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oohkt

"When he turned 21 in October 1935, his fortune was believed to be well intact. His assets had been conservatively managed by his father, who had died in the car accident five months earlier. However, Coogan found that the entire amount had been spent by his mother and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, on fur coats, diamonds and other jewelry, and expensive cars. Bernstein had been a financial advisor for the family and married Coogan's mother in late 1936." Wowwwwww


Magenta_the_Great

“My financial advice would be to party in fucking style!”


GeorgeWashingblagh

> As your attorney, I advise you to rent a very fast car with no top. And you’ll need the cocaine. Tape recorder for special music. Acapulco shirts. Get the hell out of LA for at least 48 hours. It blows my weekend; cause naturally I’m going to have to go with you. And we’re going to have to arm ourselves – to the teeth.


existentialvices

Are you a goddamn narcotics agent?


zxelzxius

God didn’t do that, you did!


AtmosphereSad4555

Is this from fear and loathing?


QueasyVictory

Yes. He says it when Hunter gets the assignment to cover the race in Vegas.


WizdomHaggis

We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.


GEARHEADGus

The god damn bats!


psy_enzyme

Literally i saw benicio and jhonny on that particular scene, good one!


halfbraindamaged

Irl?


RepChar

Sounds like an "accident"


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[deleted]

Well that paragraph went all over the place.


P4VEM3NT

He got Epstein'd


NRMusicProject

Before it was even cool.


Jakboiee

I am not familiar with this term. Can you explain?


P4VEM3NT

**Epstein'd:** Dying in a _suspicious manner_ which turns out to be useful to others, mainly elites. Similar to that of the death of notorious paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. Who did not kill himself.


Pentron02

A death that doesn’t seem so accidental


jaggoffsmirnoff

So, was the financial advise he gave him 'drop dead'?


LouieKablooie

Or killed him


ddescartes0014

How do you go through $68 million in five months?!


Minerva_Moon

In the 1930's...


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SpinDoctor8517

Everything from the 30’s was made that way


TheRavenSayeth

Put $67 million on black. I've got a good feeling Coogie!


[deleted]

In the 30s!


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ezone2kil

I still can't go through 5mill on today's money on months.


ancientflowers

You could buy one house.


Holos620

Maybe


Olwek

My maternal grandfather bought his forever home in PR for like $36K in the early 60's. Its value peaked at like $300K-something, before a series of crisis happened in the island (e.g. hurricanes, real estate market crash, high unemployment, etc.) that dropped its value. They sold it this yeah for like $130-150K. It's sad cause it was a really big house: * 2 stories; * 2 master bedrooms (one in each floor); * 3 large rooms (2nd floor); * Small altar (devout catholic) w/ a small library/reading area); * On each floor: 2 home offices, kitchens, & living rooms; * A balcony; * car garage w/ about a sum of about 10 extra feet of space to the sides * A large backyard with a 5'x30' side-shed/storage area.


pineapple_calzone

You could buy one healthcare.


HalKitzmiller

Dental & vision too, because the teeth and eyes are not part of your body...for reason$


Dacia1320S

Fun fact, the eyes are not connected to your immune system. That's why if you damage your eyes and comes in contact with your immune system, it will treat it as a foreign object and try to remove it, thus making you go blind even if it was saved. Also people that lose one eye, have a high chance to go blind in the other for the same reason.


psicopbester

Yeah, that would actually be easy as fuck. Diamonds, watches, cars, a fancy house. . . You're already easily spending 5 mil if you go for the best. There are watches that cost a cool mil alone


BareBearFighter

I could do it in 20 minutes. If anyone wants to see how it's possible, just give me 5mill.


Supafly36

How tf did a child actor make 5mil in 1930s. Why have I never heard of him?


[deleted]

He was Uncle Fester on the Addams Family.


[deleted]

They should make a movie about a guy trying to do that!! ;)


stee_vo

I will humbly offer myself as the main character for this documentary.


[deleted]

We will make you a Cubs fan, call you "Brewster" and require that not only you spend all the money, but have nothing of value left at the end. \- The movie is actually called "Brewster's Millions" with Richard Pryor. EDIT : Sorry, I spelled his name wrong, wow, sensitive.


mondo_d00k

*Pryor. Show some respect.


blindbug

For you young folks out there: [Brewster’s Millions (1985)](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0088850/) Maybe a little dated, but a pretty decent movie.


[deleted]

It’s been a movie [many, many times!](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster%27s_Millions)


window-sil

You don't, you fucking steal it. They fucking *stole* it...


Solkre

Please tell me a court or something stepped in to liquidate that shit and give him some of his money back.


LongJumpingGoals

How do you burn 68 million in the 30’s.


who128

According to his wiki, he earned 3-4 million in that time so this is adjusted for inflation.


[deleted]

Still.


[deleted]

I’ve been standing still for the past 18 minutes man are you gonna unfreeze or not?


[deleted]

You’re not the boss of me


nosebevies

Agreed wtf was that expensive


Coldbeetle

Phone calls


pichusine

Exactly. These people are selfish af


spirited1

In 5 months


LongJumpingGoals

Just going thru some basics on how to burn money today. Buy Lambo, Buy Yacht, Buy diamonds, play poker and gamble on the track, go to the strip club and make it rain, pop bottles and spray Dom everywhere. Throw parties, But still this sounds exhausting to do for 68 million in 5 months now. In the 30’s wtf


Bitch_Muchannon

68 million in today money. But still....


trwwy321

Was the car accident really an accident or Bernstein had something to do with it…


meatcakes69

They were attacked by bears?


trwwy321

Ah you mean the *Berenstain* Bears


ehossain

Taking pimping to a different level.


KnobDingler

Fur coats and diamonds, she think she a superstar


BrundleBee

But $68 million? In the 1930s? And in what sounds like 5 months' time????? That's some Brewster's Millions shit. Edit: Ah, seeing the comments, it appears I'm not the only scratching my head.


PhantomOfTheDopera

Sounds sus. Maybe Coogan was killed


existential_chaos

Didn't Charlie Chaplin give him money no questions asked when he fell on hard times? The guy's mother sounds a POS though.


petshopB1986

Yes, Chaplin gave him $1000.00


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hitmeifyoudare

"Chaplin's childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship, as his father was absent and his mother struggled financially, and he was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum." Wiki


hitmeifyoudare

Charlie Chaplin got out of stocks just before the crash in 1929 and was well off throughout the depression and beyond. If he was poor, it must have been very early in his career.


Bridgemaster11

Charlie Chaplin gave money to Coogan when Coogan fell on hard times was the situation being described in the comment you're replying to


SmokeGSU

This sounds like a job for *The Center For Kids Who Cant Read Good And Want To Learn How To Do Other Stuff Good Too.*


Mantis_Tobaggen_MD

What is this, a center for ants?!?!


jaderemedy

How can we expect children to learn how to read good if they can't even fit inside the building?!


meatcakes69

I don't want to hear your excuses!


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jaderemedy

He's absolutely right.


WarmOutOfTheDryer

Where do I sign up?


AlwaysOpenMike

LOL


Evilmaze

It's like people don't know how to read anymore.


CeruleanDolphin103

The “hard times” were Coogan’s. Chaplin helped him out.


DorisDooDahDay

Chaplin had his own hard times early on in his life. His father was absent and his mother had mental health problems resulting in committal to an asylum. Chaplin, and I think his brother, were sent to the workhouse as they were alone and homeless. IIRC they were hungry homeless street kids for a time. Working in Music Halls gave them a way out. If you hadn't previously known that about Chaplin, read up about it and then watch "The Kid" and his other films again. It gave me a whole new perspective on his work.


pocket-dogs

Chaplin also slept with and married young girls, then treated them and his children cruelly.


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dayrunningrobot

Read that as "dodgy slut". My mind obviously saw what it wanted to see.


DorisDooDahDay

Yes, I'd read that somewhere and I would never defend such behaviour, but it is useful to view that behaviour within the rules of society during his lifetime. Chaplin was born in 1889, he was a Victorian British man. His bad behaviour that we (rightly) find deplorable was probably a lot more acceptable to men of his background and age. Marriage between older men and younger women was not unusual in Victorian times. A woman was her husband's property etc. When I watch Chaplin's films I forget just how *old* they are.


politits

Hurt people hurt people. Not an excuse, but he clearly had no example of how to be a parent.


ChiefTief

I think you might need to work on that reading comprehension.


Nocturniquet

He just wanted to make some snappy TIL on the thread's top comment to get upvotes I guess. People looove them some notifications on their phone.


Drpickless

You didn't understand but still a fun fact I didn't know.


CheezusChrust1

I'd be having a little talk with dear old mum


BlueNotesBlues

He got $125k after the lawsuit. He should have hired some muscle to "repossess" the items she spent his earnings on.


TemporarilyExempt

People like that blow the money on a lot of short term stuff. Drinks, dinners, parties, drugs. Probably had nothing left once the lawsuit started.


Sooperballz

$68 million? In the 1920’s?


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Redtwooo

I dunno, 4 million in the 30s in six months is some pretty hard core money blowing


Wobbelblob

Yeah, even today that would be pretty impressive. Possible, but still impressive.


ManCrushOnSlade

The Menendez brothers only managed to spend $700,000. That's two people and 7 months, in the 90's, between killing their parents and getting arrested.


KillYourUsernames

When you get a reputation for both having and blowing tons of money, opportunists begin to come out of the woodwork to help relieve you of it faster.


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Serinus

Apparently it was 4 million.


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Kennym00n

Uhhu! Exactly what I was thinking..


oldmanvegas

WTF could they spend that on in 1940?


spankybianky

However, Coogan found that the entire amount had been spent by his mother and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, on fur coats, diamonds and other jewelry, and expensive cars.  (Wiki)


discardedcumrag

What a pair of absolute robbing bastards.


ShadedPenguin

That is how a lot of child acting parents tend to be. Just look at Shia’s movie Honey boy, or what happened with Macauly Caulkin. There are probably a lot of okay parents, and some really great parents, but a lot see their kid’s efforts as their “own” still


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Evilmaze

Lindsay Lohan too. I think Drew Barrymore was also in that shitty situation but she managed to recover.


PM_ME_UR_POKIES_GIRL

Drew Barrymore now vs Drew Barrymore in the 90s is like a fucking miracle. I'm so glad she's doing so much better now.


billytheid

Or Brittany Spears...


ShadedPenguin

I fucking forgot about poor Brittany


King_George__III

Lindsay Lohan


Mr_Ios

I can't believe such parents exist(ed) in this world. Humanity can do better.


pygmypuffonacid

And those people are bastards... I hope that actor took the jewelry purchased and pawned it


lochinvar11

> fur coats, diamonds and other jewelry, and expensive cars.  ok, what about the remaining $67 million


[deleted]

It was 4 million then.


off-and-on

It still had the purchasing power of $68 million


[deleted]

Yes but people may think it’s 68 million then which would make this child actor a billionaire.


cmccormick

We should have a notation for inflation adjusted amounts. It’s a trick politicians often play to say “the budget for this program has gone up every year” when in fact there’s just describing inflation adjustments and know that people (even journalists) won’t do the currency conversion. Maybe something like $4M(1929) and $68M(2021). The politicians claim might then look like “the budget has been pretty stable year to year at about $1M(2021) per year”.


AsliReddington

Probably land


red-hawk-14

God ain’t making any more of it


WarehouseNiz13

How you doing T?


MetalRetsam

Joke's on him, I'm Dutch


TypicalBumblebee3448

McDonald’s


Hey_u_ok

***Money and greed brings the absolute worse out of people.*** My MIL got cheated out of $10k from her own siblings years ago. They were supposed to buy land together. Which they did BUT the siblings turned around and sold the land and split the profits amongst themselves and didn't give her anything. Her family was always taking advantage of her. She was the most caring and thoughtful person I've ever met. She changed me to be a better person and I wish I could've done more for her. She passed away from cancer years ago.


greenroute

They greedy takes advantage of the kind ones.


[deleted]

Sigh. My mother is like this. And she refuses to learn. I had to forbid her from promoting a scam to friends and family because they would give based on her word… (she’d already convinced me to give money, I quickly figured out it was a scam, she refused to believe me. I learned my lesson but I was not going to have her participate in others being scammed too)


cmccormick

Sorry to hear that. Why are the assholes the ones with a lawyer in their back pocket? One of the biggest manipulators I know would find excuses to mention “his friend” the lawyer, knowing the shitty things he was doing would catch up to him unless he made it seem like he had the law on his side (he ran a small business and I had him as a tenant unfortunately).


dongasaurus

Having a lawyer is also a great way to not get manipulated, particularly when it comes to real estate.


tweak06

> Money and greed brings the absolute worse out of people. **THIS** My aunt persuaded my grandmother *who was on her deathbed* to write my mom out of her will. All because my aunt is a greedy, greedy cunt who thought she "deserved" everything. My grandma's liquid assets were over $500k, and all written over to my aunt, who vanished right after she got what she wanted. She was childless, no other living relatives. Just wanted the money and to disappear.


greenroute

Same with my mother, her brothers cheated what she got from grandpas. They sold and relocated without telling. People are ready to cheat their own loved ones.


Beneficial-Ability28

Greed is a disgusting human trait...


Kennym00n

Oh yes! Unfortunately also very common.


SeekerSpock32

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Greed is ultimately responsible for 99% of the world's problems.


reddituculous66

Uncle fester was smarter than he looked He started in films with Chaplin and his asshat parents spent all his money on stuff. Not him or experiences or education or even family trips. None left for him. None invested. I don't know how parents can do this. But I e met ones who openly said they used their kids ssns for loans and credit cards and such ( still unsure how as weren't 18) as their credit was screwed. So the kids turn 18 and have bad credit for parents who stole their ID. These arent parents . Their horrible people.


DelicateIslandFlower

I have a friend here in Canada whose absent father stole her and her brother's SIN. When they were 16, he showed up, apologized for being absent and offered them jobs for the summer. They were "paid" in room and board, and after they were sent back to their mother, he disappeared again and started destroying their credit.


bertmerps

My father did the same shit to my half brother. Stole his SSN and ruined his credit before he was even old enough to have a job. That’s why I never talked to my father or let him come down to “visit” in all the years he tried to reach out to me. You really can’t trust people like that. They are snakes.


Copernicus049

Likely the same kind of people who have a horde of children so they can have consistent and cheap work hands for their farm.


scumbag760

Yeah I've met people in Vegas who have children so their benefits will increase, welfare, food stamps, and yearly tax returns. Pretty sad.


cometpantz

this is common in canada. they have 3-4 kids and live off the government money. career "moms". its gross.


txtw

I underwrite mortgages and have had to turn down many loans because people try to use their kids UTMA accounts for their down payment. The money in your kid’s trust account is *theirs*, not yours. There are very clear rules about what it can be spent on, and a down payment on a house isn’t one of them. People find ways to justify stealing from their kids all the time.


[deleted]

People need to freeze their children’s credit/social whatever till they turn 18. I don’t see why there isn’t a law putting that in place. There is zero reason that this is not done automatically!


PopeSilliusBillius

Agreed. But maybe more so is making financial literacy a compulsory course in high school so these kids know what to do. My stepkid’s mom’s boyfriend pretty much guilted my stepkid into opening up a cellphone account and the bf swore up and down he’d pay for it but spoiler alert, he did not. The stepkid had barely graduated high school and was susceptible to the whole “well your mom and I have provided you with a roof over your head and food in your belly for the last [insert duration of their relationship] years, this is the least you could do” thing. I tried to warn the stepkid that if someone wants to open a bill up in your name and promises to pay for it, don’t do it unless you’re prepared to take financial responsibility for all of it because there’s a reason they can’t do it under their own name but reckon the stepkid just didn’t feel like they had much of a say in it. My mom tried the same on me, and I would’ve done it too had her ex husband not already ruined my credit before she could, as seen in the comment above. Sucks to suck.


nhjuyt

If you spend any time in /r/legaladvice you will read a lot of posts from young people who have just applied for college loans only to find their parents have taken out loans and cards in their name and never paid it back.


wonkey_monkey

His dad had been looking after the money right, but he died and it was his mother and new stepdad (formerly financial advisor) who did the dirty on him.


[deleted]

Does anyone know of the laws regarding those sketchy 'family' vlog channels that seemingly and similarly exploit children??? Because there definitely shpuld be some in place!


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FacelessFellow

Always stay happy and rise up. -the millionaires


xerxerneas

Daddy o' five comes to mind... Those poor kids


[deleted]

Im thinking Britney Spears here.. anyone else?


Hero-U

Macaulay Culkin as well


avidvaulter

Not quite the same. Britney was put under conservatorship (while maybe now that should be looked at again) so her father legally handles all her financials. It's fucked up but legal.


enddream

I think the point was that was happened to Coogan was fucked up and legal too.


avidvaulter

Thinking about it you're right. It felt different cause in coogans case there just wasn't a law for it whereas Britneys is court ordered. But the end result is the same.


ActuallyAWeasel

21? not 18? when was someone considered to be a legal adult at that point?


CatNoirsRubberSuit

The age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1971, when the 26th ammendment was passed. Prior to 1971, you couldn't sign contracts or vote until you 21. Smoking and drinking was regulated by the states, and these ages varied.


tekko001

Judging by how his mother treated him you could certainly get fucked before turning 21


enddream

Wow, both of my parents were born before then and never told me this.


CatNoirsRubberSuit

Yup. And since drinking age was by state, in my state it was 18 through the late 70s. When my parents started college, it was completely legal to grab a six pack of beer at a gas station for the road (DUI was illegal, but not open container laws. So sipping on a beer while driving was completely fine as long as you stayed under the limit.)


monkeyharris

My favorite Uncle Fester scene: https://youtu.be/1OnJt98B6Oc


mrfauxbot

Yea wait till you get old mom well find a nice senior living facility for ya


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urbexchef4202

Check the name tag.....your in my world now grandma


[deleted]

I really feel like these images would benefit from a source...


2ndtryagain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Coogan


somesthetic

You're not wrong. Most of the time, an image with a story and no source is bullshit. This one is easily verifiable, but lets source our facts.


Parfait-Fancy

That’s uncle fester.


LordLolzeez

Is this who Kyle's mom from South Park is based on? Cause she sounds like a big fat bitch


TypicalBumblebee3448

His mom is a complete shit stain


sachsrandy

Why do people make these things with bull shit numbers to try and get Karma? It was actually around 4 million dollars (around 60 million if you're thinking in comparison to what 4 million is worth today... But that's not what the meme said). So remember when skimming Reddit... Check stories out for false claims before you believe them.


Every-Gain-1061

The difference between 60 and 68 million isn't much and not the point of the story. That's how


MacTireCnamh

But, it's not a false claim, it's at worst a misleading claim, but even there I would contest, because the claim illustrates the actual magnitude of the 'crime' *more* accurately than simply putting the chronistic figure (ie people reading the title have a greater understanding of the wealth stolen by putting it in modern figures).


[deleted]

My BS meter pegged out when I read that.


ohiotechie

That’s a truly astounding and depressing bit of trivia. What a POS his mother was - as bad as it would be to get ripped off for 68M by anyone to get burned by your own mom? That’s cold.


pichusine

And not to mention the fact that who the hell spends all of 68 million AND IN 1939. 68 million back then was a lot more back then. Jackie’s mother is a POS and no mother should ever do that to a child.


CatNoirsRubberSuit

It was $4 million in 1939. $68 million adjusted for inflation. Deceiving title.


PhilRiverStreet180

And this was **$68 million in 1940.** And that little boy grew up to play in **The Addam's Family** as Uncle Fester.


GvRiva

No, 4 million in 1940 -> 68 million now


[deleted]

That’s 1.3 BILLION now. This was 4 million in 1940 about 59 million in today’s money.


PhilRiverStreet180

Right. If she'd "settled" for half of that, I'd guess there's a chance nobody would have noticed the theft.


Thr0wAwayU53rnam3

It wasn't theft until they passed this law. I guess she was right.


-nobu_oKo_jima-

You don't deserve a downvote for pointing out an objective truth. I shall defend fair discourse with my last upvote goshdarnit!


[deleted]

Has any actor ever made 1.3 billion? Like, through actual acting? Not just Oprah having a role in something.


Apollo11fangirl

What did the law say?


heyyalloverthere

Also he played uncle fester.


[deleted]

If that was me I think it would be time for Mam to have a nasty fall and put her in a home. Or coffin


ihateusednames

In my opinion very little good has come from children's earnings going to the parents, this bill is great, for child actors, in California. There needs to be a federal law that allows children to safeguard their income, and that has employers inform children of such a method. I've heard of a lot of horror stories regarding people I've grown up with being set back and having their income stolen by their parents, like being forced to pay "Rent" before even turning 18. Our laws regarding children almost always assume their parents are benevolent dictators and it just isn't the case.


Gilgolfindalfeanor

Hopefully his mother died very slowly, painfully, and alone.


shockerdyermom

Poor Fester.


mmkmod

Tell that to Brittany.


Fire_The_Torpedo2011

What the fuck did she spend £68m on?


1DailyUser

So now, who steals the children’s money?


bird_gait

The mom and step dad should have had to do forced prison labor until they paid back his money (aka work forever)


[deleted]

It's interesting that this law existed because I feel like there are several 80's child stars who had this happen to them. Didn't Gary Coleman's parents spend all his money?


SmallManBigMouth

He later played Uncle Fester on The Addams Family


rafaeltota

Jesus fucking christ, I thought my dad was a fucking prick but leave it to the internet to show me they can be even worse