# Once-Famous Stars Who Have Come To a Sad end **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711 "2002-11-14T13:30:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/81 "2006-06-20T14:02:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I remember seeing Bob Denver from GILLIGAN’S ISLAND & his real life wife Dreama in a particularly cheesy play at a local dinner theater when I was a kid. Even at the time I wondered “didn’t he save anything from the series?”, cause this wasn’t something you do to advance your career. [/QUOTE] I read Jim Backus’ book, and he said that the network came to the cast after GI ended: “Well, there were only three seasons, and the first was in b/w. You can have the payout, or the residuals.” “Hmm… Who’s going to watch this goofy show, really? We’ll take the payout.” I don’t know how venal this was on the part of the network. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that someone knew of the demographic appeal and hoodwinked the cast. OTOH, is it possible that the show was popular for reruns because it was offered for low cost, because of no residual payments needed? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/82 "2006-06-20T14:06:10Z")
**ralph124c** asked about **Basil Rathbone**. Even without checking the iMDB, I can recall that he was in Roger Corman flicks in the early 1960s. You might regard that as a severe letdown, but, heck, Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre and, of course, Vincent Price were doing it, too. And those flicks were playing in the big theaters, so it wasn’t exactly the slums. **The Magic Sword** was actually big-budget for Corman, and Rathbone played the villain. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/83 "2006-06-20T14:15:29Z")
[QUOTE=asterion] I think Fox should bring back Celebrity Boxing. That’s about as sad as I can think of. [/QUOTE] Dustin Diamond (Screech) is having his problems: [http://www.getdshirts.com/](http://www.getdshirts.com/) ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/84 "2006-06-20T14:19:07Z")
[QUOTE=Bomzaway] A timely thread… Paul “Pee Wee” Reubens and Jeffery Jones (the Principal in Ferris Beuler’s Day Off) have just been busted for child porn. Guilty or not, it’s probably pretty safe to say they’re all done. Pee Wee’s playhouse was brilliant. A sad end indeed. [/QUOTE] The charges were not that recent and although I don’t know the status of the case for Jeffery Jones, he is still working, currently on the third (and final) season of HBO’s western drama “Deadwood”. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/85 "2006-06-20T14:46:09Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] **ralph124c** asked about **Basil Rathbone**. [/quote] Four years ago. > [@](#): > > **The Magic Sword** was actually big-budget for Corman, and Rathbone played the villain. What a wonderfully terrible movie. It also had Vampira, IIRC. I saw **Alan Young** (Wilbur Post) a couple of years ago guesting on a bad sitcom. Who cares though? I _love_ that stuff. Hollywood’s a roller coaster. Thank God some people don’t take it seriously enough to think honest work as a guest star is beneath them. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/86 "2006-06-20T14:50:13Z")
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned [Phil Hartman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hartman) yet. > [@](#): > > Hartman was murdered by his wife, Brynn, on May 28, 1998, in his Encino, California home, at the age of 49. As he slept, Hartman was shot twice in the head. A few hours later, Brynn committed suicide with a shot to the head. The reasons for the murder are unknown, though it had been rumoured that Brynn suffered from a neurochemical imbalance and thought Phil was cheating on her. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/87 "2006-06-20T14:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=Telemark] Bela Lugosi [/QUOTE] Trained as a Classical Shakespearean, peaked with cinema magic in Universal’s _Dracula_, finished up with Ed Wood in _Plan 9 From Outer Space_. You just can’t fall farther than that without Pron being involved. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/88 "2006-06-20T15:12:15Z")
The other day I saw Erik Estrada doing an info-mercial on how to get rich in real estate. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/89 "2006-06-20T15:19:54Z")
What is very interesting on the revival of this thread after four years is the first post. Robert Vaughn – the name that started the thread – is back and successful in the UK TV show **Hustle** (also on AMC in the US). So even when a actor reaches bottom, it’s not always the end. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/90 "2006-06-20T15:41:34Z")
[QUOTE=Dolores Reborn] The other day I saw Erik Estrada doing an info-mercial on how to get rich in real estate. [/QUOTE] Hey, what’s he supposed to do—Sealab 2021 was cancelled! ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/91 "2006-06-20T18:34:10Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I just saw a TV ad for a local ambulance-chaser law firm..the announcer was somebody I dimly recognized..it was Robert Vaughn (of the “MAN FROM UNCLE”, [/QUOTE] Actually, Robert Vaughn is doing okay. He has a starring role in a hit BBC TV series called [Hustle](http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/hustle/), which has recently completed its third series (mind you, this is the BBC and a ‘series’ consists of only 6 episodes). It’s a high profile series, very successful around the world, and with quite a hefty budget behind it, so I imagine Robert gets rather well paid for his services. Even nicer for him, he barely has to actually _do_ anything in the show. His role is the least demanding of all, and a lot of the time he’s there merely as a sort of ‘father figure’ to the rest of the gang, so he just sits around in a nice suit looking wise. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/92 "2006-06-20T23:48:34Z")
\*\< **kd99** reads the thread, checks the dates\> **BRAAAIIIINNSS!!!** \* ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/93 "2006-06-21T00:19:45Z")
**Bernie Kopell** was selling an anti-snoring nasal spray a few years back. Pathetic. Two musicians come to mind, one expired, one still living. **Jaco Pastorius** , one of the greatest jazz bassists in history: > [@AllMusicGuide](#): > > Pastorius became overwhelmed by mental problems, exacerbated by drugs and alcohol in the mid-'80s, leading to several embarrassing public incidents (one was a violent crack-up on-stage at the Hollywood Bowl in mid-set at the 1984 Playboy Jazz Festival). Such episodes made him a pariah in the music business and toward the end of his life, he had become a street person, reportedly sighted in drug-infested inner-city hangouts. He died in 1987 from a physical beating sustained while trying to break into the Midnight Club in Fort Lauderdale. The once-brilliant **Sly Stone** had numerous drug problems and was rumored to also have been a street person at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/94 "2006-06-21T00:55:12Z")
[QUOTE=PhilAlex] (And can Robert Downey Jr be that far behind?) [/QUOTE] I know this thread dates back to 2002, but even around that time Robert Downey Jr. was making something of a comeback with _Wonder Boys_ under his belt and a starring role in _The Singing Detective_. Currently, he’s starred in _Good Night and Good Luck_,\* Kiss Kiss Bang Bang\*, and _A Scanner Darkly_ (due out later this summer), and has quite a few leading roles coming up on IMDB. I wouldn’t say his career is in the tank by a very, _very_ long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/95 "2006-06-23T04:01:18Z")
[QUOTE=Kilvert’s Pagan] **Bernie Kopell** was selling an anti-snoring nasal spray a few years back. Pathetic. [/QUOTE] He’s also a fixture at [autograph shows](http://www.hollywoodcollectorshow.com/Burbank.htm) which always seemed to me to be really degrading. Of course he has a reason for it- he married a much younger woman in his mid sixties and had two little boys over the next few years, so by his own admission at a recent interview he’s trying to rake in all he can to put into their college trust fund (the same reason James Doohan kept doing STAR TREK appearances after he was deaf and on oxygen and beginning to lose his mind a bit- he wanted to leave a nice trust for the daughter born when he was 80). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/96 "2006-06-23T04:28:34Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] **The Magic Sword** was actually big-budget for Corman, and Rathbone played the villain. [/QUOTE] Which was such a good movie that MST3K did it… -Joe ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/97 "2006-06-23T04:40:53Z")
This thread is a compelling argument for the return of a pair of series that performed a public service by “recycling” discarded or otherwise out of circulation actors: _Love Boat_ _Fantasy Island_ If you’re talking about the yopunger fallen actors, one could revive _Love, American Style_ But “reality” shows and infomercials have taken up some of the slack. ---
**Author:** ![sabatobello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@sabatobello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sabatobello)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/98 "2006-06-23T05:09:00Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Which was such a good movie that MST3K did it… -Joe [/QUOTE] And in the official MST3K book, they state it’s probably the best movie they ever did and not nearly up to their usual standard for badness. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/99 "2006-06-23T05:49:27Z")
[QUOTE=Cat Fight] How can we have a discussion about washed up actors without mentioning… THE COREYS!!! Yaaay! [/QUOTE] Corey Haim’s working as a record store clerk in Toronto. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711/100 "2006-06-23T05:58:58Z")
[QUOTE=sabatobello] And in the official MST3K book, they state it’s probably the best movie they ever did and not nearly up to their usual standard for badness. [/QUOTE] Hell, it’s not even the worst Corman movie they did (I’m looking at you, **Gunslinger.** ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-famous-stars-who-have-come-to-a-sad-end/136711.md?page=6)