Rin Tin Tin, one of the biggest earners in early Hollywood, was paid more than a co-star
Rin Tin Tin has to be one of the most legendary actors in Hollywood history. After all, how many other animals could open a film on name recognition alone? How many others got paid on their own salary, in addition to what their handler was paid? How many can claim that they took home a bigger paycheck than actual movie stars?
Journalist Susan Orlean (yes, the same one from “Adaptation”) has done more research on Rin Tin Tin than almost anyone, writing the dogs biography, “Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend.” She also wrote an article about Rinty for the The New Yorker, where she stated that Warner Bros. paid Rinty — known as “the mortgage lifter” for his ability to make any movie he was in bankable — $2,000 per week. She also told the New York Post that the studio paid the dog eight times as much as they paid human actors.
The biography (via The Guardian) confirms at least one instance in which Rinty was paid more than his co-star. Rinty starred alongside William Collier Jr. in the 1924 Warner Bros. flick “The Lighthouse by the Sea.” Rin Tin Tin was paid $1,000 a week for the role, while Collier only got $150 per week. Collier was an important enough actor to get a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and he still pulled in less of a paycheck than a dog. Though its near impossible to locate contract information for most of Rin Tin Tins movies, all of this info implies that Rinty getting a bigger paycheck than his co-stars was a frequent occurrence.
10 Rin Tin Tin: Earned $6,000 Per Week
Rin Tin Tin held the starring role in 26 movies for the Warner Brothers Studios and received a total of $6,000 per week. If you compared that to a salary today, it would equate to over $78,000 each and every week. With an income that big, there would be no doubt that he would be able to feed himself and a few thousand of his closest friends. The fact is that Rin Tin Tin had earned such a large amount of money for Warner Brothers that he became one of the key players in keeping the studio from filing bankruptcy back in the 1930s.
Rin Tin Tin was a dog, a German shepherd to be exact, that was actually rescued by Lee Duncan an American solider during WWI. He was brought from the battlefield and trained by the solider, who named him Rinty. Rin Tin Tin quickly became a much loved movie icon that has been rumored to have actually received the most votes ever for a best actor award from the Academy Awards in 1929, however the Academy was not willing to give their award to any animal. The original playing Rin Tin Tin died in the year of 1932.
Crystal the Monkey makes more than the average actor
Crystal the Monkey is one of the most prominent animal actors in modern Hollywood. The capuchins filmography is enough to make many human actors ask if shed share the contact information for her agent. Crystal got her start in 1997, playing — what else — a baby monkey in “George of the Jungle.” She has since gone on to have many prominent, recognizable roles: the drunk money in “Dr. Dolittle 2”, the drug dealing monkey in “The Hangover Part II,” Dexter in the “Night at the Museum” series, and a recurring role as Annies Boobs on “Community.”
Being such a prominent actor commands a big salary, even for an animal. On at least one occasion, Crystal got paid more than her human co-stars.
In 2012, Crystal co-starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom “Animal Practice.” Crystal was a big part of the shows marketing and ad push, far from just some no-name animal. Just before the show debuted, TV Guide released their annual list of the highest-paid TV stars. The fifth highest paid actor for a comedy series was Crystal, pulling in $12,000 per episode. The only performers paid more than here were Hollywood elite, stars of hit shows like “Two and a Half Men” and “Modern Family” — meaning that Crystals veteran co-stars like Justin Kirk, Bobby Lee, and Joanna García Swisher were paid less than a capuchin monkey.
In 2014, The Hollywood Reporter said that Crystal got $108,000 for her nine episodes of “Animal Practice,” more than double the $52,000 SAG-AFTRA cites as the industry average a human would receive. As such, theres a decent chance that Crystal has gotten paid more than at least a few co-stars on several occasions.
Comparison: Highest Paid Canine Movie Roles | How Much Do Dog Actors Get Paid?
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