# Which 'child actor' bankrupted himself **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2022, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936 "2022-06-27T02:09:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/1 "2022-06-27T02:09:41Z")
I remember reading about some ‘child’ actor in the 80’s who was on a sit-com and it went to his head and he bought a huge mansion and several expensive cars. … I’m pretty sure it was a tv actor. Similar to M.C.Hammer. was it Gary Coleman? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/2 "2022-06-27T02:16:26Z")
Coleman went through a lot of financial issues, and did declare bankruptcy in 1999, though it looks like a fair amount of it was the result of bad advice, and financial mismanagement of his assets from when he was a minor (by his adoptive parents and his business manager), as well as medical expenses. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/3 "2022-06-27T02:20:07Z")
Danny Bonaduce. I remember him telling the story about a guy asking him for his autograph while he was living out of his car. ETA: I think ALL the Different Strokes kids had it rough for a while ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/4 "2022-06-27T02:21:32Z")
Funny you mention MC Hammer, who did indeed do exactly that. Jackie Coogan didn’t get to keep a bunch of his money because his parents kept it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/5 "2022-06-27T02:25:34Z")
Searching “child actors who went bankrupt” brings up more names than members of this Board. However, [Erin Moran from Happy Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Moran#Personal_life_and_death) seems to have a story of going broke and losing her home that’s not complicated by drugs, alcohol, or corrupt financial management. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/6 "2022-06-27T02:30:42Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > ETA: I think ALL the Different Strokes kids had it rough for a while For certain. Coleman, Todd Bridges, and Dana Plato all had extensive financial issues, drug issues, and run-ins with the law, and both Coleman and Plato died at a young age. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/7 "2022-06-27T02:59:17Z")
Such a shame, they ‘had it made’ and lost it for various reasons… ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/8 "2022-06-27T03:33:35Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > For certain. Coleman, Todd Bridges, and Dana Plato all had extensive financial issues, drug issues, and run-ins with the law, and both Coleman and Plato died at a young age. Gary Coleman had longstanding health issues, and ISTR he died of intracranial bleeding after a head injury (same thing that got my DFIL). Dana Plato’s death was suicide by drugs, sadly. Todd Bridges, thankfully, does seem to be getting his life together. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/9 "2022-06-27T04:08:38Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I think ALL the Different Strokes kids had it rough for a while Oh yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/10 "2022-06-27T04:56:19Z")
No, _We Got It Made_ was a [different show](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085108/). ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/11 "2022-06-27T05:59:19Z")
Who was the child actor who gave all of tens of millions of earnings to his parents only for his parents to immediately squabble it all in a messy divorce? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/12 "2022-06-27T06:31:02Z")
Macaulay Culkin, perhaps? He removed his parents from his trust fund when he was 15 because of their spending, and I remember there being a big todo about his dad and divorce. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/13 "2022-06-27T07:30:01Z")
Bobby Driscoll, best known as the voice of Disney’s Peter Pan, is probably the ultimate example - he died a homeless squatter in an abandoned NYC tenement at age 31, and was buried in an unmarked grave because his identity wasn’t determined until a year later. > **[Bobby Driscoll | Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Driscoll#Death)** > > On March 30, 1968, two boys playing in a deserted East Village tenement at 371 East 10th St. found Driscoll's body lying on a cot, with two empty beer bottles and religious pamphlets scattered on the ground. A post mortem examination determined that he had died from heart failure caused by advanced atherosclerosis from his drug use. No identification was on the body, and photos shown around the neighborhood yielded no positive identification. His unclaimed body was buried in an unmarked paupe Lat... ---
**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 28, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/14 "2022-06-28T15:16:38Z")
Hollywood sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/15 "2022-06-28T15:22:16Z")
There are a shocking number of tragic tales that accompany the names of formerly famous child actors. I was reading recently about how the actor (Switzer?) who played Alfalfa on ‘Our Gang’ ended up getting shot trying to collect on a $50 debt. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/16 "2022-06-28T15:51:00Z")
And despite these unfortunate outcomes there are a pair of twin girl actors who are worth at least $500 million bucks. Unless they invested in crypto. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/17 "2022-06-28T15:52:25Z")
Though most of the Olsen twins’ fortunes are from sources other than acting. I think they had a line of clothing and other merchandise at Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/18 "2022-06-28T15:52:38Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Who was the child actor who gave all of tens of millions of earnings to his parents only for his parents to immediately squabble it all in a messy divorce? Jackie Coogan famously got ripped off by his parents with regard to his earnings as a child star, and I vaguely recall NPH having some issues with his _Doogie Howser_ money and his parents. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/19 "2022-06-28T18:11:07Z")
It’d probably be a shorter list if you asked about child stars who actually kept their money and lead happy lives. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936/20 "2022-06-28T18:42:18Z")
Sure, “went on to live a normal life” isn’t going to make the gossip rags. But probably my favorite story of post-child stardom is Donnie Dunagan, the voice of young Bambi, who went in to a 25 year career in the Marines. He served three tours in Vietnam, won a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, and was the youngest Drill Instructor in the Corps at that time. The whole time he kept his role as Bambi a secret, and was only found out when a reporter tracked him down in 2004. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-child-actor-bankrupted-himself/966936.md?page=2)