Dustin Diamond was haunted by his character on Saved by the Bell, Screech Powers, playing him in ten different spin-offs, reboots, and parodies from Good Morning, Miss Bliss in 1988 to the short “Breaking Belding” in 2013. This does not take into account his fake sex tape, Screeched — Saved by the Smell (likely not canon) to try to save his house from foreclosure, as reported by the International Business Times. When this didn’t work, he tried to sell t-shirts with his face on them, as reported by Chron, the next logical step after adult film. 

Before he was of age, he was in debt. CBS News reports that he credited his 2001 bankruptcy to his parents’ spending and a substantial tax miscalculation. He listed his income at about $5,300 a month, much going to propping up his real estate obligations. This was not helped when, after his girlfriend’s failed pregnancy in 2005, Diamond was left with high medical bills, according to the Gainesville Sun.

Diamond died of Stage 4 cancer early in 2021. After his release from prison for stabbing someone in 2014, CNN reports that Diamond told his former costar Mario Lopez, “I want to put the tomfoolery and malarkey behind me… for that clean slate. Time for a change.” All evidence was that he was making good on that change. Before his death, his net worth was estimated around $300,000, according to International Business Times.

In the 1970s, Willie Aames was one of the most prominent child stars owing to his role of Tommy Bradford on Eight is Enough. When his career began, he claimed to earn over $1 million a year. Predictably, he began to turn to drugs. AmoMama states that his addictions escalated from heavy drinking to marijuana and then to cocaine.

While some child stars run their careers into the ground, Aames took it a little further. According to TheWrap, after following his accountant’s advice to invest in a coal mine, Aames ended up owing $400,000 to the IRS, forcing his house into foreclosure. The Huffington Post reports that he turned to sleeping under parking garages and bushes. He said, “When I was at my lowest, I had no phone, no computer, no car, and $5 in my pocket.”

Huffington Post states that he worked construction and as a cruise director for Oceania before, ironically, becoming a financial planner and motivational speaker, according to Accounting Today. Who can better understand recovering from financial ruin than an ex-child star who did? He also moonlit as the Christian superhero Bibleman from 1995 to 2004, until an injury forced him out of the role and toward a painkiller addiction, as per his memoir, Grace Is Enough. According to Celebrity Net Worth, his hovers around $100,000.

Leif Garrett was born for — and in — Hollywood. He broke into the public eye in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, then bounced over screens big and small. He even took over the role of Leonard Unger on The Odd Couple, a part originated by Willie Aames (not the role that got him Tiger Beat’s cover). In 1976, Garrett became a double threat when it came to burning out — he signed a recording contract. According to an interview with Current Publishing, his musical career was over when he stopped being a teen.

As described in his autobiography, Idol Truth, Garrett, 17, crashed a car while inebriated, causing his friend Roland Winkler’s partial paralysis. UPI reports that a judge awarded Winkler $3.9 million in damages, though the jury only made Garrett pay $15,000 in punitive damages.

He went playing in front of 35,000 fans and acting in The Outsiders to filing for bankruptcy in 2001. He listed his only income as a monthly $1,000 gift from his mother and his only possessions as household goods. In the red according to the Los Angeles Times, with $76,198 in unpaid credit card bills. Even once he began to get his life back on track, he stated in an interview with Liberty n’ Justice, his recording contracts meant that he did not see royalties. Celebrity Net Worth says his fortune is $1,000.

Jaimee Foxworth’s greatest Hollywood accomplishment was as Judy Winslow on Family Matters, where as a sitcom regular, she made between $3,000 and $7,000 per episode, a quarter of that going into a trust per California law, according to The Washington Post. The producers eliminated her character in season four, partly to accommodate other actors’ increasing salaries, like Jaleel White’s (who, according to IMDb, made $180,000 an episode at his peak), Foxworth explained to The Root. In subsequent episodes, Judy is never mentioned or acknowledged. Being erased from existence is a heavy blow for any child star.

On Oprah.com, she credits her family’s money issues with her turning to alcohol to cope, though, according to Legit.ng, internet rumor claims that her trust was taken to pay off her parents’ debt. She tried to recover some morsel of fame by forming a band with her sisters, S.H.E., but this did not last. When next she tried for fame (or financial solvency), it was in adult films under the name Crave. Working in that industry did not help with her drug addiction, according to The Huffington Post.

Foxworth credits the birth of her son with helping her get clean, saying in an interview with Oprah, “When your son is 2 months old, how are you going to be able to smoke weed and occasionally drink and still be able to function day-to-day?” According to Celebrity Net Worth, she has about $50,000.

David Cassidy rose to fame at Keith Partridge on The Partridge Family in the 1970s. He grew up around show business, both parents being actors. Even his stepmother was an actress, who went on to play his mother on the show. He scored major hits in addition to acting, including the earworm, “I Think I Love You.” He had two number-one singles, sold 30 million records worldwide, and, according to the BBC, had more members of his fan club than The Beatles or Elvis. At his peak, TV Guide reports that, by age 21, he was the highest-paid solo performer in the world.

Like Leif Garrett, his teen fans grew up, but Cassidy struggled to do the same. He had a series of DUI arrests and court-mandated rehab that never succeeded for very long, and he had a more challenging time finding work but spent money as though he were still a star. In 2015, Cassidy filed for bankruptcy, auctioning off his mansion for a million-dollar loss, according to the Chicago Tribune. People reports that he had debts of at least $10 million, portioned out between bank loans, credit cards, and $102,000 to a lawyer.

At the time of his death in 2017, Celebrity Net Worth claims he had $500,000, though he had debts totaling $186,840. He left his estate to his son Beau, along with $1 million in life insurance and a $450,000 retirement account, according to Wealth Advisor. The Miami Herald states that Cassidy cut his daughter Katie out completely.