One thing I don't understand about the Hollywood crowd.....you read that the going rate for an 'average' star is something like $10 million per film (for a top star like Tom Hanks or Robin Williams, it's $20 million per film) and often, in addition to that, the star will get 10% of the gross or some other lucrative money maker.....

Then you'll pick up the newspaper or watch the news on TV to find out that Burt Reynolds (this guy was #1 box office for several years) filed for bankruptsy, being $30 million in debt. Joan Crawford, late in her career after making countless films and winning several Oscars, married the Vice President of Pepsi because she found herself almost destitute. Gary Coleman, the star of the horror-plagued sitcom "DiffrentStrokes" made millions for several years...he now sells sandwiches from a lunch truck. Dick York , who played 'Darren' for years and made millions on "Bewitched" died about two years aafter leaving the show....HE WAS ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE at the time of his death! The list goes on and on.

Now I'm here to tell you...I'd ask for a mere $2 million to make a film, retire immediately after, and be on easy street for the rest of my life. And that includes my penchant for 'impulse buying'. What kind of impulses must these people have?

Now I realize that in some cases, a Hollywood career may be a 'flash in the pan' (you're popular one minute, and the next minute people are asking "Who's he/she"?), and you might have gotten used to a lifestyle that you can no longer maintain..but this is the exception rather than the rule. I've also heard that stars have been victimized by business managers, bad investments, etc, but these are the exceptions as well.

Where do all their mega-bucks go?

I've wondered the same thing myself. I wonder if some of these people have serious gambling habits or make some really awful investments. You do hear stories of how they get robbed by their management on a regular basis too.

Also...what about TAXES? Don't you get into a 50% or more tax bracket when you make that kind of money? Shouldn't we assume they talke home about a third of what they are "paid" ? After they pay taxes, management, talent reps, publicist, etc.

On the other hand...take a look at a magazine like In Style--they show the price and who bought what. The amount of money celebs spend on everyday items are ridiculous. I guess it's true, the more you have, the more you spend. Where you and I would by a bar of Irish Spring for a buck your average superstar buys some exotic soap made from some even more exotic ingredients and then they have to have it flown in from Paris...all told their bar of soap costs 150 bucks as compared to our buck. Imagine if you multiply that over and over for every tiny little neccessity from food to toilet paper. They waste sooooo much money on a lifestyle. It's shocking. They own million dollar homes on both coasts and in the central US. They fill those homes with every expensive immenity...and you know I hear some of them talk about mortgages in their interviews...they don't always buy those homes outright because of taxes, they buy them on mortgages! Can you imaging have a 20,000 dollar mortgage per month in California and another in NY? then all the travel, paying a full staff, etc. I hate to admit it, but I can see where all their money goes! I don't approve and I think their idiots, but I can definitely see where it goes! Now I'm sick from thinking about it. what a waste!

[This message has been edited by hungree (edited 09-26-2000).]

Vendome. All of the people you refered to in your post ARE the exceptions. They are (or were at one point) Stars. Actors with careers that kept them working in their craft for more than 3 months a year. The average SAG (Screen Actors Guild) actor works about three months a year in their field and then make the rest of their income doing something else.
As for Dick York, he died 24 years after his run on Bewitched. And the money he made on that show at that time (He had to leave the show in '68 due to severe back problems that comsumed all of his savings along with his final battle with emphysema) was very little by todays standards. In his total career he probably never made more than a combined 1.5 mil.
Burt Reynolds in his prime made many top movies and was for a period one of films "Golden Boys" and top box office draws. Then he got older, parts didn't come quite as quickly and he got married to Loni Anderson. Then the well publicised "Mysterious Illness" that kept him in bed and near death for nearly 2 years. Then the Diviorce and costly child custody law suits. The problems with the IRS. That will easily eat up almost anyones fortunes. Today he is in his second comeback and doing well as a "Character Actor".
Gary Coleman had is public & privite problems with Drugs and the law. He was one of those "Child Actors" that didn't make the transaction to "adult" roles. His family used up part of his money and the drugs and legal problems took the rest.
As for Joan Crawford, Whatever her intentions for marring the Chairman of the Board of Pepsi. She married near the height of her career (Just after Mildred Pierce) He husband died from a stroke in '59. Her last Film work was in 1970. She sat on the Board of Pepsi until 1972. She died in 1977 leaving an estate of over 2 million.

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"The way to do, is to Be" - Socrates
"The way to be, is to Do" - Plato
"Do,Be,Do,Be,Do" - Sinatra

Cohalen......OK, they're exceptions; they were stars; they don't work 40 hours per week...I'll say again...what did they do with their money?

With regard to the tragic Mr. York...for a guy who started on Broadway, had steady employment in television 'guesting' on series prior to "Bewitched", starred /appeared in several important films, then had an enormously successful run on "Bewitched", then occasionally 'guested' on series when able after his illnesses worsened, an estimation of $1.5 million total income seems a bit paltry. But, even if that be the case, didn't anyone explain to him the importance of health insurance? And, in order to qualify for public assistance (which poor Mr. York was on at the time of his death), one has to be at the poverty level with both liquid and non-liquid assets taken into consideration. I've had 3 brain surgeries over a period of a few years; haven't come close to the late Mr. York's salary, and am quite comfortable financially.

Mr. Reynolds was #1 box office for years and then, you're right, parts offered dwindled (shouldn't actors, like sports figures, realize that's s.o.p. for their chosen professions, and plan accordingly?) and then got involved with Loni Anderson. OK. Then he was sick for a couple of years..been there; done that. Then a divorce and custoday case. Been there; done that too. I was involved in a six year divorce/custody battle too, and I've never been #1 box office. Then the IRS.....that's something we all have to deal with.

Coleman never made the transition to adult roles...again, s.o.p. for child stars...advance planning would help. Problems with
parents and drugs aside, Coleman (according to Brandon Tartikoff (sp?) in his autobiography "The Last Great Ride"), Coleman managed to accumulate several hundred acres in Vermont as well as a home in Malibu. OK, drugs can desstroy, but......

And Joan Crawford, according to adopted daughter Christina in "Mommie Dearest", was in tears when she announced that she could no longer afford Christina's boarding school tuition because, "there is no money." And this after countless films, Oscars, etc. Christina states that Mommie Dearest married the Pepsi guy for his money, which was the probable source off her $2 million estate. I tend to believe the 'money problem' story...considering one of Joan's last films was the pathetic B film "Trog", a sci fi embarrassment that she obviously made for the money.

So, I'll say again, what did they do with their money?

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"Il n'y a de vraiment beau que ce que ne peut servir a rien. Tous qui est util, est laid."
There is nothing more beautiful than that which serves no purpose. Everything that is useful, is ugly
"Emaux et Camees" T. Gauthier

I guess they weren't as fortunate with their money handling as you've been.

I Give up. What DID they do with their money?

OUCH!

After taxes, don't they have to pay the 10 - 20% owed to the manager, agent, publicist, dog walker? That would really cut into it. I read or heard somewhere that if you made 20 million a movie, after paying everyone you had, maybe, a million left. That's where you start paying your electric, mortgage, etc. If they're smart, they'd also save as much as possible. If you're a woman, people really notice if you wear the same outfit twice but they do get a lot of freebees in that department. I thought the producers paid for health insurance while they are employed? But they would need good coverage while they're 'resting.' One would really have to remember that it could all come crashing down tomorrow so they'd have to prepare a hefty nestegg. Didn't Dick York leave Bewitched because of illness? Didn't he have arthritis in his back or something?