Danny Bonaduce

Danny Bonaduce (born Dante Daniel Bonaduce) is a former child star best known for his role in the early 1970s as Danny Partridge on The Partridge Family and his many run-ins with the law.

I. Early Life

Bonaduce was born on August 13, 1959, in Broomall, Pennsylvania into a family connected to the entertainment business. His father, Joseph Bonaduce, was a TV writer/producer for various TV shows such as Mayberry RFD, One Day At A Time, and Good Times.

Bonaduce began his TV acting career in 1969 with small roles on the TV shows The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Mayberry R.F.D., and Bewitched. In 1970 he was cast as little Danny Partridge on the hit TV show The Partridge Family. Danny Partridge was a young boy in a family of musical siblings that toured from town to town in The Partridge Family. Bonaduce was well known for his role and achieved quite a bit of fame during his pre-pubescent years.





Unfortunately, Bonaduce had a bad relationship with his father - Bonaduce claims that his father had nothing but animosity for him from the day he was born, and that the situation grew worse with Danny's pre-pubescent success on The Partridge Family. When Shirley Jones, the actress who played his mother on The Partridge Family, noticed that Bonaduce was coming in with bruises on his arms on Monday mornings, she realized that he was being abused at home, and tried to protect Bonaduce by allowing him to stay with her or with other cast members during the weekends.

In 1973 Bonaduce released a self-titled album. Bonaduce has admitted that his vocals can barely be heard on the album and that most of the singing was provided by Bruce Roberts. The album was apparently so awful that a record store, Rhino Store, paid customers 5 cents to take home Bonaduce's album.

Bonaduce's career hit the skids shortly after The Partridge Family was cancelled in 1974 and he drifted into a life of drug abuse and endured a period of homelessness during his late teens and early twenties.

II. Bonaduce's Life After The Partridge Family

Bonaduce briefly worked as a stable boy for Kenny Rogers after The Partridge Family was cancelled. He drifted aimlessly at this point in his life and eventually developed an addiction for cocaine. In 1985, he was arrested with 50 grams of cocaine in his car. In 1990, he was arrested at a Daytona Beach crack house. He went through rehab in 1991, 2001, and 2005.

Bonaduce claims that at one point he was so addicted to smoking crack that he could no longer wait for the pipe to cool down. He says that he had giant burns on his fingers and lips because he would pick up a red-hot pipe and stick it in his mouth. He also claims that he could hear the searing of flesh burning from the hot crack pipe.

His mother eventually tracked him down in Hollywood Hills and convinced him to move back in with her and get his life back together.

Bonaduce eventually did get his life back together and started a radio DJ/commentary career on WEGX in Philadelphia. He then went to KKFR in Phoenix, Arizona. Bonaduce worked at KKFR until 1991, when he was fired after being charged with assaulting and beating Darius Barney, a transvestite prostitute. Bonaduce later stated that he thought that the prostitute was a girl when he picked him up and let him into his car. When he found out that the prostitute was a man, he ordered the prostitute to leave. When the prostitute refused to leave unless Danny paid him $40, Bonaduce opened the passenger side door of his car and pulled him out of the car. Bonaduce then punched the much larger Barney because he feared that Barney was going to attack him. Although he only received probation, the resulting bad publicity caused KKFR to terminate his employment.

Bonaduce has been a staple on FM-radio over the years and currently co-hosts the morning talk show, The Adam Carolla Show, with Adam Carolla. Bonaduce also co-hosted the morning TV talk show, The Other Half, from 2001-2003.

Bonaduce married real estate agent Setsuko Hattori in 1985; they divorced three years later, in 1988. On November 4, 1990, Bonaduce met his second wife, Gretchen Hillmer, on a blind date. Bonaduce married Hillmer a few hours into their first date. Hillmer put up with Bonaduce's infidelities for many years until April 9, 2007, when she filed a divorce petition, citing irreconcilable differences.

III. Celebrity Boxing

Despite being very short in stature, Bonaduce has participated several celebrity boxing matches for charity. In 1994, Bonaduce participated in a charity boxing match against Donny Osmond. Osmond and Bonaduce were both living in Chicago and worked out at the same gym. They apparently were not friends and Osmond made fun of Bonaduce when he saw Bonaduce looking at himself in the mirror, calling Bonaduce a "poseur." Osmond appeared on a DJ radio show the next day and mentioned the incident. The DJ asked Osmond whether he could kick Bonaduce's ass, and Osmond replied that he could. Bonaduce took offense and eventually a charity boxing match was arranged between Osmond and Bonaduce.

The three-round fight took place at the China Club in Chicago. Bonaduce apparently fought dirty, hitting on the break, stuck his thumb in Osmond's eye, backhanded, and threw elbows at Osmond. Bonaduce bloodied Osmond's nose during the match and won a two-to-one split decision. Osmond was upset with the judges' decision and wanted to go another round. Bonaduce said that Osmond should go fight his sister (Marie Osmond) and offered to fight a bare knuckle round against Osmond. Eventually cooler heads prevailed and both Osmond and Bonaduce walked away from the ring.

Eight years later, in 2002, Bonaduce returned to the ring to fight fellow washed-up celebrity Barry Williams (from the Brady Bunch). Although much shorter and smaller than Williams, Bonaduce pummeled Williams, knocking him down five times before the referee finally called the match in the second round.






IV. Breaking Bonaduce Reality Show

Bonaduce was been the star of the reality show based on his life, Breaking Bonaduce. During the course of the show, Bonaduce revealed his marriage infidelities, previous drug use, and current abuse of steroids.

The show showed the world that Bonaduce has serious emotional problems in his life. He tries to fill the void by having affairs and become a juiced-up gym rat. The show had to have hurt Bonaduce's career, as it portrayed him as a raging psychopath. There was an episode in which Bonaduce was playing with his daughter who asked him why he was wearing bandages on his wrists. Bonaduce was wearing the bandages because he had slashed them after his wife, Gretchen, asked him for a divorce. Bonaduce hurt himself at the end of a crazy night that started with hours of drinking and taking pills, and landed him in the psychiatric ward.

V. Altercation With Johnny Fairplay

On October 2, 2007, Bonaduce was in the audience at the FOX Reality Channel Awards show when he mixed things up with former Survivor contestation Johnny Fairplay. I had never even heard of Johnny Fairplay, but apparently he lied about his grandmother dying when he was on Survivor in an attempt to avoid being voted off, and is universally hated for doing so.

Fairplay was on stage towards the end of the Awards show and being booed by the audience. In an unscripted turn of events, Bonaduce walked up onto the stage from the audience and told Fairplay he was being booed because the audience hated him. Bonaduce then turned around and started walking off of the stage.

Fairplay called Bonaduce back and said something to him and then leapt into Bonaduce's arms, and straddled and humped him, supposedly as a blatantly homosexual joke that was part of Fairplay's shtick.

Bonaduce adjusted his balance and his grip on Fairplay and then threw him over his head, causing Fairplay to land face-first onto the stage floor in a loud thud. Fairplay bled significantly, lost some teeth and suffered a broken toe.


Fairplay pressed charges and police opened a felony battery investigation with Bonaduce as the named suspect. Bonaduce maintained his innocence and stated he was acting in self-defense. The L.A. district attorney's office concluded a few days later that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bonaduce had committed battery because Fairplay had initiated the contact and Bonaduce had acted in self-defense.

VI. Bonaduce's Baby-Dick

Bonaduce is apparently hung like a gnat and sports a tiny baby-dick. In October 2007, Bonaduce was a guest at the Erotic Ball in San Francisco. Bonaduce dropped his pants during the Ball, showing off his tiny junk. PerezHilton.com has an unedited version of a photo of Bonaduce naked (this link is NSFW).

VII. Conclusion

Bonaduce has been in the public eye for nearly 40 years and has lived one unusual life. For the reasons discussed above, there is no doubt that Danny Bonaduce is one washed-up celebrity!

Washed-Up Celebrities Guestbook

There have been some recent requests for me to add a guestbook to this blog. I'm not sure how to add a guestbook to a blogger blog, so I am going to use this post as my "guestbook." If you have any comments or just want to say hello, you can leave a comment to this post for all to see.

Jaleel White

Jaleel Ahmad White is a former child star best known for his role as super-dork Steve Urkel on the 1990s family sitcom, Family Matters.

White has born on November 27, 1976 in Pasadena, California. White started his acting career in TV commercials and guest starring roles on TV shows. At the age of three White appeared in a commercial for Kellogg’s and in other commercials after his preschool teacher persuaded his parents to take him to auditions. During the mid-1980s he had guest starring roles on TV shows such as The Jeffersons, Mr. Belvedere, and in the pilot episode of Good Morning, Miss Bliss. His first recurring TV role was as the son of Flip Wilson and Gladys Knight on the CBS series Charlie and Company.

White hit the big time and became a huge star in 1989, when he was cast as the dorky Steve Urkel on the ABC Friday night sitcom, Family Matters. The Steve Urkel character was the next-door-neighbor of the Winslow family, around whom the show revolved. Steve Urkel was in love with Laura Winslow, the little girl in the Winslow family. White was initially supposed to only appear occasionally on the show as Steve Urkel.

However, during his initial guest appearance, White received a standing ovation for his performance as Steve Urkel and drew approving chants from a group of college fraternity brothers who were in the studio audience. White claims to have created the role by borrowing his dentist father's dental glasses, hiking up his pants, bending his knees, and speaking in a high-pitched geeky tone. He was given a full-time starring role, and soon became the favorite TV character during the run of the series.

Steve Urkel was the Dustin "Screech" Diamond of the black community. However, unlike Screech, the Steve Urkel character was occasionally quite funny and people tuned in to watch his antics. Family Matters was a huge hit in the early 1990s, primarily due to the Urkel character. Urkel would always bug the Carl Winslow, the father and head of the Winslow family, and would often break things or screw something up and then say in a nasally voice, "Did I do that???"

When Family Matters began in 1989, White has a short and skinny kid. However, by the mid-1990s he had grown several inches taller and had gone through puberty. Still wanting to cash in on the Urkel character, the show's producers made White continue to talk in a high-pitched voice and be an annoying nerd even though he was a young man by the mid-1990s.

The last several seasons of Family Matters were horrendous. One of the storylines was that Urkel built a transformation chamber, which allowed him to change from the nerdy Steven Urkel into the hip and suave ladies man, Stefan Urquelle. This was quite possibly the stupidest storyline since the Flintstones added The Great Gazoo, an alien that only Fred Flintstone could see.

By the show's final season, he was commanding $100,000 per episode. Unfortunately for White, he was so tightly defined by his Urkel character that it became hard for him to get other roles after the show's run completed. White did manage to secure a starring role on Grown Ups, a sitcom on the UPN from 1999-2000. However, Grown Ups received terrible ratings and was cancelled after just one season.

White has had to settle for minor roles in movies and TV shows such as Miracle Dogs Too, Who Made the Potatoe Salad?, Dreamgirls, and Boston Legal. Although he did act on the Grown Ups show after Family Matters ended, White has not have any significant roles. He has been forever typecast as Urkel and there probably isn't anything he can do to break out of it.

White is definitely no longer the cute kid he was at the beginning of Family Matters. Like many formerly cute child stars, White grew up to somewhat weird-looking. As an adult, his eyes look sunken and puffy, almost as though someone punched him in the eyes, as shown below:







White was also the subject on an Internet rumor a few years ago. Many people received an e-mail that purported to show White prancing around as a raging homosexual at a party with other gay men. Here are some of the pictures that were being e-mailed across the Internet:





As it turns out, the man in the photos was not Jaleel White. Instead, it was simply an Atlanta hairdresser who had an uncanny resemblance to White. For this and the other reasons discussed above, Jaleel White is without a doubt one washed-up celebrity!

*** UPDATE - July 9, 2010 ***

Jaleel White is being investigated by the police for allegedly beating a woman. Supposedly the woman who was hit is Bridget Hardy, the mother of White's child. According to TMZ, the alleged victim claims White punched her in one of her surgically enhanced breasts while driving along the Pacific Coast Highway two weeks ago, while an infant was riding in the car. The woman also claims that White slapped her when they arrived at home and then pushed her into a toilet so forcefully that it broke the toilet tank.

The composite picture below shows White and Hardy. (White seems to look far older than 33 in the photo below).



*** UPDATE - September 4, 2011 ***

I recently discovered that there are rumors of a gay sex tape involving Jaleel White and former NBA star Anfernee ("Penny") Hardaway. According to the rumor, many NBA players have viewed copies of the gay sex tape. White has denied the rumors and claimed that Penny Hardaway was like a big brother to him. [The audio clip of White's denial is available on this site.]

Leanna Creel

Leanna Creel is an actress and film producer best known for her role as Tori Scott on the early 1990s haven for washed up celebrities, Saved By The Bell.

Creel is an identical triplet with sisters Monica and Joy. Creel was born on August 27, 1970 in Los Angeles, California and started acting in the late 1980s. Her first acting role was as a guest star on Growing Pains in 1987. In 1989 she got her big break when she and her triplet sisters acted in the made-for-TV movie, Parent Trap III. After the success of Parent Trap III, Creel acted in Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon and also managed to secure small non-recurring roles on several TV shows, such as Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Beverly Hills, 90210.

In 1992 she was cast in her most memorable role as Tori Scott on the hit Saturday morning TV show, Saved By The Bell. The Tori character only appeared in about 12 episodes during the final season of the show (1992-1993).


The episodes in which the Tori character appeared were filmed after the rest of the final season's episodes (including the original series finale Graduation episode). Apparently the producers needed to film 100 episodes of the show so that they could sell it in syndication and garner huge licensing fees. Elizabeth Berkley (Jessie Spano) and Tiffani Amber Thiessen (Kelly Kapowski) decided not to renew their contracts for these additional episodes, leaving the shows' producers in a bind. The Tori Scott character was brought on board to take the place of Jessie and Kelly for the final episodes.

The Tori Scott character was a tough no-nonsense biker chick. She came across as gruff when she made her initial appearance, but quickly showed her softer side as she got the hots for Zack Morris (played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar). The Tori Scott character was fairly unpopular among Saved By The Bell fans. However, I actually liked her. I thought she was pretty hot and much more likable (and less annoying) than the Jessie Spano character.

After Saved By The Bell ended, Creel's acting roles quickly dried up. Since the early 1990s, she has only had small bit roles in a couple TV shows such as One West Waikiki and Ned and Stacey and in movies such as Freeway and The Cell. The Cell was a popular movie, but Creel was only in it for a couple seconds and she isn't even recognizable in her role as "Mother."

With the acting roles gone, Creel transitioned over to directing. She produced her first film in 1994, helping out a friend whose producer had been involved in a car accident. She also worked for the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) and in 1998 she and HSX's Michael Burns founded film production company Ignite Entertainment. Creel resigned in 1999 to start Anomaly Productions. She also currently runs her own photography business, Creel Photo.

Creel has produced an award-winning lesbian-themed movie. (I wonder if hanging around with the annoying Dustin Diamond on the Saved By The Bell set turned her off men for good.) She produced "Prom-troversy," a comedy short about a lesbian's life at an all-straight high school. "Prom-troversy" took the top honors in the 2005 edition of the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards.

The 14 years since Saved By The Bell went off the air have not been kind to Creel. She was a beautiful and sultry young woman with long curly hair as Tori Scott in 1993. However, her looks have quickly faded and as one can clearly see in the photo below, she has apparently morphed into a man with a short boy's haircut:

For this and the other reasons discussed above, Leanna Creel is one washed-up celebrity!

Gary Coleman

Gary Coleman is a former child actor best known for his role as Arnold Jackson on the hit late 1970s - mid 1980s family sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes.

Coleman was born on February 8, 1968 in Zion, Illinois and was adopted by Willie and Sue Coleman. He suffers from a congenital kidney disease causing nephritis (an autoimmune destruction of the kidney). The disease stunted his growth at an early age, leading to his very small stature of only 4ft 8in in height. He has undergone two kidney transplants, one in 1973 and one in 1984, and requires daily dialysis.

Coleman became a major TV star when he was cast as Arnold Jackson on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes in 1978. The Arnold Jackson character and his brother Willis Jackson (played by fellow washed-up celebrity Todd Bridges) were the children of the maid of Phillip Drummond (played by Conrad Bain), a wealthy Caucasian man who lived in the penthouse of a ritzy co-op building in New York City. When their mother died, Mr. Drummond adopted Arnold and Willis.

The entire premise of Diff'rent Strokes is extremely difficult to believe - a rich white man going into a Harlem neighborhood and adopting two young black kids would certainly raise some red flags in the real world, as many might think that the man was some kind of sick pervert who had ulterior motives for adopting the kids. However, Diff'rent Strokes was a huge hit for its nearly 10 seasons and was very popular among families with young children. His character's catchphrase, "what'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" became widely quoted among his fans.

Although Coleman was the biggest star of Diff'rent Strokes, he was not able to make the transition over to movies. He did act in a few crappy movies, such as The Kid From Left Field (1979), Scout's Honor (1980), The Kid With The Broken Halo (1982), and The Kid With The 200 I.Q. (1983), but none of them were very successful.

After Diff'rent Strokes went off the air in 1986, Coleman's career hit the skids. He was such a big star on Diff'rent Strokes that he was typecast. He has yet to secure any other decent acting roles other than self-parody roles on TV shows such as Married With Children and The Simpsons.

Although Coleman reportedly earned $18 million from his acting on Diff'rent Strokes, his entire fortune has been squandered, forcing him to declare bankruptcy in 1999. In an effort to raise money in the late 1990s he actually sold some afro picks and his size 4 1/2 bowling shoes. Coleman blames his parents and former manager for wasting his personal fortune. In 1993 he sued his parents for raiding his accounts and won a $1.3 million judgment against his parents.

Coleman also has anger management issues that flare up when he is harassed by rude fans. Coleman was charged with assault in 1998 after he punched Tracy Fields, an extremely rude woman who was bothering Coleman while he was at a mall shopping for a bulletproof vest for a security guard job. Coleman, who reportedly only weighed about 86 pounds, claimed to have been frightened by Fields, a 5-foot, six inch tall 205-lb woman. The obese Fields requested an autograph and was apparently upset when he gave her his mere signature, saying "Ain't you gonna put something nice on it?"

Coleman responded, "You really don't need that. You're just going to show it off to your friends. That's really my signature." Fields then reportedly told Coleman that his "badass attitude" was the reason that he has never been a success as an adult actor. Coleman was upset, said "You black people are all alike," and that he hated black people. Coleman also grabbed the autograph he had given to Fields and ripped it in half. Fields reportedly responded, "Well, you're just a little punk-ass bitch!"

Coleman and Fields were yelling at each and Coleman later reported that he was really scared because "Her breasts were practically hitting me in the head. I'm 4-foot, 8 inches, 86 pounds of nothing." Coleman subsequently punched Fields and left the store. Coleman later received a 90-day suspended sentence for striking Fields and was openly mocked by the media for his actions.

Coleman re-entered the public eye in 2003, when he ran in the California state gubernatorial recall election, finishing 8th with 14,242 votes.

In 2004 Coleman made a special guest appearance on the second season of The Surreal Life. In the episode in which he appeared, the washed-up celebrities from that season (including fellow washed-up celebrity Vanilla Ice) were supposed to work at a Mel's Diner in Hollywood. The producers brought in Coleman to be the manager of the Mel's Diner for that episode. Vanilla Ice really wanted Coleman to say his catchphrase "Whatchoo talkin' bout Willis?" and was insulted when Coleman refused to say it. So Vanilla Ice picked up Coleman and threatened to throw Coleman in a deep fryer unless he said that catchphrase. Coleman was very embarassed and shocked by Vanilla Ice's actions and stormed out of the restaurant saying that he hated Vanilla Ice.

Coleman also received some undesired attention on July 26, 2007, when he was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct by a Provo, Utah, police officer after he was seen having a "heated discussion" with a woman. Police were called after witnesses saw Coleman becoming upset and hitting the steering wheel of his vehicle during a heated discussion with an unidentified woman, according to reports.

For all of the reasons discussed above, Gary Coleman is one washed-up celebrity!

*** UPDATE - February 16, 2010 ***

Coleman was arrested in Utah in January 2010. Police were called to Coleman's house for domestic disturbance. Although the police did not find that a crime had been committed, he was arrested because of an outstanding warrant from 2009 for a prior incident of domestic disturbance. Here is Coleman's mugshot:



*** UPDATE - May 28, 2010 ***

Gary Coleman died today of a intercranial hemorrhage. Coleman suffered the hemorrhage on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at his home in Santaquin, UT. He remained conscious and lucid until the afternoon on Thursday, when his condition suddenly worsened and he slipped into unconsciousness. Coleman was placed on life support on Thursday. Coleman died when the life support was terminated this afternoon.

Washed up or not, he was one of the most beloved former child stars I have profiled on this blog. He was also very talented and carried Diff'rent Strokes on his back to ratings glory in the early 1980s. Coleman will be missed.

Bronson Pinchot

Bronson Pinchot is an actor best known for his role as "Balki Bartokomous" in the ABC family sitcom Perfect Strangers from 1986–1993. Pinchot was born on May 20, 1959 in New York City, New York with the birth name Bronson Alcott Poncharavsky.

Although born in New York, Pinchot was raised in southern California. After graduating from South Pasadena High School, he headed back east and attended Yale University. He initially studied painting in college, but quickly became interested in acting. Pinchot began his acting career with bit roles in successful movies such as Risky Business (1983) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984). His role in Beverly Hills Cop as "Serge," a gay assistant art dealer with a thick foreign accent, was memorable and put him on the map.

Beverly Hills Cop was an international success and shortly after the movie hit the theatres Pinchot was cast as Balki Bartokomous on Perfect Strangers. The character Balki was a shepherd from the (fictional Greek) island nation of Mypos. Balki had a thick foreign accent and lived his entire life in a small farming community until he moved into an apartment in Chicago with his distant cousin "Larry Appleton" (played by Mark Linn-Baker).

The sitcom focused on Balki's naive and idealistic view of the world, as well as his chronic misunderstandings of American culture. Balki's catch phrase on the show was, "Of course not, don't be ridiculous!" and was usually spoken flamboyantly in response being accused of doing something. He also performed the "Dance of Joy" with his cousin Larry whenever he was happy, as shown below:

I actually liked Pinchot on Perfect Strangers. His character carried that show and was the primary reason for its success. However, Pinchot's career hit the skids after the show ended and has yet to recover. He did manage to secure a full-time role on Step By Step for one season, but that was in 1997, at the end of that show's run, when its popularity was rapidly fading.

Pinchot’s most notable role of the past 10 years was in 2005 on the fifth season of The Surreal Life, with other washed-up stars. Pinchot came across as a pathetic man on The Surreal Life. I honestly had always assumed he was gay, based on his effeminate and flamboyant roles in Beverly Hills Cop and Perfect Strangers that made him a star. However, after watching a few episodes of The Surreal Life, it is clear to me that Pinchot is not gay. Instead, he is a dirty old man who probably has to pay for sex.

During his appearance on The Surreal Life, he immediately took a fancy to the women on the show. When he initially arrived at The Surreal Life house, he informed everyone that his agent warned him against doing anything that could be construed as sexual harassment because apparently he’s “a very horny dude.”

Shortly after arriving on the set, he gave fellow castmate Janice Dickenson an extended hug and apparently groped her, against her will, causing her to burst into tears and almost quit the show. Despite Dickenson's obvious disgust for Pinchot, after the incident he actually said, "I believed in my heart Janice and I will hook up somehow. I liked her hoarse voice and I liked her tough-ass thing. I think the sex would be amazing... I never groped her."

Dickenson managed to get in her two cents, saying,

"I don’t like this guy. This guy is a gimp motherfucker. I made it very clear to the producers that I would not be groped or molested or have sex with anyone—that was in my contract. The minute I walked in, Balki or whatever he’s called started groping me. A few days in he asked me, 'Why are you so angry?' And I said, 'At you? Because you’re a fucking pervert.'"

Pinchot also tried to hook up with fellow castmate Caprice Bourret, a lingerie model. Bronson sexually harassed Caprice in nearly every episode, practically begging her to have sex with him, thereby solidifying his new-found "dirty old man" image.

Pinchot’s entertainment career is definitely over and he apparently is unable to accept this fact. One would think that his appearance on The Tonight Show in the early 1990s when the audience booed him for telling extremely boring stories would have been a “wake up” call. However, as a result of his stalled career and the fact that he has morphed into a total pervert, Bronson Pinchot is definitely one washed-up celebrity!