Why Is Fortune Fleeting For Some Who Are Famous?

I was surprised when singer Shanice Wilson and actor
Flex Alexander came on The Tom Joyner Morning Show recently to talk about how they're working their way back from the verge of bankruptcy and homelessness. They're documenting their journey to rebuild their lives, careers and finances on Flex & Shanice, their new reality show on Oprah Winfrey's OWN channel.

I was surprised by Flex and Shanice's financial woes because I'd assumed they have enough of a body of work between them that even if they haven't been in the spotlight in recent years, they could live off royalties.

I never actually watched Alexander's sitcom One on One, which aired from 2001-06 on the now-defunct UPN network. But I thought since it ran for five seasons, enough for syndication, that Alexander and the show's other breakout star, Kyla Pratt, would receive healthy residuals from reruns.

And I've been a fan of Shanice since my freshman year of high school in 1987, when her debut album was released and the songs "Can You Dance" and "No 1/2 Steppin" got heavy rotation on BET and R&B radio. And her Grammy-nominated "I Love Your Smile" is one of my favorite feel-good songs of all-time.

Flex and Shanice's career struggles exemplify how fickle the entertainment industry is. Those who are savvy use the notoriety they gain during their brief moment of fame as a launching pad for other enterprises.

For example, Carol Burnett related in her memoir This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection that Lyle Waggoner, her handsome co-star on The Carol Burnett Show, always had a nose for business and would charge for autographs.

Subsequently, when acting roles began to dry up in the late '70s in part because of being typecast as a heartthrob, Waggoner became a businessman. In 1979, he started "Star Waggons," which serves film/TV companies with rental trailers.

Flex and Shanice were also savvy to come up with the idea for their reality show and pitch it to OWN. I hope the show enables them to gain financial security for themselves and their two children. If nothing else, with 14 years of marriage under their belts, they can be proud of having one of the most successful marriages in show biz.