The beloved TV personality Ed McMahon was a household staple back in the ’50s and ’60s. McMahon was a TV announcer, comedian, actor, singer, and famous game show host, catapulting to fame with the ABC show, “Who Do You Trust?”. The game show, which he hosted with legendary Johnny Carson, ran from 1957 to 1962. And then, McMahon went on to host another famous game show with Carson, NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”, until 1992.
Needless to say, this American entertainer amassed quite a fortune throughout the years. However, McMahon couldn’t hold on to his millions, and lavish spending habits got Ed in a pretty tight situation with lenders. A $4.8 million home loan left him almost broke by the time he passed away, in 2009.
Sinbad
American stand-up comedian Sinbad became famous back in the '90s thanks to his HBO specials, his guest appearances on several TV shows, and his roles in films like 'Necessary Roughness', 'Good Burger', 'Houseguest', 'First Kid', 'Jingle All the Way', and others. However, he pretty much stopped after that.
Not only was Sinbad barely working, he got slammed with a tax bill of $8 million, which forced him to mortgage his house and file for bankruptcy. Yikes!
Mickey Rooney
Even though Mickey Rooney is known as a famous actor, comedian, producer, and radio personality, he actually filed for bankruptcy way back in the 1960s. And hey, if you have a career spanning nine decades, it makes sense to have a few run-ins with money.
Many people don't know that Rooney spent a huge part of his career trying to recover from his dire financial situation. Clearly, this star spent his younger years having way too much fun and spending way too much money, having just $500 to his name at one point. Thankfully, he'd managed to fully recover by the time he passed away, in 2014.
Brett Butler
The 1993 TV comedy show, 'Grace Under Fire', ran for five successful seasons, and its star, Brett Butler, was making a lot of money. Unfortunately, in a few short years, Butler went from living in a mansion to living in a homeless shelter.
The cause? A very ugly addiction problem. Hopefully, she's managed to come out of it and recover in recent years.
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino is a beautiful American singer that won the third season of 'American Idol' in 2004. Barrino had signed music deals, and even got nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006.
Unfortunately, she couldn't pay back a $1.1 million loan she took out for a house in North Carolina, and the once-famous singer ended up homeless.