Someone recently asked E!Online’s “Answer B!tch” the question “Do any celebs quit Hollywood for real jobs?” Turns out that science and academia aren’t unusual career paths for celebrities (even very minor ones) who decide that Hollywood isn’t their primary career path. You probably know that Danica McKellar, who played Winnie in The Wonder Years, turned into a hot math geek who now teaches teenage girls that math is cool (and still does some acting on the side), but here are a few more:

• Mayim Bialik – once better known as “Blossom” – has a PhD in neuroscience and is writing a book on parenting. (Though she still does some acting as well; you might have seen her on the season finale of The Big Bang Theory.)
• Charlie Korsmo, who I remember best as the kid in Hook, is a law professor at Brooklyn Law School and teaches torts, corporate law, and land use.
• Brian May, lead guitarist for Queen, is an astrophysicist. And he’s currently the chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
• Ilan Mitchell-Smith, known for his role in Weird Science, has a PhD in English and teaches at California State University Long Beach.

Come to think of it, this isn’t exactly a long list. Anyone know of other examples?