Judge Judy knew she made it big when she went from secondhand clothes to designer shoes

When stars got top bills

For a forever ago Parade magazine, I asked what stars bought when they finally made a buck:

Glenn Close: “Armani jacket. My first extravagance with my first real money. I’d never had one before. Black, double-breasted, big shoulders. I still have it.”

Rosie O’Donnell: “1984 life was hand to mouth. A furnished room. Then I won 23 grand on ‘Star Search,’ put the whole thing in my pocket so I’d feel it — and got to my dentist. Crowns on top, six on the bottom. I came out looking like Donny Osmond.”

Megajillionaire Judge Judy: “My husband and I, civil court judges, had five children in college. Home was one room, secondhand car, Costco underwear, clothes from friends. I loved Robert Clergerie’s shoes but couldn’t afford even half-priced ones. The day I could afford the full-priced black ones I knew I’d arrived.”

Edie Falco: “Nobody believed ‘The Sopranos’ would become huge — so nobody fought for residuals. I’d lived in a dinky Greenwich Village studio walkup. Fifth floor. No bathroom. Minute a few dollars came in, I moved.”

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Kristin Chenoweth: “I bought my gorgeous Maltese dog Madeleine. Plus a pink doggy car seat. Securely strapped in, Madeleine sits in the front near me. Her long white hair flies in the breeze like she’s Marilyn Monroe.”

Julianne Moore: “A hugely expensive cashmere sweater for my mother. Knowing its cost, she wouldn’t have accepted it. I paid cash. I had to. I had no credit history. It was the ’80s and I finally had a steady job in the soap ‘As the World Turns.’”

James Caan: “Mid-’70s. My truckdriver father drove an old beat-up Mustang. His dream was to somehow own a Cadillac. Sending him away, I hijacked his Mustang to remove his plates. When he came back, the Caddy, parked under a lamppost, shone like something from a B movie. He stared at it saying, ‘What a beauty.’ I threw him the keys. Then came dead silence.”

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It’s coming Fourth of July, America’s birthday. It’s coming our love for democracy and its leaders. It’s coming tomorrow’s debate between Trump and Stump .

And in the tiny book “The Stupidest Things Ever Said By Politicians” is this immortal quote by Gen. João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo upon being appointed president of Brazil.

And he said: “I intend to open this country up to democracy, and anyone who is against that — I will jail. I will crush.”

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Enjoy your country, love our America, support our democracy, pay your taxes — and wait for me.

A few days off to rest my weary computer, then back after the holiday.

Meanwhile, remember the immortal words from the mouth of President Bill Clinton who said : “This country’s policies should be heavily biased in favor of nondiscrimination.”

Or: To quote our once VP Al Gore: “A zebra doesn’t change its spots.”

And not only in New York, kids, not only in New York.

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