Meet Willie Aames, Charles in Charge and Eight Is Enough actor. See photos, video and a biography of the sitcom star who later became superhero character Bibleman in a video series and also appeared on VH1 Celebrity Fit Club 2.
It is the Willie Aames garage sale that puts the 48-year-old actor in the news today. Aames faces foreclosure of his home in the aftermath of his 2008 bankruptcy. In Olathe, Kansas he held a garage sale which drew large crowd, media as well as a film crew which filmed the entire event for a documentary of the actor’s life.
Sarano Kelley, a California life coach for athletes and celebrities was interviewed and discussed the Willie Aames garage sale which saw many of the actor’s personal possessions and memorabillia sold to the public, as he himself was on hand and signed autographs.
“We’re filming what Willie is going through like what the country is going through,” he said.
He is getting rid of his possessions as part of leaving his old life behind, the coach said.
In 2008, the Willie Aames suicide was in the news, as the actor attempted suicide after he had filed for bankruptcy and his wife of 22 years left him. Since his early Willie Aimes ‘Eight Is Enough’ stardom he has had a 20 year battle with cocaine and alcohol addiction, about which he has been candid, along with by his public embrace of Christianity and the superhero Bibleman persona.
As a biography, Willie Aames was born on July 15, 1960 in Orange County, California so his age is 48. His full name is Albert William Upton and his stage name is sometimes misspelled as Willie Ames or Willie Aimes. He graduated from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California.
He began his acting career while still a child. His first major role was in 1971, ABC-TV series The Odd Couple; he starred as Leonard Unger, the son of Felix Unger (Tony Randall). In 1972, he was the voice Jamie Boyle in the animated series Wait till Your Father Gets Home.
Willie Aames also had several guest starring roles on TV series including The Waltons and Adam-12. He appeared in the 1974 TV-mini-series Benjamin Franklin, portraying the title character as a 12-year old.
His breakthrough role, making him a star was that of Tommy Bradford in the sitcom Eight is Enough from 1977-1981. In those years he was also the frontman and lead guitarist of the rock band Willie Aames & Paradise.
In 1984, Willie Aames, Eight Is Enough star then landed his second major starring role, Buddy Lembeck in Charles in Charge in 1984 and the series ran until 1990. Thereafter, Aames hosted the game show The Krypton Factor.
As part of his struggle with alcohol and drug addition, he became a Christian and an ordained minister, and from 1995 to 2004, he starred as a superhero Bibleman in a video series. He also had a touring show with the program as a means of Christian outreach to young people.
In 2005, Aames appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club 2 and subsequently appeared on Celebrity Fit Club 6: Boot Camp.
Willie Aames is reportedly separated from his second wife Maylo McCaslin whom he married in 1986. The couple has a daughter, Harleigh Jean. Aames also has a son, Christopher Aames, from his first marriage.
In recent years, the actor experienced several challenging life circumstances including the aforementioned Willie Aames bankruptcy. In an interview, he discussed the Willie Aames suicide attempt on Thanksgiving Day, 2008 shortly after he had declared bankruptcy, had his car repossessed, and topping it all off, he was also out of work and his wife of 22 years left him.
“I stole a bottle of Jack Daniel’s from the guy I was renting the room from,” Willie tells the magazine. “I’d been sober for 20 years when I took that first drink… It got so bad, I put a knife to my throat and cut myself in six places.”
Here are photos of Willie Aames, Charles in Charge actor. Watch video below.