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How A 70's TV Star Ended Up Fading Away In A Rotting Trailer
The former star of the 1970s TV sitcom "Eight Is Enough" has suffered from some pretty unbearably grim health and financial problems since her acting career ended decades ago.
The Enquirer checked in with Susan Richardson, 60, who apparently now lives in a rotting trailer in Wagontown, Pennsylvania.
"I don't want to complain too much, but I've had my share of problems," Richardson told The Enquirer.
That seems like an understatement. The magazine says she's too broke to repair her rotting trailer, fix the water or even turn on the heat. She told the Enquirer: "There's always something wrong with it. I desperately need a new trailer but I can't afford it."
It wasn't always this way. After a string of small roles in "American Graffiti" and "Happy Days," Richardson landed a role as the middle child Susan Bradford on the show "Eight Is Enough" that ran from 1977 to 1981. Her last credit via IMDb was a reprisal of that role in the 1989 TV movie "An Eight Is Enough Wedding."
But Richardson says that she suffered from some awful health issues since then. She told The Enquirer (via Hollywood.com), "I had a series of mini-strokes. Then I discovered I had a rare disorder that made my esophagus go spastic." She has trouble keeping food down, which caused her to lose all her teeth and lose 60 pounds. On top of that she's diabetic.
She makes a little money making walking canes from tree branches, and she says she's hoping to get some royalties from the TV show from DVD sales.
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Richardson isn't the only 1970's star who we've heard has fallen on hard times lately. Erin Moran, better known as Joanie on "Happy Days" and the spinoff "Joanie Loves Chachi" became homeless after losing the home she owned and getting kicked out of the trailer park where she lived.
Related:
Henry Winkler Helping Homeless 'Happy Days' Co-Star Erin Moran With Role on 'Arrested Development'
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