Walt Disney (1901-1966).
It is a well-known fact that one of the biggest influences in the field of modern entertainment did go bankrupt.
In 1921, he established the Newman Laugh-O Grams studio in Kansas City, Missouri, producing cartoons that quickly gained popularity in the area.
In spite of $15,000 from investors, Disney was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1923 when the studio was unable to cope with the debt and the high salary demands of his top animators.
That same year, Disney packed his belongings: one pair of pants, a shirt, a coat, two pairs of socks, and some old drawing materials and headed west for Hollywood.
Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939).
The director responsible for "The Godfather" trilogy and winner of fourteen Academy Awards was already in debt at $300,000 even before the first Godfather installment was released.
Then in filming the 1982 musical One from the Heart, his insistence of using set design instead of shooting on location ballooned production budget from $2 million to $25 million.
The income he received in subsequent film projects from then on and through most of the 1990s were used to pay off the debt incurred by the over-budgeted musical.
Isaac Hayes (1942-2008).
This Songwriters Hall of Famer of 2005 filed for bankruptcy in 1976 with debt to the Union Planters Bank amounting to $6 million.
By the end of the proceedings in 1977, his home, his personal property, his business ventures, and all rights to future royalties derived from the music he had created and performed were lost.
Will Smith (born September 25, 1968).
The February 14, 2009 issue of Newsweek magazine described him as the most powerful actor on the planet.
He starred in eight consecutive films that had grossed over $100 million in the U.
S.
box office alone, and all debuting at #1.
It is hard to believe that this man nearly went bankrupt early in his career in 1990 after the IRS acted against $2.
8 million worth of his unpaid taxes.
His career slowly began picking up after NBC offered him to star on the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
In 1995 came his biggest movie break with a lead role in "Bad Boys, alongside Martin Lawrence.
Toni Braxton (born October 7, 1968).
In 1998, R&B superstar Toni Braxton was bleached in a humiliating publicity of the bankruptcy she was forced to file.
Heavily in debt with $3.
9 million, she was compelled to sell all her personal effects that included her six major Grammy trophies.
Yet while the difficult proceedings were ongoing, she held on to an opportunity to act in Broadway, with the role of Belle in the Disney-inspired musical Beauty and the Beast.
Her fortunes slowly picked up in 1999, after she settled a legal dispute with LaFace Records, and finally in 2000 with the single He Wasn't Man Enough that rocketed to #2 on the Hot 100 chart.
Kim Basinger (born December 8, 1953).
Winner of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild for her performance in L.
A.
Confidential in 1997, Kim Basinger had to file for bankruptcy in 1993 after the court ruled her to pay Main Line Pictures $8 million for withdrawing from a commitment to star in the controversial film Boxing Helena.
She was forced to sell Braselton, a town she bought for $20 million in Georgia during the height of her career, for a measly $1 million.
It is a well-known fact that one of the biggest influences in the field of modern entertainment did go bankrupt.
In 1921, he established the Newman Laugh-O Grams studio in Kansas City, Missouri, producing cartoons that quickly gained popularity in the area.
In spite of $15,000 from investors, Disney was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1923 when the studio was unable to cope with the debt and the high salary demands of his top animators.
That same year, Disney packed his belongings: one pair of pants, a shirt, a coat, two pairs of socks, and some old drawing materials and headed west for Hollywood.
Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939).
The director responsible for "The Godfather" trilogy and winner of fourteen Academy Awards was already in debt at $300,000 even before the first Godfather installment was released.
Then in filming the 1982 musical One from the Heart, his insistence of using set design instead of shooting on location ballooned production budget from $2 million to $25 million.
The income he received in subsequent film projects from then on and through most of the 1990s were used to pay off the debt incurred by the over-budgeted musical.
Isaac Hayes (1942-2008).
This Songwriters Hall of Famer of 2005 filed for bankruptcy in 1976 with debt to the Union Planters Bank amounting to $6 million.
By the end of the proceedings in 1977, his home, his personal property, his business ventures, and all rights to future royalties derived from the music he had created and performed were lost.
Will Smith (born September 25, 1968).
The February 14, 2009 issue of Newsweek magazine described him as the most powerful actor on the planet.
He starred in eight consecutive films that had grossed over $100 million in the U.
S.
box office alone, and all debuting at #1.
It is hard to believe that this man nearly went bankrupt early in his career in 1990 after the IRS acted against $2.
8 million worth of his unpaid taxes.
His career slowly began picking up after NBC offered him to star on the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
In 1995 came his biggest movie break with a lead role in "Bad Boys, alongside Martin Lawrence.
Toni Braxton (born October 7, 1968).
In 1998, R&B superstar Toni Braxton was bleached in a humiliating publicity of the bankruptcy she was forced to file.
Heavily in debt with $3.
9 million, she was compelled to sell all her personal effects that included her six major Grammy trophies.
Yet while the difficult proceedings were ongoing, she held on to an opportunity to act in Broadway, with the role of Belle in the Disney-inspired musical Beauty and the Beast.
Her fortunes slowly picked up in 1999, after she settled a legal dispute with LaFace Records, and finally in 2000 with the single He Wasn't Man Enough that rocketed to #2 on the Hot 100 chart.
Kim Basinger (born December 8, 1953).
Winner of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild for her performance in L.
A.
Confidential in 1997, Kim Basinger had to file for bankruptcy in 1993 after the court ruled her to pay Main Line Pictures $8 million for withdrawing from a commitment to star in the controversial film Boxing Helena.
She was forced to sell Braselton, a town she bought for $20 million in Georgia during the height of her career, for a measly $1 million.