6 celebrities who bounced back from bankruptcy to enjoy success

He’s perhaps the world’s biggest movie star, but Will Smith’s career hasn’t been all plain-sailing.
After finding sudden stardom as part of a musical duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Smith’s lavish spending left him with such a hefty IRS bill that he was forced to hand over most of his possessions in order to pay off the debt.
But less than a year later Smith signed with NBC to star in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The IRS took a 70 per cent cut of his earnings for the first three years of the show, but after that he was free. The rest is history. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty)

After early joy as a model, Kim Basinger moved to Los Angeles to begin a successful acting career.

After buying a large amount of private land to use as a tourist attraction, Basinger encountered financial difficulties in the 90s. She was forced to sell of some of the land, but when she pulled out of the controversial film Boxing Helena the production company was awarded an $8m settlement against her.

Basinger filed for bankruptcy and took a three year hiatus from acting. Her comeback role in L.A. Confidential saw Basinger win a Golden Globe for best supporting actress, reviving her career. (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

After his retirement from boxing, former heavyweight champ George Foreman founded a youth centre for troubled children to train and play sports.
Overwhelmed by costs, Foreman refused to shut down the centre. Faced with bankruptcy, he instead returned to the ring in an attempt to pay his debts. Incredibly, Foreman won in his first fight after 10 years and would go on to become the oldest man to hold the heavyweight title.
That led Foreman tosign a deal to put his name on a lean meat and fat-reducing grill. By 2012, when George was 63, the grills were the biggest contributor to a net worth of more than $300m. Foreman continues to run his youth charity. (Gary Miller/FilmMagic/Getty)

Bat Out of Hell was one of the best-selling albums of all time, but Meatloaf soon found himself on the verge of bankruptcy as a result of numerous lawsuits and even had to cancel shows as a result of financial issues.

In 1986 and at age 39, with over 40 lawsuits against him and two unsuccessful albums, he filed for bankruptcy. But five years later the rock singer bounced back with a new album and hit single I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That), for which he won a Grammy. (Patrick R. Murphy/Getty)

Soul icon Isaac Hayes had already written a series of hits and released a number of albums when he hit the musical jackpot with his soundtrack for the film Shaft.
The title song earned Hayes an Oscar, two Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe. But 12 years after he first joined Stax Records as a session player, the label got into serious financial problems and lost many of its royalties, including those of Hayes.
At the same time, Hayes had his own financial problems from low record sales. He owed over $6 million, which forced him into bankruptcy.
After a break from music to pursue an acting career, Hayes returned to his roots with a widely lauded album in 1995 before reaching a whole new audience by voicing the character ‘Chef’ in the TV series South Park. (Michael Ochs/Getty)

While most celebs who filed for bankruptcy did so once they were already household names, Cyndi Lauper is a different story.
With her first band Blue Angel facing struggling record sales, a dispute with manager Steve Massarsky led to him filing an $80,000 lawsuit against them for firing him.
The suit forced Lauper into bankruptcy in 1981 while she worked in retail to pay the bills. But just two years later she found success with her first solo album, which featured hits like ‘Time After Time’ and, fittingly, ‘Money Changes Everything’. (Ebet Roberts/Getty)