War and the Big Lists · 1940s
Top-earning actor
$300,000
Fee for UnconqueredDeal
About $4.3 million in 2025 dollars
Film actors were missing from the top of the 1947 list. Cooper's $300,000 for DeMille's Unconquered, including a share of the profits, was twice his usual fee.
Top-earning actress
$208,000
U.S. Treasury salary listReported
About $3 million in 2025 dollars
Well down the list, but still the best-paid woman in America for the second year running.
By U.S. theatrical rentals, the studios' share of ticket sales
$6.1 million
$5.5 million
$5.1 million
Neither top earner was in one of the year's three biggest films.
