The life of a child star is predictable. Parental mismanagement, addiction, and mental illness
are just a few of the common pitfalls that make it difficult to keep everything in order.
With that in mind, here are some former child stars who lost it all.
Best known as Joey Russo on the 90s sitcom Blossom, Joey Lawrence earned acclaim from
a young age, as well a lifetime of people mocking his catchphrase "whoa!"
"Whoa!"
Following Blossom, he landed several more roles in which he played characters named
Joe, Joey, or J.J. Starting in 2010, he starred as one of the title characters on the ABC
Family sitcom Melissa & Joey, a show about a man trying to find a job after bankruptcy.
Two years after that show was gone, so was most of his money, as he and his wife Chandie
Yawn-Nelson had overspent so much that they had to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017.
Lawrence listed $43,907.32 in assets and a staggering $355,517.27 in liabilities. After
the dust settled, Us Weekly reported that they were left with a little more than $52,000
to pay all their creditors.
In 2018, Lawrence's production company was auctioned off, netting a high bid of $56,000.
The buyer has all rights to Lawrence's songs, residuals, and royalties of all work before
his bankruptcy.
Gary Coleman was once the highest-paid star on television, thanks to his role as Arnold
Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes, for which he earned around $70,000 per episode.
"What chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?"
So how could it be that this highly recognizable actor would end up declaring bankruptcy in
1999? According to Coleman, the blame lay with himself, as well as his accountants,
adoptive parents, agents, and lawyers. His financial situation got so bad that he even
had to take a job as a mall security guard to make ends meet. And when that wasn't enough,
he tried for fame again by running for governor of California in 2003.
Coleman passed away in 2010, having spent a significant amount of money on medical bills
and a lengthy legal battle against his parents. Owing to handwritten revisions to Coleman's
will shortly before his death, his former girlfriend and manager Anna Gray laid claim
to his estate, but so did his ex-wife Shannon Price, leading to a legal mess. As Gray's
attorney explained to ABC News,
"It's a survivor death benefit that Ms. Price has already grabbed, potential book deals
and movie rights. His present assets pale significantly in comparison to what may be
garnered. It could potentially be millions."
Dustin Diamond was haunted by his character on Saved by the Bell, Samuel "Screech" Powers.
He played him in ten different spin-offs, reboots, and parodies, from Good Morning,
Miss Bliss in 1988 to his fake adult film, Screeched — Saved by the Smell, which was
produced to try to save his house from foreclosure. When that didn't work, he tried to sell t-shirts
with his face on them.
Before Diamond became an adult, he was already in debt. He credited his 2001 bankruptcy to
his parents' spending and a substantial tax miscalculation. He listed his income at about
$5,300 a month, much of it going to propping up his real estate obligations. On top of
that, he had significant medical bills after his girlfriend's failed pregnancy in 2005.
After he was released from prison for stabbing someone in 2014, he reportedly told his former
costar Mario Lopez,
"I want to put the tomfoolery and malarkey behind me... for that clean slate. Time for
a change."
Tragically, Diamond passed away from Stage 4 cancer in February, 2021. All evidence suggested
that he was making good on his promise to Lopez, as his net worth before his death was
reportedly an estimated $300,000.
Corey Haim rocketed to stardom in the 80s in films like Lucas and The Lost Boys, becoming
one half of "The Two Coreys," along with fellow child star Corey Feldman. So how in ten years
did he go from fighting vampires to fighting bankruptcy? The answer was addiction. He turned
to drugs both for partying and to cope with his struggles. His addiction became a liability,
as the drugs inhibited his talent.
In a 1997 bankruptcy filing, Haim listed debts of nearly $104,000 to the IRS and $100,000
for state taxes and medical expenses. His assets consisted of an old car, $750 in clothing,
and $7,500 in residuals and royalties. After 15 rehab stints, he went so far as to cut
his hair and pull out his own teeth to sell them online. When he passed away in 2010,
he was still in such dire financial straits that his family asked his fans to help cover
funeral expenses. They also claimed that the city of Toronto stepped in to help cover the
expenses, although the city announced in a press release that they never received an
application for that assistance.
Aaron Carter released his first album when he was only 9 years old, and that album went
gold. And then his second album was certified 3-times platinum. His early albums reportedly
earned him $3.5 million, and according to Carter himself, he made over $200 million
by the time he was 18. As he revealed during a 2016 interview with Oprah Winfrey,
"We had this massive compound, with, like, 12 houses on it. It was worth over $10 million,
and I had paid a lot of that money."
"I was very depressed, and I wasn't making any money, and I wasn't doing any tours, I
wasn't doing any concerts. Nobody was booking me for anything."
But then the downfall came swiftly. As Carter revealed on the Spike series Life or Debt,
when he turned 18, he was facing millions of dollars in taxes. He even had to file for
bankruptcy to prevent his parents from going to prison. As Us Weekly reported in 2013,
his assets totaled $8,232.16, while his liabilities totaled $2,204,854. Much of his debt was due
to his parents' mismanaging his career. He owns the publishing rights to the songs he's
written, but he receives no royalties. In 2020, he started an OnlyFans page on which
a single explicit photo of him cost $50 to $125, although some users were angry because
he recycled images that had already leaked online. According to CelebrityNetWorth.com,
his net worth as of 2021 is estimated to be $400,000.
Leif Garrett first broke into the public eye in the 1969 film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,
and then he kept bouncing around screens both big and small. In 1976, he became a double
threat when he signed a recording contract, but his musical career was pretty much over
while he was still a teenager. When he was 17, he crashed a car while inebriated, resulting
in his friend Roland Winkler's partial paralysis. A judge awarded Winkler $3.9 million in damages,
though the jury made Garrett pay only $15,000 in punitive damages.
"I've for the longest time wanted to tell you that I'm so sorry that this happened."
In 2001, Garrett filed for personal bankruptcy, listing his only income as a monthly $1,000
gift from his mother and his only possessions as household goods. He was in the red with
$76,198 in unpaid credit card bills. He was eventually able to get his life back on track,
but his recording contracts have prevented him from ever seeing any royalties. According
to CelebrityNetWorth.com, his current personal fortune is a mere $1,000.
When Mean Girls came out in 2004, it seemed like a safe bet that Lindsay Lohan would make
a clean transition to a successful adult career. She certainly wasn't struggling financially,
as she earned a combined $22.5 million for her next three lead starring vehicles. But
as her star rose, so did her drug addiction and lavish spending on habits. Her frequent
trips to rehab also dulled her star power.
In 2012, Lohan had her bank accounts seized for owing nearly $234,000, though she did
get some help from Charlie Sheen, who cut her a check for $100,000. That same year,
she also reportedly earned a million for a Playboy spread. Then in 2013, she got some
help from Oprah Winfrey, who stepped in to offer Lohan a fresh start with the reality
series Lindsay on the OWN Network. But thanks to behind-the-scenes strife and subpar ratings,
the show lasted only one season.
"You need to cut the bull----. You really do."
"Kay."
"Just cut the ----."
"Kay."
Lohan has attempted a few more comebacks since then, including the MTV reality show Lindsay
Lohan's Beach Club in 2019. According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, her net worth as of 2021 is an estimated $800,000,
pocket change compared to where she used to be.
Amanda Bynes seemed poised to transition from Nickelodeon darling to big time movie star.
According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, she was earning between $2 and $3 million per year
at the peak of her career. But after appearing on screen in 2010's Easy A, she announced
her retirement from acting to focus on fashion.
In 2012, she was charged with misdemeanors for a hit-and-run, for which she had to enter
into a financial settlement, and things began to spiral. In 2014, TMZ obtained photographs
of Bynes sleeping in a mall. She later tweeted that she didn't have enough money to stay
at a hotel.
Owing to her mental health issues, her parents had been granted a mental health conservatorship
over her. The year before, she had reportedly spent $1.2 million in a few months and twice
withdrew $100,000 in cash. Her parents listed her net worth at nearly $4 million at the
time.
Bynes eventually graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising after
checking into a facility to treat her mental health issues. Despite all the tumult she's
been through, she hasn't quite lost everything, as CelebrityNetWorth.com estimates her finances
at $3 million.
David Cassidy rose to fame as Keith Partridge on the 70s musical sitcom The Partridge Family.
He grew up around show business, as both of his parents were also actors. He also had
a significant music career in addition to his acting, as he scored two number one singles
and sold 30 million records worldwide. He even had more members in his fan club than
The Beatles or Elvis Presley, and by the age of 21, he was the highest-paid solo performer
in the world.
But as Cassidy's teenage fans grew up, he struggled to do the same. He had a series
of DUI arrests and then court-mandated rehab that never succeeded for very long. He also
had a more challenging time finding work as an adult, though he spent his money as if
he were still a huge star. In 2015, he filed for bankruptcy, auctioning off his mansion
for a million-dollar loss. He reportedly had debts of at least $10 million, portioned out
between bank loans, credit cards, and $102,000 to a lawyer.
At the time of his death in 2017, CelebrityNetWorth.com estimated his finances at $500,000, though
he also had debts totaling $186,840. He left his estate to his son Beau, along with $1
million in life insurance and a $450,000 retirement account, while completely cutting out his
daughter, Arrow actress Katie Cassidy.
In the 70s, Willie Aames was one of the most prominent child stars around, thanks to his
starring role of Tommy Bradford Jr. on the sitcom Eight is Enough. At the peak of that
show, he was making over $1 million a year. But like so many other former child stars,
he eventually turned to drugs, as his addictions escalated from heavy drinking to marijuana
and then cocaine. And those weren't his only troubles. After following his accountant's
advice to invest in a coal mine, Aames ended up owing $400,000 to the IRS, which forced
his house into foreclosure. He eventually even ended up sleeping under parking garages
and bushes. As he told The Wrap in 2015,
"When I was at my lowest, I had no phone, no computer, no car, and $5 in my pocket."
Aames managed to find jobs in construction and as a cruise director before eventually
becoming a financial planner and motivational speaker. He also moonlit as the Christian
superhero Bibleman from 1995 to 2004 until an injury forced him out of the role and toward
a painkiller addiction, as he revealed in his memoir Grace Is Enough. According to CelebrityNetWorth.com,
he's currently worth an estimated $100,000.
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