Do You Ever Want To Live The Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous? Cele...

In the mid 80′s to early 90′s, a television show, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” was broadcast in America with its host, Robin Leach, showing the everyday American how the rich and famous lived their lives, often on exotic vacations.   Celebrities are often admired, imitated and fawned over in our society.  But when you look closely, those celebrities are not any different from the average “Joe” on the street.    However, unlike “Joe”, who can file for bankruptcy protection and have privacy, celebrities filing for bankruptcy make headlines and fingers get pointed about why or how or what caused financial distress.   While the celebrity lifestyle may be quite different from “Joe’s”, financial distress has the same effect on everyone.  And everyone is entitled to a fresh start, no matter how many (or how few) parapazzi stalk them.   Listed below are a few (not all)  bankruptcies of film and television stars as well as a partial list of other celebrities who have filed for bankruptcy protection.   Part Two will discuss Sports and Music Industry legends who asked for bankruptcy protection.

Film and Television Industry

Starting off the list is an article by this author discussing some of the “Real Housewives” series of bankrupt reality show stars:

     Real Housewives of New Jersey:  Terese and Joe Giudice, Danielle Staub,  Chris Manzo (his company)

     Real Housewives of New York:   Sonja Morgan

     Real Housewives of Orange County:  Alexis and Jim Bellino, Simon Barney, Tammy Knickerbocker, Lynne and Frank Curtin

     Real Housewives of Atlanta:   Lisa Wu Hartwell

     Real Housewives of Beverly Hills:   Taylor and Russell Armstrong

     Real Housewives of D.C.:   Michaele and Tareq Salahi

Stephen Baldwin, one of the Baldwin brothers/acting family, featured in an article by Carmen Dellutri, one of our Florida attorneys.

Gary Busey, discussed in an article by Dana Willkinson, our South Carolina member attorney.   Mr. Busey continues to have financial difficulty with the IRS.

Kim Basinger, who bought a town for $20 million right before she was sued for more than $8 million (breach of contract case)

Lorraine Bracco, who admitted when interviewed that bankruptcy is a humbling experience.

Tia Carrere, who was accused of filing bankruptcy to get out of her contract with ABC.

Gary Coleman, now deceased, but who was once the highest paid child actor in his era.

Francis Ford Coppola, who had many box office successes, also had failures that put his studio at risk.

Walt Disney, who created Mickey Mouse AFTER his bankruptcy and went on to fantastic success as explained by Rachel Foley, our Kansas attorney

Burt Reynolds, whose bad investments caused his financial distress.

Zsa Zsa Gabor, who filed bankruptcy after  losing a  libel suit filed by Elke Sommer

Mickey Rooney, who also became a victim of elder financial abuse after his bankruptcy

Corey Haim, now deceased, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Haim was best known for his roles in Lost Boys and Lucas, both 80s films.

Don Johnson, another actor who rose to success in the 80s and fell hard in 2004.

Margot Kidder, actress, whose mental illness amplified the financial turmoil in her life in the late 80s and early 90s.

Randy Quaid, another 80s star, who filed for bankruptcy in 2010, then fled to Canada with his wife and sought refugee protection due to their claims of lawyers and agent who want to murder the Quaids.

Debbie Reynolds, who had to sell her celebrity memorabilia during the bankruptcy process.

John Wayne,as explained by our Maryland member, Brett Weiss when discussing whether a debtor is a bad person for filing bankruptcy.

Famous for being Famous Celebrities

Nadya Shuleman (who ended up dismissing her bankruptcy as explained by our Georgia member,  Jonathan Ginsberg)

Heidi Fleiss, aka the Hollywood Madam, whose financial troubles continued post-bankruptcy.   Fleiss filed for bankruptcy after she was released from prison from charges relating to her Hollywood madam career.

John Wayne Bobbitt, whose angry wife dismembered him, filed for bankruptcy, went on to become a adult film star.

Casey Anthony, who was found not guilty for the murder of her child while most of America believes that the wrong verdict was reached.

Anna Nicole Smith, whose real name was “Vicki Lynn Marshall”, rose to fame as the 1993  Playboy Bunny of the Year.  In 1994, she married J. Howard Marshall, a wealthy 89 year old.  In 1995, Marshall died.  The battle over Marshall’s estate raged from Texas (probate court) to California (Anna Nicole Smith’s bankruptcy) to the U.S. Supreme Court, first in 2005 on a decision regarding probate matters and then the second decision holding that a bankruptcy court could not have jurisdiction over a state court matter.  The second decision, in 2011, has had an impact on every bankruptcy case involving litigation (see  Stern v. Marshall )   Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007.