19 screen stars who went from riches to rags

Hey big spenders

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Becoming a film or TV star can seriously boost your bank balance, but not everyone who reaches the pinnacle of success manages to stay there.

From the Golden Age of Hollywood to your favourite actors of the last few decades, read on to discover 19 stars who lost all their money and ended up spectacularly broke.

All dollar amounts in US dollars

Veronica Lake

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Veronica Lake was one of the most famous film stars of the 1940s. When she was just 18, she shot to fame in the military drama I Wanted Wings and quickly became a leading lady in Hollywood.

But her acting career was short-lived. By the mid-1940s, Lake had gained a reputation for being difficult to work with and film studio Paramount decided not to renew her contract.

Veronica Lake

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Despite earning $4,500 a week in her heyday, the equivalent of around $79,000 (£62k) in today's money, Lake soon ran into financial trouble. In October 1948, her mother sued her for support payments. In 1951, Lake and her director husband, Andre DeToth, filed for bankruptcy. They had debts of $156,573, around $1.9 million (£1.5m) in 2024 money.

Although Lake appeared in a few more films and plays, her career was all but over. The one-time femme fatale, pictured here in 1969, switched Hollywood stardom for bartending and eventually died from alcoholism in 1973.

Mickey Rooney

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During a film and stage career that spanned a whopping nine decades, Mickey Rooney became one of the highest-paid actors of his generation. He made his first appearance on stage at just 17 months old. By the late 1970s, he was earning $65,000 a week, or around $299,000 (£236k) in today's money.

But Rooney’s personal life was troubled. Struggling with gambling, alcohol, and family feuds, the star filed for bankruptcy not once – but twice.

Mickey Rooney

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In 1962, Rooney filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He claimed assets of just $500 ($5.2k/£4.1k today) against debts of $464,914, the equivalent of $4.8 million (£3.8m) in today’s money.

Although the ever-popular actor managed to turn his fortunes around in the 1970s and 80s, he declared bankruptcy again in 1996. In 2011, he accused his son and daughter-in-law of elder abuse and the US Senate Committee handed his finances over to a conservator. When Rooney died in 2014 at the age of 93, he had just $18,000 (£14k) of his once multimillion fortune left.  

Kim Basinger

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One-time femme fatale Kim Basinger's financial troubles started back in 1988, when her family encouraged her to buy the bulk of private land situated in Braselton – a Georgia town that the Batman and L.A. Confidential star planned to turn into a tourist attraction.

Basinger paid $20 million for the land, the equivalent of over $53 million (£42m) today – but sold it for just $1 million in 1994, or $2.1 million (£1.7m) when adjusted for inflation.

Kim Basinger

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She then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1993, after pulling out of the film Boxing Helena because she didn't agree with the script. The courts ordered Basinger to pay $8.1 million ($17m/£13m today) to production company Main Line Pictures – but she didn’t have the money.

Basinger cited debts of $11 million, the equivalent of $24 million (£19m) in 2024. Although the case was eventually settled, legal fees pushed her further into the red. Thankfully, the actor is back from the brink and now has an estimated net worth of $20 million (£16m).

Burt Reynolds

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When American actor Burt Reynolds died in 2018, he left behind a fortune of $5 million ($6.3m/£5m today). It's more money than most of us can dream of but much less than you’d expect from an actor who was voted the biggest box office star for five years running.

Despite his on-screen success, the Smokey and the Bandit star was plagued by financial problems, with everything from bad investments to divorce affecting his bank balance.

Burt Reynolds

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In 1996, Reynolds filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after falling into $10 million of debt. That’s the equivalent of $20 million (£16m) today. The actor was no stranger to overspending – he reportedly spent upwards of $100,000 (£79k) on toupees to hide his bald patch – and he also lost money after investing in a Florida restaurant that failed.

However, it was his divorce from fellow actor Loni Anderson that left him seriously out of pocket. According to the Los Angeles Times, the divorce had cost Reynolds more than $2 million by 1994, or $4.3 million (£3.4m) in 2024 money. It would take him 22 years to pay Anderson off completely after their split.  

Lorenzo Lamas

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Lorenzo Lamas found fame in the US soap Falcon Crest, which he starred in from 1981 to 1990. Lamas was the only actor to appear in every single one of the show's 227 episodes, but his long-running starring stint didn't protect him from financial hardship.

Like Mickey Rooney, the soap and reality star has filed for bankruptcy twice: once in 2004 and again in 2014.

 

Lorenzo Lamas

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Lamas, pictured in 2018, was more than $616,000 in debt when he filed for bankruptcy in 2004, or around $1 million (£790k) in today's money. His liabilities included $145,000 ($246k/£194k today) in credit card debt, as well as bills for plastic surgery, private flying lessons, and personal loans. Lamas' debts were discharged but he didn't learn from his mistakes.

By 2014, he was reportedly $322,000 ($432k/£340k today) in debt again, partly due to expensive divorce proceedings and alimony payments. According to the Daily Mail, the actor has supplemented his income by phoning fans via the website HollywoodIsCalling.com for around $20 (£16) a call. "I say happy birthday a lot," Lamas apparently said. "And I congratulate people for being employee of the month."

Willie Aames

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From TV star to satellite installer is not a conventional career path but Willie Aames (pictured with fellow actor Phoebe Cates) made the unusual decision after hitting rock bottom. Aames is best known for his role in the 1970s US series Eight is Enough, as well as the 80s sitcom Charles in Charge.

After finding fame on screen, however, the former child star struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, an expensive habit that eventually cost him his home, marriage, and fortune.

Willie Aames

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In 2008, Aames filed for bankruptcy and resorted to auctioning off his belongings to raise some extra cash. After his house was foreclosed, Aames became homeless and went from "eating at the White House to sleeping in the bushes."

According to an interview quoted in the Daily Mail, the actor made a surprising comeback – not behind the camera, but on a cruise ship. "I had a choice," Aames said. "So, what did I do? I became your favourite celebrity satellite installer and I learnt a trade, and then I went to work on a cruise ship." The Gunsmoke star worked his way up to become cruise director before returning to acting in 2016.

Nicolas Cage

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After making his film debut in 1982, Nicholas Cage went on to become one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors. According to Forbes, he earned $40 million in 2009 alone, or around $60 million (£47m) in 2024 money.

As well as his on-screen fame, Cage – who's starred in films such as Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, and The Wicker Man – also became known for his philanthropy. But the actor's deep pockets eventually ran dry, and news of his financial hardship started to hit headlines in 2009.

Nicolas Cage

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According to CNBC, Cage's net worth was $150 million (£118m) at the peak of his career. But a series of failed retail investments – and a bizarre spending spree that saw him snap up shrunken heads, a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skull, and rare comic books – put a serious dent in his fortune.

The star found himself on the brink of bankruptcy and owing money to the IRS. However, Cage has since worked tirelessly to rebuild his wealth and is today worth an estimated $25 million (£20m).

Stephen Baldwin

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Stephen Baldwin made his TV debut in 1987, when he appeared in an episode of American Playhouse. He went on to star in a string of films and TV shows throughout the 90s and 2000s, but by 2009 the actor was drowning in debt.

According to Reuters, Baldwin filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and owed $1.2 million ($1.8k/£1.4k today) in mortgage payments, over $1 million (£790k) in taxes, and an inflation-adjusted sum of $104,000 (£82k) to credit card companies.

Stephen Baldwin

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Baldwin (pictured with older brother Alec) was forced to auction off his New York home and turned to reality TV to make ends meet. But his financial woes weren't over yet.

In 2013, he pleaded guilty to failing to file income taxes for the period 2008-2010 and was ordered to pay $300,000 within one year, or around $409,000 (£323k) in 2024 money.

Pamela Anderson

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Baywatch star Pamela Anderson hit troubled waters in 2009 when it was revealed she'd moved out of her home and was living in a trailer park.

According to reports, Anderson owed more than $800,000 ($1.2m/£950k today) to a construction company that was renovating her Malibu mansion, a project that apparently included gold pool tiles and a $110,000 (£87k) sound system.

Pamela Anderson

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Anderson was quick to squash any talk of bankruptcy on Twitter, calling the claims "garbage". However, county records showed that five different companies had filed liens for unpaid bills, one of which amounted to $674,043, or close to $1 million (£790k) in 2024 money.

Meanwhile, she also owned $252,360.39 in back-taxes from 2007, the equivalent of $375,000 (£295k) today.

Gary Coleman

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Gary Coleman found fame on the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, which he starred in from the tender age of 10. Despite a successful TV and film career in the 80s and 90s – which included his own Gary Coleman Show and saw him become the highest-paid actor on the small screen – the former child star hit financial hardship and declared himself bankrupt in 1999.

Gary Coleman

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A decade before his bankruptcy, Coleman sued his adoptive parents and business adviser for misappropriating his assets. The court awarded him $1.3 million (equivalent to $3.4m/£2.7m in today), but by 1999 he was in serious debt.

According to TIME, he owed $72,000, the equivalent of $138,000 (£109k) today. But who was to blame for burning through the actor's estimated $7 million (£5.5m) fortune? Coleman said he could "spread the blame from me to accountants to my adoptive parents, to agents to lawyers and back to me again".

Coleman died in 2010.

Teresa Giudice

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Best known for starring in the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Teresa Giudice hasn't hidden her excessive spending from the world. Her on-screen extravagances have included a $1.8 million (£1.4m) mansion, flash cars, designer shopping sprees, and a $22,077-a-year (£17k) beauty routine.

But her financial troubles have been just as high-profile as her luxurious lifestyle. In October 2009, Teresa and then-husband Joe filed for bankruptcy – and this was just the start of the Giudice's money problems.

Teresa Giudice

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The Giudices withdrew their bankruptcy petition in 2010. Four years later, both Teresa and Joe pleaded guilty to over 40 counts of fraud, including bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud, and failure to file tax returns. Teresa served 11 months of a 15-month prison sentence, while Joe was deported to Italy.

The couple has since divorced but not before Teresa reportedly spent millions of dollars fighting her ex-husband's deportation. Current estimates suggest that the reality star is worth just $500,000 (£394k) today.

Charlie Sheen

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In 2010, Charlie Sheen was the highest-paid actor on our TV screens. He earned a whopping $1.8 million per episode on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, or around $2.6 million (£2.1m) in 2024 money. However, his troubled personal life began to overshadow his acting career.

CBS terminated Sheen's contract in 2011 after the star's behaviour became increasingly erratic. But losing his main gig did nothing to curb his spending. According to GQ, Sheen spent $1 million (£790k) on cars in just one week and reportedly rented the Houston Astrodome simply to play a game with friends. He gave $100,000 (£79k) to Lindsay Lohan to help her pay off her debts, and apparently spent millions on escorts.

Charlie Sheen

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By 2015, he owed almost $5 million to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in back taxes, which amounts to $6.6 million (£5.2m) today.  The same year, Sheen revealed that he was HIV-positive and had paid blackmailers $10 million ($13m/£10m today) to keep quiet.

The announcement sparked a 95% increase in the number of people buying at-home HIV tests, a phenomenon dubbed "the Charlie Sheen effect". The actor, whose net worth is now around $3 million (£2.4m), continues to support various charities including Aid for AIDS and California Strong.

Gary Busey

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Gary Busey made his film debut in 1974 but is best known for playing American musician Buddy Holly in 1978's The Buddy Holly Story. A string of successful appearances followed in the 80s, including a role in 1987’s Lethal Weapon.

But Busey’s life was turned upside down when personal tragedy struck the following year.

Gary Busey

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On 4 December 1988, Busey suffered a near-fatal motorcycle crash. The actor, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, had a major head injury that left him with permanent brain damage. Understandably, this affected his career. Roles in serious blockbusters were traded in for cameo appearances on TV shows and bit parts in movies. By February 2012, Busey had declared bankruptcy, with liabilities of up to $1 million ($1.4m/£1.1m today), according to Reuters.

But the star has since turned things around. In 2019, he played God in the Broadway show Only Human, and in May 2020 he presented a one-off comedy court show that streamed on Amazon Prime. Today, he's estimated to be worth around $500,000 (£394k).

Lindsay Lohan

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Former child star Lindsay Lohan is currently worth a fraction of the fortune she amassed during the 2000s, when she was raking in millions of dollars per movie. So what happened to the Mean Girls star’s money?  

Lindsay Lohan

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As Lohan’s fame increased and the paparazzi began to pursue her, her personal life became increasingly troubled. A string of hospitalisations, arrests, and lawsuits followed. By 2012, Lohan was in serious debt, owing thousands in unpaid fees to a tanning salon, her rehab clinic, and a limousine hire company. Not to mention she owned $233,904 in federal back taxes, or around $320,000 (£252k) in today's money.

The IRS seized control of her bank accounts, and Lohan’s net worth reportedly plummeted from $28 million to around just $100,000. Her current net worth is estimated to be in the region of $2 million (£1.6m).

Donna D'Errico

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Former Baywatch star Donna D'Errico was famed for wearing red swimsuits on the beaches of LA – and the actor later found herself "in the red" again, but for quite a different reason.

In 2014, D'Errico filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and claimed to have just $20 (£16) in her bank account.

Donna D'Errico

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According to Radar, D'Errico's legal paperwork revealed that she had assets worth just under $414,000 ($550k/£433k today) against liabilities totalling $947,332 ($1.3m/£1m today).

D'Errico's debt was discharged and the actor has since appeared on TV shows including Roadies and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. As well as D'Errico and Pamela Anderson, another Baywatch star, Nicole Eggert, has also repeatedly filed for bankruptcy. Maybe there was something in the water...

Teri Polo

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Best known for her role in the Meet the Parents trilogy, Teri Polo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2014. According to HuffPost, the actor was almost $1 million ($1.3m/£1m today) in debt, with creditors including the IRS, the California Franchise Tax Board, and various credit card companies.

Teri Polo

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At the time of her bankruptcy, Polo was starring in the TV series The Fosters.

Although she reportedly earned $25,000 ($34k£27k today) per episode, according to her bankruptcy petition she had less than $50,000 (£66k/£52k today) in assets. Current estimates suggest her net worth is around $200,000 (£158k).

Tori Spelling

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Beverly Hills, 90210 star Tori Spelling hasn't shied away from discussing money in the past, admitting that her privileged upbringing courtesy of her film producer father Aaron "set [her] up for not knowing too much about how to handle money a little bit".

It seems that American Express agrees. In January 2016, the credit card company sued the actor after she failed to pay a $37,981 bill that had been outstanding since the summer of 2015. That's around $50,000 (£39k) in today's money. And things only got worse from there...

Tori Spelling

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In October 2016, American Express filed new paperwork, ordering Spelling to pay an outstanding credit card bill of just under $88,000, or around $115,000 (£91k) in 2024 money. Two months later, Spelling and her then-husband, Dean McDermott (pictured), were sued by City National Bank for almost $200,000 ($262k/£206k today) after they failed to repay a loan.

"It's no mystery why I have money problems," Spelling wrote in her 2013 autobiography, Spelling It Like It Is. "Even when I try to embrace a simpler lifestyle, I can't seem to let go of my expensive tastes."

Johnny Depp

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Johnny Depp might have struck gold with The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but his personal life hasn't always been plain sailing. The actor rose to fame in the 1980s and has been a fixture on film sets ever since, earning $48 million in 2016 alone, according to Forbes, or around $63 million (£50m) in today's money.

However, this didn't stop him from facing financial ruin in 2017.

Johnny Depp

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After falling into $40 million worth of debt (around $51 million/£40m in today's money), Depp sued his managers. They promptly countersued the star and outlined his extravagant spending in court documents. According to Depp's managers, the actor's monthly expenditure included $300,000 ($385k/£303k today) on staff, $200,000 ($256k/£202k today) on private planes, and $30,000 ($38k/£30k today) on wine. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Depp said this was "insulting" because he spent "far more" than $30,000 on wine.

He even spent $3 million ($3.8m/£3m today) to blast the ashes of writer Hunter S. Thompson out of a cannon. "When Depp's spending outpaced his earnings, and he refused to change his lifestyle, he was forced to borrow large sums of money to continue living the lifestyle he chose," Depp's managers claimed.

Alyssa Milano

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Alyssa Milano began her career on Broadway before making her film debut in 1984, when she was just 12 years old. She later found fame on Who's The Boss?, Confessions of a Sorority Girl, and Charmed.

However, Milano hasn't always had a charmed life when it comes to money – despite amassing an estimated $45 million (£35m) fortune at the peak of her fame.

Alyssa Milano

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In 2017, Milano and her husband Dave Bugliari (pictured) filed a $10 million lawsuit against Milano's former business manager Kenneth Hellie, the equivalent of $12.8 million (£10m) in today's money They accused Hellie of forging signatures on cheques, failing to pay taxes, and encouraging them to make bad investments. These actions apparently left the pair "with millions of dollars in debt and their credit in ruins".

However, Hellie and the couple's ex-accountant both claimed the couple's spending was out of control. According to Hellie's cross-complaint, Milano and Bugliari spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars on a second home in the mountains, private planes, country club membership, a boat, and numerous personal staff." The case was eventually settled but the terms of the agreement were never disclosed.

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