 1971 film
She’s now a qualified psychotherapist but regularly revisits her childhood role, having starred in 2010 Edinburgh Fringe show Willy Wonka Revisited: The Veruca Salt Sessions.
Cole also worked as children’s services manager at Woking Hospice where in 2014 she auctioned off some memorabilia she was given from the Wonka set to raise money for the charity.
It included a ‘golden ticket’ and the contract the children sign in the film before entering the factory.
Paris Themmen
Paris Themmen, 64, still works in the entertainment industry and also now signs autographs at movie conventions, and runs a photography business
Boston-born Themmen had acted before his role as television-mad Mike Teavee, but took an official break from acting as a teenager ‘to be a kid’
While he didn’t fully get his dream of becoming a TV star, Paris Themmen still works in the entertainment industry.
Boston-born Themmen had acted before his role as television-mad Mike Teavee, but took an official break from acting as a teenager ‘to be a kid’.
He’s taken occasional television roles in adulthood and other careers have included flirtations with film production and commercial casting.
Now 64, Themmen also now signs autographs at movie conventions, runs a photography business, and makes sporadic appearances in commercials, plays and on TV shows.
He also founded Access International, a travel service that arranged Europe-bound charter flights for backpackers.
Speaking about his time on set with Gene Wilder and his cast-mates in Munich, where the film was largely shot, he told Collider: ‘It was surprising because we were in Germany, right next to Switzerland and Holland, where they make gorgeous chocolate.
‘And yet, they shipped Hershey bars, Almond Joys and Mounds to us from America, so that was a bit of a crime against chocolate and humanity that they did that. There were definitely things for us to eat, dummy leaves and some marzipan things.
‘I liked the gum, which wasn’t gum. It was actually taffy. It was the three-course gum, which wasn’t gum. It was taffy, but it was very yummy. I liked that one.’
Themmen currently resides in Los Angeles with wife of nine-years Nikki Grillos.
Gene Wilder
Wilder died in 2016 aged 83 following a three-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease
Wilder was a household name long before he agreed to play Wonka, a decision that apparently dismayed Dahl
Jeff Baker, Ronnee Sass, Paris Themmen, Denise Nickerson, Rusty Goffe, Mel Stuart, Julie Cole and Tom Lucas at the 40th Anniversary of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory in New York in 2011
Wilder was a household name long before he agreed to play Wonka, a decision that apparently dismayed Dahl.
The author had wanted legendary Irish comedian Spike Milligan to take the role before producers approached the American star, who accepted on one condition.
According to legend, he said: ‘When I make my first entrance, I’d like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and then become deathly quiet.
‘As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I’m walking on and stands straight up, by itself; but I keep on walking, until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applause.’
When asked why, he added: ‘From that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth.’
Wilder died in 2016 aged 83 following a three-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Denise Nickerson
Denise Nickerson died in July 2019, aged 62, developing pneumonia and slipping into a coma when she overdosed on prescription medication
She had previously revealed how her role as Violet Beauregarde almost cost her her teeth when she developed 13 cavities while preparing for the part
During the film Beauregarde balloons in size after chewing on a piece of gum that contains roast beef, baked potato, tomato soup, and blueberry pie
Denise Nickerson later revealed her role as chewing-gum fanatic Violet Beauregarde nearly cost her her teeth.
Nickerson admitted to developing 13 cavities in her teeth while preparing for the role.
The former child-star claimed the damage was was caused by the high-sugared Bazooka gum she munched on in order to get into character.
Nickerson was also a regular on TV shows such as Search for Tomorrow, The Brady Bunch, Dark Shadows and The Electric Company.
Her last role was Zero To Sixty in 1978.
Twice married, she eventually quit acting and worked as an accountant for an engineering plant and as an office manager at a doctor’s office.
In 2018 she was hospitalised after suffering a stroke before submitting herself to the care of family members.
On July 8, 2019, the former actress was again rushed to hospital following an overdose of prescription medication and died on July 10, aged 62, after developing pneumonia and slipping into a coma.
Nickerson’s family later confirmed the news on Facebook with a message that read: ‘She’s gone’ before revealing she died in her Colorado hospital bed at approximately 10.30pm local time.
Michael Bollner
Michael Bollner, 65, still lives in his native Germany but traded acting for tax and is an accountant in Munich
He played chocolate chomping Augustus Gloop who falls into a chocolate river
Bollner later revealed the river was in fact just water which was just 15 centimetres deep
Bollner played chocolate chomping Augustus Gloop and still lives in Germany.
He traded acting for tax; the chubby-cheeked child star is now an accountant in Munich.
The former actor, now 65, starred in a a handful of German language films after Willy Wonka, but quit soon after because his father wanted him to finish school.
Addressing his career change with Collider, Bollner said: ‘I run a little tax office in Munich, and we spend every Christmas together with my employees.
‘Every two or three years, I show the Wonka movie. The film is not famous in Germany and my new employees have to know what a star their boss is.’
In an earlier interview with This Morning, the former actor admitted he had no idea the film would become so popular.
‘I just went down to make this movie, stayed there for a few weeks and I didn’t really know what was going on,’ he recalled. ‘I thought, ‘This is just a movie and it will fade away very quickly.”
Bollner’s greedy character is famously sucked into a chocolate river in one famous scene from the film, but he admitted it was less enjoyable than it looks on-screen.
‘It was no chocolate at all, but just stinking water lying around for more weeks,’ he told Hollywood Reporter. ‘And it was dark water. I had to jump in that water, which was just 15 centimetres deep.
‘There was a hole about three meters [wide], and I had to hit the hole, which was not so easy as the water was very dark. So I was always afraid that I will hit my head on the ground of the river.’
Jack Alberston
Jack Albertson, who played Grandpa Joe (left), sadly passed away in November 1981 at the age of 74 from colorectal cancer (pictured right at the 7th annual People’s Choice Awards in 1981)
Albertson with Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory co-star Peter Ostrum take it easy between takes on the set of the 1971 film
The 1971 film went on to become a firm family favourite that is still watched by children today
Albertson, who played Grandpa Joe, died in November 1981 at the age of 74 from colorectal cancer.
Before his untimely death he had a successful career in acting, including various stints on Broadway and before Wonka he won an Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor in 1968 for his portrayal of John Cleary in The Subject Of Roses.
The seasoned actor also won a Tony Award for an earlier performance in a 1964 stage production of Roses, and was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 1977.
Roy Kinnear
Roy Kinnear had already worked with The Beatles on their 1965 film Help! before starring as Henry Salt in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
His extensive film and TV career spanned more than 40-years and included roles in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, The Four Musketeers, and Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo
Kinnear tragically died aged 54 on September 19 1988 after falling from a horse while filming The Return Of The Musketeers in Spain
His son Rory Kinnear followed in his father’s footsteps to have his own successful career as an actor starring in film The Bank of Dave and James Bond
A beloved English character actor, Roy Kinnear had already worked with The Beatles on their 1965 film Help! before starring as Henry Salt in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
His extensive film and TV career spanned more than 40-years and included roles in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, The Four Musketeers, Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo and Hawk The Slayer.
The actor welcomed three children during his 18-year marriage to actress Carmel Cryan, with two of them following their father into the entertainment industry.
Rory Kinnear would go on to become a hugely successful actor in his own right, while Kirsty would embark on a career behind the camera, as a casting director.
The couple’s eldest daughter was a paraplegic and struggled with learning difficulties before her death in May 2020.
Kinnear tragically died aged 54 on September 19 1988 after falling from a horse while filming The Return Of The Musketeers in Spain.
Rusty Goffe
Rusty Goffe starred as the head Oompa Loompa, and as such was one of the few to receive a credit on the film
The Kent-born actor, now 75, enjoyed a successful career after Willy Wonka and was last seen on screen in 2016
Rusty pictured with Cole at the Manchester Comic Con in July 2022
Rusty, who was 22 when the film was made, said he was ‘very proud’ to be a part of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film
Rusty Goffe starred as the head Oompa Loompa, and as such was one of the few to receive a credit on the film.
The Kent-born actor, now 75, enjoyed a successful career after Willy Wonka and was last seen on screen in 2016.
He appeared in Flash Gordon (1980), Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) five of the seven Harry Potter films.
Rusty, who was 22 when the film was made, said he was ‘very proud’ to be a part of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film, adding: ‘When we were doing it we didn’t realise it was going to be as big.
‘It was made for adults by the way, not for children. It was made for adults. And adults and children alike loved it.’
He paid tribute to Wilder when he died in 2016 calling him ‘an amazing man, he was very gentle, very quiet, but he knew what he wanted’.
‘He was a very very funny man and it showed in the movie. He had a magical aura about him and it really showed,’ he said.
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