They had everything and died with almost nothing: The film and music stars who squandered an enormous fortune

2023-12-30 12:45:58

With a spatula

December 30 2023, 6:45 am
Credits: Jovani Pérez

If the entertainment industry has proven anything, it is that nothing is set in stone. One day, an actor, singer or any type of celebrity can win all the awards in the world, appear on the covers of all the magazines and be besieged wherever he wants he goes. And in the blink of an eye, all the fame and fortune can disappear, while his name ends up in oblivion.

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Many artists have managed to stay ahead of the times, and despite no longer being so relevant, they maintain a fairly comfortable life. Many other stars believe that they will shine forever, and after a lot of bad decisions, they die due to economic hardship.

Below, we review the stories of celebrities who had it all, but at the end of their lives, they barely had a few cents in their pockets and a lot of regrets in their memory.

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston was one of the most important singers of the 20th century. Her performance of her piece I Will Always Loves You ended up immortalizing her and making her an inspiration for generations to come. There was a time when Houston had practically everything, but her addiction to alcohol and drugs severely affected her mental and physical health. Houston’s voice, the same one that brought her to stardom, disappeared without a trace of her, even receiving boos from the people who once cheered her. It all ended on February 11, 2012, when Whitney was found in a hotel bathtub completely unconscious after having combined cocaine and alcohol.

At the time of his death, Houston had nothing but debts that amounted to almost USD 4 million, when he had had a fortune close to USD 100 million.

Gary Coleman

After having given life to the character of Arnold in the series Black and White, Gary Coleman expected to have a life full of fame and fortune, but fate had several tragedies prepared for him. By then, the actor was earning USD 100,000 per episode, but apparently his adoptive parents kept a large part of his earnings. He ended up suing them and his former manager, but after the legal process, the actor was left bankrupt, forced to work as a security guard.

Now away from the cameras, Coleman had several problems with the law, especially for violent outbursts with his wife Tracy Fields. He returned to television to make some sporadic appearances but that was not enough to save him from the serious kidney problems he was facing. The actor suffered from several seizures prior to his death on May 28, 2010, which was caused by hemorrhage after a fall.

According to Forbes, Coleman had nothing more than “a modest home with a mortgage and some royalties from his acting days” when he died, leaving an estate of $75,000.

Bobby Driscoll

The story of Bobby Driscoll makes for an entire dramatic film. In his childhood years, he was welcomed by Disney to perform films such as the controversial Song of the South, which brought him world fame. The mouse house had faith in little Driscoll, paying him about USD 20 thousand in current dollars simply for being available when he was needed in a role. Everything seemed perfect until puberty hit, and with it acne, a change in voice and other situations that Disney no longer saw as profitable.

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