Tim Allen (Dick)

ONE WILD HOG: On 2 October 1978, Tim Allen Dick was arrested in Detroit for possession of a pound and a half of cocaine. Under Michigan law, he could have been sentenced to life in prison. Instead he turned state's evidence -- the legal term for ratting on your cohorts. Allen reportedly fingered at least 21 co-conspirators, and in exchange, he was sentenced to just five years under the more lenient (at that time) federal law. He was paroled after 2½ years, and after dropping his last name, he has become one of America's most successful ex-cons gone legit.

He was arrested for drunk driving in 1997, after he nearly fell over and couldn't count backwards during a roadside sobriety check. The arrest effectively brings Allen's life story full-circle: A drunk driver killed his father when Allen was 11.

Also in 1997, Allen was in an auto accident in Studio City, California, and injured a 72-year-old retired librarian named Henry Armstrong. Armstrong told the National Enquirer that Allen "was bleary-eyed and unsteady on his feet, and he never uttered a word, never mind said sorry." Allen sued the old man for $12 million, complaining that Allen's "business as a well-known and well-respected actor, entertainer, author, commercial spokesperson and product endorser has been damaged." Allen dropped the lawsuit two years later, as a "humanitarian gesture" when he learned that Armstrong was suffering from brain cancer.

Kip Addotta, a friend and comic who mentored Allen through the early years of his career, says Allen "cut all ties with me" as soon as his TV show started.