Fortunes Made by Cinema Stars.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 90, 1 October 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

Fortunes Made by Cinema Stars.

John Bunny, the famous cinema actor, whose face was indeed his fortune, for lie was earning between £2OO and £3OO a week at the time of his death, is not the only "movie" star who has been able to command a threefigure salary. Charlie Chaplin, the funniest film man in the world, who is recognized as even a bigger attraction than Bunny, is paid £3OO a week and a percentage' of royalties, which brings his income up to not less than £-500 a week. Mary Pickford, "Queen of the Movies," earns £4OO a week, while Anita Stewart is another cinema actress who commands a three-figure salary. Two of the most successful cinema actors and film producers in America are Jack Warren Kerrigan and Carlyle Blackwell, both of whom earn the salary of a Prime Minister. Another threefigure cinema actress is Miss Alice Joyce, whose picture in various photoplays is to be seen all over the world. That there are still fortunes in films is emphasized by the success of Thomas H. Ince, the American cinema prince, whose income has been placed at £15,000 a year, and it may be some encouragement to aspiring photo-play writers to learn that 90 per cent, of the scenarios, save those; adapted from stage plays, are the work of men and women who never wrote a spoken play in their lives. One of the most remarkable cases was that of Ida Damon, who won a £2,000 prize in a contest by providing the last situation in a serial thriller called "The Mjllion Dollar Mystery." Miss Damon never wrote a line for publication in her life, and at the time she received the cheque for £2,000 was stenographer for a piano house.