The ride from riches to rags is complete. Merv Adelson, once a TV mogul married to Barbara Walters, is now living in the Motion Picture Home, the nursing facility in Woodland Hills, Calif., that’s run by the Motion Picture & Television Fund.
Adelson — whose hit TV series included “The Waltons,” “Dallas” and “Knots Landing” — is said to look great for his 83 years.
“He’s fit and sharp,” said one insider. So why is he living in a nursing home?
Adelson, who was married to Walters from 1986 to 1987, once owned multiple homes and his own jet. When he declared bankruptcy in 2003, he was $112.5 million in debt. In April of this year, Adelson was living in a studio apartment in Santa Monica and battling in court with ex-wife Thea, 50, a lawyer and the mother of their two daughters. Thea got the house in Malibu.
Adelson unwisely let four years go by before asking the court to reduce his monthly child-support payments from $20,000 to $2,137, and Thea is demanding nearly $1 million that Adelson doesn’t have.
But Adelson has some distinguished company at the home: Bud Yorkin, who was Norman Lear’s partner in producing such ’70s sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “Maude” and “Sanford and Son.” Yorkin, 87, isn’t as spry as Adelson, and uses a wheelchair.