Personally I think this situation highlights a large issue in this country. Why do people have to choose between healthcare and feeding their families? Why are we so broken as a society. It’s not like he wasn’t working. He did. He had a career, but then he got sick. And then he had to stop. And they burned through their savings taking care of him and living. And here they are. And they aren’t unique. This happens every single day in the US.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m finding myself so upset by the comments here judging the family for putting out a go fund me. They must be in dire straights to have to do that. His wife is a widow with six young kids to raise alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

JVDB seemed like a kind person and a good soul. I wouldn’t wish his pain upon anybody - his illness or the pain he must have felt knowing he was leaving behind a big family and spending their savings in an attempt to save his life. I don’t understand how people can be so heartless.

Don’t they live on a multi-million dollar ranch?

If she sold and downsized to a normal home they probably come out ahead; I think its a hobby farm not an actual source of income?

He also has a $4M penthouse in BH as a rental?

Or did they sell it all for treatment — do they not have health insurance?

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/james-van-der-beeks-42m-fortune-secret-texas-ranch-revealed/?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=syndication&campaignName=ncacont&campaignContent=&campaignSource=gold_coast_bulletin&campaignPlacement=spa

$4M is not a whole lot of money. I’m sure there is a mortgage on it. They are reporting he spent down his fortune trying to save his life.

No, insurance doesn’t cover all treatments of your stay close to a treatment facility. My uncle lives in Jackson hole and he had to rent a house near his treatment.

He put out a very sad video about how much self worth he put into being a provider and great dad and he now was neither and he needs to love himself anyway.

I mean i understand its not never work again money, but it just feels odd giving that much money to someone with $2-3M in assets. The condo for example was bought for $1.9M, so they have at least $2M in equity, unless they refi for cash to pay medical treatments.


Did he really plough theough $3-$4M in treatment costs over the last few years? i wonder if they were scammed, it would be terrifying to leave your young family like this and susceptible to being taken advantage

Oh would you shut up already?

NP I understand what the PPP is saying, but I would never say it myself. My DH had a long illness similar to James and when he finally took his last breath, it never dawned on me to open a GFM asking friends, family, and strangers for money. It's begging and we did not and do not have nearly as much in real estate as the Vanderbeers. People are posting that he has two separate properties worth over three million each. If he did not have life insurance, he failed to properly provide for his family in his absence. I always say, my DH financially took care of his family in both life and death. I would donate to someone without resources, but I am sure I am in the minority because I would never donate to a GFM like this. Perception is everything and it looks like a money grab.

Anonymous wrote:Also recall that he's been sick and unable to work for quite some time, so they've likely been living off savings for a while.

He actually has a lot of acting credits from this past year. It looks like he took a bunch of jobs while he was still reasonably healthy. I think he did the Masked Singer too. Point being he did everything he could.

Anonymous wrote:And the family is in grief. I have no problem with the GFM.

Same! Good for them.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m finding myself so upset by the comments here judging the family for putting out a go fund me. They must be in dire straights to have to do that. His wife is a widow with six young kids to raise alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

JVDB seemed like a kind person and a good soul. I wouldn’t wish his pain upon anybody - his illness or the pain he must have felt knowing he was leaving behind a big family and spending their savings in an attempt to save his life. I don’t understand how people can be so heartless.

Don’t they live on a multi-million dollar ranch?

If she sold and downsized to a normal home they probably come out ahead; I think its a hobby farm not an actual source of income?

He also has a $4M penthouse in BH as a rental?

Or did they sell it all for treatment — do they not have health insurance?

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/james-van-der-beeks-42m-fortune-secret-texas-ranch-revealed/?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=syndication&campaignName=ncacont&campaignContent=&campaignSource=gold_coast_bulletin&campaignPlacement=spa

$4M is not a whole lot of money. I’m sure there is a mortgage on it. They are reporting he spent down his fortune trying to save his life.

No, insurance doesn’t cover all treatments of your stay close to a treatment facility. My uncle lives in Jackson hole and he had to rent a house near his treatment.

He put out a very sad video about how much self worth he put into being a provider and great dad and he now was neither and he needs to love himself anyway.

I mean i understand its not never work again money, but it just feels odd giving that much money to someone with $2-3M in assets. The condo for example was bought for $1.9M, so they have at least $2M in equity, unless they refi for cash to pay medical treatments.


Did he really plough theough $3-$4M in treatment costs over the last few years? i wonder if they were scammed, it would be terrifying to leave your young family like this and susceptible to being taken advantage

Do unemployed actors have good health insurance? There are 6 young kids and his wife doesn’t have a high-paying career. Money will go fast.

If you are in SAG and work even a little you can keep your health insurance, but it’s not free. Angela Lansbury said she constantly hired her old friends who were about to lose their health insurance for small roles on Murder She Wrote when they were about to lose it.

That’s so sweet. I think that’s really common for older actors to try to pull a small commercial or walk on on Law and order or whatever to keep the insurance. I think you have to earn like 30K per year to qualify although they also have reduced rate cobra that you can use to extend coverage if you’re not working. So he was probably on cobra towards the end at least.

And the family is in grief. I have no problem with the GFM.

Also recall that he's been sick and unable to work for quite some time, so they've likely been living off savings for a while.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m finding myself so upset by the comments here judging the family for putting out a go fund me. They must be in dire straights to have to do that. His wife is a widow with six young kids to raise alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

JVDB seemed like a kind person and a good soul. I wouldn’t wish his pain upon anybody - his illness or the pain he must have felt knowing he was leaving behind a big family and spending their savings in an attempt to save his life. I don’t understand how people can be so heartless.

Don’t they live on a multi-million dollar ranch?

If she sold and downsized to a normal home they probably come out ahead; I think its a hobby farm not an actual source of income?

He also has a $4M penthouse in BH as a rental?

Or did they sell it all for treatment — do they not have health insurance?

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/james-van-der-beeks-42m-fortune-secret-texas-ranch-revealed/?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=syndication&campaignName=ncacont&campaignContent=&campaignSource=gold_coast_bulletin&campaignPlacement=spa

$4M is not a whole lot of money. I’m sure there is a mortgage on it. They are reporting he spent down his fortune trying to save his life.

No, insurance doesn’t cover all treatments of your stay close to a treatment facility. My uncle lives in Jackson hole and he had to rent a house near his treatment.

He put out a very sad video about how much self worth he put into being a provider and great dad and he now was neither and he needs to love himself anyway.

I mean i understand its not never work again money, but it just feels odd giving that much money to someone with $2-3M in assets. The condo for example was bought for $1.9M, so they have at least $2M in equity, unless they refi for cash to pay medical treatments.


Did he really plough theough $3-$4M in treatment costs over the last few years? i wonder if they were scammed, it would be terrifying to leave your young family like this and susceptible to being taken advantage

Do unemployed actors have good health insurance? There are 6 young kids and his wife doesn’t have a high-paying career. Money will go fast.

If you are in SAG and work even a little you can keep your health insurance, but it’s not free. Angela Lansbury said she constantly hired her old friends who were about to lose their health insurance for small roles on Murder She Wrote when they were about to lose it.

To the poster(s) who are fixated on the GFM, you're focusing on the wrong thing.

Direct your anger on the food industry. Colon cancer rates are rising among the young - why? What is going on here?

Direct your anger on our government, who has cut funding for cancer research.

Direct your anger on our healthcare insurers, who often make patients go through ridiculous hoops before approving life saving treatments.

Who cares about a widow raising money for her family.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m finding myself so upset by the comments here judging the family for putting out a go fund me. They must be in dire straights to have to do that. His wife is a widow with six young kids to raise alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

JVDB seemed like a kind person and a good soul. I wouldn’t wish his pain upon anybody - his illness or the pain he must have felt knowing he was leaving behind a big family and spending their savings in an attempt to save his life. I don’t understand how people can be so heartless.

Don’t they live on a multi-million dollar ranch?

If she sold and downsized to a normal home they probably come out ahead; I think its a hobby farm not an actual source of income?

He also has a $4M penthouse in BH as a rental?

Or did they sell it all for treatment — do they not have health insurance?

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/james-van-der-beeks-42m-fortune-secret-texas-ranch-revealed/?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=syndication&campaignName=ncacont&campaignContent=&campaignSource=gold_coast_bulletin&campaignPlacement=spa

$4M is not a whole lot of money. I’m sure there is a mortgage on it. They are reporting he spent down his fortune trying to save his life.

No, insurance doesn’t cover all treatments of your stay close to a treatment facility. My uncle lives in Jackson hole and he had to rent a house near his treatment.

He put out a very sad video about how much self worth he put into being a provider and great dad and he now was neither and he needs to love himself anyway.

I mean i understand its not never work again money, but it just feels odd giving that much money to someone with $2-3M in assets. The condo for example was bought for $1.9M, so they have at least $2M in equity, unless they refi for cash to pay medical treatments.


Did he really plough theough $3-$4M in treatment costs over the last few years? i wonder if they were scammed, it would be terrifying to leave your young family like this and susceptible to being taken advantage

His wife's earnings potential is not great and she has 6 young children to care for. $2 million invested reasonably conservatively will generate about $40k-$50k per year. How far do you think that goes for a family of 7? If she chips away at the principle, she probably doesn't have enough to send them to college. And then she's entering late middle age with no retirement savings.

This thread is full of very dim people.

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Anonymous wrote:Did he ever have chemo?

Sure did.

Why didn’t it work? Was it just too late? This is so sad.

It's like you've never heard of cancer before. What rock do you live under?

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Anonymous wrote:1.5 million so far. They probably need it though with 6 kids to raise and put through college. How much could his wife even work now?

The youngest child is 4. I think with six kids the goal is for her NOT to work, and it makes a lot of sense when widowed so young with so many young children. I hope they raise all the money they need. By all accounts he was a really great guy and beloved by everyone who knew him.

+1 I hope they raise enough so she never has to work, and all the costs are taken care of.

Why exactly?

NP- why do you need/want her to work? Why wish a harder life on her exactly? In a perfect world anyone in her situation would be better off not working as they are navigating grief and raising young kids UNLESS they find joy and fulfillment in their occupation.

I agree that when you have 6 kids, it becomes much less possible that you work out of the home.

That said, if this was a Black or Hispanic Tv star who had died an early death of cancer whose wife was now asking for money, rather than a blonde, I am pretty sure the tone of comments would be different and that there would be more people questioning why more planning ahead hadn’t been done before doing a GoFundme.

Maybe there WAS planning ahead. But six kids is a lot of mouths to feed. A lot of bodies to clothe.

When you watch someone die of cancer you have a lot of down time. It's not like it would have been hard to plan for this, the funeral, what happens next, in the run up to the last breath. He's been actively dying for months. The person wastes away, little by little, in front of your eyes and there's nothing you can do to stop it. I give no effs if people want to donate to her fund at this time.

Once you are sick, there is no way out of the problem of: "I can support my family if I'm working but not if I'm dead." It's too late to get more life insurance. Depending on your copays/deductibles/max payout, cancer can be very expensive even with insurance. Sometimes terrible things happen and you're in a pickle no matter how well you planned.

The guy brought a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. If his family needs the money and 50k people in a country of 340 million want to throw $30 their way, what is the problem?

There were big entertainment business names like Guy Oseary among the top donors to the GoFundMe. If people want to contribute why should we have a problem with it? This is an untimely passing.

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Anonymous wrote:I’m finding myself so upset by the comments here judging the family for putting out a go fund me. They must be in dire straights to have to do that. His wife is a widow with six young kids to raise alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

JVDB seemed like a kind person and a good soul. I wouldn’t wish his pain upon anybody - his illness or the pain he must have felt knowing he was leaving behind a big family and spending their savings in an attempt to save his life. I don’t understand how people can be so heartless.

Don’t they live on a multi-million dollar ranch?

If she sold and downsized to a normal home they probably come out ahead; I think its a hobby farm not an actual source of income?

He also has a $4M penthouse in BH as a rental?

Or did they sell it all for treatment — do they not have health insurance?

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/james-van-der-beeks-42m-fortune-secret-texas-ranch-revealed/?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=syndication&campaignName=ncacont&campaignContent=&campaignSource=gold_coast_bulletin&campaignPlacement=spa

$4M is not a whole lot of money. I’m sure there is a mortgage on it. They are reporting he spent down his fortune trying to save his life.

No, insurance doesn’t cover all treatments of your stay close to a treatment facility. My uncle lives in Jackson hole and he had to rent a house near his treatment.

He put out a very sad video about how much self worth he put into being a provider and great dad and he now was neither and he needs to love himself anyway.

I mean i understand its not never work again money, but it just feels odd giving that much money to someone with $2-3M in assets. The condo for example was bought for $1.9M, so they have at least $2M in equity, unless they refi for cash to pay medical treatments.


Did he really plough theough $3-$4M in treatment costs over the last few years? i wonder if they were scammed, it would be terrifying to leave your young family like this and susceptible to being taken advantage

Do unemployed actors have good health insurance? There are 6 young kids and his wife doesn’t have a high-paying career. Money will go fast.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m finding myself so upset by the comments here judging the family for putting out a go fund me. They must be in dire straights to have to do that. His wife is a widow with six young kids to raise alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

JVDB seemed like a kind person and a good soul. I wouldn’t wish his pain upon anybody - his illness or the pain he must have felt knowing he was leaving behind a big family and spending their savings in an attempt to save his life. I don’t understand how people can be so heartless.

Don’t they live on a multi-million dollar ranch?

If she sold and downsized to a normal home they probably come out ahead; I think its a hobby farm not an actual source of income?

He also has a $4M penthouse in BH as a rental?

Or did they sell it all for treatment — do they not have health insurance?

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/james-van-der-beeks-42m-fortune-secret-texas-ranch-revealed/?campaignType=external&campaignChannel=syndication&campaignName=ncacont&campaignContent=&campaignSource=gold_coast_bulletin&campaignPlacement=spa

$4M is not a whole lot of money. I’m sure there is a mortgage on it. They are reporting he spent down his fortune trying to save his life.

No, insurance doesn’t cover all treatments of your stay close to a treatment facility. My uncle lives in Jackson hole and he had to rent a house near his treatment.

He put out a very sad video about how much self worth he put into being a provider and great dad and he now was neither and he needs to love himself anyway.

I mean i understand its not never work again money, but it just feels odd giving that much money to someone with $2-3M in assets. The condo for example was bought for $1.9M, so they have at least $2M in equity, unless they refi for cash to pay medical treatments.


Did he really plough theough $3-$4M in treatment costs over the last few years? i wonder if they were scammed, it would be terrifying to leave your young family like this and susceptible to being taken advantage

My assumption is that if she's raising money on GFM, either she truly needs the money or she's in a panic. I simply don't see the concern. Even if she raises like $5M, who cares. People can give their money to whatever cause they want.

And yes, there are scammers preying on cancer patients. They typically have a "holistic" program that they push. People can get desperate when faced with their mortality so it's not impossible that he was scammed but we don't know.