History Main / ReclusiveArtist

* Similarly, Lesnar's real-life wife, Wrestling/{{Sable}}, has stayed out of the spotlight since her release from WWE in 2004, other than other than occasionally appearing alongside Brock in UFC. It was reported that she is living peacefully in retirement with Lesnar in a farm in Canada, and has declined an offer to appear at the 2018 all-female PPV, ''WWE Evolution''.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Trampier Dave Trampier]], artist for much early ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' material and creator of the comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Wormy}}'', disappeared sometime around 1988. He was apparently a taxi driver in Illinois. He passed away in March 2014, ironically two weeks before he was supposed to disperse some of the rumors of his isolation - a similar fate to what happened with Stanley Kubrick.

* After spending over two decades in the spotlight as the second most famous pro wrestler in the world, "Macho Man" Wrestling/RandySavage mostly stayed out of the public eye during the last five or six years of his life, as he had retired from wrestling for good, reunited with his {{High School Sweetheart|s}} (whom he would marry only a year before he died), focused on doing charity work in his community and took care of his elderly parents. He did occasionally do some voice acting gigs, but it wasn't until his death in 2011 that he became a renowned legend in the eyes of the public again.

** Similarly, Lesnar's real-life wife, Wrestling/{{Sable}}, has stayed out of the spotlight since her release from WWE in 2004, other than other than attending him in UFC. It was reported that she is living peacefully in retirement with Lesnar in a farm in Canada, and has declined an offer to appear at the 2018 all-female PPV, ''WWE Evolution''.

* Kevin Dunn, the long-time WWE executive and right hand to Vince [=McMahon=], keeps an extremely low profile. He does not use any social media nor does he make any public appearances or interviews[[note]]One of his few appearances on [=WWF/E=] TV (possibly his only appearance), Wrestling/EricBischoff going out to the production truck and yelling at him "Kevin Dunn, what the hell was '''that'''?!?", is often shown on Website/{{Botchamania}} after a clip of a production fuckup[[/note]]. There are few pictures of him on the Internet and all that is known about him is from third-party stories and shoot interviews. Considering that he's not too well liked by fans or really anyone in the business besides his employer this is probably a wise move.
* Prior to his retirement in 2020, Wrestling/TheUndertaker rarely did any interviews or public appearances and shied away from social media for the most part, likely to preserve the mystique of his character.

* Yasuyuki Hasebe who was the battle planner of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', the battle designer of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' and most notably the director, writer, [[RuleOfThree and designer]] of the CultClassic ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' hasn't been seen since.

* Not much is known about Kikiyama, creator of ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''. They will occasionally respond to emails but generally stay very quiet. Their website hasn't been updated in years and they haven't made any games aside from ''Yume Nikki''. Even after several high-profile derivative works based on the game were announced in 2013, they still haven't stepped out of the shadows. Even after it was announced that Kikiyama was personally involved in the follow-up announced in 2018, little is known about them. Some even speculate that Kikiyama is actually multiple people.

* Creator/ChrisSavino was fairly active on social media, and was known for his resume, which included work for studios like [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits Disney]], Creator/CartoonNetwork and [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Spümcø]] before he was terminated from his own show on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', in 2017 for sexual harassment accusations. He deleted his social media accounts and vanished from the public eye afterwards, but resurfaced two years later with an [[https://www.chrissavinoauthor.com/ official website]], new stories, pilot ideas, published books, and a comic strip. Time will tell if he'll ever get another chance in the animation industry.

* Creator/KazumaKamachi, the creator of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', ''Manga/ACertainScientificAccelerator'', ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'', ''LightNovel/TheCircumstancesLeadingToWaltrautesMarriage'' and ''LightNovel/TheZashikiWarashiOfIntellectualVillage'', is almost a living paradox. He never appears in public, uses a face made of simple shapes as an online avatar, and "Kazuma Kamachi" is a pen name. Kiyotaka Haimura (''A Certain Magical Index''[='s=] illustrator) and Yuyuko Takemiya (''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'''s author) have met him in person. Kiyotama only commented that he seems to be a sports-oriented guy, and Yuyuko commented that he's very young-looking. On top of this, his love for the craft and the sheer volume of his work output makes his dedication obvious. He is currently in the process of writing five different manga and light novel series all at the same time, and his coworkers have revealed that he currently has enough manuscripts and story ideas stockpiled that he could completely quit writing and still be able to output fresh material for over a year. And yet he ''still'' does almost nothing but write.

* Paru Itagaki, creator of ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'', is a very private person and has never shown her face in public, always opting to wear a chicken mask whenever she appears at events (as seen in the page image above). One thing that ''is'' known about her is that she's the daughter of Keisuke Itagaki, creator of ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'', and part of the reason for her reclusiveness was not wanting to be seen as riding on his coattails. [[ZigzaggedTrope On the other hand]], she's also launched an autobiography manga (''Paruno Graffiti''), indicating that she is at least willing to talk about her life in manga format.

* Juliano Enrico was well-known in Brazil since the early 2010s, being a MTV presenter and host and writer of talk-show programs such as ''Choque de Cultura'' and ''O Último Programa do Mundo''. A few years later, his most well-known work, the cartoon ''WesternAnimation/JorelsBrother'' became a big hit, with Juliano participating in several interviews, ads, and Cartoon Network videos about the show. However, in April 2019, he got involved in a huge controversy due to his ex-girlfriend publicly speaking about how her previous boyfriend used to abuse her physically, sexually and verbally, leading most people to believe and later, discover that it was indeed Juliano. Since then, he's become inactive in any social medias and disappeared from all public appearances, sometimes being said to be reclusive just to "focus on his show". While he participated in the fourth season of ''Jorel's Brother'' premiering in 2021 (though this may be due to AnimationLeadTime), he seems to have been mostly phased out from the team now.

* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' creator Tom Siddell, for a long time, was largely a mystery. He talked about himself very little, worked during the weekdays as an animator for an unknown video game company, and lived in Birmingham. There were very few images of him on the Internet, and while he attends conventions on occasion, he never revealed his real face outside those appearances, instead drawing an AuthorAvatar with shadowed, crazed eyes and a wonky smile. However, since he's begun working full-time on his comic, his convention appearances have increased and he's allowed himself to be filmed for an interview at least once. He has also tweeted photos of himself on a handful of occasions, although usually not identifying the person in the photo as him. He would later explicitly reveal his face in his [[http://www.patreon.com/gunnerkrigg Patreon video]] (where he looks like a normal person).

* Kevin Dunn, the long-time WWE executive and right hand to Vince [=McMahon=], keeps an extremely low profile. He does not use any social media nor does he make any public appearances or interviews. There are few pictures of him on the Internet and all that is known about him is from third-party stories and shoot interviews. Considering that he's not well liked by fans or really anyone in the business besides his employer this is probably a wise move.

* Kevin Dunn, the long-time WWE executive and right hand to Vince [=McMahon=], keeps an extremely low profile. He does not use any social media nor does he make any public appearances or interviews. There are few pictures of him on the Internet and all that is known about him is from third-party stories and shoot interviews.

* Russell Hall is best known for being the lead animator for Jessica Rabbit in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', he has had only two known interviews for his work on the film, he'd been animating since the 1970s and his last known credit was for ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''. There were unsuccessful attempts to contact him for a comic con appearance for the 25th anniversary of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', even his most frequent employer Creator/RichardWilliams didn't know his whereabouts.

* Creator/ChrisSavino was fairly active on social media, and was known for his resume, which included work for studios like [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits Disney]], Creator/CartoonNetwork and [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Spümcø]] before he was terminated from his own show on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', in 2017 for sexual harassment accusations. He deleted his social media accounts and vanished from the public eye afterwards, but [[https://www.chrissavinoauthor.com/ resurfaced]] two years later with new stories, pilot ideas, published books, and a comic strip. Time will tell if he'll ever get another chance in the animation industry.

* In ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'', Lieselotte's mother Josephine is a famous painter, but she isn't the most comfortable with people, even her immediate family. As a result, she has the tendency to retreat to paint her days away, and her oldest child Lieselotte does not recall ever spending much time with her.

* Creator/ChrisSavino was fairly active on social media and was known for his resume which included work for studios like [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits Disney]], Creator/{{Cartoon Network}}, and [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Spümcø]] before he was terminated from his [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse own show]] in 2017 for sexual harassment. He deleted his social media accounts and vanished from the public eye afterwards, but [[https://www.chrissavinoauthor.com/ resurfaced]] two years later with new stories, pilot ideas, published books, and a comic strip. Time will if he ever gets another chance in the animation industry.

** In relation to this scandal, his ex-wife Bethany privatized her Instagram page sometime after their divorce in order to protect her and their kids' personal lives from [[FanDumb certain fans]] of the show.

* [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Jack Chick]], who was interviewed exactly ''once'' during his four-decade career in writing and drawing comics. It's been rumored that this was because he was extremely paranoid. He was reclusive to the point that to this day there's still uncertainty about whether his tracts reflected the way he saw the world, or he was just {{troll}}ing. If they are to be taken seriously and express his world vision, then it's normal that he was paranoid. On the other hand, maybe this reclusiveness accounts for all the [[CriticalResearchFailure blatant ridiculous inaccuracies]] in his tracts.

[[folder:Authors]]
* Creator/HPLovecraft rarely went outside during the day, was shamed by his mother into hiding his appearance in his childhood, and admitted to being nervous around people.
* Christopher Tolkien, son of Creator/JRRTolkien. While he had given some statements in press releases, he is a very private man and had only given [[http://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/my-father-039-s-quot-eviscerated-quot-work-son-of-hobbit-scribe-j.r.r.-tolkien-finally-speaks-out/hobbit-silmarillion-lord-of-rings/c3s10299/#.UMAA4GcU5I4 one interview]] in his entire life prior to his death on January 16, 2020.
* Creator/JackKerouac in his later years.
* Ann Radcliffe, pioneer of the GothicNovel best known for ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho'' and ''Literature/TheItalian''. Little is known of her life. According to the ''Edinburgh Review'', "She never appeared in public, nor mingled in private society, but kept herself apart, like the sweet bird that sings its solitary notes, shrouded and unseen." Christina Rossetti had to abandon a biography of her life due to a lack of information.
* Creator/JDSalinger was famous for this. Despite his reputation, his neighbors recall him as being very sociable, it was his ''readers'' he actively avoided - perhaps [[LoonyFan with good reason.]]
* Creator/ArthurCClarke lived out his later years in Sri Lanka, making this a borderline case (his residence wasn't a secret, but he did assiduously avoid public appearances).
* Charles Portis, author of ''Film/TrueGrit'' and ''Norwood''.
* John Swartzwelder, who has written many episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' as well as a few novels. Some fans even suspect that there is no real Swartzwelder, with the name covering a collaboration between two or more of the rest of the show's staff, and he notoriously refuses to give interviews or appear in ''Simpsons'' audio commentaries. He was apparently entrapped into a DVD commentary for the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E5TheCartridgeFamily The Cartridge Family]]", but it's still unknown if this was the real Swartzwelder and he ended his appearance by denying this. He did, however, respond to a journalist [[https://web.archive.org/web/20141005002636/http://antennafree.tv/2013/06/27/pilot-error-the-legend-of-john-swartzwelders-pistol-pete about his failed Pistol Pete project]] and allowed a rare photo of him to be included in the article. (He’s the guy with the short white beard, white shirt, and light blue pants.) Finally, in May 2021, he [[https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/john-swartzwelder-sage-of-the-simpsons granted an interview to the New Yorker.]] He also opened a Twitter account in 2016, [[Main/WordOfGod which was confirmed as the real Swartzwelder by several crewmembers and eventually by the man himself]], but almost all of his tweets are excerpts from his books. He's also apparently a big baseball fan and posted a photo of himself hitting a home run at Safeco Field in Seattle on his Twitter account.
* Creator/ThomasLigotti has been called the J.D. Salinger of the CosmicHorrorStory. Early on, there were even questions as to whether the man actually existed, with some claiming that he was actually a pseudonym for a more famous writer. In interviews, he cites various health conditions, such as chronic anxiety and agoraphobia are contributing to his seclusion.
* Creator/AlanMoore is a borderline case. He quite often does book signings and stuff like that, and he is interviewed very frequently. He doesn't travel abroad and no longer goes to conventions [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings after some fan followed him into the bathroom and pestered him for an autograph]].
-->"I don't have any designs on being a screenwriter. For one thing, that would mean moving out of Northampton, and I already can't imagine that. I very seldom even leave this end of the living room. The other end of the living room is a foreign place where they do things differently, and where I feel a bit nervous."
* Creator/CormacMcCarthy does have conversations with journalists, but he hates giving interviews, talking about his own work, or even talking about writing. The one exception was when he went on Oprah, of all things.
* [[Literature/ToKillAMockingbird Harper Lee]]. Due to her age when she died and near-total lack of public appearances, rumors had constantly circulated that she was dead (which did happen on February 19, 2016). She lived just long enough to publish a ''Mockingbird'' sequel called ''Literature/GoSetAWatchman'' the year before her death. Prior to that, she did emerge from seclusion long enough to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007.
* American novelist Creator/ThomasPynchon never gives interviews and makes no public appearances. His reclusiveness was parodied on ''The Simpsons'', where he was depicted with a brown paper bag over his head and hawking merchandise to passers-by, offering them to "get your picture taken with a reclusive author." Believe it or not, he was actually [[SelfDeprecation voiced by Thomas Pynchon himself]] (the only time his voice has been broadcast in the media, except from another ''Simpsons'' appearance and a trailer to his novel, ''Inherent Vice'').
* Patrick Dennis, author of ''Literature/AuntieMame'' and other popular novels, hid behind his pseudonym all his life and, in his twilight years, maintained his anonymity by butlering in California.
* Rowena Farre, author of ''Seal Morning''. When her book's popularity grew, her publisher was forced to expend considerable effort to find her. It was discovered that her real name was Lois Parr. Subsequently she published under another name. There is some disagreement concerning her date of birth--she may have been 26 or 35 when her book was published.
* Thomas Harris, author of ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and its sequels and prequels. He didn't grant any interviews from 1976 until 2019 when he talked to the New York Times to promote his novel ''Cari Mora''. In that interview, he explained that his books sold well even though he didn't grant interviews, so he didn't grant interviews.
* John Twelve Hawks, author of ''Literature/TheFourthRealm'' trilogy, lives off the grid, has never appeared in public and his name is of course actually a pseudonym. Not even his editor knows who he is; he communicates with his publisher using the Internet and an untraceable satellite phone.
* S. E. Hinton wrote ''Literature/TheOutsiders'' while she was in high school; her agent suggested using her initials, assuming that reviewers would dismiss a novel written by a teenage girl. She kept the name for later books to help separate her work from her personal life. Although she makes cameos in movies based on her work, she's avoided public appearances outside of a few awards ceremonies. She was also interviewed in 2018 for PBS' ''Great American Read'', when ''The Outsiders'' was one of the hundred novels chosen as the greatest ever written by a public poll.
* Creator/LeoTolstoy was notoriously impossible to interview and hated dealing with the public. He was especially wary of the new invention of the movie camera in the early 20th century. Reporters would hide out and try to ambush him. One such reporter, much like the others, hid out for 3 days waiting to ambush him on the way home with his family. Instead of succeeding, he accidentally broke his film camera which literally brought him to tears. Taking pity on the man, Tolstoy helped him take his camera to a blacksmith shop to repair it after which he agreed to being filmed. This started a relationship of the only man ever allowed to film Tolstoy. And that's not even getting into his later life when he renounced his title and possessions and started traveling the world (granted, he only did this shortly before his death).
* French Canadian novelist and playwright [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejean_Ducharme Réjean Ducharme]] was extremely reclusive: he gained fame as soon as his first novel was published in 1966, but made no public appearance nor interview from then on (he died in 2017). Especially in the early decades of his career, there have been rumors that he didn't really exist and that his name was the pseudonym of this or that famous author. Very few photographs of him have surfaced.
* Patrick Süskind, author of ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'', has not published a novel since 1991, and never grants interviews or allows photographs of himself to be taken.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Stevens Shane Stevens]], author of the crime novels ''By Reason of Insanity'' (a precursor to ''The Silence of the Lambs''), ''The Anvil Chorus'' and ''Dead City'', which Creator/StephenKing called "the finest novels ever written about the dark side of the American dream." He has said of himself that, "I am very secretive...I never give interviews, stay in shadow, travel by night."
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_Traven B. Traven]], who took this trope to its LogicalExtreme: his identity was never revealed during his lifetime and is still uncertain, as is whether the original language of his books was English or German.
* Creator/GregEgan, who is so reclusive that [[http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/images/GregEgan.htm there are no photos of him on the web]].
* Trevanian (a.k.a Rodney William Whitaker).
* Creator/HenryDarger, during his life was a hospital janitor who kept mostly to himself. After his death it was discovered that he wrote a 15,000-page novel called [[LongTitle [deep breath]]] ''[[Literature/InTheRealmsOfTheUnreal The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion]]''. With copious illustrations.
* Russian Postmodernist writer Viktor Pelevin is (in)famous for his incredibly private lifestyle. He makes public appearances once in a blue moon, always wearing CoolShades covering his face, and gives no interviews; the few known details of his life are contradictory and unreliable. While his novels are invariably bestsellers and critical hits, Pelevin as a man remains a mystery. When it comes to reclusiveness, he is the Russian answer to Thomas Pynchon.
* Elena Ferrante is one of Italy's most famous contemporary authors. She's also so reclusive that her name is a pseudonym, and she refuses to say anything outside of letters written to her editor and publisher as she believes that books have no need for their authors once complete and has a fierce desire to maintain her privacy. It was speculated that she is a pseudonym of Domenico Starnone based on samples of their writing, but he [[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/books/elena-ferrante-author-of-naples-novels-stays-mysterious.html?_r=0 firmly denies it]], to which the media then shifted the speculation to his wife, Anita Raja, a well-known translator. An Italian journalist published an article claiming that Raja is Ferrante based on finance records as well as her family tree records, but the public response to the article has been negative as her readers were completely fine with the anonymity and felt it lent greater merit to her work. The article was also i[[http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/10/3/13147536/elena-ferrante-anita-raja-doxxing-controversy-explained perceived]] by her publisher, some authors, journalists, and literary circles as a gross violation of journalistic ethics and Raja's privacy, whether or not she's the true author.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_and_Jennifer_Gibbons June and Jennifer Gibbons]] probably count as this, since they pretty much lived as {{Hikikomori}} but were very much engaged in writing novels and screenplays.
* Until April 2015, nothing was known about Creator/KJParker. Finally, it was revealed that K.J. Parker was the pseudonym of Creator/TomHolt, for works in a [[DarkerAndEdgier very different style]] from his own-name work.
* Creator/RosemaryWells, of ''Literature/MaxAndRuby'' and ''Literature/TimothyGoesToSchool'' fame, doesn't have that much info about her life being a writer and has a short biography about her life on her official website. She did do some interviews on some websites such as ''The Japan Times'' and was featured on the news at one point years ago, but it's still not that much. Definitely somewhat less of an example than others, though, because she is known to do public appearances and a video about her career and life called ''A Visit with Rosemary Wells'' is available from Scholastic. She is also known to advocate for children's literacy.
* Creator/VCAndrews, though not to the extent as other authors on this page. Allegedly, she was a very private person and even burned her first manuscript because it was unintentionally autobiographical. She was also reluctant to do interviews and other public events after People Magazine published an interview that she deeply disliked for being inaccurate and unflattering.
* Angus Oblong, the author of the BlackComedy book ''Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children'', which was the basis of the show, ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'', seems to prefer some amount of anonymity (albeit with a bit of a twist), preferring to go under his pen name (although his real name has been revealed), appearing on special features of The Oblongs DVD with his face blacked out and voice distorted, and making public appearances wearing clown makeup.
* Anne Perry, creator of ''Literature/TheCharlotteAndThomasPittSeries'', allowed very little personal information to be made public for the first decade and a half of her writing career. Then we found out why: she's actually Juliet Hulme, who along with her friend Pauline Parker murdered Parker's mother in one of New Zealand's most notorious murder cases, as was brought to light when the film adaptation of the story ''Film/HeavenlyCreatures'' renewed interest in what had become of them.
* Author and illustrator Creator/WalterMoers has refused to be photographed since the mid-'90s and communicates at most via email.
* The ultimate example may be Creator/WilliamShakespeare, whose only public information we have is his name on various lawsuits.
* Science Fiction author and Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard, in the last few years of his life, went into hiding due to numerous legal troubles and would reportedly only speak to a few trusted individuals. What's notable about this time is he published his first fictional books in decades, including Battlefield Earth.
* Kinoko Nasu, the co-founder of Creator/TypeMoon and creator of the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, is a case where he's much more comfortable with written discussion only in a controlled environment, having used his long-running blog from the early '00s and magazine interviews as his main avenue for communicating with fans. He only represents himself with the AuthorAvatar of a mushroom (a pun on his first name being also read as "mushroom") and [[http://i2.wp.com/fatede-go.com/wp-content/uploads/DUjLjsTg.jpg only one known photo]] of him is of the back of his head. He's not going to drop the anonymity any time soon, as he's spoken about how he enjoys being able to go about conventions without anyone paying attention to him. [[https://twitter.com/ExtremeSManpig/status/1411999488638660613 A lot of people mistook]] Yosuke Shiokawa, the former[[note]]He left development in 2021[[/note]] game producer of ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', for Nasu which doesn't help that doing a quick Google search would automatically show Shiokawa's picture instead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* While most of the various writers and staff members for ''VisualNovel/{{Echo}}'' (and related projects like ''VisualNovel/Adastra2018'') have social media and presence there, zero is known about the main project head, "Howly". He is known to be in a relationship with "Zeke the Tiger" (notable for being [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticMalcolmsCharacters Malcolm Ray]]'s fursona; this is supported by the [[https://twitter.com/EchoTheVN Twitter account]] occasionally retweeting from him) and that he "usurped" control of the discord server from the Patreon creator "Injy"... and that's it.
* Russian mathematical genius [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman Grigori Perelman]] is notorious for his refusal to travel abroad to accept prestigious awards (including one with a $1,000,000 prize), or even leaving his tiny St. Petersburg apartment at all. Reportedly, he can stay indoors for weeks, shuns personal contact with other people, and refuses to speak to anyone but [[MommasBoy his mother]]. All of this is enough to declare him the [[JustForFun/OneOfUs patron saint of nerddom]].
** Pioneering physical scientist Henry Cavendish and theoretical physicist Paul Dirac were similar. Dirac preferred solitude and hated socializing, and Cavendish hated all forms of personal contact, instructing his servants to ignore his presence if they encountered him and communicate only by notes.
* UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla is renowned as one of the most brilliant inventors of all time, and his innovations stunned everyone who came into contact with them. Yet, he was also known for being very dedicated to his work, spending nearly 18 hours holed up in his lab. While he did have a tightly knit circle of friends, which included Creator/MarkTwain, he was largely celibate and had zero intimate relationships in his life (although he did fall in love with one of his pet pigeons). Towards the end of his life, his lab ended up suffering foreclosure due to his mounting debt, and he ended up living his final years in various New York hotels. His work fell into general obscurity until the 1960s, where he got a [[VindicatedbyHistory critical renewal]].
%%* Kathryn Mullen last worked for The Jim Henson Company in 1998, and Pam Arciero took over her role as Leona in ''Series/BetweenTheLions'' after the first two seasons.
* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' creators Creator/TheBrothersChaps, were quite open with their fanbase, making public appearances and even featuring their children in some shorts, but in 2009 they started to appear less and less, which has been attributed to the birth of Matt's second daughter and work burnout (having produced content nearly every week from 2002 to late 2009.) In 2014, they broke the silence and confirmed the return of Homestar Runner, even saying they hadn't planned on the hiatus being so long. Even with that, they're only open about themselves and the content they provide and keep nearly everything else private.
* After [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer Bobby Fischer]] lost the title of World Champion in 1975 (well, forfeited--he demanded specific rules for the tournament that the World Chess Federation would not agree to, so he refused to play), he basically retired from chess and from the public eye for nearly 20 years, living a reclusive life until an anniversary rematch against old foe Boris Spassky (who he defeated to win the title of World Champion in the first place) in 1992.
** That match would indirectly lead to Fischer's downward spiral. The 1992 Fischer-Spassky match was played in what was then known as Yugoslavia, which was under embargo from the UN and the U.S. during the bloody conflict in that region. After President Bush Sr. issued an executive order that the U.S. would comply with the UN's embargo of Yugoslavia, Fischer, an American citizen at the time, was told that playing the match in Belgrade would violate US and international law. Fischer appeared in a press conference where he spat on a copy of the president's executive order and played the match anyway. After the match, Fischer would spend the last years of his life fearing legal action in the U.S., going from country to country seeking asylum, attempting to renounce his citizenship, and publicly making anti-American statements before settling in Iceland.
* Creator/ChrisMorris, who wrote things like ''Series/BrassEye'' and ''Film/FourLions'', barely makes public appearances and almost never does interviews, so much so that for his official biography the writer had to talk to people who knew Morris rather than Morris himself. He did briefly pop up in public quite a bit due to the release of his film ''Four Lions'' but has since disappeared again.
* British comedian Daniel Kitson is impossible to get interviews with and has said that he never wants to do TV work again. There's also no [=DVDs=] or [=CDs=] of his stand-up because he feels that it loses the feel of live performance. Probably his biggest TV appearance was on ''Series/PhoenixNights'' as Spencer, which he hated so much that it drove him away completely from doing any TV work. He’s explained that’s just because he doesn't want mainstream recognition as it attracts FanDumb. And aside from that, he tours often, has an active public life, and is said to be "very charismatic" in person. He also has a Bandcamp. [[https://twitter.com/robotbotch/status/379019449959186432 In the words of Rob Batchelor]], "Kitson is the JD Salinger of comedy, if JD Salinger regularly released new work, wasn't a recluse, and was regularly seen in public."
* Al Yeganeh, the soupman that inspired [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} the Soup Nazi]]. Oddly enough, Yeganeh operated his restaurant without much hassle for years after the episode aired, and even invited interviews as long as there was no mention of ''Seinfeld'' or "[[ThoseWackyNazis the N word]]", since he's Jewish. He did, though, shun the spotlight when he re-formatted his Soup Kitchen into the ''Original Soupman'' franchise and no-showed its grand re-opening. Since going corporate, Yeganeh has had little public presence (although his likeness still serves as the company logo), probably at the insistence of shareholders who prefer more PR-friendly personalities as active spokespersons, such as Reggie Jackson and Shaquille O'Neal, both of whom are also investors in the company. Reportedly, Yeganeh sold his share of the company but lives somewhere near the New York Location.
* Matt Drudge, creator of the famed Drudge Report. Though he had a show on Fox News and published a book in the early 2000s, he has been inaccessible since 2004 or so. He still maintains (and makes a lot of money from) his famous website, but barely grants interviews and practically nothing is known about his current personal life.
* Creator/BettiePage, the famed pin-up model. After 1958 or so, she converted to Christianity and wanted to bury her modeling past as much as possible. Despite her resurgence in popularity in the 1980s, she barely granted interviews and did not allow current photos of herself to be published. Part of this attitude may have been due to her schizophrenia diagnosis in the late 1970s. She wasn't even aware of her newfound popularity until an interviewer in the early 1990s pointed it out.
* Even small-scale popularity can have this happen. Some artists may be constantly bombarded with messages discussing commissions, people wanting to be their friends, or dealing with web-drama amongst their existing friends so getting a hold of them is ''quite'' difficult.
* ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'':
** Over time in the RPG, many of the players got to know each other on a surprisingly personal level, up to and including revealing their real names (or at least their first name) and a general idea of where they live (so far as nationality and hometown anyway, precise addresses were obviously not given). The one exception is [=PeabodySam=], who, while fairly personal with other players, seems to make a point of stating as little about himself as possible. He has dropped hints, but how reliable any of them are is debatable. The most he has ever said is that he claims to be a 101-year-old man who lives somewhere in the United States.
** Most players who left the RPG also tended to disappear from Website/{{BZPower}} around the same time, and as a result, they are all difficult to track down and can be considered reclusive artists, especially due to the anonymous nature of [=BZPower=] usernames. There are exceptions, such as Chronicler of Ko-Koro and Canama, who are still active in the online LEGO community. However, by far the most infamous example of this in ''Dino Attack RPG'' would be Kotua in Space, who not only disappeared from [=BZPower=] but also Brickshelf, [=MOCpages=], and many other websites all at the same time in late 2007 so he could focus on schoolwork.
* Subverted with Ashida Kim: {{ninja}} master and author of a large number of ninja books that were part of the ninja-mania of the 1980s. For a ninja, he's not quite reclusive enough. He has given interviews, made public appearances, has a [=YouTube=] channel, attended martial arts conventions and seminars (usually smaller ones and not those hosted by nationally or internationally recognized mainstream organizations), and hosts a forum on his own website (although it's become evident that many past posts by him might have been by moderators that he appoints). The issue with him is that he is very elusive about his martial arts credentials leading many to assume that he's a fake, fraud, and charlatan. It can be argued that Ashida does avoid most public appearances in the mainstream martial arts scene where his credentials would be critically reviewed. He apparently restricts himself to those underground scenes populated by fellow "questionable figures" such as Frank Dux and Irving Soto. And, as has been rightfully pointed out [[https://youtu.be/mg2I6ZSWO-4 here]], a person who has actually done the kind of undercover ninja things that Ashida Kim claims to have done would logically avoid public appearances.
* The owner of [[https://www.youtube.com/user/mugumogu Maru]], arguably the most famous cat featured on [=YouTube=]. The channel has over 200 million views and is the 7th most subscribed channel in Japan, but Maru's owner/s has never been seen on-screen and no one has any idea what they look like outside of the fact that at least one is female. This is strange, considering the worldwide popularity of the channel and the fact that someone somewhere would likely recognize the apartment and/or cats seen in the videos or associated blog. Various attempts to contact Maru's owner have always resulted in failure - the agent representing Maru refuses to send correspondence from fans to said owner(s), and despite it being a huge moneymaker, no one can get a hold of said owner outside of a single interview they granted to a Japanese cat blog.
* Animation writer Merriwether Williams, who has written on cartoons like ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', is very reclusive. There's only one known photo of her online, only one known interview with her, and for a while, she was the only "Pony" writer who never made public appearances in cons.
* Former Website/YouTube celebrity Miss Hannah Minx left the Internet in late 2013, leaving all her profiles unattended. The crowd-funded film she was supposed to star in was never made. Allegedly, she got bored of her Japanophile persona, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/MissHannahMinx/comments/37ai9x/hannah_is_married_with_children_now/ got married, had children]] and disappeared off the radar to raise her kids. Still it's surprising that, in this day and age, and with such an active fanbase, nobody managed to confirm this or find anything more about her.
* The person who makes WebVideo/HowToBasic might be this, by virtue of being TheFaceless in all of his videos. The public doesn't know Mr. Basic's identity because his face is never shown.
* Creator/JamesRolfe, also known as the WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, has no problem talking about himself or his childhood, as shown in the many videos he has shared on Creator/{{Cinemassacre}}. Anything involving his family, especially his wife and two daughters? Under lock and key. While his wife has assisted on many of his AVGN videos, she herself has never appeared in person in them and is always referred to as "Mrs. Nerd" in credits of his works.
* Despite his millions of views and his 3.1 million subscribers, nearly nothing is known about WebVideo/GradeAUnderA except that he's British and used to be a math tutor. To date, [[https://youtu.be/W1ZHLcBYS3o?t=3m52s he has done a face reveal for his 2 million subscriber milestone]]; [[https://youtu.be/Ko4leGFOGx8?t=8m4s another video]] revealed his real name to be Ram although this is entirely unintentional on his part.
* Similar to the above, WebVideo/IHateEverything, also known as Alex, has also never shown his face in his videos and prefers to keep it that way. This later turned into a joke on his own videos, showing everything EXCEPT his face. That said, he does show his face regularly now on JAR Media, a Website/YouTube channel run by Alex and his friends.
* For two years, [=YouTuber=] WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter didn't show his face or reveal his real name, instead representing himself with a static cartoon avatar and using the pseudonym "Mr. Enter". Even after he revealed his real name and showed his face, Enter seldom talks to others online (outside of his Discord, and even then it's primarily focused on his pet project, WebOriginal/GrowingAround) and does not share his e-mail or Skype with anyone but his very close friends/workers for his projects. He also deleted his Tumblr back in 2016, closed his Twitter in early 2020, and left [=DeviantArt=] in mid-July of that same year, making him more, well, mysterious.
* Many [[UsefulNotes/MonsterJam Monster Jam]] drivers vanished off the face of the Earth after retirement. Notable examples are Gary Porter and Brian Barthel.
* The only thing anyone knows about the original streamer of ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon'' is that he's Australian.
* Willard Scott. In addition to having no known social media, his centenarian birthday segments on ''Series/{{Today}}'' were being shown less and less frequently in the months leading up to his 2015 retirement, and even then, at that point they were no longer being done live but filmed sporadically. Before then, the most noteworthy news about him was in the spring of 2014 when he remarried. {{Justified|Trope}} since he was already in his eighties and had to take time to slow down.
* Speaking of the ''Today'' show, longtime film critic Gene Shalit literally disappeared after he left the show sometime in 2011. His most recent appearance was in 2015 after Willard's retirement.
* [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/reclusive-marvel-ceo-ike-perlmutter-photographed-public-959632 Until 2016]], the only known picture of former Creator/MarvelStudios chairman Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter was taken in 1985. Perlmutter was rumored to have attended the premiere of ''Film/IronMan1'' in disguise and apparently prides himself on having never given an interview.
* Fitness guru Richard Simmons is a rather disturbing instance of this. After decades of being an extrovert, he suddenly vanished from the public eye. According to [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-where-are-they-now-stories-that-sound-completely-made-up/ this]] ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' article, the general conception is that he's being held captive inside his own house and whoever is doing so to him is cutting him off from society. [[http://www.today.com/popculture/richard-simmons-today-show-no-one-holding-me-my-house-t79821 He did give a phone-in interview]] to the ''Series/{{Today}} Show'', saying that he actually wasn't being held captive and simply didn't want to be in the public eye... which people immediately took as being exactly what someone being held captive would say. The theory took a big hit when he reemerged into the public eye in 2017 to sue the ''National Enquirer'' for claiming he'd had a sex-change operation.[[note]]He lost, due to not providing enough evidence that the story had negatively impacted his life.[[/note]]
* WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows is kind of a {{Downplayed}} example because we know his real name (Kenneth Munson - "Todd Nathanson" is a pseudonym) and he interacts with fans, but [[TheFaceless he always wears a mask over the top half of his face]], not wanting people to know what he looks like. This gimmick was apparently because he was working for a newspaper at the time and was considering a teaching job, but stuck to video reviews instead when they proved more sustainable. While he often joked about the ambiguity of his appearance and race, he appears unmasked in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI4T6pvbIAY&ab_channel=LindsayEllis 2016 video]] shot by Creator/LindsayEllis (he’s visible in the “Norway” introduction), and Ellis [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7aWz8q_IM4&ab_channel=LindsayEllis confirmed]] in a later video that Todd is half-Vietnamese.
* Creator/LindsayEllis herself would blip off the internet following her retirement from content creation in late 2021, [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings itself the result of her suffering multiple online targeted harassment campaigns]]. Her social media was abandoned, and her only major public appearance since then was as a panelist at [=VidCon=] 2022, mentioning she was still dealing with the aftermath of chronic harassment, and that if she ever returns to social media, it will be in a much more limited capacity to promote [[Literature/AxiomsEnd her books]].
* Ghost of ''Radio/TrueCapitalist Radio'' may have hundreds of hours of radio shows where he espouses his (often extreme) opinions, but next to nothing is known about the man himself. His real name, his face, even his age are all left a mystery, with trolls only going by breadcrumbs Ghost occasionally lets out to piece together things. Though considering his opinions, this may be down to protect himself.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyCollectorBR FunToys Collector Disney Toys Review]] (aka [=DisneyCollectorBR=]) boasts over 11 million subscribers and status as one of the richest and most-watched Website/YouTube channels. The only thing we know about the identity is that she's a Brazillian woman.
* {{Creator/Amoridere}}, from what can be guessed, is pretty secretive (and shy), so most of what's known about her is what she's said in the descriptions of her works, what's shown in her photos, said on her social media, or if one asks her, which isn't much besides that she lives somewhere in southwestern {{UsefulNotes/Ohio}}, parts of her name, and the fact that she spends/spent much of her time at home (according to her earlier photos).
* TrollFic writer [=BoxOfScraps=], who wrote many fics consisting of an over-the-top depiction of some show and/or other piece of media being interrupted by ''ComicBook/IronMan'' killing the characters [[ForTheEvulz for no reason]]. To this day, nobody has claimed responsibility for the fanfics, all of which were published in 2010, and nobody has been able to find out the true identity of this infamous troll fic writer, though it's believed [=BoxofScraps=] was run by the same person as the now-defunct [=@Real_Hulk=] Twitter account.
* Many WebVideo/BarneyBunch video makers fall under this trope. Then again, it's probably for their protection knowing that the Bunch is a known trolling group.
* Special effects artist Creator/RobBottin has become this since his retirement, aside from appearing in the documentary "Fantastic Flesh" and making a comic con appearance for his work on ''Film/TheHowling'', he rarely makes public appearances or gives interviews, and has no social media.
* Jamie Hyneman, of ''Series/MythBusters'' fame, was never truly comfortable with the public attention he received because of the show. Once ''[=MythBusters=]'' ended, he ended his partnership with Adam Savage and downsized [=M5=] Industries to focus on prototyping and engineering projects that interest him personally. His public appearances are sporadic and small-scale and mainly aimed at getting people interested in science and engineering.
* The anonymous "concerned citizen" who is the host of the true-crime podcast ''Podcast/{{Swindled}}''. All we know is the Citizen's gender (male) and nationality (American). Then again, this might be for his protection, given that he has expressed controversial opinions that border on anti-consumerism. Also, if his identity were to be exposed, he would be targeted for lawsuits by many of the corporations and people he's covered, not to mention harassment by trolls.
* John J.B. Wilson, the founder of the [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Golden Raspberry Awards]]. Aside from personal details, he is quite the recluse and has no social media profiles. Though, like with Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg, it's likely he's [[{{Hatedom}} protecting himself and his family]] rather than just avoiding people.
* Creator/PurpleEyesWTF ''was'' at a point in his internet career fairly open about himself, regularly showing up at conventions, making live-action shorts, and willingly giving out his real name when credited on others' videos. However, he's since then disappeared with the informal farewell to his fanbase being an interview he gave explaining his absence and plans to retire to focus on his job and marriage. He's also revealed he's never been that open about his channel in his personal life anyways. Since then, information about him had been altered and pictures have been removed wherever possible to respect his privacy, including on this very wiki.
* Charles Sonnenburg aka Website/SFDebris is another online personality who doesn't show his face, even after a decade of reviewing. That said, he is active on Twitter and does interact with others.
* Comedian and magician Jerry Sadowitz. Interviews with him are very rare, he doesn't make public appearances outside of performing and he is so protective of his intellectual property that it's near impossible to find online.
* Cosplayers [[https://instagram.com/oextremelunatics?igshid=e4kevijv1sxq Oextremelunatics]] (Jen) and [[https://instagram.com/snarkymcsnarkpants?igshid=1hhxebbvq1ht1 Snarkymcsnarkpants]] (Babi) are very private with their personal lives. Neither has done an interview or shown themselves out of makeup[[note]]although in June 2019, Babi posted a [[MissingEpisode now lost]] live video of herself discussing the controversy surrounding [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BzLgchvnzv_/?igshid=1ximsewoj6yip one of]] her cosplays.[[/note]], and they don't have any social media presence outside of Instagram. The only thing we know for sure is that Babi more or less abandoned her account to share one with Jen, hence why the latter interacts with fans more often.
* [=ThoseDudesWithAHat=], the creator of WebVideo/TheReviewReviewer. All we know is that he nicknames himself "Timber" as evidenced by his [=DeviantArt=] page.
* [=Sp00nerism=] used to be this back when he was part of LetsPlay/TheCreatures. He never appeared in real-life vlogs of the group and the only time he was seen on camera was wearing a horse mask. This changed in 2013 when he surprised his fans with a face reveal during an RTX panel. Since then he's dropped the secrecy and has shown himself on camera more often.
* Downplayed by WebVideo/SovietWomble: He's not particularly secretive about his personal life, but he refuses to ''ever'' show his face on camera while streaming; partly because he considers it vain, but also because he'd rather not get hassled by fans in the street. (Rumours that he really ''is'' a [[WesternAnimation/TheWombles womble]] are strenuously denied.)) The only part of him that's ever been seen on camera is a hand either petting or feeding a dog treat to his beloved French Bulldog Lulu.
* LetsPlay/{{Critikal}} early on, and still is to an extent, very reclusive. The only thing people originally knew about him was that he was a male. There was a rumor at the time that his name was Charlie from a comment that was left on one of his first videos but it was up for debate if that was true. He would drop hints from time to time about some personal life, but people were unsure if any of it was true. It wasn't until 2015 that he confirmed his real name was Charlie and in 2017 he showed off his face for the first time. Recently he has more comfortable with being on camera and has opened up about more of his life, showing his girlfriend, dogs, and even his father in recent videos.
* Very little is known about [=FFL2and3rocks=], who created the WebVideo/ThirdRateGamer show, outside of [=YouTube=] including his real name or even his age.
* Almost nothing is known about the creator behind ''Music/BadLipReading'' since he chooses to remain anonymous so that the humor of his videos doesn't affect his more serious work. The few things he has revealed are that he's male, from Texas, and does all the voices in his videos himself, even the female ones (though he has had guest voice actors in some later videos).
* The musician and voice-over artist known only as "Creator/CorpseHusband,” who rose to prominence through group playthroughs of Videogame/AmongUs, due to his dark sense of humor and his BadassBaritone speaking voice. He reportedly suffers from a number of health issues, including anxiety and agoraphobia, and so is extremely selective about the personal details he chooses to share. Only his left hand has been seen on camera to date.
* [[Creator/RubySpears Joe Ruby and Ken Spears]] were this in final years.
* Ding Dong of WebVideo/OneyPlays fame has not given his full name nor has revealed his face and is only known by his nickname and cartoon avatar.
* Almost nothing is known about the creators of ''WebVideo/MostOffensiveVideo''. Judging by a reference to Checkers in ''Beware of the Easter Nigga, Charlie Brown'', they're likely from somewhere in the midwestern or southeastern US.
* To this day, it is unknown who played the role of "The Inquizitor", the mysteriously bearded and shadowed host of the game show ''Series/{{Inquizition}}''. Several names have been rumored, but only one (Creator/BobStewart) has successfully been {{Jossed}}. The lack of identity is reportedly due to the host's contract.
* Blogger and podcast host Creator/GottaLaff or Laffy was at one point an on-camera actress and voice actress on various cartoons during the '80s and '90s, all that is known is at one point she did the voice of the character Bubbles Blastoff from ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'', although several photos of her are online she prefers to remain anonymous and not use her real name, going at far as deleting all her credits from IMDB.
* When ''Wired'' tried to reach out to TabletopGame/{{Mafia}}'s original creator, Dimitry Davidoff, he refused to be contacted through conventional methods, only agreeing to meet for [[https://www.wired.co.uk/article/werewolf an interview]] within ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
* In contrast to the outgoing LetsPlay/{{Slowbeef}}, LetsPlay/TheDarkId is famously private. He does talk about his personal life from time to time; but has never shown his face or said his real name or the names of his family, is almost never recorded speaking, and abruptly shut down his Twitter in 2022.
* Toy Youtuber and reviewer of fascinating media (such as movie marketing) Patmac became this. He stopped updating his Twitter in 2020 and went on a long break from uploading videos after August of that year. He uploaded two new videos in 2021 but went radio silent again.
* Chris from ''Creator/TheTechnicalDifficulties'' is a notorious recluse in real life. While he gladly appears in the videos with Creator/TomScott, Gary, and Matt, he avoids giving away anything even ''remotely'' personal. All we know is anything he's consented to leave in the final cuts of videos, and even then, all we know is that he lives in the north of England, he knows quite a lot about birds, and that he's good with his hands. [[https://www.techdif.co.uk/ His bio on the official site]] is also redacted to emphasize this, and the site (and the TitleIn text in early ''WebVideo/CitationNeeded'' episodes) also mentions he "doesn't do this social media nonsense".
* [[https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2004/03/13/word-puzzle-innovator-has-oklahoma-roots/61998826007/ Save for one interview]] from 2004, almost nothing is known about Norman E. Gibat, the inventor of word search puzzles.
* WebAnimation/KizunaAI is a TropeCodifier for [=VTubing=], but nothing is known about the people behind her; not the people who make her videos or, until April 2020, the voice actress who portrays her. The reason for a given end date for the latter point was that due to concern over a possible [[TheOtherDarrin change in voice actor]] in 2019, Chinese fans on bilibili (basically the Chinese [=YouTube=]) connected the dots and deduced Ai's voice to be Nozomi "Non-chan" Kasuga, an aspiring {{seiyuu}} who happens to share Ai's birthday. Kasuga refused to confirm or deny, much less speak of any controversy, until April 2020 when [[https://twitter.com/kasuga_nozomi/status/1253662616674725888 she publicly outed herself as the character]].
** Indeed, many if not most [=VTubers=] do not reveal their real-life identities - the anonymity afforded by a [=VTuber=] avatar is part of the appeal. The big agencies, like WebAnimation/{{Hololive}} and WebAnimation/{{Nijisanji}}, make it an EnforcedTrope so as to protect their talents from harassment, and at least one Twitch [=VTuber=], Zentreya of [=VShojo=], goes so far as to disguise her voice via a text-to-speech program.
* Nothing about the life of Patrica Bays Haroski, who invented Boss's Day, was known [[https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/winstonsalem/name/patricia-haroski-obituary?id=28480678 until 2005]], when she died.
* Horror YouTuber [[https://youtube.com/c/SavoxYT Savox]] is quite mysterious. He's never shown his face in his videos, and so far all we've seen of him is hand in a few images on social media. He has basically no online presence outside of YouTube and Twitter, and only occasionally posts on both. The only details he's made public are that his name is 'Max', he's British and in his thirties. He's also never appeared in any videos outside of his own channel, which is odd considering most horror YouTubers tend to collab with each other at least once.
* Not much is known about WebVideo/LifeOfBoris outside of [=YouTube=]. While he has shared bits and pieces of his personal life (including his occupation, as he's a programmer for an unidentified Estonian company) and has appeared at [=VidCon=] London in 2019, his country of origin is unknown (although he's confirmed to have lived in both Russia and Estonia and he identifies as an Estonian) and he [[TheFaceless covers his face]] in every video he's in, in the interest of preserving his anonymity.
* Creator/NoahAntwiler used to be extremely active online in producing ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' and collaborating with the likes of ''[[Website/ChannelAwesome That Guy With The Glasses]]'', but had since dramatically fallen off starting around 2013-2015, partly due to preexisting conditions (after several years believing he suffered from burnout and depression, 2012 saw him being diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder), partly due to several personal and public meltdowns, including an incident of quickly reaching a Patreon goal of starting a ''Spoony Experiment'' movie, only to realize he was in over his head [[DevelopmentHell and the project never materializing]]. The ''Spoony Experiment'' website was abandoned as of 2019, and Noah's only major internet presence consists of his Twitter and sporadic gaming livestreams on his [=YouTube=] (his last major video release came out in 2016). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwYbt7zIp8I A surprise interview in late 2022]] had him confirm that much of his long absence was for the sake of restoring his mental health, and that he's interested in returning to making content again, though only time will tell when they'll see the light of day.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Actors]]
* For a long time, Creator/RowanAtkinson would only agree to be interviewed in character, though he relented beginning in the 2000s.
* Creator/SachaBaronCohen, while happy to hog the limelight disguised as one of his characters (Ali G, Borat, Brüno, etc.), is a lot more reserved about appearing or being interviewed as himself. Considering Baron Cohen is [[ManOfAThousandFaces almost unrecognizable as any one of his characters]], as well as his liking for messing with people [[EnforcedMethodActing who aren't actual actors]], this may be a necessity for him.
* Creator/JohnnyCarson, after he retired from ''Series/TheTonightShow''. He indicated that he would come back with another project, but only made less than a half dozen TV appearances (and the last one was 11 years before his death) and only granted two major interviews. Even before his retirement, he would often fax joke answers in lieu of giving a real interview and, according to his friends, was incredibly shy and introverted in his private life.
* Creator/DaveChappelle...for a while. Chappelle quit ''Series/ChappellesShow'' abruptly in 2005 while Season 3 was in mid-production, and spent the next eight years largely out of the public eye, although he did give a couple of interviews and made a couple of low-profile standup appearances. This seclusion more or less ended with a full-scale standup tour in 2013, and he has been active since, with more live performances, a series of standup comedy specials for Netflix, and other work, such as a couple of hosting gigs on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' and a couple of film roles.
* Richard Dawson, the ''Series/HogansHeroes'' star-turned-game show panelist/host, became this after the original incarnation of ''Series/FamilyFeud'' ended in 1985. His prima-donna behavior on both ''Feud'' (and before that, as a panelist on ''Series/MatchGame'') had caused him to burn bridges with both shows' creator Creator/MarkGoodson, and his only subsequent non-''Feud'' work was as the self-parodying game show host Damon Killian in ''Film/TheRunningMan''. (He did host a pilot for a revival of ''Series/YouBetYourLife'', but it was not picked up.) While he did return to ''Feud'' in 1994, this was a short-lived desperation move by Goodson's son Jonathan, by then running his father's company and attempting to quell the show's declining ratings after six years under the hosting of Ray Combs. When the third version of ''Feud'' hit airwaves in 1999, then-current host Creator/LouieAnderson wanted Dawson to appear on the first episode and "pass the torch" to Anderson, but Dawson declined. Overall, he only made a handful of public appearances, TV spots, and interviews in the 17 years between his final ''Feud'' episode and his death on June 2, 2012.
* Creator/DanielDayLewis is widely regarded as being one of the best actors of all time and has three Oscar wins to his name, yet rarely grants interviews or public appearances. Additionally, he is also highly selective of his acting roles, with only six acting roles from 2002 to 2017, making him even more scarce from the public eye. After his performance in the ''Film/PhantomThread'', he retired from acting and now lives with his wife in New York and Ireland, although he is eager to talk to fans that approach him.
* Creator/RobertDeNiro does a lot of movies and makes numerous public appearances (he presided over the jury of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival). But whenever anyone tries to interview him... (unless you're [[Series/TheGrahamNortonShow Graham Norton]], that is.)
** ''{{Series/Extras}}'' did a joke based on this... Andy's utterly incompetent manager somehow gets an interview scheduled with De Niro. Andy doesn't show up.
* Creator/ShelleyDuvall, known for her role in ''Film/TheShining'' and Olive Oyl in ''Film/{{Popeye}}'' stopped acting in movies for 20 years. She is said to be highly reclusive and odd, even going so far as to in 2007 go to a hardware store complaining she needed materials to keep the "aliens" away. However, she did give an interview in 2010 saying that she wasn't reclusive, she just wanted time off after working for so long, and noting that she still gets script offers and a return to acting wasn't out of the question. Eventually, in 2022 she was announced to star in ''The Forest Hills'', her first movie role since 2003, playing the protagonist's mother. Previously, she resurfaced in 2016 on the ''Series/DrPhil'' show, battling mental illness, and also [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/searching-for-shelley-duvall-the-reclusive-icon-on-fleeing-hollywood-and-the-scars-of-making-the-shining granted a lengthy interview]] to ''The Hollywood Reporter'' in 2021 (although for the latter she declined to allow the interviewer inside her home -- she was interviewed from her car window, though there was [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic a fairly good logistical reason for that]]). The interviewer took great pains to dispel how she was represented on ''Dr. Phil'', acknowledging her apparent mental instability but describing her as a lucid and engaging interview. In a charming postscript to the ''Dr. Phil'' appearance, it notes that a fan of ''Series/FaerieTaleTheatre'', dismayed by what he had seen, managed to track her down and strike up an unlikely friendship with Duvall, helping her to get in touch with old Hollywood friends (many were interviewed for the article and claimed to have not spoken to her in decades) and even hosted a 70th birthday party at her favorite restaurant with some other fans.
* Eric [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=i7gIpuIVE3k "Garbage Day!"]] Freeman of ''[[Film/SilentNightDeadlyNight Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2]]'' fame seemingly disappeared in the early 1990s. Numerous people have tried to find him (including the film's director for a DVD commentary track) but his whereabouts remained unknown until he resurfaced in 2013 for a Christmas screening of ''[=SNDN Part 2=]''.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Garbo#Secluded_retirement After she retired]] from acting, Creator/GretaGarbo--although in her case she rarely made public appearances or granted interviews even when she was acting. "I want to be alone" indeed.
** Garbo said the media had confused her personal inclinations with the character she played in ''Film/GrandHotel''. In an interview around that time, she'd said "I want to be ''left'' alone", not quite the same thing. It was her character in the play who said "I want to be alone."
* Dan Godwin, best known for his roles of Franklin Delano Donut in ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' and ''WebAnimation/TheStrangerhood'''s Dr. Cornelius Chalmers Esquire the 3rd, finds the adoration for his roles rather awkward so he avoids con appearances and the like.
* Creator/SetsukoHara, star of Japanese cinema for some 25 years, best known for her roles in Creator/YasujiroOzu's films ''Film/LateSpring'', ''Film/EarlySummer'' and ''Film/TokyoStory''. She quit acting the year of Ozu's death, and lived the entirety of her life in seclusion thereafter, refusing all interviews and photographs; even her death was only publicly reported two months later. Her total seclusion in retirement was an inspiration for the anime film ''Anime/MillenniumActress''.
* ''Series/TheTomorrowPeople1973'':
** Dean Lawrence, who played Tyso, has only given two interviews and attended one convention since he left the show. He's never seen at informal gatherings and his life post-''TP'' remains a mystery (although it has been rumored that he now designs and manufactures fetish clothing). There's barely any talk of him within the fandom and any times where he ''is'' mentioned are when the stories featuring the character of Tyso crop up. What makes this even stranger is that judging from a few sources he doesn't seem like the reclusive type.
** Stephen Salmon, who played Kenny, has given ''no'' interviews (not even on the ''Beyond Tomorrow'' documentary) and made ''no'' appearances since he left the show. The fandom often questions whether he's even still ''alive''.
* Al Matthews, who was likely best known professionally for his work as Sergeant Apone in ''{{Film/Aliens}}'', seemed to drop off the map in the mid-'90s, and very little was heard from him since. To whit, for almost a decade, many fans believed that he had died in 2002 - in actuality, it was a false story spread by one of his friends. He finally resurfaced in 2011 to provide voice work for ''Operation Flashpoint: Red River'' and ''VideoGame/AliensColonialMarines''. It took Gearbox Software a long time to find Matthews' whereabouts, and they finally discovered that he was living in a small town in Spain. While Matthews did maintain a website, it was seldom updated. He died in September 2018.
* Creator/BrentSpiner deliberately made himself extremely scarce for the first few years of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' to build a mystique around his character Data.
* Creator/MatthewWaterhouse rarely gives interviews, and when he does it's done with great reluctance. Not helping things is the image of his ''Series/DoctorWho'' companion character Adric as TheScrappy of that era. He was also missing from the convention circuit for many years, but in TheNewTens it's gotten somewhat better. Plus he (in)famously utilized the third person ''[[ThirdPersonPerson when writing his own autobiography]]''.
* Out of the four major characters in the 1974 cult classic ''Film/DarkStar'': Brian Narelle (Doolittle) went on to do work in animation, Dan O'Bannon (Pinback) went on to do special effects for ''Franchise/StarWars'' and write the screenplay for ''Film/{{Alien}}'' as well as several other projects before he died in 2009, Cal Kuniholm (Boiler) never really went on to do anything before he died in 2008, but nobody seems to know anything about Dre Pahich (Talby). It is known that Pahich had a thick accent that required his lines to be dubbed, but nobody seems to know just where he was from or what happened to him after the movie was released. Even co-star Brian Narelle has no idea what's become of Pahich. In an interview, he later explained that they never actually met during production despite their characters interacting in several scenes (Narelle's lines were filmed separately, with a body double being used in shots where they both appeared).
* [[Creator/MichaelOHare Michael O'Hare]] disappeared from public view after leaving ''Series/BabylonFive'' early in its run, which together with the show's crew being notoriously vague about why it happened fueled all kinds of rumors. After his death in 2012, it was finally revealed that he had suffered from schizophrenia. Although he sought treatment, the delusions and paranoia caused by the disease made it too difficult for him to work and he eventually spent his final several years hardly ever leaving his house and died after a heart attack in a halfway house for the chronically mentally ill. His condition was made public as per his request after his death, to raise awareness and provide an explanation for fans.
* Creator/EmilioEstevez is very private compared to the rest of Creator/BratPack, rarely makes public appearances, and is usually the only one absent from cast reunions for ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''. When asked about this, he said "I've never been a guy that went out there to get publicity on myself. I never saw the value in it."
* Creator/GeneWilder granted very few interviews due to suffering from shyness and the fear that he would have to be "on" all the time. In fact, in one interview, he asked that there be no live audience for the show because he was suffering stage fright. Prior to his death in 2016, he stuck to a few appearances every once in a while and his writing. Later in his life, it was also done to hide his Alzheimer's diagnosis.
* Creator/LindaFiorentino, who is most remembered for her role of Dr. Laurel Weaver in ''Film/MenInBlack'' has largely stayed away from acting in most recent days and is currently focusing more on her career as a photographer, as seen on her official site [[http://www.lindafiorentino.com/ here]]. This stems in part from the fact that the commentary for ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' mentioned how hard it was for directors to work with her, which has caused Fiorentino to largely vanish from the big screen industry.
* Creator/LucilleBall tragically became this after the failure of her 1986 sitcom ''Life With Lucy''. Ball was reportedly extremely devastated by the show's quick cancellation. She never again attempted a television or film production and her subsequent television appearances and interviews were infrequent. She died three years after ''Life With Lucy'' premiered and one month after appearing at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s.
* Creator/DarylHannah, who is best known for her roles in films like ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/{{Splash}}'', ''Film/{{Roxanne}}'', ''Film/WallStreet'', and ''Film/KillBill'', suffered from such paralyzing shyness and social anxiety (due in a large share to her being autistic) that it made it challenging for her to venture out on talk shows, premieres, or award shows like the Oscars as a means of promoting her work. In a 2010 interview, Hannah proclaimed that her difficulties with social interactions ultimately had a seriously detrimental effect on her career. Her relationship with Music/NeilYoung began soon after that. They engage in environmental activism together and make films like Creator/{{Netflix}}'s ''Paradox'', which she directed. Young is a private but not shy or reclusive artist, so perhaps his example has helped to ease her anxiety.
* Creator/JeanArthur was considered a recluse and rarely did interviews. She was naturally shy and never found the appeal of Hollywood fame. Asked if she would like to have an interview, Arthur replied, "Quite frankly, I'd rather have my throat slit." She also suffered from [[PerformanceAnxiety immense stage fright]], making her seem aloof or cold; however, her screen presence said the opposite: warm, outgoing, and inviting. After filming George Steven’s ''Film/{{Shane}}'', she retired from the silver screen and went on Broadway; however, her insecurity would often get the best of her. Her last days were spent in her home in Carmel, California. She died in 1991 at the ripe age of 90.
* Creator/ChrisPratt was once active on social media; frequently posting hilarious clips, promo tours, or visits to children's hospitals (particularly on Instagram). After announcing his split with Creator/AnnaFaris, Pratt has changed his profile picture on every social media account and was inactive for months on Instagram until finally posting to promote upcoming films: the highly anticipated ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'', and in addition sharing a little of his day-to-day hobbies from his farm life.
* Although bold enough to do interviews and PR for his movies, Creator/HarrisonFord is fairly private on his family and works to keep his kids' business out of the spotlight.
* Creator/TomHiddleston used to have a very good relationship with his fans, often taking pictures with them in-person and posting his Twitter account. However, he stopped interacting with his fans and left social media to protect his privacy after many transgressions including: cyberstalking; tricking him into meeting with them by posing as someone he worked with; and harassing any woman that has been photographed with him. His Twitter is now updated perhaps once every other month (if that) with very generic things, and it's been a while since anybody's managed to get a picture with him.
* Creator/JodieComer used to be quite active on social media and would interact with her fans. Come 2020, when she was rumored to be dating a UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump supporter, she was the target of much harassment, to the point of her leaving Twitter and only using her Instagram to post about her projects.
* Downplayed with Creator/ChrisPine. He's one of the few young actors who doesn't use social media despite being fairly outgoing and congenial.
* Character actor Creator/ChristopherLloyd, while known for playing various over-the-top characters, most famously Doc Brown from ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' and Reverend Jim Ignatowski in ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', is noted by fellow actors for being very shy and private in real life, rarely doing interviews. Around the 2010s, however, he has made appearances at comic book conventions.
* Creator/RickMoranis went into semi-retirement in the '90s, following the diminishing qualities of roles he was being offered, and having to deal with the death of his wife and raising his kids alone. He still rarely gives interviews, and his biggest role of note in the past 2 decades was a voice role in ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear''.
* Creator/VeraMiles, best known as Lila Crane Loomis in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' and ''Film/PsychoII'', retired from acting in 1995, and has been living as a recluse since. She hasn't granted a single interview since that time or made any kind of public appearance. However, she has been known to occasionally answer fan mail and send autographs to fans that write to her, and Creator/JessicaBiel met with her grandson before portraying her in ''Film/{{Hitchcock}}''. Even before her retirement, she seldom gave interviews, and even there, she mentioned her shyness and desire for privacy.
* Creator/CharlesHawtrey is a sad case. After being sacked from the ''Film/CarryOn'' series, he retired to Deal, Kent where he became a complete recluse, getting drunk, soliciting sex from sailors, and sporadically acting. When he died in 1988, only nine people attended his funeral, none of whom were friends or family.
* Creator/PeterDinklage is extremely protective of his personal life, keeping no official social media accounts and not revealing the names of his children.
* Creator/CillianMurphy prefers not to speak about his personal life in interviews, travels with no entourage, and overall keeps a very low profile, having expressed no interest in the high-flying "celebrity" lifestyle.
* Since the 1990s, Creator/FayeDunaway has made few public appearances, rarely gives interviews, and overall gives little insight into her personal life.
* Little is known about Creator/LukeEvans' personal life, which he says is to shield his family from the press.
* Creator/TimothyDalton is known for being an extremely private person who shies away from interviews and was reportedly ''relieved'' upon learning that Creator/PierceBrosnan was replacing him as James Bond (his time as Bond is clearly ''not'' an OldShame, but the spotlight and attention he received were atypical for him). That said, he's still known [[NiceGuy for being very professional and well-liked among cast members and crew]] and has maintained a close friendship with the Broccoli family.
* Canadian child actor Gil Filar, best known for playing Boobull on ''Series/TheNoddyShop'', retired from acting in the early 2000s to become an author and has rarely been heard from since.
* Holly Larocque, known for playing Holly on ''Series/UnderTheUmbrellaTree'' and Leota in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin'', never did any other acting roles and has rarely been heard from since the former show ended, though she did write for a ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' video in the mid-2000s.
* Creator/SeanConnery became this following the commercial failure of his final film, ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' in 2003. While he would reprise the role of Film/JamesBond for the 2005 video game ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenFromRussiaWithLove'', his most notable public appearance afterwards was in 2006, when he received the AFI Life Achievement Award, before passing away on October 31, 2020.
* Creator/JohnCReilly is another downplayed example; he's a relatively outgoing guy who grants interviews and makes public appearances (usually related to an upcoming project), but doesn't use social media (he did give a Reddit AMA in 2014). Furthermore, after no less than ''four'' movies featuring him premiered in the last few months of 2018 (''Film/TheSistersBrothers'', ''Film/StanAndOllie'', ''Film/HolmesAndWatson'' and ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet''), he appeared to have scaled back in the next few years, with his only major projects between then and the early part of 2022 being a handful of TV shows, a short film by Creator/LucaGuadagnino called ''O Night Divine'', the Creator/BobOdenkirk-created audio drama ''Summer in Argyle'', and a brief cameo in ''Film/LicoricePizza''.
* Creator/RachelMcAdams doesn't use social media or give many interviews and has stated in the past that she likes to keep her privacy.
* After some bad experiences and information about her family got out, Creator/DaisyRidley deleted all of her official social media accounts and stopped talking about her personal life in interviews.
* Creator/TobeyMaguire became more reclusive after the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' ended, with him rarely granting public interviews and not using any social media (he has a [[https://mobile.twitter.com/tobeymaguire?lang=en Twitter account, but his last tweet is from 2013]], promoting ''Film/TheGreatGatsby2013''). He's been known to ignore fans who approach him and has spent most of his time producing movies and playing professional poker (rumor has it that he was the basis for Player X in ''Film/MollysGame''), although he did have a small voice role in 2017's ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby''. When it was rumored that he would be reprising his role as Spider-Man in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', fans were doubtful that he'd come back, as he hadn't acted since 2014, although he did return to much joy. Furthermore, it has been announced that he will make his return to onscreen acting in the upcoming film ''Film/{{Babylon|2022}}''. Fans have also posted videos and photos on social media, showing that he often does interact and pose with them for pictures, when he does encounter them.
* Creator/EmmaStone is one of the few prominent millennial celebrities who doesn't have any verified social media. She doesn't talk about her personal life much and usually brings her parents or brother to events with her. Her husband, television writer Dave [=McCrary=], has a verified Instagram account and used it to announce they'd gotten engaged but he rarely posts himself. They allegedly got married in 2019 or 2020 but no official announcement has ever been made. She was clearly very pregnant later on in the year (and dropped out of a project at the last minute) and had a baby girl in March 2021 but she's never confirmed it.
* Although he made public appearances and (rarely) granted interviews, Creator/ShermanHemsley was a very private person. For most of his life, the only thing known about him was that he was single with no children or known living relatives. Most information known about him today, even about his life before becoming an actor, was not published until after his death in 2012. He left his entire estate to one of two friends he had been living with for many years, which was contested by someone claiming to be his long-lost brother (whose lawsuit was eventually dismissed).
* Creator/AllenPayne, who was quite popular from nineties to aughts, and is best known for his roles in ''Film/NewJackCity'', ''Film/JasonsLyric'', ''Film/VampireInBrooklyn'' and ''Series/HouseOfPayne'', rarely makes public appearances, has no official social media accounts, and is widely known to be very private about his personal life. Even after coming back from hiatus following his mother's death and reprising his role in ''House of Payne'', his current actual marital status and where he lives remain unknown.
* Little is known about what became of Creator/ErikPerSullivan, the actor who played Dewey on ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. He does not attend ''Malcolm'' reunions, where he is often represented with years-old headshots of himself.
* English television presenter Paul "Des" Ballard, of GMTV's ''Disney Club'' and ''Diggit'' fame, disappeared off the face of the earth when the latter show ended in 2001. His anonymity was so great that a (now defunct) Facebook group was set up to find him. Even his former friend and co-presenter Fearne Cotton revealed that they'd lost touch and that she'd be interested in finding him. Then in 2021, he resurfaced for all the wrong reasons. He was sentenced to nine years in prison for causing a car pile-up that led to two deaths (he was driving under the influence of drugs while his twelve-year-old son was in the backseat) and another year added for attempting to rape and assault a woman in a hotel room. It was also revealed that in 2014, he operated an illegal self-storage business on green-belt land in Bulphan, England and had been ordered to repay the profits from it.
* Comedian and actor Creator/TonySlattery is best known for being the BreakoutCharacter of the British version of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' Unfortunately by the mid-'90s, his professional and personal life took a toll due to having undiagnosed bipolar disorder, which he admitted to self-medicating with substance abuse and this culminated in him becoming this trope. Thankfully within the past several years, he has been getting help, has a lot of support from fans and his close friends (including his fellow ''Whose Line'' costar and frequent collaborator Mike [=McShane=]) and is working on his autobiography.
* Creator/MattOLeary is the rare Millennial actor without any public social media presence whatsoever. He has never granted a substantial interview, and nothing is known about his personal life.
* Brandon [=DiCamillo=] was a permanent mainstay in the original CKY videos, and as apart of the original cast of ''Series/JackAss'' and ''Series/VivaLaBam''. However, after the release of “Minghags: The Movie”, he has never returned to any CKY/Jackass projects, even to the point where most of the CKY crew no longer keeps in contact with him. It has been said that the reason why was because of his disillusionment with how more and more corporate he felt the projects became, as well as deciding to settle down and raise his family. Even before that, he was usually the hardest cast member to participate in a lot of trips, as he mentioned he never cared much to leave Westchester, Pennsylvania most of the time, and would rather spend time at home playing video games.
* Creator/RamiMalek is known for being very reserved and private in interviews and avoids social media, although he's very approachable to fans.
* Stephen Collins of ''Series/SeventhHeaven'' and ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' fame has understandably dissapeared from public and professional life after his career was effectively ended in 2014 upon the revelation of his serial sexual misconduct with minors dating back as early as 1973.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Animation Directors]]
* Next to nothing is known about animator Naoyuki Yoshinaga (director of the ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'' TV series and co-director of ''Anime/IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'', among various other things), although an interview with fellow ''Patlabor'' director Creator/MamoruOshii implies he died.
* Russell Hall is best known for being the lead animator for Jessica Rabbit in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', he has had only two known interviews for his work on the film, he'd been animating since the 1970s and his last known credit was for ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''. There were unsuccessful attempts to contact him for a comic con appearance for the 25th anniversary of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', even his most frequent employer Creator/RichardWilliams didn't know his whereabouts.
* Creator/SatoshiKon became one in his final months due to his shame at his body being ravaged by pancreatic cancer. Luckily, he was still able to write a highly moving farewell message in his last few days.
* Animator Brenda Banks, one of the earliest known female African American animators, was known for her work on most of Creator/RalphBakshi's films, Creator/HannaBarbera, ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', after the final season of ''King of the Hill'' she seems to have vanished and no one who worked with her seems to know her current whereabouts. She reportedly passed away in 2020.
* Pat Ventura who is well known for his pilots he pitched to ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' has since disappeared from the industry in 2007 and currently runs an [[http://patcartoons.blogspot.com/ art blog]] as of now.
* Creator/ChrisSavino was fairly active on social media and was known for his resume which included work for studios like [[Creator/WaltDisneyAnimationUnits Disney]], Creator/{{Cartoon Network}}, and [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Spümcø]] before he was terminated from his [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse own show]] in 2017 for sexual harassment. He deleted his social media accounts and vanished from the public eye afterwards, but [[https://www.chrissavinoauthor.com/ resurfaced]] two years later with new stories, pilot ideas, published books, and a comic strip. Time will if he ever gets another chance in the animation industry.
** In relation to this scandal, his ex-wife Bethany privatized her Instagram page sometime after their divorce in order to protect her and their kids' personal lives from [[FanDumb certain fans]] of the show.
* [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor Following his career-destroying scandal in March 2018]] (involving acts such as statutory rape and child pornography possession), the once-revered Creator/JohnKricfalusi [[PedoHunt has largely gone into hiding]] by mostly-abandoning his art blog and social media accounts (except for Facebook and Instagram); his only work to emerge since then was for a short called ''WesternAnimation/CansWithoutLabels'', and studios like Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} and Creator/{{Adult Swim}} permanently cutting off ties with him seems to have cemented that he won't be seen for a very long time.
* As with the above two, Skyler Page has all but disappeared after getting fired from ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'' for sexual harassment, before [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeJTb7ZX-p8 resurfacing in 2019 with a video]].
* Creator/PendletonWard has admitted that he's a very shy and private person. His public appearances and online presence dwindled a great deal after he stepped down from producing ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''.
* Juliano Enrico was well-known in Brazil since the early 2010s, being a MTV presenter and host and writer of talk-show programs such as ''Choque de Cultura'' and ''O Último Programa do Mundo''. A few years later, his most well-known work, the cartoon ''WesternAnimation/JorelsBrother'' became a big hit, with Juliano participating in several interviews, ads, and Cartoon Network videos about the show. However, in April 2019, he got involved in a huge controversy due to his ex-girlfriend publicly speaking about how her previous boyfriend used to abuse her physically, sexually and verbally, leading most people to believe and later, discover that it was indeed Juliano. Since then, he's become inactive in any social medias and disappeared from all public appearances, sometimes being said to be reclusive just to "focus on his show". While he participated in the fourth season of ''Jorel's Brother'' premiering in 2021 (though this may be due to AnimationLeadTime), he seems to have been mostly phased out from the team now.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Artists]]
* Creator/VincentVanGogh. He had NoSocialSkills, and who could really blame him? Every time he went outside he was called "the redheaded madman".
* Al Columbia, an independent comic artist who did macabre work such as "Doghead", "The Biologic Show", and "Pim & Francie," along with the album artwork for the Postal Service's sole album ''Give Up''. He is criticized by fans of the medium for occasionally displaying talent and having repeated long periods of inactivity in between. He worked with/fell out with the semi-reclusive Creator/AlanMoore during the never-completed ''Big Numbers'' project.
* Creator/{{Banksy}}, director of ''Film/ExitThroughTheGiftShop'' and notorious graffiti artist, makes no public appearances and has never had his identity revealed. This is certainly due to the fact that his artworks, while hugely popular and sought after, are mostly installed without permission and considered by law to be acts of criminal vandalism, for which he could be publicly prosecuted. On the other end of the spectrum, Banksy is also hated by many other graffiti artists, supposedly for plagiarizing their techniques and messages.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Trampier Dave Trampier]], artist for much early ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' material and creator of the comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Wormy}}'', disappeared sometime around 1988. He was apparently a taxi driver in Illinois. He passed away in March 2014, ironically two weeks before he was supposed to disperse some of the rumors of his isolation - a similar fate to what happened with Stanley Kubrick.
* Creator/EdvardMunch. He was mentally unstable to begin with. Thus, he became more and more reclusive as time passed, and when he got himself a rather big mansion, he rarely left it. He died almost isolated in 1944.
** Theodor Kittelsen, another artist, had moved into the vicinity of Munch around 1910. Kittelsen, suffering from severe depression, rarely went outside at this point of his life, and his wife had to take all the errands for him. Inga Kittelsen then encountered Munch on a train, and Munch seemed to be interested in the fact that Kittelsen lived nearby - they were, in fact separated by an open field. "It is good to know Kittelsen lives nearby", Munch stated. "But he must never come and visit me". Kittelsen, when told this, agreed and said almost the same thing.
* Pop artist Lisa Frank (who drew the art featured on those notebooks with the rainbow-colored puppies, kittens, and unicorns) is very reclusive. She has done interviews with her face obscured and one of the few confirmed images of her online ''is her as a child''.
* Karine Charlebois was once a busy woman, doing work on TV shows and drawing for the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' comic, but around the mid-2010s she began to vanish from the furry fandom. She still does TV work (recently she did storyboarding for ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''), but most of her online profiles (with the exception of Instagram) have been updated since at least 2013.
* Stephen Gammell, best known for providing the [[NightmareFuel infamously macabre]] illustrations for ''Literature/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark'', has greatly shied away from interviews since the book series ended. His last known illustrator credit was in 2011 and has since then dropped off the radar, to the point where he had no direct involvement in 2019's ''Scary Stories'' [[Film/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark2019 film adaptation]], and it is unknown what he thought of it.
* It's not uncommon for many internet residing artists, especially those on sites such as Website/DeviantArt, to be active frequently on their respective profiles but prefer to be private about their personal lives. This largely stems from trolls who try to use that personal info against them (e.g., doxxing, blackmail, smear campaigns, etc.).
* [[https://twitter.com/click_burgundy Hungry Clicker]] is a famous Twitter artist known for their beautiful fanart of various video game and manga characters. Despite their fame on Twitter and having an official artbook published, virtually nothing is known about Hungry Clicker other than the fact they are from Japan.
* ZONE-SAMA, a popular artist/animator known for making NSFW animations of cartoons/video games (whose art styles and animation are often stunningly accurate to the source material being parodied) since 2001, and has even had a hand in animating for video games like ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''. Despite this popularity, virtually nothing is known about them, up to and including their exact age, location, and gender. [[note]]They are often assumed to be female due to their female mascot, Zone-Tan, but this has neither been confirmed nor denied.[[/note]] Interestingly, unlike most artists of this status, ZONE is highly active on social media, often giving updates on their projects and freely interacting with friends and fans.
* [[PenName "CONSTANZA"]] is a pen name given to a Spanish artist from the early 20th century, best known for making idealistic paintings, greeting cards, and [[https://cloud10.todocoleccion.online/postales-religiosas-recordatorios/tc/2014/01/14/14/40986952.webp illustrations]] showing the [[https://imgur.com/a/cZw0R2o positive sides of humanity and religion]] (notably [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} Catholicism and/or Christianity]]). While Constanza's works were popular in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries between the 1950s and 1960s, unlike Juan Ferrándiz who has plenty of information known about him and made a few children's books during the late [[TheSixties '60s]] and early [[TheSeventies '70s]], Constanza's real name and gender have remained unknown in Spain due to the artist being a very private person.
[[/folder]]

* For many years, Creator/TheWachowskis, creators of ''Film/TheMatrix'', were incredibly secretive, granting few interviews or public appearances after 2000. At least part of it may have to do with their personal lives- they were originally known as "the Wachowski brothers", but later came out as UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} women. They finally broke their silence in 2012, and Lana officially came out after years of rumors, in an interview right [[https://youtu.be/3MrotEnTUt0 here]], made to promote ''Film/CloudAtlas''. She stated that she was specifically doing it to dispel rumors that she was ashamed of being transgender, having decided that if sacrificing her long-held privacy could help others suffering from the same issues she did before her transition, it would be worth it. Her sister Lilly came out in 2016.

[[folder:Voice Actors]]
* Voice actress Creator/CynthiaCranz, best known for providing the voice of Chi-Chi in the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' franchise and Botan in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', lives more privately compared to her fellow voice actors, never attending any anime conventions or doing interviews, at least until she started coming out of her shell a bit, and now regularly appears at cons. In an interview, she said this was due to her social anxiety.
* Creator/LindaYoung, the English voice of Frieza in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' and Genkai in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. For years, she had never done an interview, and for the longest time, her only convention was in 1999. She's still active as a voice actress but has a reputation for being a bit mysterious. In 2015, Young finally appeared at a convention where she was in a panel with Creator/RyuseiNakao, Frieza's Japanese voice actor. [[https://youtu.be/VDvgslZlSMw They even shared a laugh together.]] These days, she's slowly making the rounds at a few conventions a year, and she says she was nervous to do so for a long time because she wasn't sure what to expect.
* Legendary voice actor Creator/JohnStephenson never gave an interview and rarely went out in public. He did show up at [=BotCon=] 2001, however.
* Creator/ChristineCavanaugh, one of the top voice actresses of [[TheNineties the 1990s]], retired in 2001 due to "personal reasons," and was never heard from again. Not even her fellow voice actors knew of her whereabouts.[[note]]When asked about Cavanaugh in interviews on ''Podcast/TalkinToonsWithRobPaulsen'', those who had worked with her revealed they had no contact following her retirement.[[/note]] After her death in December 2014, her obituary mentioned that she retired to focus on having a simple, quiet life in the country with her family.
* Creator/KathSoucie was another top voice actress of the '90s, and is still working some today, but she maintains a very private life, rarely making public appearances or doing interviews, and has completely shied away from social media of any kind.
* Creator/FrankWelker, the voice of Fred from the ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' franchise in addition to many other famous characters, notably shied away from interviews and public attention for many years. Since around 2015, Frank has been opening up to fans and has appeared at many conventions including the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''-oriented [=TFCon=], often times appearing with Creator/PeterCullen for ''Transformers''-related convention appearances.
* Creator/GrantGeorge, well known for voicing Kilik in ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'', Diarmud in ''LightNovel/FateZero'' and Kagura Mutsuki in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' among others, has little to no social media presence and rarely appears at cons. He abandoned his original Twitter around 2014 and focused a lot more on working with his wife Jessica, who is also a voice actress. They made a joint Twitter shortly after, but it was suddenly suspended without any reason given. He's made a tiny handful of posts since then but appears to prefer keeping his personal life private. That said, he still does voice work.
* The already mysterious John Chacon, the voice actor for Gabe Logan in the first three ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' games, completely dropped off the radar after he [[TheOtherDarrin was replaced]] by Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor.
* Creator/KathleenBarr, best known for voicing Dot Matrix in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', Kevin in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', and Trixie and Queen Chrysalis in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. Despite being extremely active in the Canadian voiceover industry, very little is known about her personal life, she rarely attends conventions, and wouldn't allow a photo of herself to be used on Behind the Voice Actors.
* For a long time, Creator/TabithaStGermain only communicated with her fans via her blog and website, and rarely visited it. Before 2012, she only had two known interviews. She's started to open up to her fans by first attending San Diego Comic-Con 2012 and then joining Twitter in 2013.
* Moneca Stori, the original English voice of Kagome in ''Manga/InuYasha'', has seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. She used to be a fairly active voice actress in Vancouver, and even did a couple interviews and conventions in the early 2000s, but hasn't been heard from at all in over a decade (her last credit was in 2009). She was replaced with Kira Tozer for ''[=InuYasha=]: The Final Act'' with little explanation. According to Creator/TrevorDevall, she moved to the U.S. and retired from acting.
* Carol Stanzione had a modest number of roles in the early 2000s, perhaps known for dubbing the EnsembleDarkhorse character Cima Garahau in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory''. Very little is known about her currently, though her website is still up and includes clips of Cima and other characters. She seems to have retired from voice acting and focused on political activism.
* Creator/MadeleinePeters, the voice of Scootaloo in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and Helen Lorraine in ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks''. Little is known about her current life (other than living in Baltimore and trying to pursue a career in animation), she's not as active online as her fellow voice actresses Creator/ClaireCorlett and Creator/MichelleCreber, and rarely attends conventions.
* Mimi Woods, best known for providing the voice of Major Kusanagi in the English dub of the original ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' film and the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]] game, has almost completely vanished off the face of the earth following her handful of anime and video game roles. Creator/MaryElizabethMcGlynn, who took over her role of the Major for the ''[[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Stand Alone Complex]]'' anime, acknowledged at a convention panel that Woods had moved away and retired from voice acting.
* Evetta Muradasilova, best known as the voice behind the Plain Doll and Lady Maria from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' and the Maiden in Black from ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls''. While there is a photo or two floating around the internet, many people are unsure if it's even really ''her'' to begin with.
* Creator/ScottFreeman has completely disappeared from the anime community since his 2015 conviction for [[PedoHunt possessing child porn]], a part of this obviously stems from his parole allowing limited travel and internet access. The only info about him since then was his employment at a bar in Texas before [[https://sor.nebraska.gov/Registry/Offender/201810XPL moving to Nebraska]] around late 2018.
* Oliver Grainger, known for being one of the many D.W's in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' and Dongwa in ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'', has retired from voice acting and is mostly private, though he has a presence on Instagram... which he updates once in a while. He used to be on Facebook, however when a fan found out he was there, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he deleted his Facebook page]].
* Jesse Vinet, Oliver's fellow ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' voice actor (she was Sheegwa), has also retired from voice acting, has moved to Singapore, and now works for Creator/{{Ubisoft}} as an Assistant Communications Manager. She barely has a social media presence and all we know is who her current employer is, and that's she married to a man named Jin Yan Chay, as stated in a [=Legacy.com=] obituary for a relative. However, statements on her [=LinkedIn=] page and [[https://www.facebook.com/ubisoftsingapore/posts/5-questions-with-our-new-assistant-communications-manager-jesse-vinet-welcome-to/10154793046399460/ one interview with Ubisoft Singapore]] have helped to form a sort of biography for her.
* Michael Yarmush, the original voice of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', is another Montreal talent who is impossible to track down. The only known photo of him was taken in the late '90s when he was still a child, and he has no social media presence. However, [[spoiler: he did voice an adult Arthur]] in the show's GrandFinale.
* Neil Shee of ''WesternAnimation/ToadPatrol'' fame is a very mysterious man, his last credit being rather fairly recent, in 2017 for the short ''Arthur, their very own child''. He does have a biography though.
* Rick Jones and Terrence Scammell are other notable Montreal talent who are this trope. They both have very few photos on the internet and don't have social media presences.
* Creator/HilaryHaag has been one of the most prominent anime voice actresses since the late '90s (best known for her lead roles in ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'', ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', ''Anime/GhostStories'', and ''Anime/ChildrenWhoChaseLostVoices'' among many others), and still gets plenty of work, but she never attends any conventions, rarely does interviews and has completely shied away from social media. She has emphasised that anime voice acting is very much a side gig for her and that her day job takes up most of her time.
* Haruka Nakamura, who voiced the titular character in ''Anime/SuperMilkChan'', of which was her only role. She vanished off the face of the earth after that and her current whereabouts are unknown.
** To a lesser extent Brad Pyutt, the seiyu for Hanage. All we know is that may have been another seiyu using a pseudonym.
* Creator/JulieKavner, the voice of Marge in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (alongside minor roles Patty and Selma), is a very, very private person. She even has a clause in her contract that explicitly states that she's not required to make public appearances or promote the series.[[note]]As such, she is the lone person of the core six voice actors of the show to have never lent her voice to any of the popular Butterfingers commercials and while ''Marge'' herself appeared in the ads, she remains voiceless. Tellingly, even fellow core ''Simpsons'' voice actor Creator/HarryShearer--himself a downplayed example of this trope--has lent his voice to the ads, in addition to guest voices Pamela Hayden, who voices Milhouse and the late Russi Taylor and Marcia Wallace, who voiced Martin Prince and Mrs. Krabappel, respectively.[[/note]] She also refuses to be photographed at work or perform Marge's voice outside the studio. When she appeared alongside the ''Simpsons'' cast on ''Series/InsideTheActorsStudio'', the broadcast episode had to play clips of Marge on-screen when she did the voice, whereas the rest of the cast performed their characters on camera. She's mostly retired from acting now, except for her roles on ''The Simpsons''.
* Christina Lange, a former child actress and voice actress of the 1980s and early '90s, seems to have vanished after the endings of ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' and ''WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates'' in the former she was Velma and Wendy in the latter, her current status and whereabouts are unknown.
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' and ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' VA Jackie Buscarino is known to take frequent hiatuses on her social media, with one or two updates being posted every few months. Even then these posts usually have little to do with new projects she's cast in.
* Despite her iconic status, Creator/JaniceKawaye tends to keep a very low profile. ''Very'' few current photos of her can be found online, and no interviews with her exist to this day. She also has no social media of any kind, and most likely never has.
* Lana Beeson, a former child actress, voice actress, and singer of the 1980s, best known for being the voice of Twinkle, the girl who was turned into a singing puppet in ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioAndTheEmperorOfTheNight'', and the singing voice of Anne Marie in ''''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven''. The latter is her last known work, and her current status and whereabouts are unknown.
* Janna Michaels, a child actress who appeared in a number of live-action film and TV appearances in TheNineties (including ''Film/{{Bushwhacked}}'', ''Film/LittleGiants'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', and whose highest-profile work was as the voice actress for Molly Cunningham in ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', seems to have dropped off the radar after her last role in 1997 in a ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' episode.
* Xavier Pritchett, who voiced the titular character in WesternAnimation/LittleBill seemingly vanished off the face of the earth after the series ended in 2004, and his current status and whereabouts are unknown.
* Very little is known about voice actress Cindy [=McGee=], who is best known for voicing Shana and Krissie on ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}''. She retired from the profession two years after the cartoon ended in 1988 and has never attended any fan conventions, not even the annual [=JemCons=].
* Former child actor Zach Tyler Eisen, the voice actor for Aang from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' (as well as Pablo the Penguin in earlier seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' and Lucas from ''WesternAnimation/TheAntBully''), is one of the only major living [=VAs=] from the show to not attend any fan events since its conclusion, despite the show's immense popularity to this day and Eisen voicing the show's ''main character''. All his verified social media accounts are either closed or private. It is known that he attended Syracuse University and currently works as a photographer for the Conde Nast group (indeed, his name can be seen in the credits for several Vogue interviews) but very little is known aside from that, due to zero fan interactions. Ultimately, he finally resurfaced in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeB2sgZTEG8 2020 interview]], where he revealed that he mainly stayed out of the spotlight because he just wanted to live a normal life, but still maintains a huge amount of respect for the show.
* The North American Cast of ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'' has some voice actors that used pseudonyms for their credits in the show. In recent years, names of the unknown actors were revealed.
** Mr. Bump's actor was credited as "Aaron Albertus", but the name led to nowhere. It wasn't until the credits for ''Anime/YokaiWatchTheMovie'' that it's confirmed that his voice actor was actually Paul Greenberg, who had previously played several minor roles in TV series, including ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''. Seeing as how the show is non-union and Greenberg is a SAG actor, he had to use a pseudonym for voice credits but since he freelance wrote for the show, his real name was allowed for writing credits.
** The same goes with Jospheh J. Terry, which, like with Paul Greenberg, was revealed to be Joey J. D'Auria.
** The name for Miss Bossy and Miss Curious' actress Sophie Roberts leads to a pseudonym of Michelle Ruff, but she stated that she never worked for the show. It was later revealed by Cheryl Chase's [=LinkedIn=] page that she was the voice to Miss Bossy (unsurprising given who Chase is [[WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}} best known for voicing]], whose series director Mark Risley did storyboarding for).
** The name "Danny Katiana" for both Mr. Nosy and Nervous was ambiguous for several years until it was revealed that it was yet another pseudonym, this time for Rick Zieff (best known as Shusuke Amagai from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'') after he did a Talking Voices video in 2020 when he told that he voices Olivia's dad in WesternAnimation/{{Olivia}}.
** Jeff Stewart (Mr. Tickle) was an odd example, as it is his real name, but it leads to a British actor who never did any voice work for cartoons.
* Japanese seiyuu Masayuki Nakata was fairly prolific in dubbing and anime during the '90s and early-to-mid 2000s but has virtually vanished off the face of the earth after retiring from voice acting in 2007, with his current whereabouts being unknown.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'':
** Late actor Gary Dubin (voice of Toulouse) [[OneBookAuthor didn't have that much work in film and television]], he did make some live-action appearances as a reporter in an episode of ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'', and an ill-fated teenager in ''Film/Jaws2''. He was a very private person and spent the remaining 54 years of his life with his family and friends in Burbank, California. It wasn't until October 8, 2016 [[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1273271019370440 when a relative confirmed his passing of bone cancer from a Facebook post.]] Near the end of his life, Dubin allowed Disney fans to sign autographs on rare animation cells of Toulouse.
** Unlike Gary Dubin and Liz "Louise" English, there's very little information about Dean Clark (voice of Berlioz). Since the film's release, he never returned to acting and completely vanished off the face of the earth.
* Ryan O'Donohue, a childhood actor known for his roles in ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', has very scant details on his current life. In fact, there aren't any known photos of O'Donohue as an adult that exists publicly. The only thing he still does nowadays is providing the voice of Demyx in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''.
* Voice actress Natalie Walters, who voiced Ayame in ''Manga/InuYasha'', among a few others, retired from voice acting in 2008. [[https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-walters-b624b958 According to her LinkedIn Profile]], She's since moved to San Francisco where she currently works as a social media PR.
* Steve Alterman, best known for performing Ash in ''WesternAnimation/KiddVideo''. While he is still active and is mostly active in minor roles and [=ADR=] loop groups, he has no social media presence and there is very little info about his background aside from where he was born and his birthday.
* With the exception of the late Creator/RonMoody, the entire voice cast for ''WesternAnimation/TheAnimalsOfFarthingWood'' may appear to be this, with them being very private and have never given any interviews, unlike many other voice actors. What's worst though, the show does not appear to be on Behind the Voice Actors at all, with Ron Moody's, Sally Grace's, Jon Glover's, Stacey Jefferson's (under her other name of Stacey Gregg), and Rupert Farley's pages listing their other voice roles and none of their Animals of Farthing Wood roles.
** While Rupert Farley, Sally Grace, and Jon Glover are still doing voice acting from time to time, the same cannot be said for Jeremy Barrett, Pamela Keevil Kral, and even Stacey Jefferson, as all three have largely retired and have not been heard since.
* It's hard to find any information about the cast for the English dub of ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}''. Most of the time, searching for the names given in the credits brings up no results for the actors from ''Tamagotchi'', but completely different people.
* Danny [=McKinnon=], former child actor, quickly rose into stardom with his best-known role as the voice of Max on ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'', but faded into obscurity after the show ended. Ever since, very few details or photos are known about [=McKinnon=]'s current life.
* Amelia Shoichet-Stoll, a child actress whose most prominent role was playing recurring character Lillian on ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', as well as being the daughter of Creator/RebeccaShoichet. She is very hard to find, unlike the rest of the show's cast, and she hasn't acted in anything since the show ended.
* Creator/KerryWilliams is best known for voicing Tiff in ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' and Casey in [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the Pokemon anime]], as well as many other roles. Her last voice acting role was in 2012, playing the aforementioned Tiff in a CGI Kirby short. She has no social media presence of any kind, and there is next to no information about her personal life.
* Annie Bovaird is a voice actress best known for being the third voice of ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}''. She appeared in many voice-acting roles (as well as a few live-action ones) throughout the 2000s. However, it's hard to find any information on her after 2014, with her last known voice roles being her reprising Caillou for a few PBS Kids promos (when the show's fifth season aired on there in 2013) and a few mobile games.
* It's currently unknown what happened to Creator/WardPerry, a staff member at a certain dubbing studio in Vancouver and not a proper actor, after his voice-acting career ended rather unceremoniously in the late 2000s.
* Creator/WillowJohnson was a major anime voice actress of the '90s and 2000s (her best-known roles being Kikyo in ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'', Kasumi in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', and Lalah Sune in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''), but she stopped voice acting around 2012, supposedly to focus on her family, and also stopped appearing at anime conventions. Nonetheless, she came out of retirement in 2020 to reprise Kikyo (or a version of her) in ''Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon''.
* Sue Ulu, best known as the voice of Ritsuko in the original English dub of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Death & Rebirth'', and ''End of Evangelion'', as well as Kei in ''[[LightNovel/DirtyPair Dirty Pair Flash]]'', retired from voice acting around 2000, shortly after moving to Los Angeles, and has all-but-vanished off the face of the earth since. While she did attend a handful of anime conventions during her brief career (and even judged a cosplay contest at Ani-Magic 2003), no panel footage or interviews with her were known to exist for the longest time. She finally did an interview in 2022, where she reflected fondly on her acting career, but said she retired because she "didn't want to be poor" and also said she was never contacted to reprise Ritsuko in any of the recent ''Evangelion'' projects.
** Likewise, Kim Sevier, who voiced Yuri in ''Dirty Pair Flash'', as well as Yui Ikari in ''Evangelion'', also vanished around the same time. Apparently she moved to New York and retired from acting at some point in the 2000s.
* Several key voice actors from the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' dub are this. Creator/MichaelDonovan (Ryoga) is still very active as a voice actor, but he has never sat down for an interview nor has he attended a convention. Only a few photos of him are online at all. Sarah Strange (the first voice of boy-type Ranma) is still active as an on-camera television actress, but has no social media presence, and has only a handful of interviews. Myriam Sirois (Akane) attended several anime conventions in the 90s and early 2000s but retired from acting in 2008 to become a flight attendant. She has no social media presence, and politely declines interview requests, saying her acting career was "another life." Angela Costain (Nabiki) and her sister Elaina Wotten-Costain (who filled in for a couple dozen later episodes) both also vanished off the face of the earth following the ending of the series. The latter has only one photo online, and it's a screencap from a TV appearance without her face visible.
* Pamela Lauer voiced Kei in the ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'' OVA series in 1999 (along with a handful of small roles for ADV Films around that time), and reprised the character for the 2003 redub of the three features, but quietly retired afterward. Nothing was heard from her for almost 20 years (there were barely even any photos of her online), but in a surprise announcement, she came out of retirement in 2021 to voice Kei once again in the Kickstarter-funded ''Dirty Pair'' TV series dub.
* Sarah Heinke's only major acting role was voicing the titular character in ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' (the 2003 series). She then left show business behind and became a hairdresser.
* While Creator/LiamOBrien is still a prominent voice actor to this day, his wife Amy Kincaid is another story. While she had a prominent number of roles in the '00s, her most notable being Shirley in ''Anime/CodeGeass'', which was also her last voice acting role, only returning a decade later to reprise the role. No information is given why she's seemingly retired. Due to how common her name is, it's not hard to find photos of people by that name, but harder to determine if it's her.
* Creator/TressMacNeille, the voice of WesternAnimation/DaisyDuck, [[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} Dot Warner]], and [[WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures Babs Bunny]] among many others, is still very active in voice acting today, but has no social media whatsoever and almost never makes public appearances. This is because she had a stalker when ''Tiny Toons'' was airing, who was creepily obsessed with Babs. Fellow veteran voice actor Creator/RobPaulsen has repeatedly tried to get her on [[Podcast/TalkinToonsWithRobPaulsen his podcast]], to no avail.
* Canadian voice actor Doug Parker was fairly popular during the ’90s and 2000s, some of his best-known characters include Terrorsaur from WesternAnimation/BeastWars, Tidal Wave from WesternAnimation/TransformersArmada, Megaman from WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster, Shenron and Bubbles from the Ocean Dub of Anime/DragonBallZ, and Bad Rap, Haxx, and Spittor from WesternAnimation/ExtremeDinosaurs, his last credit was in 2008, he was never interviewed and has no known social media.
* Another Canadian voice actor, Creator/TonySampson, was well-known for his portrayal of Eddy in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' and Miguel Aiman in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''. However, he retired from voice acting in 2009 following the [[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow finale movie]] for the former show to work in the oil sands of Fort [=McMurray=], Alberta, and has largely disappeared from the public eye since. He did resurface in an interview for the 20th anniversary of ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'', however.
* Despite being the voice of several characters, Creator/ChrisPhillips has rarely given public interviews and refuses to go to conventions.
* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Creator/KarenBernstein, the original English actress for Sailor Mercury, is a very private person and avoids interviews and conventions. She did however write something for the ''Sailor Moon Reflections'' book, thanking the fans for their support.
[[/folder]]

!!!''Subpages:'''

[[folder:Musicians]]

* After "leaving" Music/PinkFloyd, Music/SydBarrett remained in touch with friends, including his former bandmates, up until around the mid-1970s (around six years after he left Pink Floyd) when he retreated into seclusion in a London hotel, eventually returning to Cambridge permanently in 1982. He also went back to using his given name, Roger. Barrett is arguably the ultimate example of this trope. He gave his last full interview in 1971, played his last recorded gig in 1972, was last in the studio in 1974, last spoke to his former bandmates in 1975, and last willingly (and briefly) talked to the press and posed for photographs in 1982. Between then and his death in 2006, he barely communicated with the rest of the world except for members of his family and spent most of his time painting and gardening. He was often photographed by paparazzi and journalists would sometimes knock on his door in an attempt to secure some kind of interview although they would never get much more than a few terse words. He never explained why he had left the music industry or refused to talk about his past as a pop star (although it's widely believed that talking about it was distressing for him, something he alludes to in the brief 1982 "interview") and, contrary to popular belief, he was never actually diagnosed with any specific mental illness, although it's generally accepted that he had some kind of mental health problem. Ironically, whilst it's widely believed that Barrett's silence was largely because he wanted to forget about his past as "Syd" as much as possible, his status as an enigma arguably increased interest in his music rather than reduced it.
* Music/LaurynHill, critically acclaimed alternative rapper whose sole album ''The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' remains among the greatest post-Tupac hip hop albums of all time. Her career-shattering mental breakdown pre-dated that of Music/BritneySpears and Music/MariahCarey. Currently, she is the mother of six children by one of Bob Marley's sons but still remains out of the public eye. In fact, nobody even knows where she lives. She does perform occasionally in concerts, but is notorious for being late (an egregious example being a 2010 concert that started at 8:30 and she didn't show up until midnight) and performing poorly. She popped up again in the tabloids in mid-2013 after being sentenced to 3 months in prison for tax evasion - her excuse was that the IRS had not been respecting her family's privacy.
* Music/BobDylan has a rather...thorny relationship with the press and the public. He tours a lot but rarely grants interviews and after suffering a motorcycle crash in the late '60s barely made any public appearances at all for a number of years. He even turned down going to the original Woodstock Festival despite living in the area at the time and very nearly didn't show up to collect his Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. Dylan also got so annoyed with his fandom that he deliberately released [[Music/SelfPortrait an album of bad music]] so people would stop calling him "the voice of a generation."
* Jakob Dylan from Music/TheWallflowers rarely gives interviews, mostly because he doesn't like being compared to his father Music/BobDylan. This is probably why their more recent albums, as well as Jakob's solo albums, have seen a decline in sales since the smash hit, ''Bringing Down the Horse''. He's also very protective of his family and doesn't want his fame to interfere with their safety. He finally acquiesced in 2021 in order to promote the new Wallflowers album and gave a few [[http://www.keysandchords.com/itv-jakob-dylan-van-de-amerikaanse-band-the-wallflowers.html interviews]].
* Musician and photographer Cynthia Dall, who occasionally collaborated with her then-boyfriend Bill Callahan (Smog) on some songs and recorded two albums for Drag City, six years between each (the first of which, released in 1996, was initially completely untitled with no artist information). She died in April 2012, nearly ten years after the release of her final album.
* J-Rock and Anisong artist Nano used to be this way early in her career. No one knew of her identity when she got her start doing vocaloid covers on Website/YouTube and Nico Nico Douga, and though she began doing live performances after getting signed, her management deliberately decided to keep her out of the public eye. In recent years, however, this has begun to change, as she's more active on social media, made podcast appearances, and starting her own Website/YouTube channel with the express purpose of providing an authentic behind-the-scenes perspective.
* Assuming he's still alive, a big assumption to make under the circumstances, guitarist and songwriter for the alternative rock band Music/ManicStreetPreachers Richey James Edwards would be the one of these: he went missing in 1995 and there haven't been any confirmed sightings of him since. 13 years after he vanished, he took this trope to its LogicalExtreme: he was declared "presumed deceased"--in other words, LegallyDead. The band has still been keeping his share of their royalties in a bank account since his disappearance, and continue to leave an open mic for him on-stage when performing.
* Jeff Mangum, singer/songwriter for the legendary indie rock band Music/NeutralMilkHotel, suffered a breakdown as a result of the stress of touring. He stayed out of the limelight until 2008, where sudden concerts were performed.
* A lot of BlackMetal bands tend to be like this. They frequently refuse to give interviews and often refuse to have their pictures taken. Most use pseudonyms and a small few don't even use names at all. Some particularly well-known examples:
** French avant-garde black metal band Music/DeathspellOmega are highly secretive; few photos of the members exist and, more notably, no one (apart from, presumably, the band members themselves) even knows what the complete line-up of the band is (the identity of the drummer is not even an identity of public conjecture).
** Ukrainian black metal band Music/{{Drudkh}} refuse to have a proper public image. Only guitarist Roman Saenko has ever shown his face, and the band has never conducted personal interviews or performed live, despite being one of the most respected names in modern BlackMetal. They also have not released lyrics for some of their early recordings (although this is not exactly uncommon in black metal).
* Australian singer Music/EmilyJanes attempted to start a major music career in the early '10s. However, even at the time, she had no social media accounts and only ever gave one interview, and had only uploaded two songs to Website/YouTube. The most information the public could get is through her now-defunct official website, but there wasn't a whole lot of information on there either.
* One of the most famous examples in pop music is Music/{{ABBA}}'s Agnetha Fältskog going into a practical self-exile on a farm in Sweden from the late 1980s. She reportedly rarely speaks to anyone anymore, with the situation being worsened by her split with former [[StalkerWithACrush stalker]], Gert van der Graaf. She's even earned comparisons to Creator/GretaGarbo. She has since released an English pop solo album internationally in 2013 called ''A'', and has since occasionally turned up to promote it and/or address ABBA reunion rumors. In 2021 she joined her other ABBA bandmates for a new album called ''Voyage''.
* Music/MichaelJackson, once he was a mega-selling solo act. It became a well-crafted part of his mystique, and when he became more available in TheNineties, culminating in the Creator/OprahWinfrey interview in early 1993, it made headlines. Unfortunately, when the accusations arose that he was [[PaedoHunt a molester]], the reclusiveness backfired on him badly. Subsequent attempts to be more open with the public were largely failures. The 2003 documentary ''Living with Michael Jackson'' was intended to WinBackTheCrowd (Martin Bashir was then most famous for a 1995 interview with Princess Diana that curried public sympathy for her), but he freely admitted in it that he still had slumber parties with children who weren't his, not realizing how badly this would be taken by the filmmakers and most of the world. It affected his career more, and would not regain any respect until he actually died in 2009 and PosthumousPopularityPotential came into effect.
* Music/AliceCooper used to play this up in his early days as part of his "horror show" image, staying locked up in his trailer with his boa constrictor during gigs and festivals, only emerging to perform with his band. This was, of course, just an act, and one that he later dropped.
* Glitch-hop/dubstep producer Tristam is notorious for having extremely little information shared with the public. Images and videos of him are very rare (none of which are recent), prefers to keep his true name and identity secret, and shares only vague and occasional updates on social media.
* Rod Evans, the original frontman for seminal HardRock band Music/DeepPurple, briefly fronted the supergroup Captain Beyond after leaving Deep Purple before retiring from the music business and going into medicine. In 1980, he was talking into reviving the Deep Purple name (Deep Purple had broken up in 1976) with a bunch of unknown musicians. When his former bandmates got wind of the venture, they immediately filed a lawsuit. Evans was not only forced to disband the "Bogus Deep Purple", the royalties from his work with the real Deep Purple were permanently cut off. With his music career in shambles, Evans returned to his medical practice and has since eschewed any contact with the media or his former bandmates-he didn't even show up when Deep Purple was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
* The experimental rock group Music/TheResidents. In all photos and public appearances, they're in some kind of disguise, usually their trademark eyeball masks. They also refuse to be interviewed by the press, adding to their reclusive nature. However, it's very widely suspected that they are actually the same people as their "management team" the Cryptic Corporation, who do interact with the media. Cryptic Corporation co-founder Hardy Fox finally outed himself as a Resident in 2017, and it was universally noted in media reports of his death a year later.
* Music/KateBush is often considered an example, though to hear her tell it, somewhat unfairly. It's true that she didn't tour for over 30 years between 1979 and 2014, and mostly disappeared from the public eye for the 12 years between ''The Red Shoes'' and ''Music/{{Aerial}}'', but she has consistently said this was to give her son as normal an upbringing as possible, and not from any reclusive tendencies. Still, she has done relatively little promotional work even for her later releases, [[Music/FiftyWordsForSnow the most recent of which]] was in 2011.
* Very little is known about the members of the band Black Moth Super Rainbow; all the members go by StageNames and they rarely discuss their past in what little interviews they've done.
* For a few years, John Frusciante of Music/RedHotChiliPeppers basically locked himself away in his apartment and spent most of his time doing drugs.
** The same was true for Music/MilesDavis.
** Similarly, Layne Staley of Music/AliceInChains cut himself off from friends, family, and bandmates for the last three years of his life. His body wasn't discovered until two weeks after his fatal overdose in April 2002. ''The Rocket'', a Seattle music magazine, [[ForegoneConclusion already had his obituary written]] from a few years earlier. Even before his seclusion, guitarist Jerry Cantrell (one of Staley's best friends) stated that not hearing from Staley for months at a time was not out of the ordinary.
** While less extreme than the previous examples, [[Music/{{Slayer}} Jeff Hanneman]] was always TheQuietOne; while the rest of the band would always take time to hang out and party with fans, Jeff would usually depart to the bus to read, and interviews were rare. Outside of recording and playing shows, Hanneman seldom saw his bandmates and usually preferred to stay at home and spend time with his wife. While Kerry King was criticized for referring to Hanneman as a good friend despite having not seen him for several months prior to his death, the truth was that even his best friends rarely saw or spoke to him and going several months without any real contact with him was completely normal and expected.
* Music/DavidBowie was once so accessible that he regularly communicated with his fanbase via his official website at the TurnOfTheMillennium. But then he slowly became this. He had not released a new album since 2003, His last tour -- one cut short by a heart attack that required multiple bypass surgeries -- was in 2004, and his last live performance was in 2006. A few film/[=TV=] roles and guest appearances on other artists' albums later, and that was all. He only seemed to surface for the odd premiere or charity fundraiser and didn't grant interviews. In TheNewTens, it was generally accepted by fans and the music press that he quietly retired to raise his family, preserve his health, indulge in his hobbies (he paints, sculpts, and is an avowed BookWorm), and enjoy the fruits of his labors...which made January 8, 2013 something of a WhamEpisode for '''everybody''' when the website was relaunched, a new album announced, and a video for its first single released. ''The Next Day'' was a huge hit, but he still would not grant interviews -- longtime producer and friend Tony Visconti has said Bowie ruled out the possibility completely -- and would not be going on tour to support any new releases. Any chances of this changing ended with his death three years later.
* Music/DaftPunk is a mild example. While their names are common knowledge (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo), the only confirmed image of the duo's faces was for [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/de74eafef93c37201edc6736d4a38c38/tumblr_o9f8x0dcBr1v0jfsto1_1280.jpg the front cover of an issue of the British dance music magazine]] ''Muzik'' (which was back in 1997). Aside from that, they were almost always hidden behind their iconic robot masks. Time will tell if their breakup means they'll become more available.
* Since Music/{{Beyonce}} parted ways with her father as her business manager in 2012, she's increasingly become more reclusive. She has only released three solo albums since then in 2013, 2016, and 2022 with the former two coming without any promotion. Previously, she released an album every other year. She gives an interview perhaps once a year and is very picky about to whom she gives the interview, usually to Vogue. She prefers to use her own social media accounts to promote her projects but even those are rarely used outside of her clothing line with Adidas and charity work. She’s notably been a lot more camera shy with her twins who were born in 2017 than she was with her oldest child, Blue, when she was little. She’s only shown their faces a few times on her own terms and they’ve never really been photographed in public. She took about a year and a half off due to the pregnancy with the twins being high risk that ended in an emergency c-section. She reappeared to headline Coachella in the spring of 2018 and that summer, she released a collab album with husband Music/JayZ. She also curated the album for ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019'', with an accompanying film/visual album. Her seventh studio album was announced in June 2022, with a release the following month.
* Along similar lines, Music/CarpenterBrut is known to be a Frenchman named Franck Hueso who likes horror movies, [[RiddleForTheAges and that's about it.]] Even his live shows hide his appearance as much as humanly possible.
* Irish musician and singer-songwriter Music/VanMorrison is still not comfortable with interviews and fandom, even as he approaches his fiftieth year in the business. Viewed as a curmudgeonly old misanthrope who has not improved with age, he has variably engaged in a rolling-in-the-gutter fight with one manager, in the presence of a visibly embarrassed BBC radio team there to try and interview him; described his fans as a bunch of ignorant worthless dolts (this backstage, where he initially refused to go at all in front of a paying public who had bought the gig tickets in good faith) and given a succession of irritated interviewers stubbornly monosyllabic answers. In fact, one of the earliest interviews with a very young Morrison is preserved to this day by Ulster Television and is gleefully brought out for blooper reels. A very young interviewer called Gloria Hunniford (who later went on to a stellar career as a TV presenter and hostess of interview format shows) is seen to gush profusely at being in the presence of Belfast's answer to Music/MickJagger, and to enthuse about the broodingly handsome writer and performer of groovy music (this was in 1964 when Morrison was a startlingly good-looking young man). But after that build-up, could Gloria get a word out of him other than "yes" or "no"? She cannot, but this does not stop her from trying, so she does, for at least five excruciating minutes. The look of OhCrap in her eyes is unmistakable and very obvious. Morrison has not improved with age.
** In his earliest "interview", a journalist turned up at the studio where the then largely unknown Morrison was recording. He had an appointment, which had been timed to a break in the recording work. Having waited around for a time, watching him reading a newspaper, the journalist approached and asked if they could do the interview now. Morrison's reply: "Can't you see I'm busy?!"
** In light of his 70th birthday, he finally consented to an [[http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/van/van-morrison-being-famous-is-not-great-for-the-creative-process-not-for-me-anyway-1.2332216 in-depth interview]] with ''The Irish Times'', in which the interviewer remarks that Morrison was quite pleasant and forthcoming during the interview, albeit just very blunt.
** He recently appeared in a mini-documentary by Creator/LennyHenry passionately discussing the blues, so it seems that he consents to appearances and interviews only if he's interested in the topic.
* Andy Sturmer, the drummer, lead vocalist, and co-songwriter of Music/{{Jellyfish}}, has remained out of the (relative) spotlight since the band's 1994 breakup, producing and writing for J-Pop band Music/PuffyAmiYumi, providing backing vocals for The Black Crowes and Rooney, as well as producing music for cartoon shows like ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'' and ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowski''. He grants few (or no) interviews and has a far lower online profile than keyboardist and co-songwriter Roger Manning (or nearly anyone else in the group).
* Music/{{Queen}}:
** In spite of his larger-than-life stage presence, Music/FreddieMercury was somewhat more introverted when he wasn't performing. Combined with an aversion to interacting with the media (a result of experiences in Queen's very early career when they were regularly slated in the music press), he stayed out of the public eye when he could. When he contracted AIDS, this tendency increased, to the point where he only revealed that he was sick one day before bronchio-pneumonia brought on by the disease killed him.
** John Deacon was always [[TheQuietOne notoriously shy]] but almost completely withdrew from public life in the years after Mercury's death and gave Music/BrianMay and Roger Taylor permission to continue performing and releasing material as Queen without him. He does, however, continue to look after the band's finances and May and Taylor regularly consult with him.
* Several Music/{{Vocaloid}} artists, to the point where occasionally a producer revealing his/her gender (such as OSTER project being female) can spark SamusIsAGirl-type reactions.
* Sly Stone, like the Layne Staley example above, stopped his music career to pretty much spend his time doing drugs. He stopped granting interviews in 1987, and only makes sporadic concert appearances (where he has sometimes left the stage after only performing for 15 minutes). Rumors abound that he's living out of his car now.
* Axl Rose, after the original Music/GunsNRoses breakup, made no public appearances (outside of concerts with the new band lineup, including appearances at several music festivals and closing the [=VMAs=] in 2002) for seven years and granted almost no interviews during the making of ''Music/ChineseDemocracy'' (which took at least nine years to record and release).
* While she has made a few semi-live singing appearances, and gives the occasional interview, Music/{{Enya}} prefers to stay out of the spotlight and very rarely appears in public. Part of this can possibly be attributed to the fact that she's had stalkers in the past, some of whom have broken into her home.
* Music/{{Prince}} rarely granted interviews, mostly because of his reported {{Jerkass}} tendencies.
* British singer Music/{{Sade}} (from the eponymous band of "No Ordinary Love" fame) has rarely been seen in the public eye since the release of ''Love Deluxe'' in 1992. She amassed a sizeable fortune but lived in total seclusion until the release of ''Soldier of Love'' in 2010. To note, a ''[[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1245959/Reclusive-singer-Sade-returns-album-release-decade.html Daily Mail]]'' article noted that her promotion of that album was the first set of interviews she had done in more than a decade and that it had been eight years since she made a public appearance. She also spent most of the 2000s holed up in a mansion taking care of her son Izaak Theo (a transgender man, he came out as such in 2016) and avoided any and all contact with other people.
* Music/TheBeatles:
** This fitted lead guitarist Music/GeorgeHarrison's image as the "Quiet Beatle", as many cited he rarely gave interviews during Beatlemania and was described as being introverted. He only did two solo tours after the band broke up, played his last full concert in 1992, and his final interview occurred four years before his death (and this was one of only a few he ever did in his later years). However, he was the only ex-Beatle to ever publish an autobiography and he did participate in the Beatles Anthology TV series.
** Although more active than George, this was true on some part for Music/JohnLennon during the later years of his life. However, it was mainly due to the birth of his son Sean, [[Main/DisappearedDad as he did not want to repeat the same mistakes as he did with Julian]].
* The founding members of Music/{{Kraftwerk}} are notorious for this, staying holed up in their studio in Dusseldorf for days on end. Various anecdotes of their reclusiveness have been circulating for years, such as the fact that they will only answer phone calls when the precise hour, minute, and second is arranged beforehand - at which time they will answer immediately.
** In one famous instance, before Music/{{Coldplay}} released the song "Talk", which used the riff of "[[Music/ComputerWorld Computer Love]]", Chris Martin had to send a letter through the lawyers of Kraftwerk's respective parties to seek permission to use the riff. Several weeks later, he received a letter back from the band - which consisted of a sheet of paper that just said "yes".
* Former TeenIdol Creator/LeifGarrett is a bit of a paradox --in RealLife he's very approachable, yet in the public eye, he's been known to be very reclusive and protective of his private life. He got a little better with this once he started appearing on ''Series/WorldsDumbest'' in 2008, and now he's in talks to have a RealityShow of his own.
* Music/{{Buckethead}}. The only known pictures (there are two confirmed ones) of him out of character are over 20 years old, and he's been giving fewer and fewer "interviews" (if you can believe it) over the past 5 or so years.
* Music/{{Jandek}}. No one even knows for sure what his real name is. He didn't even begin performing live until well over ''twenty-five years'' after he started his musical career. His name might be Sterling R. Smith, if he's the one signing the checks for Coorwood Industries, which releases nothing but his music.
* Songwriter Dennis Linde, best known for Music/ElvisPresley's "Burning Love" and the Music/DixieChicks' "Goodbye Earl", was a known recluse. He never attended awards shows, even when he won, and rarely gave interviews.
* Very little is known about Music/BrooksAndDunn's personal lives, both on the road together (they broke up in 2010) and separately. Kix has kept himself in the spotlight as the host of ''Radio/AmericanCountryCountdown'', while Ronnie still releases music independently, but very little is known about them outside their musical ventures.
* Perhaps the ultimate example of this is Canadian musician Nash the Slash, former member of the progressive rock band FM (he also has a vast and eclectic oeuvre as a solo artist); since the late '70s, he has never appeared in public without a thick layer of bandages covering every bit of skin that isn't absolutely necessary for him to perform, and he has done his best to keep his true identity a mystery, at which he mostly succeeded until his real name showed up on Wikipedia.
* Music/PhilSpector not only didn't talk to the press but kept his ex-wife prisoner in his mansion to prevent her from being photographed (or seen in a bikini by others). He died in 2021, but as he was serving a jail sentence for murder, it wasn't likely that he wasn't going to become more accessible anytime soon.
* Music/MFDoom was not seen without his mask since the '90s. We knew his name is Daniel Dumile from his years as Zev-Love X, but that's about all. When he passed away on October 31, 2020, it wasn't revealed until two months later.
* After spending the 1960s and 1970s as a teen idol in the UK, Music/ScottWalker shifted to experimental music for the remainder of his career. He only resurfaced for interviews when he had an album to promote, and virtually disappeared in the time between them. He even worked as an interior decorator in the downtime; he was that low-key.
* Ronald Jones, former guitarist of The Music/FlamingLips, left the band due to his increasing agoraphobia and his distaste of Steven Drozd's [[DrugsAreBad heroin usage]]. Aside from working at a few local gigs, he practically fell off the face of the earth after leaving.
* Satirist Music/TomLehrer gave up his music career after producing only three (or so) albums worth of material and retired to a life in academia. Not as extreme as some cases, as he's apparently willing enough to be interviewed, if only to cheerfully confirm that he's still alive.
* Music/ShaniaTwain became this after her ''Up!'' album in 2002. It turned out this was because she lost her voice due to stress in her personal life. After undergoing therapy, she regained it and reemerged with a hugely successful Las Vegas residency.
* The girls that make up the JPop duo Music/ClariS (best known for performing themes to ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' and ''[[LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}} Nisemonogatari]]'', among others) have done this voluntarily to keep them focused on their schoolwork. In an extreme example of this, [[SecretIdentity they haven't even told anyone else outside their families about their career]], either.
* The Swedish metal band [[Music/GhostBand Ghost]] wears robes, hoods, and masks on stage and refers to its members as "Nameless Ghouls" (to the point of them signing merchandise simply as "A Nameless Ghoul"). They refuse to comment on any speculation about their real identities and even faked a singer switch to try to throw off speculation about the singer's identity. This later became moot when old members revealed themselves to be a part of Ghost (Martin Persneri personally confirmed himself one of the Nameless Ghouls) and a lawsuit came out that ousted a majority of past members who then also ousted the identity of Papa Emeritus as [[spoiler:Repugnant vocalist Tobias Forge]].
** Also, one member [[https://www.fuse.tv/videos/2013/08/lollapalooza-2013-ghost-bc-interview revealed]] that [[Music/FooFighters Dave]] [[Music/{{Nirvana}} Grohl]] has performed with the band as a Nameless Ghoul.
* Per "Dead" Ohlin, vocalist of {{Music/Mayhem}}, was known to be extremely reclusive and antisocial, to the point where even his own bandmates knew almost nothing about him until after his suicide.
* Music/BridgitMendler is this. Her social media accounts appear to be [[SlaveToPR managed by her Public Relations team]] and little is ''really'' known about her personal life, even who she's dating ([[WordOfGod not that she has confirmed or denied it]]). Her VEVO channel on Website/YouTube is about the only "true" social media she has.
* Asaki of Music/{{BEMANI}} fame is particularly reclusive, concealing his full name, having few photos of him in circulation, and never showing up to BEMANI-related events. For the Private BEMANI Academy event, all participating musicians made an appearance in the promotional video and related media...except for Asaki and his collaboration partner 96; instead of their actual faces, two stand-ins, both of which obviously look nothing like them (Asaki's stand-in, in particular, is a ''Caucasian'' person) pose as them instead.
* Almost nothing is known about the life of blues musician Music/RobertJohnson. He released only a pithy few records in his time, none of which gained any major recognition until decades after he died in 1938. What's more, although the people that he knew remembered him fondly, he was also quite reserved and shy (legend has it that he recorded his songs while facing a wall), so we have absolutely no words that came from his mouth, and only two positively-confirmed photographs (a possible third was discovered in 2005 and confirmed by one expert in 2013, but whether or not it's truly him in the photo remains hotly contested). We don't even know where he was buried- there are ''three'' different markers in completely different locations that bear his name, all of which weren't put up until the '90s!
* [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged a bit]] with Music/BillyJoel. While he often appears in the public eye, mainly to promote reissues/repackagings of his back catalog, appear in Q&A seminars about his music, or perform live (with or without Music/EltonJohn), and he has performed in many high-profile charity shows, most notably the Hurricane Sandy benefits, he has a considerably lower profile than he had for 20 years, and has rarely released material, especially in the pop vein since 1993's ''River Of Dreams'' album. Most of the new music he ''has'' released has been instrumental contemporary classical piano music - and it's not even him performing on the albums.
* Swedish indie-synthpop/dreampop artist Sally Shapiro [[NoNameGiven has not revealed her real name]], nor performed live or toured other than a short DJ tour in 2008, and rarely gives interviews.
* Mexican singer Luis Miguel is infamous for being very aloof, continuously refusing to talk about anything related to his off-stage life and keeping to himself in almost everything.
* Music/{{Eminem}} has never been very comfortable with the spotlight and nowadays prefers to stay home in Detroit unless he feels the need to appear in public. When his song "Lose Yourself" was nominated and won an Academy Award, he was at home dead asleep.
* Music/SelenaGomez's activity on social media has waxed and waned over the years. Back in the late 2000s, she was very active but as she left Disney Channel became less so. She completely withdrew from the public eye for a few years in the early to mid-2010s when she was dating Music/JustinBieber due to harassment and some unspecified personal problems, including checking into a rehab center in 2014. The following year she announced that the reason she'd gone into a treatment facility was that she had lupus and needed chemotherapy. She spent most of 2016 again in treatment before she received a kidney transplant from a friend. After recovering from a transplant, she returned to social media, but isn't as active there as she was back in her teen star days.
* The electronic musician Music/{{Burial}} (real name William Bevan), who preferred to remain anonymous at the time of his debut in 2006. There was quite a bit of speculation about his identity until in 2008, he posted a blog entry on his Myspace revealing his face and name, stating that he's just a normal guy who just liked to make music. Since then, he's worked with artists like [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Thom Yorke]] and Music/{{Massive Attack}}, and still stays away from the spotlight.
* Music/{{Pantera}} vocalist Phil Anselmo. He lives in a very isolated area (literally, a swamp in Louisiana) and refuses to have a Facebook page or even a telephone.
* Music/TheKnife were notoriously shy in the early stages of their career, preferring to use masks to hide their faces in photos and rarely granted interviews. They've maintained that they were willing to talk to the press, just not the ones that want to delve into their personal lives, which limited the amount they did. When Karin started promoting her own music as Fever Ray, she was much amiable to interviews, albeit still refusing personal information and appearing covered in heavy makeup, largely to maintain her privacy.
** Averted with the release of her album "Plunge" during which she used 'comparatively' little makeup/masks to hide herself. And even talked about her family in interviews.
* Music/ChildishGambino increasingly became reclusive from about 2014-2016, especially after his departure from ''Series/{{Community}}''. He rarely makes social media posts and in fact deleted his posts on Twitter and Instagram. He also rarely makes public appearances, in one case canceled a music festival appearance for no apparent reason. He resurfaced in late 2016 to promote his new {{dramedy}} ''Series/{{Atlanta}}'' and after it was announced he would be joining the cast of ''Film/{{Solo}}''. Even now, the few appearances he makes are usually to promote something specific.
* Music/TheWeeknd has confessed that his initial refusal to disclose his identity when he released his first mixtape was because he was camera-shy and not used to the attention. Since then, he's still uncomfortable with the spotlight but has gradually gotten better at coping with it.
* Music/MissyElliott, at the height of her career, simply vanished from the spotlight. In an interview, [[WordOfGod she stated]] that this was due to her suffering from Graves' disease coupled with stress from the loss of her friend and collaborator Music/{{Aaliyah}}. She later got her condition under control and made a well-received appearance at Super Bowl XLIX; whether that will make her any less reclusive is up in the air.
* Lee Mavers, leader of Music/TheLas, has something of a BerserkButton about this. He is often treated as a Reclusive Artist because of the band's failure to produce a second studio album for over twenty years, and the rarity of their live performances. However, he insists that he has a perfectly normal social life, and complains that the media describe him as a "recluse" just because he doesn't get photographed falling over outside fashionable nightclubs with a model on each arm.
* A long stretch of time passed by between the release of normally low-profile Music/SteelyDan co-founder Donald Fagen's 1982 solo debut ''Music/TheNightfly'', and its 1993 followup, ''Kamikiriad'', upon which Fagen largely laid low aside from the occasional song written for a movie soundtrack ("True Companion" from ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal''; "Century's End" from ''Film/BrightLightsBigCity''), very sporadic songwriting for other music acts (Diana Ross, Manhattan Transfer, Yellowjackets and Jennifer Warnes, most notably) and the occasional live concert performance (usually charity shows in New York City). He began performing again with the "New York Rock'n'Soul Revue", a blues and jazz-based tour that occasionally saw him revisit some Steely Dan classics, in the late [[TheEighties 1980's]], and penned essays for ''Premiere'' magazine. After reuniting with Steely cofounder Walter Becker for ''Kamikiriad'', the duo assembled a new band, went on the road as Steely Dan (their first tour since 1974), and have both (separately and together) kept a higher profile and constant touring ever since.
* Max Martin is pretty much the most influential pop music producer and songwriter in the world as he's written and produced more number-one hit singles than any other producer in the world, second to only George Martin and [=Lennon/McCartney=]'s songwriting. He's also known to shun all interviews and public appearances, save for limited industry appearances, and makes all the artists he works with fly to Sweden if they want to work with him.
* Music/{{DeathGrips}}' MC Ride rarely grants interviews and is notoriously shy, despite his aggressive and bombastic stage presence.
* Music/FionaApple has made it quite known that she dislikes fame and all the trappings that it brings and stays away from the public eye. In the years between ''The Idler Wheel...'' in 2012 and ''Fetch the Bolt Cutters'' in 2020, she has remained musically productive and has shown up on the occasional collaboration or performance, in addition to writing the opening theme song of ''Series/TheAffair''. Furthermore, ''Bolt Cutters'' was released during a pandemic so she could avoid interviews.
* Frank Ocean burst onto the music scene with his association with Music/{{OFWGKTA}} in 2008 and his own solo albums. But instead of capitalizing on the buzz of his critically acclaimed debut album ''channel ORANGE'', he virtually disappeared and while he announced his intention to release his next album, ''Boys Don't Cry'', he dropped off the radar again with no album in sight and people hungrily waiting for it. Even ''Music/{{Adele}}'', who herself is somewhat notorious for her long wait times between albums, complained that she was impatient for his album. In August 2016, he finally delivered not one, but two albums: a visual album called ''Endless'', and his long-awaited ''Boys Don't Cry'', now re-titled ''Blonde'' with the original title reworked as a companion zine. He has been somewhat active on social media, posting the usual Instagram post or Tumblr update every few months, and has been putting out singles as of late 2019, although his activity stopped after the sudden death of his younger brother Ryan in August 2020.
* Experimental electronic/R&B artist Jai Paul is notorious for this, such as only having a Twitter account with one tweet to address a leaked album back in 2013, giving very few interviews and very few live performances, next-to-nothing being known about his personal life, and most notoriously, only having released two or three singles since 2010 despite massive praise and buzz (aforementioned leaked album/demos not counting).
* Italian singer Mina stopped performing music and making public appearances in 1978, but it hasn't stopped her from recording new music on a yearly basis in addition to writing a weekly forum on the front page of ''La Stampa'' and a page in the Italian edition of the magazine ''Magazine/VanityFair'', where she answers fan letters.
* The members of the obscure American-British girl group No Secrets have all but vanished from existence. Reportedly, Angel Faith is a doctor, Carly Lewis is married, Erin Tanner (now Nicki Foxx) is a solo artist, Jessica Fried (now Jessi Malay) is a solo artist as well, and Jade Ryusaki now resides in Hawaii as a model. Good luck trying to track them down!
* Mark Hollis of Music/TalkTalk was a famous example, mainly due to the fact he himself ''invoked'' the trope. After the critical success of both of Talk Talk's final works (''Music/SpiritOfEden'' and ''Music/LaughingStock'', which are considered the TropeCodifier of Post-Rock), Hollis quietly retired from the music industry. While he did release [[Music/MarkHollisAlbum a self-titled solo album]] afterwards, he again quietly retired to raise his family, and not much had been known where he was. The last anybody fully saw Hollis was in ''[[https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234221 2004]]'' to pick up a Pop Award for "It's My Life", and even then he picked it up ''in the offices'' instead of the actual award show. He became a mystique figure within the music world, and with the exception of him [[http://pitchfork.com/news/47680-talk-talks-mark-hollis-resurfaces-with-new-music-for-the-kelsey-grammer-tv-show-boss/ doing a commissioned piece]] for the show ''Boss'' in 2012, he was never heard from again until his death at age 64 in 2019.
* Following her ''1989'' World Tour, Music/TaylorSwift took a deliberately long break from recording, writing, and touring, releasing very few songs in 2015-2016 apart from a duet with [[Music/{{Zayn}} Zayn Malik]] for ''Film/FiftyShadesDarker'' ("I Don't Wanna Live Forever") and a co-write for a Music/LittleBigTown single, "Better Man" (arguably Taylor's first foray into country music since ''Red'') and uncredited co-write with her then-boyfriend, Music/CalvinHarris ("This Is What You Came For"), along with various controversies and breakups in her personal life. In the summer of 2017, she erased every post on social media and unfollowed everyone she previously followed (save for Tumblr), and posted three cryptic videos showing the tail, body, and head of a snake. In late August, she finally announced the November release of her sixth album in August, ''reputation.'', along with releasing the lead single and its video, "Look What You Made Me Do", later in the month. This phase ended after the release of the album itself.
* German BlackMetal/Doom Metal band (DOLCH) have an impressive take on this trope: While they ''do'' perform live, ''not much is known about them''. The band doesn't have any social media, doesn't conduct interviews, nor is it ''known'' what their lineup is. All it's known is the band's led by a mysterious female vocalist and a guitarist (and it's impossible to know if the known photos of another guitarist, bassist, and drummer are concrete as the band doesn't list members in their releases, instead using their band logo). Asking their label Ván Records about who they are or their lack of social media is also cryptic, as they too keep secret of who they are. All it's been known is the aforementioned core members, the two demos (and a compilation of said demos), a split with another band on the Ván Records label, the EP ''An den Mond'' and the recent release ''III: Songs of Happiness...Words of Praise''.
* [[https://twitter.com/dansalvato/status/939662342551363585 According to lead developer Dan Salvato]], Jillian Ashcraft, Monika's voice actress and the singer of the ending song "Your Reality" in ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', "prefers staying private" for now. There are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyLO-adWKIA a few]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi35uDo4QYA videos]] online of her singing (she also plays guitar), but not much else.
* Retro Jazz/blues musician & singer Leon Redbone was very secretive about his past and rarely gave interviews; when he did talk about his history, everything he said could be filed under MultipleChoicePast or BlatantLies.
-->''I don't do anything mysterious on purpose. I'm less than forthcoming, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm mysterious. It just means I'm not inclined to go there.''
* Music/DeanMartin for all intents and purposes, became this following the tragic death of his son, Dean Paul Martin, who was killed in a plane crash during a California Air National Guard training mission in 1987, at the age of 35. In 1988, he bowed out of a Rat Pack reunion tour after only a short time on the job. He also declined to take part in a 1992 retrospective on Martin and Creator/JerryLewis with his old comedy partner. When he died on Christmas Day in 1995, Martin had long been out of the public eye.
* Music/{{Oasis}}:
** Original bassist Paul "Guigsy" [=McGuigan=], who left the group in 1999, along with original rhythm guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. According to Noel Gallagher, Guigsy quit via fax and avoided phone calls from the Gallaghers in the following weeks. He declined to appear in the 2004 ''Definitely Maybe'' DVD, though a polite letter explaining his reasons for doing so appears as a hidden extra, along with a short segment with pundits giving their views on him. He also declined to be interviewed for the ''Oasis: Supersonic'' documentary, though archive footage of him was used instead.
** Second drummer Alan White (not to be confused with the late Music/{{Yes}} drummer) quit music entirely after leaving the band, outside of a one-off gig with his brother Steve's band in 2008. Little has been heard from him since.
* Musician Nyango Star -- a promotional character for a Japanese strawberry farm who plays heavy metal drums. The identity of the musician who plays Nyango is not even public knowledge.
* Aussie singer and MemeticMutation [=Chainmale=], real name Michael Freeland, is this trope, he's a very mysterious man and he hasn't released any music since the 1980s. He, however, did arrange an interview with Darryl Bullock for his book "The World's Worst Records: Volume Two: Another Arcade of Audio Atrocity".
* Music/GeorgeMichael became a recluse in his last months, after checking out of rehab, to the point that the last photos taken prior to his death showed him [[FormerlyFit suddenly gaining weight]] along with rarely showing up in public in addition to battling his demons which caused his relationship with his cousin to end up being strained.
* Demon Kakka of Music/SeikimaII (and to a lesser extent most of the band's members). All we know about his true identity is his birthday, where he was born, where he attended school and university, and that his elder sister, Yumiko Kogure, is a former Tokyo Broadcasting System newscaster... and that's basically it.
* Rion Vernon, who many know as Music/DoctorSteel, was this. All we know about his true identity is his real name, and after he retired his Doctor Steel persona, he vanished off the face of the earth for quite some time.
** Vernon maintains [[http://rion-vernon.squarespace.com/ a website]] that details his portfolio, which shows how he returned to character and production design after retiring from the music industry. He also, along with Zach Manchester, very recently (in late 2019) started a company that designs and manufactures pseudo antiques. He even appears in their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=52&v=rh0eXWjhBcE introductory video]]. He later started a [[https://www.patreon.com/wordsbyrmvernon Patreon]] in 2021.
* Pianist Mike Lombardo use to post his songs on [=YouTube=] frequently and even had a chance to sign with a record label, but his career came to an end after he was convicted in 2012 for possessing child porn. Despite his release in 2018, he's completely vanished from the public eye since one of his parole requirements involves having next to no access to the internet.
* Mexican singer-songwriter Lynda Thomas became this in 2002, when she vanished from the public eye, leaving some people making speculations on why she did such a thing during the peak of her career with battling bulimia, depression, and social isolation (which she mentioned on her song "A 1000 X Hora") being a possible reason. Fortunately, sixteen years later, Thomas returned to the public eye by launching her Twitter account, with her first post explaining her absence along with revealing that she's now a mother of one and has since made a comeback.
* Two examples from Music/{{Kiss}}:
** Ace Frehley's replacement Vinnie Vincent was not seen publicly from 1996 until January ''2018''. He returned to the public eye at the Atlanta KISS Expo (brought on by months of gentle prodding from a major fan, through Vincent's lawyer), and explained that his 22-year absence was a combination of his lengthy lawsuit against his former band, an abysmal marriage to his now-deceased second wife, a disdain for social media, and a general feeling that no one cared about him anymore. Needless to say, he was wrong on that last part, as he got a warm reception, and even had fans fly in from all over the world to see and meet him (including one fan from Australia who had the autograph of every member of KISS except for his).
** Vincent's replacement Mark St. John basically disappeared from the industry after a collaboration with ex-Kiss drummer Peter Criss ended up failing miserably. He wasn't completely gone like Vinnie Vincent, but never did anything with any kind of profile again, and even spent time in jail prior to his death.
* Music/{{Sophie}} spent much of her initial boom of popularity starting around 2013 a recluse, producing mononymously-released music backed by anonymously credited singers and often devoid of anything regarding her identity -- one infamous 2014 Boiler Room liveset saw her hire a drag performer to pretend to DJ on stage while she stood nearby as a security guard. [[DownplayedTrope This ended up changing a bit in late 2017]] after she came out as a UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} woman and began more publicly exploring her personal image, showing up to actual live performances, putting her face in videos and promotional material, and being more willing to give interviews, but she still counts as she generally strayed away from social media and overall remained a private person up until her death in 2021.
* Lou Watts of Music/{{Chumbawamba}} vanished off the face of the Earth after the band's 2012 breakup. She has no social media profiles and hasn't done anything since the band's breakup.
* Music/GeorgeStrait is known for keeping a fairly quiet personal life, rarely disclosing any information about himself that isn't already publicly known or drawing attention to himself as a celebrity.
* Rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio a.k.a Bad Bunny has stated that he likes to live a calm life that every time his concerts are done, he immediately leaves the area to avoid crowds. He disappeared from social media for a time when he was overwhelmed with his sudden rise to fame.
* Catherine St. Onge a.k.a. Himeka is known for her singing several anime and video game theme songs after she had won the Second Annual Animax Anison Grand Prix in Japan. However, in 2014, she went back to Canada due to her visa issues and being dropped off by her label. While she does desire to continue her singing career, [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2015-08-24/singer-himeka-tweets-about-hardships-in-industry/.92074 she reveals frustrations on Twitter]] about the mistreatment she experienced in the music industry and the death threats she received due to being a foreigner. Afterward, she deleted all of her social media accounts. Nothing's been heard of her ever since.
* Since 2014, Music/{{Sia}} has avoided the spotlight and is not contractually obliged to tour or promote her music; she doesn't even show her face most of the time. This is because she grew highly uncomfortable with fame and it damaged her health. Additionally, her social media pages are usually run by her team.
* Music/WendyCarlos gained a reputation for this after a nervous breakdown just before a 1968 live performance motivated her to minimize her public appearances; at the time of the performance, Carlos had already begun her gender transition but was wracked with fear about how the public would respond to her identity, with the breakdown in question coming about after Carlos came to the conclusion that she had to continue disguising herself as a man. Even after she finally disclosed her identity as a trans woman in 1979 (the response to which was, to her surprise, fairly indifferent), she generally kept out of the public eye save for the occasional interview and has mostly retreated into private life following ''Tales of Heaven and Hell'', only resurfacing when it's absolutely necessary.
* Music/GustavHolst was totally unprepared for the fame that came to him after the huge success of ''The Planets''. He had always been shy and turned down most social engagements in favor of teaching and more composing. It didn't help that much of his music was idiosyncratic and personal, and he grew tired of repeatedly having to explain himself.
* Masaki Haruna a.k.a. Klaha is known to be the third vocalist for the VisualKei band, Music/MaliceMizer, following the departure of Creator/{{Gackt}}. After a year in the band, he ventured into his solo career but his releases and performance stopped without warning. While he did promise that he would return in 2007, nothing has been heard ever since his sudden departure from the music industry. When Malice Mizer's guitarist Mana tried to contact him for the band's 25th-anniversary concert in 2018, no response was received from him.
* Country music singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry has not recorded new music in the studio since 1977 and has not made any public appearances since 1982. The media can't even track down where she lives, with some sources saying Nashville and others saying Los Angeles.
* Bossa Nova legend João Gilberto became one towards the end of his life, as his declining mental state and increasing debts resulted in him cutting off contact with the outside world. In 2017, he was evicted from his apartment for not paying rent and lived with his daughter Bebe until his death in 2019.
* Humphrey Lyttelton, the jazz trumpeter and chairman of the radio panel game ''Radio/ImSorryIHaventAClue'', was notoriously private. He lived in a house with no windows visible from outside (the only exterior windows faced an internal courtyard). He hated the telephone and used it as little as possible, communicating mostly by letter (he was a keen calligrapher); he kept his phone number ex-directory and changed it if anyone discovered it. (Though this wasn't out of misanthropy -- everyone who worked with him said he was a lovely man.)
* Former Music/{{Japan}} frontman Music/DavidSylvian is notorious for his hermitlike lifestyle, especially after his move to America and divorce from Ingrid Chavez, only occasionally resurfacing for the rare interview or announcement. His Twitter account constantly cycles in and out of various states of accessibility, and in one interview he admitted that he has a hard time going grocery shopping.
* Music/{{Fun}} frontman Nate Ruess has retired from the public eye apart from his locked Twitter account and niche podcast with two Twitter friends.
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