Real Name: Alyssa Milano
Salary Deal: $1 million
Actress, singer, producer, and director Alyssa Milano has made more than her mark on Hollywood, and has a net worth of more than $10 million. A good portion of that comes from her short “Sandra Savealot” role, which got her a million dollars. It was part of MCI’s commercials advertising their 1-800-COLLECT service, a collect call business.
In the commercials, a hapless caller might not have the right change for a payphone, but when Sandra Savealot appears, his worries are gone. Milano got the service a lot of press since she starred in the popular sitcom Who’s the Boss in the late 80s and early 90s.
The Snapple Lady
Real Name: Wendy Kaufman
Salary Deal : $100,000
Kaufman wasn't picked out of a hat to foist flavored tea and juices at us – she got the part because she was the only one at Snapple who would answer fan mail. This caught the eye of the ad agency, who also thought her energetic, bubbly personality would work well on TV.
Snapple sales jumped from $23 million to $750 million in the nineties, and some hold Kaufman accountable. While she was removed for two years after Snapple was sold to Quaker Oats, the company quickly realized what they had lost, and brought her back in. She currently brings in $100,000 a year.
The Human PC Guy in Apple Commercials
Real Name: John Hodgman
Salary Deal: $3 million
Appearing in the famously-derided Mac commercials alongside the “Mac” Justin Long, Hodgman is supposed to be seen as the stodgy and outdated Windows PC, yet he is so well-known – and Long's character so annoying – a lot of people ended up siding with Hodgman.
Hodgman is also a humorist and writer, working with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. His writing has appeared in physical form and online. Apple paid a salary of $3 million. His most recent book, 'Medallion Status', came out in October of 2019. He has a degree from Yale in literary criticism and was an agent before becoming a writer.
Kevin Butler, the PS3 Exec
Real Name: Jerry Lambert
Salary Deal : $10,000
As a way to tout the many features of their new gaming console, Sony created the character of Kevin Butler, played by Jerry Lambert. In the humorous commercials, Kevin Butler was the VP of various, varying departments within Sony, but was mainly in charge of answering fan mail.
The character came from the minds of ad agency Deutsch/LA, which not only ran Jerry Lambert's social media but also wrote the speech he gave at E3 2010. Lambert had a salary deal of $10,000, while the only thing Butler had was an MBA: Master of Being Awesome.
Colonel Sanders
Real Name: Harlan Sanders
Salary Deal : $40,000
White-clad southern businessman Harlan Sanders had a dream about chicken, blazing from on high, and while he began with a small stand, the company is now worth more than $15 billion. His famous image – suit, mustache, goatee, and black bow tie – is immortal as the company's logo. He sold his stake in the company for only $2 million, but appeared in commercials for the company until his death, earning a yearly take of $40,000.
Actor fact: While Sanders wasn't part of the army, he was made an honorary colonel because he, yes, made the best chicken: “In recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine.”