Fame & Fortune: Comic Ron White 'Blue Collar' drinker's finances are set, so he parties on
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Bankrate: So you were pretty convinced it was going to go on the air.

Ron White: Oh, are you kidding me? I was living in Beverly Hills on FOX's nickel, driving a little BMW, and I just thought there's no way they're jerking everybody else around the same way they're jerking me around. They've got to love me. But they're so good at that. They're so good at making you think there's nobody else on the planet, but they're doing that to 14 other shows. They're amazing. But yeah, I thought it was. And also, at the same time, Blue Collar was coming out, the first movie, and it was guaranteed, promised, by Warner Bros. that they were going to spend $12 million to advertise it. They were going to put it in theaters all over the country, 'cause it tested through the roof with every demographic. So I'm driving around, I have a movie coming out, I have a sitcom in the make. I thought, this is it. But then the video goes straight to DVD, Fox doesn't pick up the sitcom, and the next thing you know I'm back in Omaha at the Funny Bone. I thought my opportunity had been missed. It was not until Comedy Central decided to put Blue Collar on the air that the DVD started selling like hot cakes. Which would have happened in the movies anyway. It just took a little more time.

Bankrate: Now that you're really successful, did that experience affect how you handle your money and plan for the future?

Ron White: No. I'm partying like a Kennedy and will continue to do so until I die. I'm set, financially. It's all put away. It's fine. I'm hooked up.

Bankrate: So you have someone else taking care of it, so you don't have to worry about it?

Ron White: My wife takes care of it. They have money managers; it's ridiculous.

Bankrate: And wonderful, I'm sure.

Ron White: It's fine. I mean, my life was wonderful before this. I still made decent money as a comedian, I lived in a pretty nice house, I ate great food, there's actually more probably to deal with now then there was then. I just live in a much bigger house and drive a much nicer car.

Bankrate: Is there any other way that success has changed your life?

Ron White: Other than where I go on vacation and where I play golf, I don't really think it has. No. 1, I wouldn't even call me famous, I would call me a popular comedian. 'Cause if I walk down the street, depending on where I'm at, people don't know who I am like they would if I was a television star. That's not entirely true, I do get recognized and people ask me for autographs, but it's not like I'm a TV or movie guy. So, I don't really think it's all that much different.