EXCLUSIVE: 'He's an ungrateful son of a b***h.' Christian Slater's father reveals how his famous son and casting director ex-wife 'blacklisted' him in show business forcing him to work for $10 an hour as a parking valet 

The father of Hollywood star Christian Slater is blasting his son as a 'lying scumbag' and an 'ungrateful son of a b***h' who ruined his acting career and left him destitute.

Tom Slater, a veteran actor also known as Michael Gainsborough, filed a $20 million libel lawsuit against his son - and ex-wife Mary Jo Slater - last week, claiming the pair have prevented him from getting any acting roles by falsely telling people he suffered from schizophrenia and manic depression.

But in a profanity laden interview Tom, who insists he has never suffered from any kind of mental illness, tells Daily Mail Online exclusively that the pair had 'colluded and conspired against him' in a bid to destroy his reputation and poison the Hollywood establishment against him.

He claims that despite teaching his son 'everything he knows' about show business, True Romance star Christian has disowned him and refuses to let him meet his two grandchildren, who are now in their teens.

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Destitute: Tom Slater tells Daily Mail Online his son, actor Christian Slater, and ex-wife, Mary Jo, have blacklisted him from show business so he can no longer continue his acting career and has been forced to get food from food banks

Lawsuit: Slater filed a $20 million libel lawsuit against Christian and Mary Jo Slater claiming they have prevented him from getting acting roles by falsely telling people he suffered from schizophrenia and manic depression

Tom, who once starred in the long-running soap opera Ryan's Hope, says he is determined to have his 'day in court' so the pair have to publicly apologize to him.

The 80-year-old, who now works as a $10-an-hour parking valet and in the past has been forced to take handouts from food banks to survive, said: 'They are both determined to treat me like I don't exist. 

'For the last 30 years I've lived in total pariah blacklist-ville. They've denigrated me.

'Christian has repeated the lie that I have mental illness many times - over and over again. He's effectively disowned me.

'It's because he's scared to death of his mother.

'His mother is a casting director and they are the most powerful people in show business. She has determined to write me off the map - she wishes I were dead.

'She's done everything she could do to destroy me and tell everybody in the world I'm a paranoid schizophrenic.

'She didn't even graduate from high school for f***'s sake - neither did Christian - these people are ignorant b*****ds - they don't have the authority to make a medical diagnosis.'

Slater also reveals he has had to stand in free food lines - and claims both his son and ex-wife have ruined him and his career. 

'I can't act. They won't hire me because Mary Jo won't let them. She's poisoned the community of casting directors against me.

'Christian sat on my knee as a child and watched me do these soap operas and learned from me how show business works and he hasn't given me one damn bit of credit - and he treats me like this - he's an ungrateful b*****d.'

The lawsuit centers around an interview Christian gave to tabloid magazine National Enquirer in which he described his dad as a 'manic-depressive schizophrenic'.

Flashback: Tom Slater with then wife Mary Jo, also a successful casting director with over 100 film credits to her name, and son Christian Slater climbing a tree in Central Park, New York City in 1973

In control: Slater says Christian (pictured with mom Mary Jo in 1991) was helping him to a certain degree up until six years ago when his mother convinced him that if he didn't stop helping she would blacklist him the way she blacklisted him

The Mr. Robot star was quoted as saying: 'He's always had trouble - he was a fantastic actor and extraordinarily charismatic and very, very good looking, but he had a really difficult time working with directors, collaborating with people.'

The lawsuit, obtained by Daily Mail Online, describes this statement as a 'publicly embarrassing,' 'unverified' and 'untrue' disclosure, which is the latest in an 'ongoing slandering, libeling and defaming' of Tom's character.

The suit continues: 'Plaintiff Slater had hoped to perform in the industry that he loves so much for his entire life, and was even hoping to land parts in the autumn of his life, but facilitated by the machinations of the mother of his child and ex-wife defendant Mary Jo Slater, who he alleged has intentionally maligned and defamed him and caused him to be blacklisted in the show business community... he can no longer find work.

'With this latest pummeling to his character he believes that any hope of ever acting again has been dashed into pieces.'

Tom, who is also a published author, categorically denies that he has any mental illness.

He has a security guard license from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, which he said he wouldn't have been approved for if had a history of mental illness.

Tom says he had a successful acting career, starring in movies, TV shows and on stage, up until 1986 when his ex-wife Mary-Jo came to live in Hollywood from Manhattan, New York.

The lawsuit claims that Mary-Jo, a successful casting director and producer with over 100 film credits to her name, and son Christian spread the 'falsified rumor' about Tom's mental health 'throughout the entertainment industry' with the intent of 'ruining his career'.

Mary Jo Slater said she didn't wish to comment on her ex-husband's claims.

Since his acting career ended, Tom has struggled to make ends meet forced to go to food banks and live off food stamps.

He says his son Christian, who last month won a best supporting actor Golden Globe for his role in Mr. Robot, helped him financially until six years ago - when he cut him off.

Career: Tom Slater, who also went by Michael Gainsborough, played Frank Ryan on the soap opera Ryan's Hope. 'Christian sat on my knee as a child and watched me do these soap operas and learned from me how show business works and he hasn't given me one damn bit of credit,' he tells Daily Mail Online

Tom has taken a variety of different jobs to make ends meet and works as a parking valet at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

Tom, who lives in Hollywood, reveals: 'I haven't been able to work in show business since 1986. I've just had to scrounge like crazy.

'I've worked various jobs, in shoe stores, as a security guard - I've even worked in a sex shop. I've worked whatever job I could get to make ends meet. I didn't get social security until I was 60.

'I've had to take food from food banks. In fact I've been taking them from several food banks in Hollywood. I had to - I was destitute.

'If it weren't for the fact that I recently got a job at Cedars Sinai I'd be still that way.

'Now I work Monday to Friday as a valet and security helping to park the cars there.'

He adds: 'Christian was helping me to a certain degree up until six years ago but then his mother convinced him that if he didn't stop helping me she would blacklist him the way she blacklisted me so he decided to disown me completely.

Curtain's closed: The one-time actor now works for $10 an hour at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles as a parking valet

'He was sick of tired of helping me so he decided I was dead to him.'

Tom says he had good relationship with his son up until Christian was sent to jail in 1997 for assaulting his then-girlfriend Michelle Jonas and a police officer while under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

He reveals his son blames him for the fact he ended up in jail but conveniently overlooks the happy childhood he had around his acting father.

'Christian worshiped me until he was 28,' he says.

'My favorite phrase of his was, 'Daddy burned up, Daddy burned up' because when I was in the TV series Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing the little girl set fire to the garage while my character was working on my car.

'So little Christian, when he was four or five, was looking at the screen thinking his daddy's getting burned up.

'I explained, 'Yes but I am here now - that's what show business is about - you pretend.'

'He would sit on my knee and watch me do those soap operas and he sat in the wings and watched me do the Broadway shows.

Shining moment: 'He thanked everyone in the world except me when he won that award. It was extremely hurtful,' says Slater of his son's Golden Globe victory speech last month

'Then when he was 28 he went to jail for kicking a policeman and hitting his girlfriend and his mother convinced him that it was my fault - even though he'd been living with her since she divorced me when he was 10.

'So here he is in jail and he gets the idea that, "Wow my father is a bad guy, my mother told me - he's responsible for my going to jail."

'The guy takes everything I have given him and turns it into his own creation - he has absolutely no gratitude for anything I have ever done for the kid.

'You don't become Liza Minelli without your parents being Judy Garland and Vincent Minelli. You don't become Michael Douglas unless your father is Kirk Douglas.

'And you don't become Christian Slater unless you have me for a father.'

Tom said he is heartbroken at the actor's refusal to acknowledge him or talk about him in interviews.

'He never mentions that I exist,' Tom says. 'In fact he was on the soap opera Ryan's Hope after I was on it as the lead actor and he never once even mentioned on any talk show or interview that his old man had originated the role of Frank Ryan when he was a kid.

'I remember once he was speaking to Ben Stiller and he said, 'I understand you were on Ryan's Hope' and Christian replied, 'Yeah it was a great time for me - I had a great time on it,' never once mentioning that his old man was the original lead man in the thing.

'That's the kind of crap I've finally had enough of. I couldn't believe my son was being such a scumbag that would refuse to mention that I even existed.

'So as far I'm concerned that f***ing b*****d totally screwed me over totally and I hate his f***ing guts for doing it.'

The last time he spoke to Christian was during a conference call several years ago - organized by his social workers at the Screen Actors Guild.

Most hurtful to Tom in their relationship breakdown is that he has never met his grandchildren Jaden and Eliana Haddon-Slater, who are now teenagers.

Tom says: 'The conference call did not become an argument but it proved to me that he had completely changed his whole attitude towards me.

Survival: 'I've worked various jobs, in shoe stores, as a security guard - I've even worked in a sex shop. I've worked whatever job I could get to make ends meet,' reveals father of Christian Slater

Making amends: 'I believe the only way to reconcile is if he has to pay me and admit that he f***ed me over,' he says of rekindling relationship with his son

'In other words he was no longer worshipping me in any way, he was no longer thanking me for anything and he was taking full credit for his success.

'When he got his Golden Globe last month it was as if I had nothing to do with it. He thanked everyone in the world except me when he won that award.

'It was extremely hurtful. I'm furious about it because I've never even met my grandchildren and they're teenagers now.

'The hatred Mary Jo has for me has affected my son to such a degree he's forbidden me to see them.'

Tom tells Daily Mail Online he does not want to settle the lawsuit - and wants to have his day in court.

He says even though he could really do with the extra money - it is more important that he proves that he does not have mental illness and receives a public apology.

'I want vindication - I want them to admit they have done me wrong and that they've slandered and libeled me,' he says.

'The jury has to agree to this that's why it's important for me to have my day in court.

'It's important that the law says 'No this guy is not insane'.

'I think that if I settle they could still screw with me. They could say, 'Well yeah we had to settle - we still think he's a nutcase but we settled to get him off our backs'. That's the dilemma I'm in.

'So I think I will go the full distance and see what the jury says because I've been looking forward to that day for 30 years.'

Despite everything, Tom does want to mend the relationship with Christian - but believes the lawsuit is the only way to make that happen.

'I believe the only way to reconcile is if he has to pay me and admit that he f***ed me over.

'He's got to admit that I'm responsible for his success and I want him to admit that in court.

'He's admitted it to me personally many times. He's said that he's blessed and fortunate that he had me as a father but unfortunately he's in his mother's pocket now. The only way for me to get my son back is to beat him in court.'

Tom is representing himself in the lawsuit and is seeking compensatory damages of no less than $20 million plus punitive damages and legal costs.