In 1963 (TAGS started in 1960), how much did Andy Griffith make a year?

My guess is he made about $1,000,000 a year.

Does Griffith have part ownership or profit from TAGS?

Knotts probably made about $800,000 a year.

Who was the highest paid player in primetime in the early 1960's?

Discuss.

He actually owned more than 50 percent of the show and made lots of money from it. If you watch the closing credits closely, you can see that the production company is named "Mayberry Enterprises."

Working with Knotts was payment enough.

I believe that top TV Stars were earning about $10k per episode then. I could be wrong.

He actually owned more than 50 percent of the show and made lots of money from it. If you watch the closing credits closely, you can see that the production company is named "Mayberry Enterprises."


If he owned 50% of the show, he should have been immensely wealthy by the end of the 1970's. I was born in '67, too young for TAGS to be on in first run, but the show has been in syndication my entire life. Griffith should have been extremely wealthy and not have to worry about being in another show like Seinfeld.

I think lead actors on TV series made during that era made about five thousand an episode, tops. Maybe seventy-five hundred. But he probably made enough over the years from owning a large chunk of the show to live well the rest of his life.

My guess is that Don made about twenty-five hundred an episode, or less. A book had that one of the few things Don was bitter about was how little he made from the show over the years.

I'd say Ronny probably made about twelve to fifteen hundred an episode by the last year.

I saw an interview where Jack Klugman said that when The Odd Couple started in 1970, he made five thousand an episode and Tony made seven. Salaries and prices didn't seem to change that much from the '60s through the very early '70s.

Andy was also doing commercials for Ritz crackers (and I think some other products) which I assume he was being nicely compensated for.

He was one of the owners, his salary was probably pretty standard for series stars of that era. The big payoff for him was all in front of him once the show went into syndication. Don't forget he was also one of the owners of Gomer Pyle.