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How this actor earns $5 million a year for show she never starred in; won $1 million in poker, now lives a quiet life
An Oscar-nominated actor draws $5 million a year for The Simpsons, even though she never starred in it. Here's the story.
It is not uncommon for actors to earn millions in residual earnings years after the end of their shows. The cast of Friends pocket several million each year, two decades after the iconic show went off air. Jerry Seinfeld is estimated to have earned over $300 million from Seinfeld re-runs and streaming deals over the last three decades. But what does one make of it when an actor makes millions of dollars each year for a show they did not even star in? This is the story of how Jennifer Tilly came to pocket a smooth $5 million a year from The Simpsons. (Also read: World's richest comedian has $1.1 billion net worth and no hit films, yet out-earns Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Shah Rukh)
Jennifer Tilly's earnings from The Simpsons
Jennifer Tilly is an actor and voice artist best known for playing Tiffany Valentine in the Chucky franchise. She is also an Oscar nominee for her act in Bullets Over Broadway (1994). Tilly has also been voicing several major and minor characters in animated shows, notably Family Guy. Her film credits include Liar Liar, Stuart Little, Made In America, and many more. But the production that forms the bulk of her earnings today is The Simpsons. Curiously, Tilly is not one of the stars of the show. In fact, she only ever voiced one character on the show for just one episode, over two decades ago. But her earnings come from a different source.
Jennifer Tilly was married to Sam Simon, one of the co-creators of the show, from 1984-91. Their divorce was finalised in 1993 and Jennifer Tilly was awarded 25% of Sam’s income from The Simpsons, including each episode, any films, syndication profits and various other income. Sam Simon died in 2015, but before his death, he ensured that Jennifer Tilly continue to get income from his show. InTouch Weekly reported that Sam and Jennifer entered an agreement that entitles her to 30% of all The Simpsons income going to Sam's estate. As per reports, this comes out to as much as $5 million in some years.
In a recent episode of Andy Cohen’s show, Tilly thanked Sam for setting this up for her. "My ex-husband was Sam Simon, who created The Simpsons. I was married to him for seven years and we were together for about 10 years," explained Jennifer. "And then when we got divorced I got a piece of The Simpsons in the divorce settlement, and nobody knew that The Simpsons was going to go on for trillions of years."
"So every day, honestly, every day I'm like, 'Thank you, Sam,'" she concluded.
Jennifer Tilly's poker career
Jennifer Tilly has said that The Simpsons income allows her to be choosy with her film roles and she only does a few projects at a time now, choosing instead to build a career as a poker player. She has been living with pro poker player Phil Laak since 2004 now, and has developed her game. In 2005, she won a World Series of Poker bracelet, beating 600 players. The same year, she won the third World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational Tournament. She paused her poker career and resumed it in 2010. In 2019, her live tournament winnings exceeded $1 million.
