Charlie Sheen is the highest-paid TV actor in the United States, earning $825 000 for each episode of Two and a Half Men, in which he plays a wealthy flirt, according to a survey by TV Guide.
But he looks like a positive pauper when compared with the highest earners of unscripted TV. Oprah Winfrey earned about $385-million from her daytime talk show, while Simon Cowell earned $50-million from his role in American Idol, and talk-show host David Letterman earned $32-million.
Also outshining the actors on the pay scale was Family Guy and American Dad creator Seth MacFarlane. His new five-year deal with TV network Fox will net him more than $100-million and make him the highest-paid writer-producer on television.
Sheen makes about $20-million a year from the show, which runs 23 episodes annually. He is followed by fellow CBS star William Petersen, who earns $600 000 an episode for portraying investigator Gil Grissom on the hit police drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Mariska Hargitay is the best-paid actress on TV, earning $400 000 for her role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Coming in second among the women is Kyra Sedgwick who earns $275 000 for each episode of the police drama The Closer. — Sapa-dpa