Top-earning actor
Tyrone Power
≈ $1,000,000
Percentage of The Mississippi GamblerEstimate
About $12 million in 2025 dollars
Power took a share of the film instead of a salary; it eventually earned him about $1 million.
Points, Not Paychecks · 1950s
1953
Top-earning actress
Jane Russell
$200,000
Fee for Gentlemen Prefer BlondesDeal
About $2.4 million in 2025 dollars
Russell got $200,000. Her co-star Marilyn Monroe stayed on her $500-a-week contract: $18,000 in total.
The pictures that paid
Box office champions of 1953
By U.S. theatrical rentals, the studios' share of ticket sales
- 1
The Robe
$17.5 million
- 2
From Here to Eternity
$12.2 million
- 3
Shane
$8 million
Neither top earner was in one of the year's three biggest films.