We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
Character actor Harry Bellaver, for example, worked a dozen programs this year, ranging from Crime Syndi¬ cated. and Inner Sanctum (for which he was paid $300 each) to the Paul Winchell Show (for which he earned a minimum $140.50). During 42 weeks spent in New York his total earn¬ ings from television were $3051—an average of $254 for each job. Last year, 1952, he garnered $8100 from TV. Called to Hollywood this sum¬ mer, Harry did much better. In ten weeks in the Glamor City he earned $10,000 from three movies. Big names like John Baragrey, Maria Riva or Jackie Cooper fare much better. Their famous pans com¬ mand around $1000 for an hour show, $750 for a half hour stanza. Estab¬ lished supporting stars like Mildred Natwick pick up $750 for an hour drama, $500 for a 30-minute stint. Most regular commercial announcers such as Dick Stark, Kathi Norris, Betty Furness and Vinton Hayworth make healthy sums that frequently approach six figures, but generally rest somewhere near the $40,000-a- year mark. Top man in this category is Dennis James, whose spiels gross for him close to $250,000 a year. Mary Ellen Terry: in her first year on television, she received $500 a show. The unknown girl with the pretty smile who recommends a certain de¬ odorant and then tells you why, is at the other extreme. She probably gets a minimum fee: $84.50 on a half hour show and $101 for a full hour. Chorus Girl At $140.50 A chorus girl on a show such as Toast of the Town is paid $140.50 if she is part of a group of eight hoofers and slightly more if there are fewer. Twenty-year-old Mary Ellen Terry is a good example of a solo dancer who is finding TV lucrative. A tal¬ ented redhead who was a member of the Ballet de Paris, Mary Ellen last year worked 13 weeks on the Patti Page Show at $500 a show, then landed a couple of guest performances on the old Circus Hour, followed up by a regular featured spot on the Paul Winchell Show, each at some¬ thing more than $500 a show. Mary Ellen in her first full year in TV earned over $18,000 during 1953. The air becomes a little rarified around Martin and Lewis, Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason, Arthur God¬ frey, Perry Como, et al. These boys are all worth over half-a-million a year each—not solely from TV, of course. For one telecast, though, Dean and Jerry are paid $40,000. Ethel Mer¬ man is reaping $25,000 for a one shot. Como sings effortlessly for $750,000. every year. Godfrey is worth $17 million to CBS and keeps about 10 percent of that figure for himself. Sonja Did The Best Other non-regulars pull down fat one-shot chunks. Tallulah gets $8000 for a guest stint; Sinatra, $7500. At the height of his popularity Johnnie Ray received a check for $10,000 for a single appearance on Toast of the Town and Sonja Henie bargained Ed Sullivan out of his shoes for her skating chore on Toast. Sonja got $11,000—the largest sum Ed has ever paid a guest on his show.