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Fame & Fortune: Danny Bonaduce

Former child star bounces between failure and success
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Bankrate: What was your last radio job?

Danny Bonaduce: Star 98.7 in LA. I had the morning show; No. 1 in the ratings when I left, and it's No. 24 now, which makes me very happy.

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Bankrate: How long have you been gone from there?

Danny Bonaduce: A year and a half.

Bankrate: Why are you unable to get a radio job now?

Danny Bonaduce: Because at first, to be honest, people were a little afraid of me. But now I'm doing all this press for all these TV shows, I have four or five shows I did just in October, and I can go back to radio theoretically within the next two months, and probably will. Howard Stern was the first person to offer me a job.

Bankrate: What did he offer you?

Danny Bonaduce: Not enough money. Afternoons on his Sirius channel. The only reason I didn't take it is because I promised my daughter years ago, when we moved to L.A., that I would not move her again until she got out of the sixth grade. She graduates this year.

Bankrate: After the promotion for this show dies down, what will your next big thing be?

Danny Bonaduce: My big thing will be radio, because I can do it. As an actor, after "The Partridge Family" I didn't work again for 14 years. As a DJ, I wasn't out of work one day for 16 years. I've been on TV shows that have been good or bad, some have failed, and some have gone on. I have never been out of the top three in radio. It's what I do best.

Bankrate: So you expect to be back in radio by the end of the year?

Danny Bonaduce: Absolutely.

Bankrate: Was the TV show a big deal for you financially?

Danny Bonaduce: No. It hasn't made me wealthy at all. Both seasons of "Breaking Bonaduce" would be less than half of last year's radio contract. Dude, I make a lot of money in radio.

Bankrate: So with all the different stuff going on now, considering that you're not in radio at the moment, what's your biggest money maker?

Danny Bonaduce: There's the game show, "Starface," which I host on GSN. I made a good chunk of change appearing on "CSI." I played Comix Comedy Club in New York. A very decent, respectable wage. So I'm going to comedy clubs around the country, either bringing my show with me or hosting their show. And I'm doing fairly well at that. But, to be frank with you, by 1985 I was living in my car, so any money ... I have a really nice house, so it's not that much about the money now as it is about a lengthy career, and my career longevity is in radio.

Also, my wife just started her own business, which is at www.bonaduce.biz. It's just getting under way, but she's already making a little money. What she does is takes vintage rock and roll T-shirts, like Iggy Pop and the Stooges, stuff like that, and hand makes them into skirts with ruffles. They're really cool. I also just joined up with a thing called Pod Fitness, which I heard about on "The Howard Stern Show." When they asked me if I would be one of their trainers, I said, Are you kidding? I don't live well. I don't live healthy. I just maintain 8 percent body fat, which is approximately that of a professional athlete. And they said, "You're telling us you don't know anything that all our trainers don't know?" I said, "Your trainers know you burn off 600 calories an hour running. I know you burn 1,200 if you're running from the cops." And they said, "That's what we want." So I'm doing intricate and customized training for podfitness.com.

 
 
Next: "Am I rich by my standards of rich? No."
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