Retirement has often been considered a loose concept in the entertainment industry, with several luminaries re-emerging post their official departure. A case in point being renowned actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who announced his retirement from acting in 2017. A pervasive doubt existed regarding his drift into oblivion, primarily because his captivating persona promised future screen appearances. The recent revelation of his participation in a film project alongside Sean Bean, taking place in Manchester, quashed all such ambiguities. This was followed by an announcement of his role in a drama directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis, named Anemone.
Similarly, in the world of music, several artists have been known to reverse their retirement decisions. An interesting example is Barbra Streisand, who last year hinted at her retirement during the promotion of her biography. However, her past record, including an ‘end of public performance’ proclamation 25 years ago, which proved erroneous seven years later, suggests taking her recent proclamation with a pinch of salt.
Legendary singing sensation Frank Sinatra provided a theatrical touch to his retirement. Following his 1971 charity concert’s final number ‘Angel Eyes’ by Earl Brent, Sinatra declared his retirement. Although the literal and metaphorical disappearing act was temporary, Sinatra re-emerged in 1973 with an album, ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back’, a comeback that was reportedly well-received and hailed.
Greta Garbo might have truly desired solitude, but we can’t say the same for Daniel Day-Lewis. Donald Trump is also making headlines due to ‘The Apprentice’ debate, involving the ‘meanest, toughest, and most unswervingly faithful and disagreeable’ attorney in the United States. In an unusual twist, a humanist vampire is actively searching for a consenting individual with suicidal tendencies, which sounds like a distinctively French version of Edward Scissorhands.
There is an established trend here; if an artist tears up the audience with their ostensible exit, they are generally met with ecstatic joy when they eventually decide to come back, often filling giant arenas. It’s difficult to think that Oasis could have incited such fervour in 2024 if they had simply carried on releasing albums for 16 years following ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’ and ‘Dig Out Your Soul’. (Indeed, their names had to be researched).
It’s not by chance that the most unapologetically dramatic episode in David Bowie’s career occurred in the break between Sinatra’s “retirement” and the release of ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back’. At the end of his Ziggy Stardust tour – which continued after the launch of ‘Aladdin Sane’ – Bowie gave a seemingly sincere speech at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. He declared, “This specific concert will stay in our hearts the longest,” because not only was it the final show of the tour, but it “will be the last performance that we’ll ever give.”
Today, it’s agreed that (although it came as a surprise to some band members) he meant the end of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, not the entire David Bowie project. But the hint of a Sinatra-style retreat stirred up a media frenzy. Bowie launched Diamond Dogs a year later and returned to touring.
Thus, the conclusion is that the dubious retirement could be exploited as a marketing device. That’s a possible explanation.
The complex nature of Day-Lewis’s acting career is nothing short of intriguing. In a surprising turn of events back in 1989, he abruptly left a Hamlet performance at the National Theatre, London, and has not graced the stage since. His notable commitment to preparing for movie roles has earned him legendary status. With such intense dedication, it’s comprehensible that he may wish to relieve himself of the immense pressure. In the tail end of the 1990s, Day-Lewis paused his acting career and picked up shoemaking. After the launch of Phantom Thread seven years ago, he seemed to have called it quits indefinitely. Presently, however, he’s made his return, much to our delight.
Nonetheless, the captivating allure of a permanent exit from the limelight holds its charm. Nothing that mavericks like Sinatra, Streisand or Bowie did could rival the mystifying, almost ethereal retreat of Greta Garbo. Following a box office failure in 1941, she opted out of the entertainment industry and vanished from the public eye. Nine years before, in Grand Hotel, she famously declared, “I want to be alone,” nearly prophesying the solitude of the rest of her life. Envisage executing such an exit in the era of Instagram.