From Drew Barrymore to Ron Howard, many Hollywood stars today are still remembered for their breakout roles as child actors. For example, people may have first seen Drew Barrymore in 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Of course, there’s Daniel Radcliffe and the rest of the stars from the Harry Potter film franchise. That’s not even mentioning child actors from Disney films and shows who went on to become A-list celebrities. Most people haven’t heard of Peter Ostrum, but they’ve definitely seen him. He played Charlie Bucket, the lead role, in 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He hasn’t acted since.
Discovered as a child actor
Peter Gardner Ostrum was 12 years old when talent agents chose him for the lead role in Willy Wonka. He was performing at the Cleveland Playhouse children’s theater. “It was the previous era, so they took a few Polaroid pictures and tape-recorded me reading from the book,” Ostrum said in a 2000 interview with AVMA.
About two months later, they called him to New York for a screen test. After another month of silence, they said he got the role, and needed to go to Munich, Germany, to begin filming in only ten days.
The Willy Wonka set
He enjoyed meeting his co-stars, especially Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka, and Jack Albertson, who played Grandpa Joe. “Both Gene and Jack couldn’t have been more friendly or more helpful,” Ostrum said to Veterinary Practice News. “I was the new kid on the block, the rookie.”
Stay a child actor?
Despite working alongside acting legends, the profession didn’t captivate Ostrum. After the film’s success, the public assumed he would be a rising star in Hollywood. However, he rejected the offer of a three-film contract. “They didn’t know what movies I would be offered, and that made me uneasy,” Ostrum said. “I had a great experience making Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, but I don’t know that I fell in love with acting, per se…”
“Making a living from something he enjoyed…”
He found his true calling after returning home at age 13. His family had purchased a horse, and he began working in the stable. There he found a passion for taking care of animals. “I can remember the veterinarian coming out and taking care of the horses, and it made a huge impression on me,” Ostrum said. “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.”
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Discovering his passion
Two years later, he got a job at Friendship Farm in East Moline, Illinois, which was owned by Patricia Hewitt. She went on to sponsor the Japanese 3-Day Equestrian Team at the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. So Ostrum attended the Olympics as a groomer for the dressage horses.
“That’s where I really started to see high-level veterinarians working with horses,” Ostrum says. “I thought I would become an equine practitioner in school, so to round out my resume, I worked on a beef cattle ranch for six months. I really liked working with cattle, and while in vet school, I worked with a dairy practitioner in Vermont, which cemented my interest more in dairy than the equine world. It’s a different clientele.”
No longer a child actor
So in 1984, he received his DVM from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and began to practice at Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Lowville, New York. Throughout this time, Ostrum avoided interviews about his experience on the set of Willy Wonka. For a long while, whenever he was recognized, he would pretend his brother was the one who played Charlie Bucket.
Back into the spotlight
However, in 1990, he began speaking annually in public schools, answering questions about the movie and his veterinary career. “The high school students always want to talk about my particular career choices and how I made the leap from theater to veterinary medicine,” Ostrum said. “The young kids want to know how Charlie Bucket flew. The answer is with very thin wires.”
“It’s okay to change your mind”
Ostrum believes there is value for children to hear his story because it is so unique. “I want them to know that they have options in their lives, and when one door closes, another opens,” he explains. “It’s important for kids to realize that you don’t have to be locked into one particular thing. It’s okay to change your mind.” The veterinarian officially retired in December 2022 but is still involved with Dairy Health and Management Services, a dairy consulting business.
Remembering Gene Wilder
In 2016, the former child actor spoke at Bond LSC in celebration of World One Health Day. That same year, he spoke to Variety about the then-recently deceased Gene Wilder. The two hadn’t seen each other since the end of production but the news of Wilder’s death was devastating to Ostrum.
“It’s kind of like losing a parent,” he said. “You know it’s going to happen, but it’s still a shock. He was not in good health at the end and it was not unexpected by any means, but when it happens it hits you like, ‘Gene is gone and there will never be anyone like him again.’”
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