EXCLUSIVE: Former '80s Sex Symbol Ann Jillian Explains Why She Ditched Hollywood for Motherhood — and Never Looked Back
Ann Jillian declared motherhood was more important to her.
July 12 2026, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
Eighties s-x symbol Ann Jillian turned her back on Hollywood to focus on being a mom – and she's never regretted it, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"I gave birth to my one and only son when I was 42, and I took that seriously," says Jillian, 76, who landed on Hollywood's A-list playing a sultry waitress on the sitcom It's a Living.
Why Ann Jillian Skipped Hollywood
The actress admitted she could not balance motherhood and fame simultaneously.
And while she admires women who can balance motherhood and fame, "I recognize that I cannot. Something is going to suffer," she added.
Jillian got her start as a child actress, playing Little Bo Peep in 1961's Babes in Toyland.
The next year, she starred in 1962's Gypsy as Baby June alongside Natalie Wood and Rosalind Russell.
She was a regular on the '60s sitcom Hazel, then toured in musical comedies before appearing with Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller in the original company of Sugar Babies on Broadway.
Her career exploded in the '80s with It's a Living and at 35, she made headlines when she went public with her breast cancer diagnosis.
Cancer Changed Ann Jillian's Life
The celebrity went public with a breast cancer diagnosis at 35-years old
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Her battle with the disease was told in the 1988 made-for-TV movie The Ann Jillian Story, with Jillian earning a Golden Globe for playing herself.
But after her son, Andrew, with husband Andy Murcia, was born in 1992, Jillian decided to switch gears.
"I thought, 'I don't want to be a thousand miles away if he gets a boo-boo. I don't want to be a thousand miles away when he wants to talk about something just terrible that happened at school or just wonderful that happened at school,'" she said.
"I don't want to be in front of a camera somewhere when it's time for him to have his first communion.
"So, basically, I hung up my dancing shoes and said, 'Nope, nope, this is the most important role I have to play right now, and that's being a mom.'"
Jillian added, "I'm sure I made mistakes along the way, but I learned an awful lot too, and I had the privilege of raising a young man who is now an international tax attorney. And I wouldn't trade that for the world."
