Charlie's Angels star Kate Jackson facing 'financial ruin'

FORMER Charlie’s Angel Kate Jackson, who has twice beaten breast cancer and overcome an addiction to pain killers, claims she is broke and facing complete ­“financial ruin”.

Former Charlie s Angel star Kate Jackson is suing her former business manager Former Charlie's Angel star Kate Jackson is suing her former business manager

The actress, 61, who also starred in Eighties hit TV series Scarecrow And Mrs King, reveals her nightmare in legal papers filed at Los Angeles Superior Court.

Three times married and ­divorced Kate, who has a 14-year-old adopted son Taylor, is suing her former business manager ­Richard Francis for more than £2million.

In her lawsuit she claims she trusted Francis because he also handled the financial affairs of her Angels co-star Farrah Fawcett, who lost her own battle against cancer last year aged 62.

But she claims he misled her and has driven her to near-bankruptcy by “overstating” her wealth, telling her she was worth £3.7million and could comfortably live in retirement on the £207,000 interest it would accrue annually.

Kate says in the court documents that she discovered later that her fortune amounted to around £2million after Francis encouraged her to deplete her savings by buying a £1.4million home in Santa Monica he assured her would never lose value.

Yesterday, an independent real estate agent contacted by the Sunday Express valued the property at little more than half that as a result of the recession and housing slump.

In her sworn statement, Kate declares she has suffered “financial ruin at the hands of the very person I entrusted with my finances”. A source close to her said: “She is completely devastated by the way her life has gone.

“She has fallen from the heights of fame and fortune to ruin. We are all desperately worried about whether she will survive this latest crisis. She is barely eating and looks wafer thin.”

Kate and her son were last night believed to be staying with friends. Their Santa Monica home, barely five miles from the hospital where Farrah died, has been temporarily abandoned.

Kate has managed only five ­appearances as a guest star on TV shows since 2004, a year after she revealed her dependence on prescription pain pills, an addiction she subsequently conquered.

She has not had a romantic relationship since her divorce from her third husband, Hollywood stunt man Tom Hart, in 1993, and a near neighbour said: “In recent times, she has become more and more reclusive.”

Richard Francis, however, last night insisted: “I have an impeccable, 50-year record with a string of celebrity clients. I believe this will not go to full trial because it will be established at preliminary hearings that there is no case to answer.”

He faces another ­battle with Craig Nevius, the producer who made the haunting TV documentary Farrah’s Story, which was broadcast around the world after her death.

He claims Francis is withholding money from him and other beneficiaries of her will. Francis insisted earlier this year: “This is complete nonsense.”

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