Charlie Bucket From ‘Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ Is Now a Veterinarian
Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, about Charlie Bucket lucking into a Golden Ticket that entitled him to visit Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory, has delighted viewers of all ages since its release in 1971. The musical fantasy received generally positive reviews, but was not a huge commercial success at the time, earning about $4 million in its initial run from a $3 million budget. Starting in the 1980s, however, it resurfaced and took on a life of its own, thanks to repeated TV airings and home video sales.
Much of the movie’s success is owed to Charlie Bucket, played by Peter Ostrum, whose innocent smile and big blue eyes captivated audiences and helped catapult the movie into cultural icon status. Ostrum, who was twelve when casting agents decided he was the perfect fit for the role, took five months off from his studies and traveled to Munich for filming.
When shooting Willie Wonka was finished, Ostrum was thirteen years old, and he was offered a three movie contract. However, the experience of being away from home had not been to his liking, and put him off of acting. As he would later put it: “I enjoyed doing it but I couldn’t really see myself doing it for the rest of my life“. So he turned down the offer, turned his back on acting, and pursued a normal life. So after killing it in his single acting gig, the former child actor dropped out of the public eye.
Compared to other child actors, he was remarkably successful in attaining his goal of normalcy. When he got back home, his parents had bought a horse, and young Ostrum was impressed with the veterinarian who took care of it. So he decided that he wanted to be a vet when he grew up, and went ahead and did just that, earning a doctorate of veterinary medicine from Cornell University in 1984. As of 2018, Peter Ostrum is an established veterinarian in Lowville, in Upstate New York, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
Looking back at it, Peter Ostrum has no regrets about his choice not to pursue an acting career when he had a chance. He knew himself, even at that young age, and knew that he wanted stability in life: “How many kids carry a successful child acting career into an adult acting career? The Jodie Fosters and Ron Howards you can count on one hand … Acting was fine, but I wanted something more steady. The key is to find something you love doing, and that’s what I got “.