Brett Butler: Why She is Broke

I knew someone who made an amazing comeback from meth.

I loved "Grace Under Fire" wishing her the same success.

Did she do meth?

I found her much more likable by the end of the article. And it certainly sounds like she has been to hell and back. I’m not always ready to accept the “drugs make you do awful things” defense. For the few addicts I’ve known, the drugs reveal who they are. Chuck Lorre, who has been around, quit working with her after a year? There’s something clue there, but I do hope she can land on her feet.

[quote]$250,000 per episode

I know a lot of people's first reaction will be "Where did it all go?", but I had no idea her show was so popular to warrant that much per an episode.

She made 25 million and she is broke. I have this sinking feeling that would have been me had I ever had any success. Especially the way she said she felt guilty for having it. Been there. Luckily it was nowhere near 25mil.

Gone with the Wind residuals only take one so far.

The fact that she reached out to people she worked with and tried to make amends says a lot about her. Not many people have the courage to own up to their bullshit, especially in Hollywood.

I wonder who was the woman who told Brett she wasn't so great? Kind of a shitty thing to do at that point.

Doesn’t sound like she works a lot if she’s that broke. She should move out of LA to somewhere with a lower cost of living. LA is like crack to a lot of celebrities though, even has beens like her. They just can’t give it up.

I met her once years back . She was very pleasant

I mean, how can anyone not root for someone who pays to support an old horse so it doesn't get turned into dog food?

She was really good in The Leftovers, though I didn't recognize her at first.

R2: I meant that one can come back from rock bottom.

She feels quite sorry for herself.

I battle depression myself, so I hope her and anyone else can come back from the hell that is depression.

yes, we know and have been talking about this for some time now

What is it we say here? Most comedians live tortured lives.

add her to the list of 80s and 90s actresses who were either bitches or couldn’t keep their shit together and became impossible to work with:

Brett Butler

Delta Burke

Roseanne

Shannen Doherty

Kate Jackson

Cybill Shepherd

Janet Hubert

Sean Young

Because she didn’t resonate with blue-collar fraus as much as Roseanne did, as she was expected to?

[quote]Chuck Lorre, who has been around, quit working with her after a year?

He has a problem with strong, Southern women.

Sean young has a Joan Crawford quality to her. Wish she played Crawford in a film or something. She looks similar to her.

Delta Burke was not a bitch or difficult.

If Chuck Lorre can work with drunk, drug addled Charlie Sheen for 8 damn years, he ought to be able to handle Brett Butler.

[quote]I mean, how can anyone not root for someone who pays to support an old horse so it doesn't get turned into dog food?

Amen to that.

r21

Then why wouldn't she lose weight like the producers and studio wanted her to?

r17

What am I? chopped liver?

R24, Burke had serious depression, resulting in a dramatic weight gain.

And you think she simply didn't slim down because she was being a petulant bitch?

Wow. What an incredible fall from grace (no pun intended).

I stopped being a fan back in the 90s when I learned what a horrific drunk and druggie she was and how she fucked up every opportunity she ever had. But after reading the article, she seems to take full responsibility for her past, and I respect her for that. And she's still working and trying to provide for herself, so I applaud her for that, too.

It looks like she's trying to land and has one foot on the ground at this point. I'm rooting for her to get the other one on soft turf soon.

R17 I see the makings of a reality show in your list. Or a sort of Golden Girls show, but with more women.

Dang, she's Madonna's age.

Lorre doesn't seem to be a walk in the park, himself.

He also seemed to have problems with the women he worked with - at least until MOM.

She mentions going back to standup in the article. She needs to do what Mrs. Kathy did and tell her story like Mrs. Kathy's A Hell of a Story. Jokes will only get her so far and her fans will want to know firsthand what she went through.

I worked in business management. I’m not making excuses for her being broke but I can see how it happened. It happens a lot. Celebs often have a short window of earning power.

Taxes in CA take a huge amount. Agent gets 10% of earnings. Manager gets 15%. Business manager gets 5%. Add in publicist and assistant and staff. And needy family. It goes fast unless you know how to say no and demand to see every bill and sign every check.

r26

I was being sarcastic.

I love Delta and am aware of her issues. I am also aware of the pressure she was under and how unkind the press was to her at the time. Which is what I meant by my comment.

I first saw Brett on PBS, on some comedy show, in Fall 1989, on KCTS in Seattle. She was fucking hysterical. She talked about marrying a boyfriend whose relatives were bible thumpers. Although it's been some years, some of her zingers were, "My boyfriend told his parents his was dating a nice Jewish girl. Their reply? Why didn't you just shoot us in our sleep, dear?" The other one, wh. I still laugh about today involves Brett being present at a Christmas tree decortating fest, or just being around one in a shopping mall. Through some uncoordinated accident, she knocked the head off baby Jesus, "You have decapitated the Lord," she drawled in the thickest, most hilarious Southern accent. She was so funny.

It saddens me to see how somebody who at one time possessed such a natural talent for drole recounting of ordinary events has fallen on hard times. I wish her luck. But not a centime will leave my Chanel change purse to put her back on her feet.

[quote]I wonder who was the woman who told Brett she wasn't so great? Kind of a shitty thing to do at that point.

She said "you're not special," which isn't quite the same thing as "you're not so great." I'm with the lady who told her off, especially seeing that Brett's reaction was STILL to get defensive and basically say "being an alcoholic who barely survived proves I never thought I was special."

R35- my money is on Julie White who has gone on to win a Tony and get steady TV and theater work.

The link is not working for me…just a blank page

Given her demons, I wonder how she could manage the grind of a series.

[quote]I know a lot of people's first reaction will be "Where did it all go?", but I had no idea her show was so popular to warrant that much per an episode.

The show was actually really good the first three seasons, and it came on right after Home Improvement, so it had a great time slot for great ratings.

R36 That was my first guess, too.

I had no idea she was Jewish

Do SAG pensions work like regular pensions (where the amount is based on how much you earned altogether over the years)? If so, and if she earned over $25 million, wouldn’t she be able to live well off of her pension? And can’t you start drawing from it at 63?

[quote]I had no idea she was Jewish

I THINK that was just a joke so that she could get a reaction from her boyfriend’s parents, but I could be wrong. I remember her being on the Larry Sanders Show and she said she was a WASP.

Despite the headline, the only explanation for her being broke is "she spent all of it."

They run Grace Under Fire for two straight hours every weekday morning on the Laff OTA channel. Doesn't she get any money from that?

She probably is staying in LA in order to be available for work,

$25 million, less taxes = 15 million.

$25 million, less agents and pr = $12.5 million.

If I had $12.5 million, I'd put $3 million into a treasury ladder. $5 million into a combination of index bond and equity funds. Buy a home for$2-3 million and spend $1 million on various things like cars, furniture, clothes, trips in order to Brewster's Millions it and get spending out of my system.

[quote]She probably is staying in LA in order to be available for work,

She obviously isn’t getting much work there. She either needs to move further out of the city where it’s cheaper or she should move back to Georgia and try to focus on the Atlanta market.

Being successful in the 90s is the kiss of financial death in the 20s.

"she should move back to Georgia and try to focus on the Atlanta market."

Is Tyler Perry hiring?

[quote] They run Grace Under Fire for two straight hours every weekday morning on the Laff OTA channel. Doesn't she get any money from that?

That probably isn't making anyone money. They pay about three cents an episode to play it on those transvaginal mesh channels.

R50 He always is. And it’s not just Tyler - there are a lot of TV and movies filmed in Atlanta these days.

I loved her show when I was young. She has a great, husky voice.