BRETT Butler is known for her role on Grace Under Fire, an American sitcom based on her own life.
Butler had an adverse upbringing and tumultuous path on her way to becoming a successful actress and comedian.
Brett Butler was born January 30, 1958 in Montgomery, Alabama.
She starred in the ABC comedy series Grace Under Fire from 1993 to 1998, which she received two Golden Globe Awards nominations for.
Butler was the eldest of five sisters and faced quite a bit of adversity growing up.
Her father, Roland was an abusive alcoholic and her mother, Carol battled depression. The family also struggled with poverty.
Before becoming a successful stand-up comic, Butler worked as a cocktail waitress.
In 1987, she made her television debut on The Tonight Show and performed on Dolly Parton’s series, Dolly that same year.
Butler was hired as Parton’s writer for the remainder of the show’s season but it was eventually cancelled for poor ratings.
Butler married her first husband, Charles Michael Wilson, when she was 20 in 1978.
The couple got married three months after meeting but Wilson was abusive, which was one of the reasons she left him in 1981.
She moved to New York City in 1984, where she was arrested for possessing marijuana.
She then met and married her husband Ken Zieger in 1987.
Butlers net worth is $10million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
In the mid 1990s, Butler was making $250,000 per episode starring in Grace Under Fire.
On the show, which was based on her own life, she developed a Vicodin addiction, a painkiller prescribed for sciatica, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The drugs made her “an erratic nightmare on set,” pushing co-stars to leave and the show to reach an abrupt cancellation.
“At the bloody bitter end, I really was difficult,” Butler said.
“I was out of my mind. Drugs will do that to you. The show should have been pulled sooner than it was.”
On the show, Butler made about $25million, which she refers to as “profligate” for financial negligence and spending.
“I was a little bit too trusting with some people that worked for me, and I had a lot of things stolen,” she says.
“That’s just stupid on my part, not to have insurance for those things. And to loan and give a lot of money away. I really just felt so guilty for having it — I almost couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.”
