What Is Alexandra Paul's Net Worth and Salary?
Alexandra Paul is an American actress, producer, podcaster, and health coach who has a net worth of $2 million. Alexandra Paul is best known for playing Lt. Stephanie Holden on the television series "Baywatch," which she starred on from 1992 to 1997.
She has more than 100 acting credits to her name, including the films "Christine" (1983), "8 Million Ways to Die" (1986), "Dragnet" (1987), "Kuffs" (1992), "The Paperboy" (1994), "The Frankenstein Brothers" (2012), and "Baby Steps" (2023), the TV movies "Paper Dolls" (1982), "Death Train" (1993), "Piranha" (1995), and "Arthur's Quest" (1999), and the television series "L.A. Firefighters" (1996) and "Melrose Place" (1999). Paul has also produced the documentaries "Jam Packed: The Challenge of Human Overpopulation" (1997) and "The Cost of Cool" (2001) and the films "Tru Loved" (2008)and "Tethered" (2022). Alexandra has worked as a health coach as well, and she hosts the podcast "Switch4Good," which Mercy for Animals named the Best Vegan Podcast in 2024.
Baywatch Salary
In the 2024 docuseries, "After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun," Nicole Eggert revealed that the standard pay for every cast member throughout the series run was $3,500 per episode. There were typically 22 episodes per season. That would mean the cast members were paid around $77,000 per season. And while those numbers are worth roughly twice as much today after adjusting for inflation, it's still a relative pittance compared to how popular and profitable the show was. Ironically, with overtime pay and other benefits actual California lifeguards probably earned more every year in salary. Today some senior California lifeguards actually earn over $500,000 per year ($150,000 in base salary + $250,000 in overtime + $110,000 in other benefits and perks).
Early Life
Alexandra Paul was born Alexandra Elizabeth Paul on July 29, 1963, in New York City. She is the daughter of English social worker Sarah Paul and American investment banker Mark Paul. Alexandra grew up in Cornwall, Connecticut, with her identical twin sister, Caroline, and her younger brother, Jonathan. Paul has described her mother as "a very liberal Democrat" and her father as "a very conservative Republican." Caroline is a best-selling author who has also worked as a firefighter in San Francisco, and Jonathan is an animal rights activist. Alexandra studied at the Cornwall Consolidated School before attending the Groton School in Massachusetts. When she was 17, Paul had the first of two major operations to remove choledochal cysts, which left a scar that runs from her sternum to her navel. Though Alexandra was accepted into California's Stanford University, she decided to forego college to pursue an acting career.
Career
Paul made her television debut in the 1982 TV movie "Paper Dolls," and her first feature film was 1983's "American Nightmare." She appeared in Stephen King's "Christine" in 1983, and she followed it with the films "Just the Way You Are" (1984), "American Flyers" (1985), "8 Million Ways to Die" (1986), "Dragnet" (1987), and "After the Rain" (1988) and the TV movies "Getting Physical" (1984) and "Out of the Shadows" (1988). Alexandra also played Amy Hastings in the 1989 television films "Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lesson," "Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder," and "Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin." From 1992 to 1997, she starred as Lieutenant Stephanie Holden on the popular series "Baywatch" and 1995's "Baywatch the Movie: Forbidden Paradise." Her character was killed during the show's seventh season but appeared as a ghost in a 1997 episode of "Baywatch Nights" and the 2003 TV movie "Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding."
In 1996, Paul played Firefighter T.K. Martin on Fox's "L.A. Firefighters," and in 1999, she had a recurring role as Terry O'Brien on the primetime soap opera "Melrose Place." In the '90s, she also appeared in the films "Millions" (1991), "Kuffs" (1992), "Nothing to Lose" (1994), "The Paperboy" (1994), "Spy Hard" (1996), "Spectre" (1996), and "Kiss & Tell" (1997) and the TV movies "Death Train" (1993), "Piranha" (1995), "Night Watch" (1995), "Echo" (1997), and "Arthur's Quest" (1999).
Alexandra guest-starred on "Chicken Soup for the Soul" (2000), "She Spies" (2003), and Mad Men" (2008) during the first decade of the 2000s. She also appeared in more than 20 films and television movies, including "Revenge" (2000), "Above & Beyond" (2001), "Facing the Enemy " (2001), "Exposure" (2001)," A Woman Hunted" (2003), "Landslide" (2005), "Love Thy Neighbor" (2006), "Trapped!" (2005), "Tru Loved" (2008), and "Murder Dot Com" (2008). During the next decade, Paul brought her deceased "Baywatch" character back to life in the 2016 Syfy movie "Sharknado: The 4th Awakens," and she appeared in the films "My Sleep" (2010), "The Boy She Met Online" (2010), "Javelina" (2011), "16-Love" (2012), "The Frankenstein Brothers" (2012), "Flirting with Madness" (2015), and "Dirty" (2016). In recent years, Paul has starred in the TV movie "Escaping My Stalker" (2020) and the films "Finding Sara" (2020), "The Estate" (2020), "Pink Skies Ahead" (2020), "Tethered" (2022), and "Baby Steps" (2023).
Getty Images
Personal Life
Alexandra began a relationship with triathlon coach Ian Murray in 1995. They married on September 16, 2000.
Paul started following a vegetarian diet when she was 14 years old after reading the Frances Moore Lappé book "Diet for a Small Planet," and she decided to become a vegan in 2010. Alexandra competed in the 1997 Hawaii Ironman and the 2000 Boston Marathon, and she took part in the Fiji Swim (11 miles), Swim Around Key West (12.5 miles), and Reto Acapulco (14 miles) swim. She became certified as a health coach in 2015, and she owned a wellness coaching business for several years. In her early twenties, Paul and 21-year-old manager/producer Daniel Sladek co-founded Young Artists United, a group of young actors, writers, producers, and other creatives who spoke at schools and raised funds for youth organizations. Alexandra is an activist for causes such as gay rights, animal rights, and the environment, and she walked more than five miles on the 1986 Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament.
Between 1987 and 2000, Paul was arrested for civil disobedience at the Nevada Test Site more than a dozen times. In 2003, she was arrested twice for protesting the Iraq War, and in lieu of paying a $50 fine, she chose to spend nearly a week in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center. Alexandra has worked with the nonprofit organizations Operation USA, Population Media Center, Food Not Bombs, and Direct Action Everywhere, and she has been arrested several times for her animal rights activism. In 2014, Last Chance for Animals named her Vegan of the Year.
Awards
"The Cost of Cool," which Paul produced, co-wrote, and hosted, won a CINE Golden Eagle for Non-Broadcast Division: Environment and Natural Science at the 2001 CINE Competition. In 2015, Alexandra was named Best Supporting Actress (Comedy) for "Mentor" at the Indie Series Awards.
