Nicolas Cage notoriously paid off over $6 million in debt by taking a high volume of movie roles after experiencing financial distress from real estate investments. Additionally, actor Michael Sheen famously used his own money to pay off over £1 million ($1.3 million) in debt for around 900 people in South Wales.
Actor Michael Sheen paid off $1.3 million worth of debt for his neighbors.
Sheen used £100,000 of his own money to buy £1m of debt, which was then written off. Both programmes were able to buy large amounts of debt for so little because bad loans are often written down to a small percentage of their value on the secondary market.
In fact, as the article below proves, many celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Tori Spelling, Courtney Love and Ed McMahon and other rich personalities have had problems with credit card debt. As already pointed out, having accrued a massive credit card balance is not always because of poverty.
British actor Michael Sheen spent £100,000 to write off £1 million ($1.3 million) of his neighbor's debts. Sheen wrote off debt to help more than 900 people in south Wales, where he had grown up.
While Mary Pickford was the first to sign a million-dollar contract (around 1916), Marlon Brando is credited as the first actor paid $1 million for a single movie role in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), though Elizabeth Taylor also earned a million for Cleopatra (1963) and more with profit shares, setting the trend for massive star salaries.
The largest holder of U.S. debt is the U.S. government itself, primarily through the Federal Reserve and intragovernmental holdings (like Social Security trust funds), followed by domestic investors (mutual funds, banks, individuals) and then foreign investors, with Japan often leading as the largest foreign holder, though China's holdings have decreased.
Judy Garland
She died from an accidental overdose in 1969, aged 47. Despite working non-stop since childhood, Garland was around $4 million (around $33m/£26m today) in debt to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the time of her death.
Actor Charlie Sheen's ex-wife, Brooke Mueller, says he owes more than $15 million in back child support and interest for his 16-year-old twin sons, according to court documents she filed Thursday, Page Six reports.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Sheen lost the vast majority of his former fortune on well-publicised legal costs, child and spousal support payments and extravagant lifestyle expenses. The Hollywood bad boy also spent millions on hookers and drugs.
Yes, Charlie Sheen apologized to Jon Cryer, expressing regret for their past issues and saying, "I'm sorry we didn't connect personally," after seeing Cryer's compassionate comments in the Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen in late 2025, though Cryer remained hesitant to fully reconnect. This followed earlier, less clear apologies, like a brief "apol" (half-apology) in 2011, but the recent message showed a more direct acknowledgement of his past behavior and appreciation for Cryer's perspective.
In 1832, he vetoed a bill by Congress to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States, viewing the Bank as a fourth branch of government run by the elite. After a lengthy struggle, the Bank was dismantled. In 1835, Jackson became the only U.S. president to pay off the national debt.
Despite her screen success, Leigh battled health issues throughout her life, including bipolar disorder and recurrent tuberculosis. These struggles led to her untimely demise in 1967 at the age of 53. At the time of her death, she was worth around $10 million – or $96 million (£71m) today.
Barbra Streisand described her relationship with Judy Garland as maternal and generous, revealing in her memoir My Name is Barbra that Garland warned her, "Don't let them do to you what they did to me," a cryptic warning about Hollywood's harshness. Streisand recalled being touched by Garland's vulnerability, noting how she'd reach out to steady her during their iconic duet, and that Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli said her mother was awed by Streisand's talent, feeling she'd "never open my mouth again" after hearing her sing.
Federal Reserve data shows that about 23% of Americans have no debt.
Over the 12 months from the close of trading on Jan. 17, 2025, to the end of day Jan. 15, 2026, the federal government added approximately $2.25 trillion to the national debt, according to calculations shared exclusively with Fortune by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
No, Jackie Coogan never fully got his money back; he recovered only a small fraction, about $126,000, from the millions he earned as a child star, but his lawsuit led directly to the landmark 1939 California Child Actor's Bill (the Coogan Law), which protects child performers' earnings today. His parents spent most of his fortune on luxuries, and despite the lawsuit, the law he inspired became his lasting legacy, ensuring other child actors wouldn't suffer the same fate.