The first-ever actor to sign a million-dollar contract
(Credits: Far Out / Sergi Viladesau / Danny Lines)
Thanks to likeness rights, merchandising, profit participation deals, and the other assorted minutiae that come with signing a contract to star in a major movie, a single actor is more than capable of earning tens of millions of dollars for a single film.
Robert Downey Jr cleared $75million three times over during his decade-long stint as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Iron Man, while Tom Cruise’s insistence on taking a percentage of box office earnings on the backend has regularly seen him net a $100million payday for a solitary blockbuster.
Somebody had to get that particular ball rolling in the first place, though, even if it wasn’t until the 1960s that on-camera talents began landing nine-figure deals for their performances. Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando were the first to secure a $1million salary for Cleopatra and Mutiny on the Bounty respectively, but that wouldn’t have happened were it not for a genuine trailblazer.
In terms of impact and influence, it’s not hyperbolic to call Mary Pickford one of the most important names in the history of cinema, and only part of that is down to the game-changing remuneration that transformed her into the highest-paid name in Tinseltown.
While married to second husband and fellow legend Douglas Fairbanks, the couple co-founded both Pickford-Fairbanks Studios and United Artists, the latter of which quickly became a Hollywood powerhouse that still exists to this day as a largely name-only subsidiary of Amazon MGM Studios.
She was also one of the 36 names who founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the most prominent organisation of professionals in the business. Pickford was used to breaking new ground having been the top-paid female actor in the United States since 1914 when she inked a deal worth $1,000 per week, but two years later things were taken to new heights.
A two-year deal placed on the table by Paramount founder Adolph Zukor guaranteed her not only full creative control over the productions in which she starred, but a significant salary upgrade to $10,000 weekly. In addition, she was granted half of the profits from her star vehicles, which ensured she would be paid at least $1.04million over the course of the agreement.
Adjusted for inflation, that equates to roughly $286,000 every seven days, and almost $15million annually. Admittedly, it’s not quite on a par with the current highest-paid female performer in Hollywood after Margot Robbie cleared $59million in 2023 alone, but considering Pickford was raking in big bucks over a century ago, it remains an incredible achievement.
The pay disparity between male and female performers remains a major talking point to this day, but Pickford was out there decades in the past knocking down barriers like it was nobody’s business.
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