Unfortunately, scrutiny by the media is just one of the many things children in the entertainment industry have to deal with. They also have to deal with predators who are trying to leech off of them or take advantage of them.
There has been many instances where that predator is a family member or parent, the person who was supposed to actually be the child’s protector in all of this. Let’s take a look at some child stars who got their money stolen by their parents.
Jackie Coogan:
Coogan is one of the first child stars to grace Hollywood. In fact, he began acting in the 1910s in silent films. Coogan was described as a natural and worked closely with Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin on films like ‘The kid and trap.’
Jackie had a massively successful career, reportedly earning around $4 million as a child actor. Once he was of age, he went to take control of his money which had been managed by his dad who died in a car accident – an accident that was so bad that Coogan managed to be the only surviving member.
But when Coogan went to take control of his money, he found out his mother Lillian and stepfather Arthur Bernstein had spent all of his money. They had absolutely no intention to give Coogan any of his money. His mom claimed he didn’t deserve anything, not even a dime. She told him that every dime he made belongs to the parents.
Coogan turned out to be a broke adult after working his entire childhood. He eventually decided to take them to court in 1938, but was only awarded $126k. His court settlement eventually caught people’s attention which resulted in the California Child Actors bill also known as Coogan Law. It requires that a child actor’s employer must set aside 15% of their earnings in a trust fund for the child.
Gary Coleman:
Coleman probably has one of the most disastrous cases of child stars done wrong. He is known as one of the greatest child actors of all time and became one of the highest paid child actors in the 1970s and 80s. He appeared on the hit show ‘Different Strokes’ as the character Arnold Jackson.
Having a moderately successful movie career, he seemed to be set up for financial stability for the rest of his life. However, when Coleman became of age, he found out that he was practically broke and sued his parents and management. The court awarded Coleman nearly $1.3 million, but after some poor financial choices, he ended up broke once again.
LeAnn Rimes:
LeAnn became a bona fide teen star at the age of 13. In the 90s, she released multiple multi-platinum albums that had marked her as a country pop crossover act. As soon as the 2000s hit, her music career took a backseat to the many lawsuits she filed in 1998.
LeAnn Rimes filed a lawsuit against her father Wilbur C. Rimes and her former co-manager Lal Walker claiming the two were responsible for spending more than $7 million of her earnings. The case was eventually settled and LeAnn and her father repaired their relationship.
Gina Malone:
Gina is mostly known for her roles in 90s movies such as ‘Bastard out of Carolina’ and ‘Stepmom.’ She was even nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in 1997’s ‘Hope.’ She was only 14 years old when she filed a lawsuit against her mother.
Gina had already lived on her own off and on and at the time. She was seeking emancipation from her mother (36-year-old Debbie Malone). The 14-year-old also filed a related suit in court accusing her mom of squandering more than $1 million at the age of 15.
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The judge granted her emancipation request. She continued on with a moderately successful career and seems to be doing just fine these days.
Macaulay Culkin:
Culkin is probably the most famous child actor of all time. That’s because he wasn’t just a child actor in the traditional sense, he was one of the most popular actors of his time and his success competed with the giants. He is mostly known for his role in the iconic Christmas movie series ‘Home Alone.’
Playing the devious and smart Kevin Mcallister who beats out bombs, Macaulay was paid over $4 million. Meanwhile, in his actual home, his parents were going through a divorce and Culkin was in the midst of it. Because his parents were having a custody battle, Culkin was very proactive about it.
“We didn’t want to go with my father,” Culkin said. “It’s always misconstrued that I emancipated myself from my parents. I legally took my parents name off my trust fund.” His reason of course was to protect himself and his earnings.
The industry has always been filled with predators, but it’s especially disheartening when kids are the victims and even more concerning when their parents are the culprits.
