Teri Polo, best known as Ben Stiller’s fianceé and then wife in all three Fockers movies — and who now stars in the ABC Family series The Fosters — would seem to have it all. But apparently, most of what she has, she owes to the Internal Revenue Service, as well as other creditors including a former landlord and her credit card companies.
The 44-year-old actress filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 14. The filings were uncovered and reported Tuesday .
As “Pam Focker,” Teri Polo played opposite Stiller as well as Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand in the hit comedy trilogy that began in 2000 with Meet The Parents , then continued in 2004 with the sequel Meet The Fockers . The series wound up, at least for now, in 2010 with the third installment, Little Fockers .
The three Fockers films averaged almost $200 million each at the box office.
Teri Polo has also appeared on numerous TV shows. She had a recurring role on The West Wing for two seasons and has guest-starred on many other popular shows. She is the mother of two children and in 2002 was ranked Number 42 on Maxim Magazine ‘s “100 Hot Women” list.
But now Teri Polo says, in court filings, that she is worth less than $50,000, but is carrying a debt load of close to $1 million. And as a result Polo, who once posed nude for Playboy Magazine , has gone belly-up .
The vast majority of her debt, according to the court filings, comes in back taxes owed to the federal government. Somehow, Teri Polo is $745,000 in arrears to the IRS. She also owes about $26,000 to the state of California in unpaid taxes.
The former Focker has also run up her credit cards, owing almost 30 grand to American Express and another $7,000, approximately, to a Chase Bank credit card.
A rep for Teri Polo did not respond to media inquiries.
Polo is also battling a well-known Hollywood entertainment lawyer, Edwin McPherson, who was her landlord on a $7,000 per month rental apartment — but says Teri Polo owes him $30,000 for damages caused her her dog which left feces and urine all over the premises. He also alleges that she left food in a refrigerator that was turned off, causing the food to rot and creating a sickening, rancid smell throughout the apartment.
McPherson filed a lawsuit against Teri Polo earlier this year.
