The Million-Dollar Star · 1960s
Top-earning actor
≈ $1,430,000
$10M over seven years + 60% of profitsEstimate
About $15.6 million in 2025 dollars
His 1959 Paramount contract promised $10 million plus 60% of the profits for 14 films over seven years, making him the highest-paid individual talent in Hollywood.
Top-earning actress
$1,000,000
Record fee for CleopatraDeal
About $10.9 million in 2025 dollars
She asked for $1 million half as a joke, and 20th Century Fox said yes. She also got 10% of the gross.
By U.S. theatrical rentals, the studios' share of ticket sales
$14 million
$9.1 million
$8.5 million
Neither top earner was in one of the year's three biggest films.
