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Actor's salaries

Swellin

Telly Talk Active Member
Does anyone know what the actors on Dallas were paid per episode?

I'm guessing Larry and Patrick were paid the most and there would be a significant decrease in what Linda and Victoria would have been paid.
 

Jock-O-Lantern

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Does anyone know what the actors on Dallas were paid per episode?

I'm guessing Larry and Patrick were paid the most and there would be a significant decrease in what Linda and Victoria would have been paid.

I have no idea, but I wouldn't think there would be a significant difference between Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal's salaries.
 

Miss Texas 1967

Telly Talk Addict
This is a nice article, a write up of an interview with Larry himself. (You can read the entire article in Firefox without paying for a subscription https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/larry-hagmans-curtain-call/)
$11,000 per episode at the beginning. Then in the fall of 1980, Lorimar agreed to pay Larry Hagman $100,000 per episode, one of the highest salaries for a TV actor at the time, and also allowed him to direct up to four episodes per year and earn a share of the official JR merchandise profits. I assume these are numbers of the day, not adjusted inflation numbers to 2012 levels.
From things said over the years I got the sense that while it wasn’t exactly collective bargaining, there was a shared purpose among the actors. Linda has mentioned that Larry had stepped in and supported her when her contract negotiations weren’t going well.
 
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Spooky Owl!

Telly Talk Supreme
In the last three years, Larry was making $350,000 an episode!
 

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
In the last three years, Larry was making $350,000 an episode!
Which contributed to the downfall of Dallas. Good on Larry for negotiating such an amount but he failed to realise this was an ensemble series and without the likes of Barbara Bel, Linda, Steve, Susan and to a lesser extent Victoria, Dallas was a shell of itself.
 

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
"The producers feel Dallas can go on for a few more years and Larry's the only indispensable person in the cast," said another Dallas Executive. Wow did that producer incorrectly read the room. You'd think the dwindling ratings would be a clear message to the producers the behind-the-scenes bickering was killing the brand.
 

Spooky Owl!

Telly Talk Supreme
"The producers feel Dallas can go on for a few more years and Larry's the only indispensable person in the cast," said another Dallas Executive. Wow did that producer incorrectly read the room. You'd think the dwindling ratings would be a clear message to the producers the behind-the-scenes bickering was killing the brand.

Businessmen do that all the time. They don't even seem to mind.
 

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
Larry got really greedy since he made literally nothing from I Dream of Genie. when JR was shot he took advantage of that and got his first raise. that one i don't blame him for doing the rest of them? that's just utter greed he failed to see that when a a show is forced to cut back on it's cost to pay the lead actor it hurts the show. take Friends that's a different way they all were paid the same they stuck together and made a lot of money i don't think the show suffered for it because they as a unit got paid the same. even if they were overpaid, i've liked Larry Hagman since i was a kid watching I Dream of Genie i'm 46 so it wasn't Original Run either. that's what i knew him from mainly until i started watching the show in (2005) about a week or so before i joined this site in fact and my 20 years on this site is coming up!

when a cast member wants a pay raise on a hit show i can't say that i blame them but Hagman i think forgot that i think they gave him like JR way to much damn power. and the show suffered because of it. like JR himself he got greedy and had he not gotten greedy, i think the later years may be a little better at least but when you can't afford good writers or you have writers that burn out. Dark Shadows Ended really because they ran out of ideas i wouldn't be surprised if that happened to Dallas as well by the end. by than it was just fumes anyways
 

Matthew Blaisdel

Telly Talk Star

Lockardian

Telly Talk Member
Here’s an article (from an Aussie newspaper) dating from about 1984-85. It mentions Larry’s then salary and those of some other actors from the prime-time shows.
 

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GillesDenver

Telly Talk Dream Maker
Here’s an article (from an Aussie newspaper) dating from about 1984-85. It mentions Larry’s then salary and those of some other actors from the prime-time shows.
The figures for "Dynasty" are wrong.
Joan Collins was paid 43.000 dollars an episode in 1984-1985, Linda Evans was paid 50.000 dollars and John Forsythe 60.000

I'm quite sure the figures for the other shows are wrong too.
 

Lockardian

Telly Talk Member
I did wonder if they were quoting the sum in Australian dollars rather than US dollars, hence the discrepancy. However it appears to be USD, hence the A$ prefix. An Aussie publication would just write $ if it were Australian dollars.
 

Rove

Telly Talk Warrior
An Aussie publication would just write $ if it were Australian dollars.
Not so. If an Australian published story is referencing overseas news and money is mentioned then the story is prefixed to $A. You'll note this prefix is mentioned only to Larry Hagman. As we (Aussies) continue to read the story we understand currency has been converted from American dollars to Australian dollars. This format is still followed today.

But I could be wrong.
 

Lockardian

Telly Talk Member
I’m sure you’re correct, Rove. Thought what I was saying was if they were referencing Australian Dollars throughout the article, then there would be no need for any prefix other than. $.
 
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