Kutcher Tops List Of Highest Paid TV Actors
Ashton Kutcher’s done it again.
Forbes’ Magazine printed its list of the highest paid television actors of 2014, and for the third year in a row, Kutcher is the top paid actor. From June 2013 to 2014, the 36-year-old Two and a Half Men actor earned an estimated $26 million. The show has taken a bit of a slide since Charlie Sheen’s departure, but still pulled respectable numbers going into their eleventh season, pulling in almost 11 million.
Two and a Half Men will conclude its run after season 12. Kutcher has some outside projects to keep him busy. He has become quite the tech stock guru, having partnered up with Lenovo as a project engineer. He is also having a baby with actress Mila Kunis,with a wedding planed for next summer.
Of late, the names on the list haven’t changed much from year to year — until now. The industry is evolving due to the rise of online streaming, DVR playback, VOD and changes in the way viewers consume shows. All of this has brought newcomers, surprising comebacks and sudden drop-offs to our list, which consists solely of male actors.
Number 2 is Kutcher’s counterpart from Two and a Half Men, Jon Cryer. The 49-year old has also made plans for after the show, including a memoir to be published in 2015. With the hefty advance from the book and his salary from the show, his $19 million is good to share second position with fellow CBS talent, NCIS star Mark Harmon.
The Daily News also reports that in third place on this year’s list is Neil Patrick Harris, with $18 million for his successful run in Broadway’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and on How I Met Your Mother, represents another CBS long-running sitcom that ended earlier this year.
Kevin Spacey makes a notable debut on this year’s list, coming in at Number 4. The House of Cards star was crowned as the first Internet star on our Celebrity 100 list earlier this year, pulling in $16 million thanks to a lucrative contract with Netflix, an endorsement deal with E-Trade, and a role in Horrible Bosses 2. Grey’s Anatomy favorite Patrick Dempsey ties for fourth place, both earning $16 million in the past year.
Number 7 brings in Tim Allen and his sitcom, Last Man Standing. Add his deal as a stand-up comedian in Las Vegas, the actor, 61, brings in a hefty $15 million this past year.
The Mentalist star Simon Baker takes eighth place in the Forbes list earning $13 million last year
At Number 9 with $12 million in earnings, Jim Parsons comes in slightly ahead of his Big Bang Theory cast mates in annual earnings due to his voice work for the DreamWorks movie Home and other small roles. Now that he’s sealed a renegotiated three-year contract (reportedly worth $1 million per episode) you can expect to see Parsons back on the list next year with a fat increase in earnings.
Rounding out the top 10 are a pair of actors who earned over $11 million, How I Met Your Mother’s Jason Segel and The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki.
