Despite starring in successful series such as "Charles in Charge" and "Eight is Enough," Willie Aames wound up virtually homeless, divorced and cut off from his daughter. Now he talks to ET's Kevin Frazier about how his life spiraled down into poverty.

"My annual income was $1.5 million," he reveals. "Life is pretty grand when you're making good money like that."

Then there was no job, no bank account, no wife or child. "I never dreamed it could happen that fast," he says. "I always felt as though, if nothing else, I have a successful marriage. And, I think, I began to place more of my self-esteem in the fact that I had a good marriage more than anything else. When that went away, I was devastated. But I don't blame Maylo. It's me."

When the work dried up, Willie tells Kevin he slept in parking garages and parks, and also, stayed with friends when possible.

"There is a point where you've become so demoralized and so guilt ridden and you've lost so much of your self-esteem that, I think, there is a choice where you choose," he says. "Is this how it's going to turn out? First as a question, and then as a question to yourself as to whether or not you're going to let it remain that way."

Then VH1 came into his life and sent financial guru and life coach Sarano Kelley to help him rebuild it. Willie's journey is being filmed for a one-off special, "Broke and Famous."

One of the first steps that Willie was forced to take was holding a garage sale.

"I didn't like it," he says. "I didn't want the whole world in my front yard, hauling through my memories." But with a negative $60 in the bank, he had no choice. "I was afraid I was going to lose my dignity," he recalls. On the plus side, he made close to $5400.

These days, he is working on rebuilding his relationship with his daughter.

"When you begin to realize that your best efforts caused somebody else pain, it's really difficult to accept," he says. "When you see this show, you will see the beginnings of the work, but it's only the beginning. I text [my daughter] all the time, and we try to have dinner once a week, but I was really unaware, perhaps selfishly unaware, of the extent of the pain that I caused them by doing what I thought was best. I've become extremely protective of my family, of their privacy, of their need to heal, as well as my own need to heal."

"Broke and Famous" premieres Thursday, Nov. 5 at 10 p.m. on VH1.