We all love a rags-to-riches story, or how a hardworking, never-give-up attitude resulted in fame and success. But even the stars can fall, and by whatever circumstances in life, lose everything they once had.
Celebrities can go bankrupt and even homeless when they’re not careful. The good news is most of them are able to get back up on their feet again.
Meet some of those stars right here.
Sly Stone
Stone, head of the legendary funk band, Sly & The Family Stone, used to have multiple houses around the United States. He even had a vineyard in the Napa Valley.
But these days, Sly is living in a van on the streets of LA. Poor spending choices plus a history of drug abuse forced him out of his homes and onto the streets.
Sly isn’t exactly complaining.
He doesn’t mind his lifestyle since he can still write music. He even says he doesn’t think that he will want to have another stationary house again, since he now likes his small camper.
Rocky Lockridge
Rocky Lockridge is famous for giving Roger Mayweather his first defeat as a pro boxer.
A first-round knockout after just 98 seconds had Lockridge win the WBA super featherweight championship.
But the famous boxer suffered drug problems for 2 decades and soon became homeless.
He then suffered a stroke, forcing him to walk with a cane.
Rocky Lockridge passed away in 2019 at the age of 60.
Willie Aames
Former child star Willie Aames of “Charles In Charge” and “Eight Is Enough” had to face bankruptcy and foreclosure.
He found shelter sleeping under bushes and in parking garages wherever he found them.
Brett Butler
Butler found fame in the ABC sitcom Grace Under Fire, but she ended up battling a recurring drug addiction during the show which forced her to spend time in rehab.
Grace was cancelled in 1998, so Butler moved out of LA.
She settled on a farm in Georgia where she stayed with 15 pets.
When her money ran out, she found herself in a homeless shelter.
Danny Bonaduce
Bonaduce was eleven when he starred in the television series The Partridge Family, starring as the middle son, Danny Partridge.
But by the end of the series, Bonaduce’s late teens and twenties had him abusing drugs and going through a period of homelessness.
On his radio show on August 4, 1997, he shared with listeners that he lived in his car behind Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for awhile.
He would still be greeted by fans and autograph seekers though.
Houston McTear
McTear was once “the world’s fastest human”, tying the world record by running a 100-yard dash in 9.0 seconds when he was in high school.
He escaped poverty in Florida and found himself in LA where he tried boxing under Muhammad Ali and Harold Smith.
Unfortunately, his rise was ended by the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.
McTear fell to drug abuse and homelessness, sleeping on Santa Monica Beach for years before he was rescued by an older woman.
In 1993, he tied the knot with former Swedish sprinter Linda Haglund.
Iran Barkley
Iran “The Blade” Barkley made $5 million from boxing. Until he landed on difficult times after his retirement.
He was broke and unemployed, and soon became homeless in November 2010 when he was evicted from his Bronx apartment.
The support of the Bronx nonprofit BronxWorks and the Ring 10 boxing charity had the former boxer find housing.
He also receives assistance so he can support himself.
“Sugar Ray” Williams
Williams was once captain of the New York Knicks and even played for the Boston Celtics’ 1985 NBA Finals team.
But the Boston Globe soon reported in 2010 that the former athlete was sleeping in the backseat of his 1992 Buick in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Margot Kidder
Kidder played Lois Lane in the Christopher Reeve-era Superman films.
She was a Hollywood star who dated men like Richard Pryor and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Kidder ended up struggling with schizophrenia and manic depression, even refusing treatment at one point.
The Daily Finance said, “Plagued by paranoia, [Kidder] slept in cardboard boxes and backyards around Los Angeles in 1996. With her front teeth missing and her hair hacked off, a disheveled Kidder announced to the Glendale, Calif., woman whose yard she occupied, ‘I may not look like it, but I’m Margot Kidder.'”
She now lives in Montana and is a political activist.
Alex Lambert
Lambert is a former American Idol contestant. He is currently homeless, and lives in his car around Los Angeles.
He moved to LA from Texas to pursue music after winning a spot on American Idol. He failed to win, but Lambert didn’t give up on his dream, pouring himself into music.
Apparently, he said that he would rather live in his car than go home and give up.
Ted Hawkins
Ted Hawkins’ story is more of a rise and fall.
Born and lived in Mississippi, he grew up poor and was arrested for stealing at 15 and sent to the penitentiary.
Hawkins then lived as a hobo, before landing in Los Angeles since it was warmer and easier to live outdoors.
He always loved music, making money by playing on the Third Street Promenade.
Hawkins was discovered by a record producer who helped him make his first, and only, studio album.
He died in 1995, but Hawkins was able to play around the world.
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter was known as being a glam-band star but now that he is a convicted pedophile, his fame just doesn’t seem to matter to anyone.
He served jail time in Vietnam for sex crimes against 10 year-old girls, then was released and returned to England.
Glitter tried to find a home but he was always unwelcomed by neighbors.
He moves from place to place without finding a permanent home anywhere due to complaints.
Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid starred in numerous films but always ends up in trouble with the law.
He and his wife tried to skip a hotel bill of over $10,000.
They are now without a home and were caught squatting in the guest house of a property they used to own.
Natasha Lyonne
’90s actress Natasha Lyonne had a couple of arrests and a hospitalization, which resulted in her living on the streets.
She’s now back in acting, appearing in the Netflix hit series Orange Is the New Black and her fans couldn’t be happier.
Debbie Clark, AKA Storm
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, a popular show called American Gladiators pitted contestants against others in different games.
Debbie Clark, one of the Gladiators, had the name Storm. She was on the show for three years until an injury ended her career.
She went from working as personal trainer, chef and even a country singer but nothing worked out for her.
Years of struggle, plus the fact that she does not receive royalty checks for the show had Clark living on the streets of San Diego with her 10 year-old son.
John Drew Barrymore
John Drew Barrymore, son of famous actor John Barrymore, is the father of Drew Barrymore.
But being in a family of famous actors did not sit well with him since he was always compared with his father and grandfather.
Years of struggling in smaller roles had Barrymore give up acting.
He began to disappear for months at a time only to show up in jail for drug abuse and public drunkenness.
John Drew Barrymore succumbed to cancer in 2004 but his memory is kept alive by his daughter.
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