Bizarre Insolvency and Bankruptcy of Famous People

Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding or status of debtor the inability to pay their debt to a person or an organization or repay the debts they owe to creditors. In most cases, the jurisdictions bankruptcy is commonly imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor.  Bankruptcy is not the only legal status that the inability to pay by a person or organization may have, and the term bankruptcy, thus it is not similar as insolvency(incapacity to pay debts upon the date when they become due). In some countries, bankruptcy is limited to individuals, like in the United Kingdom and other forms of insolvency proceedings, such as administration and liquidation are applied to companies, while in the United States, bankruptcy is applied commonly to formal proceedings of insolvency.   Bankruptcy comes from an  Italian word, banca rotta, means  “broken bench“.   Personal bankruptcy is distinguished from any corporate bankruptcy law and allows debtors to file and declare bankruptcy in certain jurisdictions.  A couple, individual person or legal entity can file for bankruptcy, if their debts payments exceeds and incapable to pay their debts having difficulty to recover again. Every major financial purchase requires credit history, and person with poor credit or credit bankruptcy report will have difficulty in buying cars, homes or start a new business. Any organization or company business with a capable of living, developing, or germinating under favorable conditions of tax identification number (TIN).  Even the rich and famous,  can not escape the growing economic recession, although how much they want to avoid foreclosures, or bankruptcy, although they earn millions from their respective careers, but because of “over spending”, they lose and found themselves bankrupt! Find out who these rich and famous celebrities are:

The most famous and largest bankruptcy in United States is about the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. occurred on September 15, 2008, with more than USD$ 639 billion in assets, filed for Chapter 11 protection. The Lehman occupied three floors of World Trade Center, but on the fateful day of September 11, 2001, during the terrorist attacks, one of its employee was killed. The Lehman’s global headquarters was severely damaged, in the Three World Financial Center, and caused unusable by falling debris, and more than 6,500 employees was displaced, however, the bank recovered immediately and was rebuilt.

1)    Debbie Reynolds, Veteran Actress ,singer and actress

Debbie Reynolds   is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She was first married to Eddie Fisher, a popular singer and actor, whom she had two children, Carrie Fisher (actress, author) and a son. In 1959, their marriage ended in a divorce, when Eddie Fisher fell in love with famous actress, Elizabeth Taylor (incidentally, Reynolds best friend that time). Reynolds’s second and third marriages also ended in divorce, each time ruining her financially.  Her second marriage, to millionaire businessman Harry Karl, lasted from 1960 to 1973. Debbie Reynolds realized herself, in financial difficulty because of Karl’s gambling and bad investments.  Reynolds third marriage to Richard Hamlett, a real estate developer  from 1984 to 1996. They purchased a small hotel in Las Vegas, the Greek Isles Hotel and Casino,  but it was not a success. In 1997, Reynolds facing insovency was forced to declare bankruptcy. 

2)   Kim Basinger, Actress

Kimila Ann “Kim” Basinger  is an American actress, singer, and a fashion model. In 1990, she met Alec Baldwin in the “Marrying Man” film, and decided to get married on August 19,1993 as her second husband. In 1989, some members of her family, recommended to purchase some 1691 acres (Braselton, Georgia) for US$20 million, and establish a tourist attraction with film studios and film festival. But since then, she have encountered financial difficulties and and in 1995, she decided to sell parts of the properties, and the town is now owned by Wayne Mason, developer. In an interview with Barbara Walters in 1998, Kim  Basinger admitted that acquiring that property resulted in a rift between her and family, and Basinger’s  financial difficulties increased bitterness when she pulled out from Boxing Helena, a controversial film, resulting in the studio’s winning an US$8.1 million judgment against her, however, Basinger filed for bankruptcy and appealed the jury’s decision to a higher court, which sided with her. She and the studio settled for $3.8 million instead. The town in Braselton, Georgia,such a is one of the fastest growing cities in America and is now a major motorsports community, warehouses and mostly are residential houses.

 3)   Suge Knight

Marion “Suge” Knight, Jr.  (a.k.a. Big Suge or Big Simon) is the founder and CEO of Black Kapital Records and co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records, which dominated the rap charts after Dr. Dre’s in 1992, the breakthrough album, The Chronic. The rap charts success includes Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dog, Outlawz and Tha Dogg Pound.  Death Row Records became stagnant, after Suge Knight’s detention’s violation on parole charges in September 1996.   On April 4, 2006, Suge Knight filed bankruptcy due to civil litigation against him in which Lydia Harris claimed to have been cheated out of a 50% stake in Death Row Records. Before the filing, Knight had been ordered to pay $107 million to Harris. Knight’s  filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in which the company is allowed to run the business operations,while restructuring is processed.  He denied having money, under the creditors investigations tucked away in foreign countries or in an African company that deals in diamonds and gold. Bankruptcy documents filed showed Knight had no income this year from employment or operation of a business. According to financial records, his bank account contained just $12, and he owned clothing worth $1,000, furniture and appliances valued at $2,000, and jewelry worth $25,000.  In June 2007, his Malibu home with seven-bedroom, 9½-bath home in Malibu is placed on the market for $6.2 million as part of his “financial makeover”. In June 2008, he sold the Death Row Records to Global Music Group, a New York  based company in bankruptcy court for $4.56 million.

4)  Randy Quaid ,Actor

Randall Rudy “Randy” Quaid is an American actor nominated for an Academy Award and BAFTA Golden Globe for his The Last Detail film role and was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in LBJ: The Early Years, best known for his National Lampoon’s Vacation movie roles in the as well as Independence Day and Brokeback Mountain. In 2000, Randy Quaid faced a rough year in terms of financial status, and filed bankruptcy, ironically over the film he starred, The Debtors directed by his wife Evi. And Randy Quaid is banned in doing film or acting.  Randy Quaid and his wife were arrested in Texas on September 24, 2009, for allegedly defrauding an innkeeper, burglary, and conspiracy in California. In an earlier incident, in which the Quaid couple, allegedly left an approximately balance of $10,000 balance for staying at the Santa Barbara California Hotel, thus their arrest stemmed from. The Quaid couple were released on bail later that evening. Evi Quaid provided a handwritten statement to TMZ celebrity news site, after the arrest claiming that the bill had been paid, attached a copy of a cashier’s check for $5,546.96 dated September 22, 2009. They were booked for felony residential burglary under section 459 of the California Penal Code, and misdemeanor entering a non-commercial building without consent and Evi Quaid was also booked for misdemeanor resisting arrest . Their bail was set at $50,000 each. On September 19, 2010 they posted bail and were released. On October 18, 2010, bench warrants for the Quaids were issued following their failure to appear for a hearing on the burglary charges. Their bail was subsequently raised to $500,000 each. The bail was forfeited in November 2010. The company that had posted bail for the Quaids lost a court case in January 2012 to prevent the forfeiture.   On October 22, 2010, Quaid and his wife sought protection under the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, after being arrested at the US-Canadian border in Vancouver. They have since applied for refugee status on the grounds that they fear for their lives in the United States, claiming that numerous actors have died under mysterious circumstances committed by the “Hollywood star whackers”.They were granted bail on the condition of $10,000 bond pending further Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada hearings, but they were not able to deposit the required bond with the court for several days, and they remained under the custody of the Canada Border Services Agency. They were released on October 27 they were released after the authorities learned that Evi Quaid was a “Prima facie Canadian Citizen. On July 15, 2011 an attempt to extradite Randy and Evi Quaid from Canada failed when the U.S. Department of Justice turned down a request from the Santa Barbara County district attorney calling for the Quaids to be returned to California to face the felony burglary charges dating from the September 2010 incident.

  5)  Stan Lee, Creator of Spider Man, Hulk, X-Men

Stanley Martin Lieber  better known as Stan Lee, is an American comic book, writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former Marvel Comics’ president and chairman.  In collaboration with several artists, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko,  and the co-creator of the Spider Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and many other fictional characters, introducing naturalistic characters and complex and the shared universe into a superhero comic books. Lee led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing company to large multimedia corporation, and they created the Stan Lee Media in a comic book venture, an internet-based He and a business. However, the company quickly “dissolved”through its capital, Lee’s partner was accused of securities fraud, and Lee and the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

6)  Lorenzo Lamas, Actor 

Lorenzo Lamas y de Santos  is an American actor, known for playing the role Lance Cumson, the 1980′s soap opera Falcon Crest, and as Reno Raines 1990′s “Renegade” crime drama and as Hector Ramirez, for the day time soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Lamas appeared as a judge in an ABC reality television, Are You Hot?  And presently starring in his own reality show, Leave it to Lamas, a series about his real-life family. In 2004, Lamas flied bankruptcy for debts that included $200,000 for a private jet. He also owed on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a H2 Hummer, and alimony for his four ex-wives.

7)  Stephen Baldwin,Actor

Stephen Andrew Baldwin  is an American author, actor, director and producer, and the youngest among the notable brothers-actors, Alec, Daniel, and William or the Baldwin brothers. Baldwin was raised a Catholic from an Irish, English and French descent, and for publicly expressing his evangelical Christian faith. Stephen and his wife, Kennya, defaulted on paying on their mortgage amounting to  $824,488.36.  In June 12, 2009, the Baldwin’s home in Upper Grandview, (Rockland County) New York was being auctioned at the County Court House, after foreclosure of the Bankers Trust Co. on the home. Gannett News also reported that: “Additionally, county filings show the Baldwins owe National City Bank money for a separate mortgage and may owe tens of thousands in unpaid state and federal taxes on the property.  On July 21, 2009, Stephen Baldwin filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in New York, according to a court document that says he is millions in debt. He claimed he owes more than $2.3 million and owns a New York property valued at only $1.1 million. His wife, Kennya Baldwin, also is named in the document.   In December 2010, Baldwin filed a $3.8 million lawsuit against actor Kevin Costner over oil-separating technology that was used to help solve the BP Oil spillin the Gulf of Mexico.  In June 2012, a jury found in favor of Costner and awarded Baldwin no damages.

8)   Sinbad ,Actor

David Adkins   better known as Sinbad,  his screen name or stage name (A mononymous person is an individual who is known and addressed by a mononym or “single name”), is an American actor and stand-up comedian.He became well known in the 1990′s HBO specials, appearing on several television series, and starring in the films Necessary Roughness, Housequest, First Kid, Jingle All the Way and Good Burger.  Sinbad was placed in the top 10 of the 250 worst tax debtors for the state of California in 2009. The comedian owed the State $2.5 million in personal income tax. Sinbad filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on December 11, 2009.  On February 5, 2010, it was reported that Sinbad put up his 2.5-acre (10,000 m²) hilltop home for sale in order to alleviate his tax burdens.

9)  Willie Nelson, Country Singer-Songwriter

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer and songwriter, actor, author, and activist. In 1990, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized most of Nelson’s assets, claiming that he owed US$32,000,000. But it was known later that Price Waterhouse, Nelson’s accountant had not been paying Nelson’s taxes for years. In addition to the unpaid taxes, Nelson’s situation was worsened by the weak investments he had made during the early 1980′s. Jay Goldberg, his lawyer, negotiated the sum to be lowered to US$16,000,000.  This caused him to immediately declare bankruptcy. Then Nelson’s attorney renegotiated a settlement with the IRS in which he paid US$6,000,000, although Nelson did not comply with the agreement.  Many of his assets were auctioned and purchased by friends, who donated or rented his possessions to him for a nominal fee. He sued Price Waterhouse, contending that they put his money in illegal tax shelters. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount and Nelson cleared his debts by 1993.

10)  George Clinton

George Clinton is an American singer, bandleader, music producer and songwriter and the principal creator and master of P-Funk (Parliament-Funkadelic) during the late 1970′s and early 1980, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost innovators of funk music, along with Sly Stone and James Brown.  George Clinton has been called one of the most important innovators of funk music and but was prevented from profiting from the songs he wrote between 1976 and 1983. This is because when he filed for bankruptcy  in 1984, he didn’t disclose them as a source of possible future income. It’s estimated that he’s losing out on royalties in the ballpark of $100 million.

  11)   Donald Trump,  American Business Magnate, Television Personality and Author

Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author, chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump’s extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC, The Apprentice reality show have made him No. 17, in a Forbes Celebrity 100 list, well-known celebrity.  By 1989, the effects of the recession left Trump unable to meet loan payments. Trump financed the construction of his third casino, the $1 billion Taj Mahal Casino, primarily with high-interest junk-bonds. Although he shored up his businesses with additional loans and postponed interest payments, by 1991 increasing debt brought Trump to business bankruptcy, and the brink of personal bankruptcy. Banks and bond holders had lost hundreds of millions of dollars, but opted to restructure his debt to avoid the risk of losing more money in court. The Taj Mahal re-emerged from bankruptcy on October 5, 1991, with Trump ceding 50 percent ownership in the casino to the original bondholders in exchange for lowered interest rates on the debt and more time to pay it off.   On November 2, 1992, the Trump Plaza Hotel, was forced to file a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection plan after being unable to make its debt payments. Under the plan, Trump agreed to give up a 49 percent stake in the luxury hotel to Citibank and five other lenders. In return Trump would receive more favorable terms on the remaining $550+ million owed to the lenders, and retain his position as chief executive, though he would not be paid and would not have a role in day-to-day operations. The Securities and Exchange Commission  brought a financial report case against Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. in January 2002, allegedly committing  several “misleading statements in the company’s third-quarter 1999 earnings release.” The matter was settled with the defendant neither admitting nor denying the charge.  Finally, on October 21, 2004, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts announced a restructuring of its debt.

  12)   Mike Tyson, Professional Boxer

Michael Gerard “Mike” Tyson or simply Mike Tyson,  is a retired American professional boxer and a former undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world holding the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBFheavyweight titles at 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old.  Tyson was convicted on the rape charge on February 10, 1992 after the jury deliberated for nearly 10 hours. Tyson was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington, Miss Black Rhode Island in Indianapolis hotel room. On March 26,Mike Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison followed by four years on probation on March 26 1992, was assigned to the Indiana Youth Center (now the Plainfield Correctional Facility in April 1992, and he was released in March 1995 after serving three years. Tyson converted to Islam during his incarceration period. In August 2003, after years of financial struggles, Tyson finally filed for bankruptcy.  To help pay off his debts, in 2006, Tyson returned to the ring on a world tour in a series of four-round exhibitions against journeyman heavyweight Corey “T-Rex” Sanders in Youngstown, Ohio.

 Bill Buckner

William Joseph “Bill” Buckner  is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. He appeared in MLB from 1969 through 1990. Buckner played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, California Angels and Kansas City Royals during the period of his successful career. In 2008, Bill Buckner is having his bad luck in terms of financial assets, despite a productive career in Major League Baseball, his error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series became his legacy. After retiring, Buckner moved to Idaho and founded a car dealership. It was another wrong moved, and Buckner was forced to file bankruptcy to recoup his losses.

13)   Jose Canseco,

José Canseco Capas, Jr. is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for Rio Grande Valley Whitewings , an outfielder and designated hitter. During his playing career, Canseco has admitted using performance enhancing drugs, and wrote a tell-all book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big, in which he claimed that the vast majority of MLB players use steroids.  In May 2008, Canseco revealed that he had lost his house in Encino, California to foreclosure saying his two divorces had cost him $7 to $8 million each.  Canseco decided to ditch the mansion, in quoting oppresses a burden property values and a high mortgage, reported Forbes.com in 2008. “It didn’t make financial sense for me to keep paying a mortgage on a home that was basically owned by someone else,” Canseco told “Inside Edition” last year.

14)  John Wayne Bobbitt,

John Wayne Bobbitt  and Lorena Bobbitt   were an American couple, married on June 18, 1989, whose difficult relationship gained worldwide notoriety for an incident in 1993 when Lorena severed John’s penis with a knife. The penis was subsequently surgically re-attached. Their ‘tragic story’ began in the night of June 23, 1993, when John Wayne Bobbitt came home at their Manassas, Virginia apartment, allegedly intoxicated after a night of partying. According to testimony given by Lorena Bobbitt in a 1994 court hearing, he then raped her, and Bobbitt was tried and acquitted of spousal rape, prosecuted by the same district attorney, who prosecuted Lorena for attacking her husband. And later, Lorena Bobbitt got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a drink of water, grabbing the knife, Lorena Bobbitt entered the bedroom where John was sleeping and proceeded to cut off nearly half of his penis. After the incident, John Wayne Bobbitt attempted to generate money from his state of being notorious  in a many ways, to pay his mounting legal and medical bills to reattach his penis. He formed a band, he named “The Severed Parts”, though the band was unsuccessful and failed to generate enough money, and made a come back by getting into “porn” but can not stay out of trouble. After the divorce, John continued to have run-ins with the law. He was reportedly arrested seven times for offenses ranging from assault to grand lacerny (  Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person.)  Luckily, after a 12-hour surgery his penis was sewed back on but Bobbitt couldn’t handle the mounting doctors bills and had to declare bankruptcy.

15)   Lorraine Bracco, American Actress

Lorraine Bracco   is an American actress, best known for her HBO series roles, The Sopranos, as Dr. Jennifer Melfi and as Karen Hill in the 1990 Goodfellas. The popularity of the show helped her dig herself out of debt after she filed for bankruptcy in 1999. Bracco found herself in a five-year legal battle with ex-Harvey Keitel over custody of their daughter Stella. The legal fees and taxes were substantial and the cause for her bankruptcy. She is the owner of Bracco Wines, with association of Straight-Up Brands LLC. In 2006, her line of wines was featured on the Season 1 finale of Bravo’s show Top Chef. She appeared as a guest judge for the two-episode finale, and as a special judge on Top Chef: All Stars in the episode titled, “An Offer They Can’t Refuse” which featured Italian cuisine.

16)   Tia Carrere

Tia Carrere born Althea Rae Janairo  is an American actress, model, voice artist and singer and first introduced and became regular on the daytime soap opera, General Hospital. In the Wayne’s World and Wayne’s World 2 films, she protrayed the role as Cassandra Wong, and became popular. Carrere also played the role as Nani in Lilo & Stitch, its sequel films and Lilo & Stitch: The Series, as Queen Tyr’ahnee in Duck Dodgers, and as Sydney Fox in the television series Relic Hunter, a syndicated series and for participating contestant of the United States version, Dancing with the Stars second season, and the The Celebrity Apprentice fifth season show. Carrere was born in Honolulu, Hawaii from a Filipino parents, Audrey Duhinio Janairo, a computer supervisor, and Alexander Janairo, a banker. In 1986, Tia Carrere, filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to escape her contract with General Hospital so she could join the cast of A Team, apparently the General Hospital soap was no longer giving Carrere enough work and was forcing her to go into bankruptcy. She lost the suit and the respect of her fellow cast mates on the show. Carrere blames her young age for the reason that she was so irresponsible with her money.

17)  Toni Braxton R&B Singer

Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress, record producer and philanthropist. Toni Barxton sold over 15 million albums, in the years, but despite she had successful albums and singles, Braxton shortly filed for bankruptcy in 1998, but then returned with her chart-topping third album, in 2000, The Heat. Some beleived that Braxton filed when she was $3.9 million in debt, and all her household possessions, including her two Grammy’s was sold so she could pay off her creditors. Braxton met musician Keri Lewis from the group Mint Condition, and got married on April 21, 2001.  The couple had two sons, their first child, named Denim Cole Braxton-Lewis and their second son, Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, was born on March 31, 2003 and diagnosed with autism. Braxton has been outspoken regarding her doctor’s failure to diagnose Diezel’s condition earlier, contending that if he had been diagnosed earlier, he could have been helped better.  Despite her conflict with her label, she signed a new contract in 1999 worth $25 million with them. Braxton admitted to CBS News on November 18, 2010, that she was suffering from (SLE) systemic lupus erythematosus, a potentially life threatening autoimmune disease. Braxton’s brother also suffers from the disease, and her uncle died of complications from lupus.

18)   Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola  is an American film director, screenwriter and producer, and famous Hollywood’s most innovative and influential director. Often times,  Coppola works with family members in his films, especially with his sister, Talia Coppola-Shire, who played Connie Corleone in all three Godfather films. His daughter Sofia also appeared in all three (the first two movies uncredited) as the infant being baptized at the end of the first movie, as a young child on board ship in the second, and in a supporting role as Michael Corleone’s daughter Mary in the third. Coppola’s nephew, Nicolas Cage (born  Nicolas Kim Coppola) , starred in Coppola’s film Peggy Sue Got Married , Rumble Fish and The Cotton Club.  Responsible for directing the Godfather trilogy and winner of five Academy Awards before he was 40. Francis Ford Coppola was in debt of  $300,000  before the first Godfather movie came out. He then was able to rebound but began bankruptcy proceedings after his 1982 musical One From The Heart tanked. Coppola borrowed the money from his mother to get into the wine business and again turned his financial future around.

Walt Disney

Walter Elias “Walt” Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist, well known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Walter Disney was co-founder of Walt Disney Productions along with his brother Roy O. Disney, which later became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. This corporation is now known as the famous The Walt Disney Company and had an annual revenue of approximately US$ 36 billion in the 2010 financial year.   Walt Disney was a chain smoker his entire adult life, although he made sure he was not seen smoking around children. Walter Disney collapsed at his home on November 30 and was revived by fire department personnel and rushed to St. Joseph’s where on December 15, 1966, at 9:30 a.m., ten days after his 65th birthday, Disney died of acute circulatory collapse, caused by lung cancer. Walt Disney’s name is synonymous with Mickey Mouse and the “happiest place on earth,” Disneyland. However, Disney’s career wasn’t always a moneymaking venture, when he began a company called the Laugh-O-Gram Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri but was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1921, two years later because his financial backers pulled out. It must have been fate because Disney then headed to Hollywood and became one of the highest paid animators in history.

Zsa Zsa Gabor  Actress

Sári Gábor (born 6 February 1917), known as Zsa Zsa Gabor, is an American-Hungarian actress, socialite,  supporting actress roles in most of her movie career, and Broadway star on television occasionally.  Gabor has been married nine times, divorced seven times, and one annuled marriage.  Gabor also had a long-running feud with German-born actress Elke Sommer that began in 1984 when both appeared on Circus of the Stars and escalated into a multi-million dollar libel suit by 1993.  Zsa Zsa Gabor had to file bankruptcy after a catfight ended in a libel suit against her. Supposedly, it began when actress Elke Sommer said that Gabor had a big butt and Gabor responded by telling the press that Sommer’s career was washed up. However the suit was filed, because Gabor’s husband at the time said that Sommer had said, “All German men are pigs.” Who knew that courts listened to ridiculous cases like this but the joke was on Gabor because she had to file for bankruptcy.   On January 25, 2009, the Associated Press reported that her attorney stated that forensic accountants determined that Gabor may have lost as much as $10 million, invested in Bernard Madoff’s company, possibly through a third-party money manager, however, the Official New York Bankruptcy Court, claimed that no records found that Zsa Zsa Gabor was not a victim. A German nightclub owner, Marcus Prinz von Anhalt, adopted son of Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, reportedly provided significant financial assistance to the couple.

Leif Garrett

Leif Garrett, born Leif Per Nervik on November 8, 1961, is an American actor, television personality and singer, became famous as a teen idol way back in the 1970′s but received much publicity in later life for his legal troubles and drug abuse. Three days before he turned 18 in 1979, Garrett crashed his car, under the influence of alcohol and  Quaaludes. The accident caused his best friend and his passenger at the time of the accident, Roland Winkler a paraplegic. The Winkler family, filed a $25 million damaged suit and negligence against Garrett, despite of Garrett’s publicly promised to look after Winkler.  Garrett insisted that he did not have the money, and the suit was eventually settled out of court for $7.1 million.  Leif Garrett’s career dried up pretty much after he hit poverty and he was forced to filed for bankruptcy in 2001. At the time, he said that his only steady source of income was the $1,000 per month allowance from his mother.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. was a musician, singer and songwriter, whose career spanned for two or more decades. Gaye had developed a serious dependence and addiction to cocaine, and was facing several financial issues with the IRS. These issues led for him to move to Maui, where he struggled to record a disco album. After the end of his 1980 European tour, Gaye relocated to London, fearing to be imprisoned for his failure to pay his back taxes.  In 1976, Marvin Gaye had to file for bankruptcy, after a court ruling promised the $600,000 in royalties from his next album to his ex-wife, Anna Gordy, to make up for overdue alimony payments. The album was titled Here, My Dear and detailed the personal details of his rocky marriage. He moved to Europe in 1981 and lived out a tumultuous remaining three years until, in 1984, his father shot him to death.

Isaac Hayes, Jr.

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was a musician, songwriter, singer, actor and voice actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as a record producer and an in-house songwriter, teaming with his partner David Porter during the mid-1960s. Hayes, Porter, Bill Withers, Steve Cropper, John Fogerty and the Sherman Brothers. The Stax Records was having serious financial problems in 1974, stemming from problems with over extension and limited record sales and distribution. Hayes himself was deep in debt to Union Planters Bank, which administered loans for the Stax label and many of its other key employees. In September of that year, Hayes sued Stax for $5.3 million, however,  Stax was in deep debt and could not pay, the label made an arrangement with Hayes and Union Planters,  Stax released Hayes from his recording and production contracts, and Union Planters would collect all of Hayes’s income and apply it towards his debts. He and his wife were forced into bankruptcy in 1976, as they owed over $6 million. By the end of the bankruptcy proceedings in 1977, Hayes had lost his home, much of his personal property, and the rights to all future royalties earned from the music he’d written, performed, and produced. On August 10, 2008, 10 days before Hayes turn 66, Hayes was found unresponsive in his home, lying on the floor, next to his treadmill still operating. Hayes was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 p.m.

MC Hammer

Stanley Kirk Burrell better known as MC Hammer or plain Hammer, he is an entrepreneur, actor, rapper and spokesman. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s. Remembered for a rapid rise to fame, Hammer is known for his hit records, U Can’t Touch This and 2 Legit 2 Quit, known for his “flamboyant dance movements and his trademark Hammer pants.  He has sold more than 50 million records worldwide,   Hammer having spent much of his money on staff and personal luxuries.  In addition to excessive spending while supporting friends and family, Hammer ultimately became $13 million in debt and insolvency. With dwindling album sales, unpaid loans unpaid loans, a large payroll and a lavish lifestyle, and in April 1996, Hammer eventually filed for bankruptcy at a California Court. In December 2011, it was reported that Hammer owed the Internal revenue Service $779,585 in back taxes from his earnings dating back to 1996 to 1997, during the years Hammer was believed to be facing his worst financial problems. After years of public and media ridicule regarding his finances, according to MC Hammer, he had proof he already ‘settled’ of his debt with the IRS.

19)   LaToya Jackson

La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter, musician, author, TV personality, actress occasionally, businesswoman, activist, model and philanthropist, and the fifth child of the Jackson family. She ventured into singing as a solo performer, but did not find luck and failed with her career and in 1995, La Toya was forced to file for bankruptcy. In 2007, La Toya Jackson,  was on TV for the Armed and Famous reality show and went through an emotional therapeutic attempt to relieve her of her phobia of cats.

20)   Cyndi Lauper

Cynthia Ann Stephanie “Cyndi” Lauper  is an American singer, songwriter and actress, became famous for her songs  Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Time After Time, She Bop, All Through the Night, True Colors and Changed of Heart,  and earned two nominations at the 29th Grammy Awards. Before her hit song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” came out, Cyndi Lauper was in a group called Blue Angel with John Turi. The band broke up after a record flopped and their manager at the time sued them for $80,000. Lauper was forced into bankruptcy in 1980 but recovered quickly and became an 80’s icon.

21)   Don Johnson

Donnie Wayne “Don” Johnson  is an actor known for his lead roles as James “Sonny” Crockett, in the Miami Vice, TV cop series in the 1980′s, which led him to huge success and was the Golden Globe winning actor for his Miami Vice role. In the 1990′s, Don Johnson, also played the lead role in a cop series, Nash Bridges.  Recently, Johnson played Kenny Powers’ father in the Eastbound & Down,  HBO series. Don Johnson was a winner of the APBA Offshore World Cup, and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is also a singer, songwriter, producer, and director.  In 2004,  Don Johnson,was forced to file for bankruptcy  to save his $20 million Pitkin County ranch in Colorado from being sold at auction. He was able to save his ranch and later paid off his debts including $930,000 to City National Bank and $7,345 to Aspen Valley Hospital.

22)  Burt Reynolds

Burton Milo “Burt” Reynolds, Jr. or simply Burt Reynolds, is a famous  actor, director and voice artist, and some of his notable roles include Bo ‘Bandit’ Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, in the film White Lightning as  Bobby “Gator” McCluskey in  and Gator, the sequel, the Longest Yard film as Paul Crewe, and Jack Horner in Boogie Nights.  After his 1996 divorce, Burt Reynolds filed for bankruptcy when he was in $10 million in debt. He went on to win a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in the movie Boogie Nights.  As of August 16, 2011, Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation filed foreclosure papers in Martin County claiming Reynolds owes $1.2 million on his home in Hobe Sound, Florida.

23)   Corey Haim

Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010)  was a Canadian actor, best known as the 1980′s teen idol in Hollywood, and his early success led to money and fame, and he began using drugs at the age of fifteen.He had difficulties from moving away as a teen actor, and was troubled by drug addiction throughout his later career. On March 10, 2010, Corey Haim  died of pneumonia. In 1997, during Haim’s “battle with drug addiction”, took their toll, and he was forced to file for bankruptcy. He declared his only assets his BMW for ten years, $100 in cash and his royalties and residuals with value of $7,500.

24)  Margot Kidder

Margaret Ruth “Margot” Kidder (born October 17, 1948) is an American- Canadian actress, appeared in many films since 1970s until 1980s, such as the Black Christmas, Sisters, The Great Waldo Pepper, The Amityville Horror and Heartcahes. Kidder is best known for her role as Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeves as Superman, in all four Superman movies, beginning with the 1978 Superman: The Movie. Kidder’s fame went downhill after the Superman movies.  Kidder was involved in a serious car crash in 1990, after which she was unable to work for two years, causing her serious financial problems. Kidder has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which led to manic episode, a widely-publicized in 1996, when she was found cowering naked in undergrowth (vegetation in a forest) by Los Angeles police police in a distressed state and the caps on her teeth having fallen out, and was later placed in psychiatric care. She refused treatment for either predicament until two years after the accident, when she decided to go through with the surgery needed. Kidder’s insurance didn’t cover the surgery and and declare and filed bankruptcy in 1992, and she sold her house and her jewelry.

25)  Larry King

Larry King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodies and the ten Cable ACE Awards. He began his career as a local journalist and radio interviewer in Florida in the 1950s and 1960s and became prominent as an all-night national radio broadcaster starting in 1978. Larry King hosted the CNN TV nightly interview program (1985–2010). Larry King has interviewed over 30,000 people during his career but his rise to fame for radio work in the 60’s derailed him financially, and King was in debt $352,000, charged with grand lacerny and accused of stealing $5,000 from a business partner. The charges were dropped but filed for bankruptcy in 1978 and struggled to get back on his feet.