The Familiar Faces of TV Commercials and Their Salaries

Real Name: Isaiah Mustafa

Salary Deal: Five Million Dollars

Isaiah Mustafa, better known as “The Man You Could Smell Like, “is an American actor, and former football player. He starred as the main actor for a series of television commercials for Old Spice.

Real Name: Charles Stone

Salary Deal: Eight Million Dollars

Charles Stone is an American film director best known for creating the “Whassup?” Budweiser campaign back in 1999. He directed Drumline, a movie that features Nick Cannon, Mr. 3000 that features Bernie Mac and Paid in Full that features Wood Harris. He’s also produced numerous tv shows, including Black-ish, Greenleaf, and Bigger.

Real Name: Jesse Heiman

Salary Deal: $900,000

Jesse Heiman is an American comedian and actor best known for kissing Bar Refaeli on the Super Bowl XLVII commercial for GoDaddy. Jesse went on to star in movies including American Pie 2, The Social Network, and multiple TV series including Heroes, Criminal Minds, and The Big Bang Theory.

Real Name: Jonathon Goldsmith

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

With over three hundred television appearances, Jonathon Goldsmith is an accomplished American actor. He has appeared in multiple western films, including The Shootist alongside John Wayne. He appeared in various TV series, including Dallas and Knight Rider.

Real Name: Terry Crews

Salary Deal: Six Million Dollars

Terry Crews is an American actor, artist, tv host, comedian, and bodybuilder. He played pro football for a while before venturing into acting. Terry is best known for his role as Julius Rock on the sitcom; Everybody Hates Chris. He’s acted in numerous tv shows and movies, including White Chicks, The Expendables Series, Idiocracy, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Real Name: Carly Foulkes

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

Carly Foulkes is a Canadian model and actress who rose to prominence after appearing in T-Mobile’s TV advertisements.

Real Name: Reid Maclean

Salary Deal: Ten Thousand Dollars

Reid Maclean played the bad dad in one of the anti-drug commercials in the nineties. His other notable accolades include playing Private Jim Merrill in Gettysburg and The Winter of The Beard.

Real Name: Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

When arguably the best basketball player in the world, Michael Jordan, released his Nike Air Jordan 7s sneakers back in 1992, he needed a little help from bugs bunny. This collaboration happened way before Space Jam became a cult classic.

Real Name: Melanie Paxson

Salary Deal: $50,250

Melanie Paxson is an American actress best known for playing Jaclyn in Cupid. In the early 2000s, she appeared in TV Commercials for Gladware before landing the tv commercial spokeswoman Job at Red Robin. She has also starred in films including Ready to Rumble, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Outfield.

Real Name: John Vanous

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

John Vanous became famous after appearing shirtless in a diet coke commercial. He is an actor and model with roles in tv series including Pacific Palisades and 18 Wheels of Justice.

Real Name: Maria Bamford

Salary Deal: $300,000

Maria Bamford is an American standup comedian and actress. She rose to prominence by doing voice-over work for various cartoons and advertisements.

Real Name: Farrah Fawcett

Salary Deal: Ten Thousand Dollars

Farrah Fawcett was an award-winning American artist, actress, and fashion model. She worked on numerous award-winning shows in her lifetime including, Charlies Angels, Harry O, and the Six Million Dollar Man. She also did multiple films, including Cannonball Run, Burning Bed, and Small Sacrifices.

Real Name: John Moschitta

Salary Deal: Three Million Dollars

John Moschitta is a fast talker, literally. John was the Guinness world record  holder for the world’s fastest talker in the 1980s, but that record has been broken twice. John is an actor, director, singer, and spokesperson and is sometimes referred to as Motormouth because of his fast-talking.

Real Name: Morgan Smith-Goodwin

Salary Deal: Three Million Dollars

From 2012 to 2016, Morgan Smith-Goodwin played Red, Wendy’s Girl on their Now that’s better campaigns. She gained national attention for playing Red, and for the role, she dyed her hair orange-red as she is a natural dark blonde.

Real Name: Milana Vayntrub

Salary Deal: Five Hundred Thousand Dollars

Milana Vayntrub is an American actress and activist known for portraying Lily Adams, the AT&T Saleslady. Milana has had minor roles in TV and film including, Life Happens and Silicon Valley.

Real Name: Beck Bennett

Salary Deal: $250,000

Beck Benner is a regular cast member at Saturday Night Live. He rose to prominence by his commercials for AT&T with the tagline. It’s not complicated. In the advertisements, he interviewed children who gave hilarious responses to his questions.

Real Name: Ben Curtis

Salary Deal: Fifty Thousand Dollars

Ben Curtis became famous because of his portrayal of the Dell Dude in a series of successful commercial campaigns for Dell Computers made in the late nineties. Before this, he was doing magic and had won magic competitions on the national stage.

Real Name: Adam Devine

Salary Deal: Three Million Dollars

Adam Devine took on the role of chief party officer, a play on the Chief Petty Officer’s naval rank. In the Captain Morgan commercials, he surprises party goers by showing up to their parties, bringing years of (responsible) party experience.

Real Name: Cindy Crawford

Salary Deal: Five Million Dollars

Cindy Crawford is arguably the world’s most recognizable supermodel. From this Pepsi campaign alone, she made an equivalent of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars every second of the advertisement. She has dabbled in acting and has a few films to her credit including, Awwal Number, Unzipped, and Fair Game.

Real Name: Pete Gardner

Salary Deal: Ten Thousand Dollars

Pete Gardner is an American actor famous for playing Whitefeather in the comedy series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. He also has a few film credits including, Good Advice, Son of Zorn, and Labor Pains.

Real Name: Tobey Maguire

Salary Deal: Five Thousand Dollars

Before becoming the Friendly Neighborhood masked superhero, we call spiderman, Tobey Maguire was famous for asking people, “who’s Bob?” Tobey has numerous films to his credit, including the Spiderman-Trilogy, The Great Gatsby, and Brothers.

Real Name: Diane Amos

Salary Deal: $250,000

Diane Amos is an Indianapolis-born actress best known for her roles in films including Sweet November and Copycat. she starred in many TV shows and TV films. Her first role Aside from TV and movies, Diane does standup comedy.

Real Name: Paul Marcelli

Salary Deal: Nine Million Dollars

From 2001 to 2011, Paul Marcelli played the Verizon Guy with the famous phrase “Can You Hear Me Now”? For the role, He made a total of nine million dollars. Verizon was able to capitalize on the tagline and turn it into a vast industry.

Real Name: Vince Offer

Salary Deal: Two Million Dollars

Vince offer is an Israeli-American infomercial pitchman and director. He writes and stars in infomercials for his products, including ShamWow! SlapChop and InVinceable. Vince starred in the 1999 film The Underground Comedy Movie.

Real Name: Wendy Kaufman

Salary Deal: One Hundred Thousand Dollars

Wendy Kaufman was the only employee at Snapple that answered fan mail. The ad agency was impressed by this and created a role-based around her bubbly personality for the Snapple lady. Sales of Snapple soared in part due to Wendy’s efforts.

Real Name: Alyssa Milano

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

Alyssa Milano is an American actress famous for playing Phoebe Halliwell in Charmed. She aside from acting, Alyssa also dabbles in production, singing, writing, and activism. She is known for her Charmed, Melrose Place, My Name is Earl, Mistresses, among others.

Real Name: Harlan Sanders

Salary Deal: Forty Thousand Dollars

Colonel Sanders was an American businessman credited with inventing the beloved Kentucky Fried Chicken. While he began serving chicken during the depression on a small stand, the business had grown to be worth two million dollars (sixteen million dollars in today’s money) when he sold it in 1974. For his iconic look, he wore a white suit and a black bowtie.

Real Name: John Travolta

Salary Deal: Seventy Thousand Dollars

Before swapping faces with Nicolas Cage on Face/Off, John Travolta was a shower singing basketball player for Safeguard Bath Soap. John Travolta has been in numerous films, including Grease, Pulp Fiction, The Punisher, and Swordfish. He also owns four airplanes and loves flying.

Real Name: Michael Vale

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

Michael Vale made the phrase “time to make the donuts” popular as Fred the baker, a role he was featured in for fifteen years. Michael also did commercials for Dunkin Donuts’ cereal. He is credited with a couple of films, including Guerilla Girl,  A Hatful of Rain, and Marathon Man. Michael also acted in a George Bernard Shaw production of Androcles and the Lion, and this was one of the first times he performed.

Real Name: Orlando Jones

Salary Deal: $500,000

From 1999 to 2002, Orlando was the spokesperson for 7UP, the lemon soft drink. Orlando is a standup comedian, producer, and actor. He has been involved with The Sinbad Show, MadTV, Woo, and Liberty Heights to his credit.

Real Name: Stephanie Courtney

Salary Deal: Eight Million Dollars

Stephanie Courtney is an actress and standup comedian who rose to prominence by playing Flo, the insurance woman for TV and radio. She has starred in multiple films, including Blades of Glory, Girlfriend’s Day, and The Brothers Solomon.

Real Name: Laurel Coppock

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

Laurel Coppock is best known for playing Jan, the Toyota Lady. She is an actress and comedian. Laurel has had roles in TV and Film, including Crazy, Stupid, Love, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Sarah attended Circle in the Square Theatre School where she learnt acting and later moved to Chicago to take Improv classes.

Real Name: Dean Winters

Salary Deal: $4,750 per aired commercial

Dean Winters is Mr. Mayhem from the Allstate commercials. He has various roles on TV and Film, most notable being Ryan O’Reiley in the TV Drama OZ. He has a recurring role on Brooklyn Nine-Nine where he plays a villain named Vulture.

Real Name: Colin Furhason

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

Colin Furhason started by playing a Cop on Eureka. His character’s personality soon switched up when he acted in Vampire Diaries and Christmas Paradise.

Real Name: Donna Loren

Salary Deal: Five Hundred Dollars

Before she started getting noticed for her powerful vocals, Donna Loren was a model. She got to combine her magical voice with acting in a commercial for Pepsi, earning $500. That amount was a little, but Donna took it as a lesson to look out for corporations who might take advantage of her.

Real Name: Paul Frees

Salary Deal: One Million Dollars

The voice behind your favorite adorable lump of dough character was Paul Frees. He did the Pillsbury Doughboy Commercial in the 1960s. His part in this commercial was proceeded by other voice acting gigs.

Real Name: Nick Offerman & Megan Mulley

Salary Deal: Fifty Thousand Dollars

Nick Offerman was in the Sling Tv Ads with his wife, Megan Mulley. They played the role of an easy-going family whose goal was to orient fellow slingers into their way of life. They only got $50,000 from the gig.

Real Name: T.J. Jagodowski

Salary Deal: $300,000

T.J. Jagodowski is a graduate of Syracuse University, an actor from Chicago, and an improv comedian. Sonic picked him after seeing his application tape. When he received news that he got the gig, he got his improv friend Pete Grosz to do it with him, and that is how the legendary Sonic Commercial came to be.

Real Name: Farris Patton

Salary Deal: $500,000

All Farris Patton had to do was wear attractive outfits and smile as tell the camera to chew Orbit Gum to earn $500,000. Currently, she is a skit actor on Jimmy Kimmel.

Real Name: John Gilchrist

Salary Deal: Ten Million Dollars

Millennials may not recognize him, but Little Mickey was an advertiser for Life Cereal. In the ad, Little Mickey’s brother tries to convince him to try the cereal.

Real Name: Timothy Williams

Salary Deal: Twenty Thousand Dollars

Trivago has come to be known as one of the most efficient websites that you can use to search for hotels. Trivago became well known through the intervention of Timothy Williams, who did an advert for them.

Real Name: Jay Bush and Duke Jay

Salary Deal: Undisclosed

Jay Bush a part owner of the Bush’s Baked Beans Franchise, does his commercials with his dog, Duke Jay, a golden retriever that many have spotted in his commercials.

Real Name: Jack Somack

Salary Deal: Ten Thousand Dollars

Jack Somack participated in shooting the Alka-Seltzer commercial. The commercial has a unique set of jokes performed by the commercials’ actors, generation after generation.

Real Name: Dick Wilson

Salary Deal: $300,000

In this commercial, Dick Wilson played the role of a clerk who wanted to know everything that didn’t concern him. His character was a grumpy guy who hated it when his Charmain toilet paper got squeezed in the commercial.

Real Name: Charles C. Welch

Salary Deal: $200,000

His name has come you in the popular adult animated series Family Guy. You may fail to realize that Charles C. Welch was a pitchman for Pepperidge Farm’s bakery for at least 16 years. He worked with renowned theatre actors such as Sammy Davis, Mary Tyler Moore, and Angela Lansbury in his lifetime.