Willie Aames: Once Famous, Now Broke

Willie Aames has been to hell and back.

The former child star, best known as the lovable Buddy Lembeck on ‘Charles in Charge,’ and Tommy Bradford on ‘Eight is Enough,’ dropped out of the limelight and one day found himself bankrupt, divorced, his housed foreclosed on - and living under a bush.

Watch Aames in full episodes of Charles in Charge

“I remember thinking ‘Is this where it’s really gonna end?” he told us from his home in Kansas City. But along came VH1’s documentary ‘Broke and Famous,’ where Aames got a startling personal wake-up call from financial guru Sarano Kelley, who helped the actor piece his life back together and embark on a surprising new career.

What profession is Aames turning to and what does he think about one day making a TV comeback? We spoke with the actor, where he told us this and much more.

Watch ‘Broke and Famous’ tonight at 10pm on VH1.

When did you hit rock bottom?
I think it was sleeping in the park under a bush. When you go through a traumatic event there’s a lot of shame that comes with that. A lot of loss of self-esteem. That can become debilitating. I remember laying under a bush - I didn’t have a car, a phone, a home. I had nothing. I remember thinking ‘Is this where it’s really gonna end? Is this how I end up in life?” That was kind of a revelation.

Why do the show?
A couple of reasons. I have to say initially it was my need to get back on my feet. Obviously there was a paycheck involved, if I were able to complete all the steps Serrano had for me. I would be lying if I said that wasn’t an initial motivation. But there as a secondary motive - the way the show was described to me is the show would take a look at what happens to celebrities when things go south. There’s a tendency for people to think that celebrities do whatever they want, spend whatever they want, and it’s completely out of control. While some of that may be true, I’ve never met a celebrity who threw caution to the wind and thought they could do anything. That’s not the thought process.

You’re becoming a financial adviser. Will you also guide celebs in the financial process?
Well, yes and no. I think that’s a loftier goal to get into some of the union issues, helping them learn finance and financial planning. But the primary goal for me is to help anybody, and to teach people in general understand the basics of finance.

What do you feel are some of the mistakes you made in your life?
There are several mistakes I made. It goes back as far as I do in terms of work. I never took responsibility to learn how things work. Back then it almost became a badge of honor to say that you don’t care about money, that you don’t have to worry about it. But while that’s true, what’s more true is that if you want that attitude you need to know how finances work and how to use them properly. Those are things I never learned. Another thing I learned when I was a child actor is that everybody gets paid but you. So you might as well do what you want when you have it before they get a hold of it. And that’s something people related to on any level. If you work really hard you feel you deserve some things. But how you go about getting them - the responsibility involved - is something entirely different.

What was the most startling thing you learned while going through this training process?
I was so ill-prepared to handle finances or large sums of money. We really don’t teach our children the big picture, how these things work. I could think of many experiences where my money was mismanaged and I never took the responsibility for learning how they work.

The show - and your tribulations - is really timely given today’s financial climate.
Yeah (laughs) I may have been ahead of the curve on that one. I think it is timely, I see the news, what’s going on. I basically started on a new path in life and I’m almost 50. I started from scratch.

Was the garage sale that you shot on the series bittersweet? Seeing hundreds of supporters there but also having to sell some of your prized possessions?
Well, I wasn’t really prepared for what was gonna happen that day. It was a surprise, so I was scared to death that Serrano was going to do that. The entire year prior I isolated myself pretty much. I would see myself as an embarrassment to Kansas City. Then, when I went up front to the garage sale and saw hundreds of people I had never met before to help me and support me it was an eye opener. It shows the same genuine concern that you see across the country. It was very moving and it shocked me.

Were you able to get back on your feet with that money? Was it helpful?
It was. I was able to get an inexpensive car and into an apartment. More importantly, the money aside was the continuing interest from Serrano and the good sense to put me with two very astute business men to mentor me so I could learn the basics of finance. That led to a change I would have never imagined and that was a shock. I had an interest from people after the garage sale broke on the news to speak as a motivational speaker. But I thought about that as becoming a poster boy for ‘Don’t be me’. I really didn’t think people would listen to me because it was all so new to me.

So what led you on this new path?
To get the credibility, I had to do the work. So they handed me the materials and they said we’re not gonna give you any help other than questions. If you study the materials and you pass the exams there may be an opportunity for you. It started off as a quest to gain credibility but it turned into a strong passion to be an advocate for other people. And hopefully help them protect themselves from the same situation.

How are you handling your money nowadays?
I only get what I need at the grocery store. All the little things, you don’t buy what you don’t need, you don’t get what isn’t necessary, you watch what you spend, take out the taxes first, plan ahead. All the things that seem so basic. But more importantly learning not to go out and splurge on yourself because you’ve worked hard. And sometimes maybe you should but you first have to make sure your bills are taken care of first.

Would you ever go back to television?
Well, first I don’t think I’m in any danger of a comeback. Having said that, I think that as long as it has some sort of positive bearing on where I want to go in terms of helping people, I think sure, why wouldn’t I consider it. But that’s not my primary focus. Sometimes doing a show like that, like ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ sure there’s a pay day there, but is that going to detract me from my real goal which is to become a financial advisor and help other people? What will that do to my credibility as an advisor? But never say never. I’ve lived 40 years going from show to show to show, so now I’m more concerned about the long haul and continuing my healing process by helping others.

The series showed your strained relationship with your daughter. How is that now?
It’s going much better, but there are a lot of things we still have to address. I try to see her once a week if she or I can. She’s a busy girl, she’s 19. I try to have dinner with her once a week. When I reunited with her on the show I hadn’t seen her in almost a year and I had genuine fears that the damage was so great that I would never see her again. And I lost it. I had no idea that was gonna happen.

What was her reaction to seeing you again after a year?
She said to me, ‘I never knew if you were ever proud of me.’ And that shocked me because I had always been proud of her and I love her so deeply. It was really confirmation that while trying to do what I thought was right, I didn’t success in protecting her and letting her know how much I love her.

You have thrown yourself into preparing for these exams. What’s that been like?
My main focus for eight months straight has been to study seven days a week, 5 to 12 hours a day. I’m very focused and I have to be. I never learned to study in studio school, so I had to teach myself to study. These exams are very tough.

Any plans for another book?
I haven’t thought too much about it. I think if there’s a bigger story, I don’t know if it’s about my trials and tribulations. I think the most amazing thing about this show is the mentoring aspect from Serrano to me and from Tom Butch and Andy Heath to me. It says something about what we all need in this country, is for people to pass moral support and encouragement about starting over. I’d love to see a book about that. But that’s a book for Serrano to write.

What do you hope people will gain from the show?
I hope the people that are fearful and hurting are motivated in some way, that people will stop celebrating the cynicism and start celebrating the optimism in this country, because we can do this. If I can go in nine months time from sleeping in a parking garage to having the possibility of a wide open future again in a completely different direction after 50, then we can do this.

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