BY THE NUMBERS
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Highest estimated salaries for film actors, by decade: 1910s: Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle $1 million/year
1920s: Al Jolson $500,000/film
1930s: Mae West $480,833/year
1940s: Betty Grable $800,000/year
1950s: James Stewart $1 million +/film
1960s: Cary Grant $3 million/film
1970s: Marlon Brando $3.5 million/film
1980s: Sylvester Stallone $16 million/film
Source: Guinness Book of the Movies
Per capita annual income in the U.S., by decade (1958 dollars): 1910s: n/a
1920s: $1,671
1930S: 1,598
1940s: $2,611
1950s: $2,688
1960s: $4,951 1970s: $11,142 1980s: $16,706 (for 1985)
Source: A.C. Nielsen Media Research
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