The child star who played Charlie in Gene Wilder’s 1971 hit film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory still makes a small amount of money from the film after choosing a totally different career
Child star Peter Ostrum still makes royalties from his role as Charlie in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 54 years after it was released in 1971. Although Ostrum was one of the classic movie’s lead characters, alongside Gene Wilder, he completely turned his back on acting, and instead chose a very different career.
Ostrum, now 67, is a retired veterinarian, and is a father of two. He never starred in another film, making his role as Charlie his one and only acting job.
In an interview at a screening of the movie at his local Snowtown Film Festival in 2018, he was asked if he makes any money from his short-lived acting career. Due to residuals from screenings of the film on TV, he revealed he gets a cheque for roughly $8 to $9 every few months, despite the Johnny Depp remake making half a billion dollars. It comes after reports Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set for new ‘goldmine’ offer – but could face issue .
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During the same interview, he revealed that his wife, Loretta M. Lepkowski, had no idea he had been a small part of Hollywood history when she met him. She said: “Once I saw it, I realised — ‘Wow, he had a major part.’”
He spoke about the reception of the movie, which he described as “lukewarm” at the time. Despite having major film star Gene Wilder as the titular character, he said people simply “forgot about it”, with it making around $4million at the box office.
During a 2021 virtual reunion hosted by Yahoo, Ostrum said: “You can’t kill Wonka. It just gets played over and over again, whether the original or the remake with Johnny Depp.
“And that brought attention back to our film. Kids saw Johnny Depp’s version, their parents said, ‘You need to see the original.’
“Anything that talks about Wonka is good for the Wonka story. It’s a great story and it needs to be retold, regardless of who’s producing it or who’s making it.”
Peter revealed how his life went straight back to normal after he finished filming the movie. Speaking to the Mirror in 2013, Peter said: “I get calls every time there’s a new version of the story or some fresh look at the film. You can’t kill Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… it keeps resurfacing in different formats.
“We had no idea at the time that it would have any kind of success at all so it’s pretty neat that it is still so loved. I know my kids have read it and they liked it.”
He added: “I have a great affection for the story idea that if you are honest and hardworking and do the right thing, good things happen to you.” Although he went on to get an offer for a three-film deal, he turned it down as he hated spending time away from home.
Peter said said: “I enjoyed doing it but I couldn’t really see myself doing it for the rest of my 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. I think I just played myself in the film – in real life I am a horrible singer and they told me that they weren’t going to use my voice but they did.
“Acting was fine, but I wanted something more steady. The key is to find something you love doing, and that’s what I got.”
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