Betty Jean Travers? How much did guest stars earn per episode? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

SitcomsHeydayfan · 04-11-2019, 07:51 PM

This is an example of how I thought the episodes got better after Chrissy left. The scene where Betty Jean Travers hits on Jack after class in "Teacher's Pet" is hilarious!

The actress' name is Dorian Lopinto. She did a good enough job in this episode but she never got any permanent roles & was a perennial guest star in the 19 acting credits in her career. Her profile is at the end.

You think she just wasn't good enough or it was too hard to find more permanent roles in Hollywood back then? With John making $50K an episode and the female roomies making $30K per episode how much you think guest stars like her made per episode? $5K to $10K?

Dorian Lopinto
http://imdb.com/rg/an_share/name/name/nm0520251/

P.S. So she did have one permanent role on a kids show on a kids' network in the 90s but no one's heard of that show..LOL. Plus I doubt kids shows pay as well as regular adult shows do.

JackJanetChrissy · 04-12-2019, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

With John making $50K an episode and the female roomies making $30K per episode how much you think guest stars like her made per episode? $5K to $10K?

No way. In 2011 sitcom guest stars were paid $5k for 5 days worth of work (the typical shooting schedule for one episode). I can't imagine what peanuts they made in 1970s-early 80s, especially the lesser-known actors. https://www.sapling.com/8605816/aver...t-star-tv-show

SitcomsHeydayfan · 04-12-2019, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackJanetChrissy

No way. In 2011 sitcom guest stars were paid $5k for 5 days worth of work (the typical shooting schedule for one episode). I can't imagine what peanuts they made in 1970s-early 80s, especially the lesser-known actors. https://www.sapling.com/8605816/aver...t-star-tv-show

Interesting link.

I only said that because why would they keep acting if it wasn't financially viable? Some actors do nothing but guest roles because they can't get a permanent role.

I also thought $5K was a small enough percentage of the main stars' $30K to $50K salaries per episode/week. Since the guest stars were there for the entire week with the read in, rehersals, etc. you think they made about $2K a week back then?

JackJanetChrissy · 04-13-2019, 09:45 AM

Yeah, acting is a notoriously low-paying job until you hit it big, which is why most actors either go hard and get endless small parts or have a side job like waitressing or temping. According to the inflation calculator 5k in 2011 would be $1800 in 1980. So unknown guest actors probably got paid even less than that back then.

04-11-2019, 07:51 PM	#1
SitcomsHeydayfan Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 19, 2018 Location: The Show Me state Posts: 2,966	Betty Jean Travers? How much did guest stars earn per episode? This is an example of how I thought the episodes got better after Chrissy left. The scene where Betty Jean Travers hits on Jack after class in "Teacher's Pet" is hilarious! The actress' name is Dorian Lopinto. She did a good enough job in this episode but she never got any permanent roles & was a perennial guest star in the 19 acting credits in her career. Her profile is at the end. You think she just wasn't good enough or it was too hard to find more permanent roles in Hollywood back then? With John making $50K an episode and the female roomies making $30K per episode how much you think guest stars like her made per episode? $5K to $10K? Dorian Lopinto http://imdb.com/rg/an_share/name/name/nm0520251/ P.S. So she did have one permanent role on a kids show on a kids' network in the 90s but no one's heard of that show..LOL. Plus I doubt kids shows pay as well as regular adult shows do.

04-13-2019, 09:45 AM	#4
JackJanetChrissy Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 18, 2014 Posts: 1,005	Yeah, acting is a notoriously low-paying job until you hit it big, which is why most actors either go hard and get endless small parts or have a side job like waitressing or temping. According to the inflation calculator 5k in 2011 would be $1800 in 1980. So unknown guest actors probably got paid even less than that back then.