'Princess Bride' actor Chris Sarandon 'lost everything' in late 80s scam

Chris Sarandon says he faced his biggest career setback in the late ’80s, when he lost nearly all of his savings after a fraudulent business deal.

“I invested money with a guy who defrauded me,” the Princess Bride star, 83, told The Guardian in a recent interview.

“Because I had signed all of the mortgages with this guy, I became as liable as he was — not criminally, but financially. So I lost everything. I’d been saving all through my career for my old age, and I had to liquidate it.”

The financial hit also came with the end of his second marriage to Lisa Ann Cooper, with whom he shares three children.

To carry his weight, Sarandon admits he took on what he called “mortgage movies.”

My heart was in some of them,” he told the magazine, “but not all. I had rent to pay.”

Sarandon, who is now married to actress Joanna Gleason since 1994, says he’s comfortable away from the spotlight even though his career picked up again with 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

“Honestly, I don’t have the fire in my belly anymore,” he admitted. “I set out to have a career, not to be famous. My goals were fulfilled midway through, and I was able to support myself—except for that disastrous few years. But I came out of it. I’m a lucky guy.”

During the pandemic, he launched Cooking By Heart, a podcast where he and guests swap food memories. He also reunited with his first wife, Susan Sarandon, for an episode.