What is Ted Danson's Net Worth and Salary?
Ted Danson is a California-born actor who has a net worth of $80 million. Ted Danson emerged as one of television's most beloved actors thanks to his iconic role as Sam Malone in "Cheers" (1982-1993). Ted's portrayal of the charming, former baseball player-turned-bartender helped establish "Cheers" as one of the greatest sitcoms in TV history. The role earned him two Emmy Awards, made him a household name, and, in the final seasons of the series, made him the highest-paid actor on television. More info on Ted Danson's "Cheers" salary and other salaries in the next section below.
After "Cheers," Danson successfully avoided typecasting by taking diverse roles. He demonstrated his dramatic abilities in films like "Something About Amelia" and showed his comedy chops in "Three Men and a Baby." He continued his television success with notable roles in "Becker" (1998-2004), where he played a cynical doctor, and "Damages" (2007-2010), which showcased his dramatic range.
Later in his career, Danson experienced a remarkable renaissance with acclaimed performances in "The Good Place" (2016-2020) as the demon-architect Michael, and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2011-2015) as D.B. Russell. He also earned praise for his role as a wealthy businessman in HBO's "Bored to Death" (2009-2011). He has won two Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards and has a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood.
Ted Danson Salary
In the final seasons of "Cheers," Ted Danson was the highest-paid actor on television, earning $450,000 per episode. That worked out to around $12 million per season in seasons 9, 10 and 11. After adjusting for inflation, that's the same as earning $25 million per season in today's money.
From 2011 to 2015, when Danson starred in the CBS drama "CSI," his salary was $250,000 per episode. He appeared in 86 episodes, which was around $21 million in per-season earnings.
Early Life
Edward Bridge Danson III, better known as Ted Danson, was born in San Diego, California, on December 29, 1947. He was raised in Flagstaff, Arizona, along with his older sister Jan, because their father was an archaeologist and the director of the Museum of Northern Arizona from 1959 to 1975. He attended the Kent School, a prep school in Connecticut. There, he was a star basketball player. He continued his education at Stanford University, which is where his interest in acting began. In pursuit of a better acting program, he then transferred to Carnegie Mellon University, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama in 1972.
Career
Danson's first paid acting job in television was as a contract player on the daytime soap opera "Somerset," playing the character Tom Conway from 1975 to 1976. Then, in 1977, he landed the role of Dr. Mitchell Pierson on the show "The Doctors". Additionally, around this time, he appeared in several commercials, most notably as the "Aramis man" for the Estee Lauder fragrance brand Aramis. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he continued to appear as a guest on many television shows, including "Laverne and Shirley," "B.J. and the Bear," "Family," "Benson," "Taxi," "Magnum P.I.," "The Amazing Spider-Man," and "Tucker's Witch".
Then, Danson had his big breakthrough in 1982, when he was cast as the womanizing former baseball player Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom "Cheers." Even though the show had poor ratings in its first season, the numbers slowly improved, and by 1986, it was one of the top shows airing on TV at the time. In total, the show had 11 seasons and aired its last episode on May 30, 1993. Its finale was actually watched by 80 million people, making it the second most-watched finale in history at the time. For his performance on "Cheers," Danson actually received eleven consecutive Emmy nominations and nine Golden Globe nominations, winning two of each award.
Following the end of "Cheers," Danson tried his hand at drama, in a departure from his usual genre of comedy, and starred in "Something About America," for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. He also briefly starred in the short-lived CBS show "Ink," as well as the television miniseries "Gulliver's Travels". Then, Danson starred in the CBS sitcom "Becker," which was produced by the same company that produced "Cheers." The show was very popular and ran for six seasons from 1998 to 2004.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Beginning in 2007, Danson began starring as the corrupt billionaire Arthur Frobisher on the FX Network drama "Damages," which aired for three seasons (although he was reduced to a recurring character in season 2). He has also appeared in shows like the HBO sitcom "Bored to Death"; the police drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"; "CSI: Cyber"; "Fargo"; and the NBC sitcom "The Good Place" with Kirsten Bell. He appeared in three episodes of "The Orville" and has held a regular role in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Danson also played the main role in NBC's "Mr. Mayor" from 2021 to 2022.
In addition to his long and lucrative television career, Danson has also occasionally acted in films. Some of the films he has appeared in include "The Onion Field" (1979), as Officer Ian Campbell; "Body Heat" (1981); "Creepshow" (1982); "Little Treasure" (1985); "Just Between Friends" (1986); "A Fine Mess" (1986); "Cousins" (1989) with Isabella Rossellini; "Three Men and a Baby" (1987) with Tom Selleck and Steven Guttenberg; its sequel "Three Men and a Little Lady" (1990) and "Saving Private Ryan" (1998). More recently, Danson has appeared in "The Open Road" (2009), "Big Miracle" (2012), "Ted" (2012), "The One I Love" (2014) and "Hearts Beat Loud" (2018).
Personal Life
Danson has been married three times. His first marriage was to actress Randall "Randy" Gosch (now known as Randy Danson professionally) from 1970 to 1975. His second wife was producer Cassandra "Casey" Coates, with whom he shares two daughters. His third wife is actress Mary Steenburgen, with whom he has two stepchildren, Lilly and Charlie McDowell.
Danson has been big into environmentalism over his life, and in March 2011, he released his first book, "Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do To Save Them." In October 2019, he and actress Jane Fonda were arrested and charged at a climate-change protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Divorce Settlement
Danson's divorce from his second wife, Casey Coates, is one of the most expensive celebrity divorces of all time. His affair with actress Whoopi Goldberg contributed to the divorce. Per the terms fo their divorce settlement, Ted paid Casey $2 million for every year they were together, a total of $30 million. That's the same as around $50 million today, after adjusting for inflation.
Real Estate
Ted has been married to fellow actor Mary Steenburgen since 1995. Together, they own a number of properties around the country, primarily in the Los Angeles area. In June 2019, they sold a nine-acre property in Ojai, California, for $8.75 million. They bought the house in 2005 through a trust for $4.5 million. They own a different home in Ojai, which they bought in 2017 for $2.4 million. In 2014, they spent $3.5 million on a home in Santa Monica, California, and then in January 2019, they bought the property next door for $5.2 million to create a large private compound. They also own a small cottage in Nashville and a six-acre multi-residence spread on Martha's Vineyard.
