# How much do TV actors get paid in royalties? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712 "2005-03-15T21:58:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/21 "2012-03-01T03:14:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I am a fan of Jim Beaver’s facebook page. Just a couple of days ago he posted this: > > “I defy anyone to top this residual-check story: I’ve had one and two-cent checks delivered to me before (at a full-rate postage stamp per check). But this week, I got a check that beat those. The gross was one cent. But the net was zero cents. But that’s not all. They took out TWO cents in tax withholding, leaving an initial net of minus one cent, which they rounded to zero. 'Splain me dat, Lucy. (And yes, there was a 45-cent stamp on the envelope.)” Idjits. > [@fliflito](#): > > I read that Dawn Wells from Gilligan’s Island got infinite residuals because of a clause in her contract. here is an excerpt from the article: It has long been stated that the entire cast of Gilligan’s Island never received residuals beyond the first four reruns of each episode. This was true for the entire cast except Dawn Wells. Go Dawn! (I always love stories about actors who earn fortunes from beating studio greed- though she was probably wise not to make that well known to her co-stars.) Alison Arngrim who played Nellie Oleson on _Little House on the Prairie_ wrote a (very very good) memoir last year and says she still receives residuals for _Little House_. I don’t think they’re enough to live on, not lavishly anyway, but otoh, getting paid even a few thousand per year for something you did more than 30 years ago is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/22 "2012-03-01T03:22:52Z")
How does it compare to what the guy who wrote the theme song is? My father-in-law appeared in one episode of Seinfeld (he’s one of the Japanese tourists who stayed in Kramer’s dresser) and my mother-in-law still gets residuals from that of a few dollars per check. But she made almost six figures a couple years ago because a few second long clip of a TV theme song he wrote in the '60s (in Japan) was used in a popular pachinko machine themed to the show. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/23 "2012-03-01T03:22:59Z")
The cast and crew of the LOGO sitcom _Sordid Lives_ (based on Del Shores’ cult classic movie of the same name and featuring many of the same actors) got majorly screwed on their residuals when the production company that owned the series went bankrupt. The production company cashed the checks but declared bankruptcy and the show has been rerun many times on LOGO (to tens of viewers) but they’ve never received a cent. Unions were apparently worthless in enforcing it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/24 "2012-03-01T03:25:43Z")
> [@fliflito](#): > > I read that Dawn Wells from Gilligan’s Island got infinite residuals because of a clause in her contract. Not true, at least not according to [this interview](http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/investing/20010718b.asp) with Dawn Wells: > [@](#): > > B: Did you save your money? > > DW: I don’t know there was a whole lot to save, but I’m a businesswoman. I know this business is fickle, so I’ve tried very hard with investments. I’m not rich by any means. Had we had some of those residuals everybody had, sure. But I’ve managed to make a good living all my life and to provide for when I get old and I’m alone. > > B: So you don’t make money from the show in syndication? > > DW: Not a bit. Not after the first five runs of each episode, which took about two years. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/25 "2012-03-01T03:31:52Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > How does it compare to what the guy who wrote the theme song is? The most famous story about a theme song’s royalties is Robert Altman’s son Mike, who wrote the lyrics for _Suicide is Painless_ and earned many times the $70,000 his dad received for directing the movie even though the lyrics are hardly ever heard. (Were they _ever_ sung in the series?) ---
**Author:** ![Whyzen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Whyzen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whyzen)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/26 "2012-03-01T18:06:45Z")
**Sampiro** , you’ve provided info about Vicky Lawrence, Kevin Hagen, Jack Klugman, Tony Randall, Werner Klemperer, Bob Crane, Redd Foxx, Audrey Meadows, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Robert Reed, and Mike Altman. Where did you get your info? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/27 "2012-03-01T18:26:10Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > How does it compare to what the guy who wrote the theme song is? > > My father-in-law appeared in one episode of Seinfeld (he’s one of the Japanese tourists who stayed in Kramer’s dresser) and my mother-in-law still gets residuals from that of a few dollars per check. But she made almost six figures a couple years ago because a few second long clip of a TV theme song he wrote in the '60s (in Japan) was used in a popular pachinko machine themed to the show. Wasn’t that the episode in which Jerry was receiving tiny checks from Japanese TV for appearing briefly on the “The Super-Terrific-Happy Hour” show? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/28 "2012-03-01T18:31:58Z")
I don’t know, I’ve never actually seen that episode. My father-in-law was also in Out to Sea (Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon) which my wife and I have also never seen. It is too weird for her to see him on screen so she seems to subconsciously avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/29 "2012-03-01T20:26:28Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I am a fan of Jim Beaver’s facebook page. Just a couple of days ago he posted this: > > “I defy anyone to top this residual-check story: I’ve had one and two-cent checks delivered to me before (at a full-rate postage stamp per check). But this week, I got a check that beat those. The gross was one cent. But the net was zero cents. But that’s not all. They took out TWO cents in tax withholding, leaving an initial net of minus one cent, which they rounded to zero. 'Splain me dat, Lucy. (And yes, there was a 45-cent stamp on the envelope.)” My daughter got a check for sixteen cents when the soap she was a SAG extra in ran in Italy. That was after her agent and manager took their cuts. BTW, where are my residuals from this thread rerunning from 7 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/30 "2012-03-01T21:12:39Z")
> [@Whyzen](#): > > **Sampiro** , you’ve provided info about Vicky Lawrence, Kevin Hagen, Jack Klugman, Tony Randall, Werner Klemperer, Bob Crane, Redd Foxx, Audrey Meadows, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Robert Reed, and Mike Altman. > > Where did you get your info? That was years and years ago, but various places. Lawrence was interviewed recently before the original thread on why she was touring as Mama (answer: money), Foxx’s situation was mentioned in articles on why he died so indigent after earning millions, Klugman and Randall’s residuals and the Hogan’s Heroes residuals were mentioned in books on their respective series, Hagen had given interviews to the Enquirer (and they were mentioned in his obituary), Henderson mentions her residuals in her very long TV Archives interview. Mike Altman’s is a famous bit of show biz trivia (just google his name and royalties) as is Audrey Meadows (google Honeymooners Meadows residuals). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/31 "2012-03-01T21:18:55Z")
Apparently commercials are about the most lucrative form of residual, especially for actors who aren’t famous. I worked with a theatre professor who made enough playing the mom in a not particularly memorable McDonald’s commercial in the 1980s [it had a jingle about how irresistible their fries were] to pay for her graduate work and have a nest egg- a total well into the high 5 figures, which while not a lot in career earnings (because that was her big-money to date) it’s a helluva lot for a few days work for an unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/32 "2012-03-01T21:55:52Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The most famous story about a theme song’s royalties is Robert Altman’s son Mike, who wrote the lyrics for _Suicide is Painless_ and earned many times the $70,000 his dad received for directing the movie even though the lyrics are hardly ever heard. (Were they _ever_ sung in the series?) Gene Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the theme song to the original _Star Trek_ just for the residuals, or so the story goes. The lyrics were never actually performed in any aired episode. There’s residuals, and then there’s merchandising: [http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-19/entertainment/showbiz\_happy-days-lawsuit\_1\_fraud-claim-punitive-damages-actors?\_s=PM:SHOWBIZ](http://articles.cnn.com/2011-10-19/entertainment/showbiz_happy-days-lawsuit_1_fraud-claim-punitive-damages-actors?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/33 "2012-03-01T22:09:04Z")
Does Mike Altman get royalties for the MASH television show if only the instrumental version of the theme song plays? (And I wonder the same thing about the the Star Trek theme song, assuming the story about Gene Roddenberry is correct.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/34 "2012-03-01T22:25:41Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Apparently commercials are about the most lucrative form of residual, especially for actors who aren’t famous. I worked with a theatre professor who made enough playing the mom in a not particularly memorable McDonald’s commercial in the 1980s [it had a jingle about how irresistible their fries were] to pay for her graduate work and have a nest egg- a total well into the high 5 figures, which while not a lot in career earnings (because that was her big-money to date) it’s a helluva lot for a few days work for an unknown. Hell yes - but you have to hit it lucky. Residuals are paid using a complex formula based on the markets they run in, if it is on network, local or cable, and how often the commercial runs. If you get a national commercial that runs forever you strike it rich. If you are doing a local commercial with a short run, not so much. My daughter’s first job was in a Hess Toy Trucks commercial. For those of you not in the New York area, these are trucks, a different one every year, which go on sale at Hess stations at Thanksgiving. The problem is, they sell out by the next Monday, so the commercial doesn’t run that often. She got some small amount of residuals for it, but some years actors got only their day rate. Cartoon seen in an agent’s waiting room: traditional starlet type is snuggled up to a guy in a suit, and says “Tell me again about residuals.” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/35 "2012-03-02T00:21:20Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The problem is, they sell out by the next Monday, so the commercial doesn’t run that often. She got some small amount of residuals for it, but some years actors got only their day rate. Even the day rate for commercials can be better than other work. My son is not an actor,but he’s done a few commercials and worked as an extra on a TV show because of his ability to do crazy tricks on a bike. The initial payment for 1 day filming a commercial was more than he got for 2 days work as an extra on a network show. ---
**Author:** ![coach32217](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@coach32217](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coach32217)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/36 "2013-07-10T13:49:55Z")
I think someone gave you wrong information. In music every time a song is paid there is a residual as well as in television. The television networks locally make money through advertising and pay the network for showing reruns. Each time a person is protrayed on television even if your not an actor gets paid. The standard use to be $20.00 back in the 90’s. Today it is probably close to $80.00. So every time a face is portrayed or a show has be re-ran then the actors must get a residual. Some Families I know get 200-300 hundred dollars for each re-run but those were re-runs that played on many stations at a one time per month. A small price to pay for the money made from advertising. It cost more to make a new show that may not make it. Does anybody remember actors celebrating because their shows went into syndication and re-runs. Well they didn’t get excited because they didn’t get paid. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/37 "2013-07-10T19:46:44Z")
> [@coach32217](#): > > I think someone gave you wrong information. In music every time a song is paid there is a residual as well as in television. The television networks locally make money through advertising and pay the network for showing reruns. Each time a person is protrayed on television even if your not an actor gets paid. The standard use to be $20.00 back in the 90’s. Today it is probably close to $80.00. So every time a face is portrayed or a show has be re-ran then the actors must get a residual. Some Families I know get 200-300 hundred dollars for each re-run but those were re-runs that played on many stations at a one time per month. A small price to pay for the money made from advertising. It cost more to make a new show that may not make it. Does anybody remember actors celebrating because their shows went into syndication and re-runs. Well they didn’t get excited because they didn’t get paid. Sorry, you don’t seem to understand the intricacies of the residual system. [Here is the SAG FAQ](http://www.sagaftra.org/production-center/commercial/faq) for commercials. Face on the screen is not the important item. A principal performer is one with a speaking role or who has a significant part in the production, if just in front of the crowd. A principal performer does get residuals. An extra does not, no matter if his or her face is in the commercial. See what I said above about how residuals are calculated. 20 years ago I read the SAG book on this cover to cover, but I’m not about to do so again, and some things might have changed since. I don’t believe extras have to be SAG members, but IIRC they do better if they are. Principal performers must be if they are on a SAG show (which almost all major commercials and network shows are.) SAG used to only allow you to join once you have credit - by your second gig you had to join. AFTRA let anyone join. Dues are expensive so no one joins until they get that gig. Then you rush down top the SAG office to do it. I don’t know the deal in the sticks, my experience was in New York. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/38 "2013-07-10T22:33:52Z")
**Sampiro** mentioned that Bob Crane could have earned millions from “Hogan’s Heroes” had he not been murdered. What about other actors who manage to negotiate executive producer credits, like Hugh Laurie for “House, M.D.”, for example? Do they profit more from residuals than the other credited actors do? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/39 "2013-07-11T00:46:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > **Sampiro** mentioned that Bob Crane could have earned millions from “Hogan’s Heroes” had he not been murdered. What about other actors who manage to negotiate executive producer credits, like Hugh Laurie for “House, M.D.”, for example? Do they profit more from residuals than the other credited actors do? You can be sure this is in their contract, though I’m not sure it is technically a residual. The rule we learned from our daughter’s manager is that everything is negotiable, and that we should never sign anything without consulting him. He got her all sorts of extra money on one shoot just by asking. The other parents signed when asked to and lost out. So the only answerable question about money is what the union rules say. That is the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712/40 "2013-07-11T22:15:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Gene Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the theme song to the original _Star Trek_ just for the residuals, or so the story goes. The lyrics were never actually performed in any aired episode. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Does Mike Altman get royalties for the MASH television show if only the instrumental version of the theme song plays? (And I wonder the same thing about the the Star Trek theme song, assuming the story about Gene Roddenberry is correct.) As I understand it, Roddenberry wrote lyrics for the song so that buys him a co-writer copyright share. Yes, they do get royalties for the song performance from copyright even if the lyrics aren’t used, because those songs are copyrighted as a unit. That is different than the risiduals actors get as part of their arrangements on aired shows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-do-tv-actors-get-paid-in-royalties/294712.md?page=1)