“Unseen and Unheard: The Surprising Story of the Sitcom Star Who Raked in $10,000 Per Episode Without a Single Line!”
Added on February 7, 2025 inCelebrity News Cards
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Have you ever wondered how much a dog or a well-trained cat can rake in just for showing up on set? While we often hear about sky-high salaries for A-list celebrities, the truth is that not all performers get equal pay—especially when it comes to four-legged stars. In the glitzy world of film and television, the more lines you have, the fatter the paycheck… unless you’re an animal, that is. You might think extras are scraping by, but it turns out some furry friends earn a pretty penny without even uttering a bark! From being the beloved pet on a sitcom to appearing in blockbuster movies, animal performers like Moose from Frasier have proven that you don’t need to speak to steal the spotlight—and the cash. So, how do their earnings compare to their human counterparts? Buckle up, because we’re about to dive into the fascinating finances of animal acting! LEARN MORE.
In most cases when you see a performer on the screen in either film or TV, the more they do the more they’ll get paid.
Main cast members are making bank off the most lucrative entertainment properties out there, while those in the background or crowd scenes likely aren’t earning as much.
On the other hand, they might get first dibs on the actor’s buffet while the main stars are busy shooting other scenes or stashing their costumes.
If you’re an extra who can nab a distinct speaking role you might be able to make a bit more money. A bit like that chap in Monty Python’s Life of Brian who, when the crowd chants ‘YES, WE’RE ALL INDIVIDUALS’ he says ‘I’m not’, and apparently did it for a bigger payday.
However, there’s a certain cohort of performers who never say a word but can make a pretty penny from the performing arts, and that’s animals.
The human is probably getting paid more, but the dog doesn’t have to learn any lines. (NBC)
According to the podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, on the sitcom Frasier the characters had a dog called Eddie, which was played by a performing dog called Moose.
For each episode of the sitcom, the dog apparently got paid about $10,000 (£8,000) per episode just for being on the show, which is probably a lot less than the rest of the main cast members but is still impressive.
It turns out that animal performers get paid per episode and Moose the dog likely earned around $3 million (£2.4 million) during his entire run on the show.
That being said, Moose’s owners are unlikely to have been able to claim residuals for reruns of Frasier.
As for the dog’s acting technique, Marina Hyde explained that his job on set was: “Basically, what Eddie had to do was give that unimpressed stare to Kelsey Grammer. He could do that for minutes at a time, so he was trained really, really well.”
$10,000 an episode for being a dog. It’s not ruff work if you can get it. (NBC)
If he needed to nuzzle one of the cast members they put some pate behind his ears to get him to cooperate, while for the last couple of seasons of the show he got replaced by his son Enzo, also a dog.
However, Moose was not the most expensive animal on screen.
The Rest Is Entertainment says that honour goes to Keiko the Killer Whale, who starred in Free Willy, but was kept in captivity for years after the movie with costs of $20 million (£16 million), before being released and dying of pneumonia in the sea off Norway.
Sorry if I just ruined your childhood there.
Sadly, the animal doesn’t get to keep any of these earnings as they all go to the owner or trainer, so some people profited quite a lot off Keiko.
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