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Highlights
- Baywatch residuals keep David Hasselhoff afloat despite setback from divorce and missed opportunities.
- Pamela Anderson received very little pay compared to Hasselhoff but maintains double the net worth.
- Hasselhoff could have been even richer if he didn’t pass on the opportunity to play Superman due to bad advice.
David Hasselhoff’s net worth could be even larger today, likely in the vicinity of $100 million. However, a divorce set back the actor’s net worth and, in addition, he faced major rejection in Hollywood that could have made him extra millions. Still, the actor is doing okay and Baywatch is a major reason for it.
He made $100 million thanks to the series, and he continues to make bank due to residuals today. We’ll reveal how much the actor is making, and how much co-star Pamela Anderson walked away with.
In addition, we’ll take a closer look at the roles that could’ve spiked David’s net worth even higher. In one particular case, he was given some bad advice and ended up passing on Superman.
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David Hasselhoff Got A Major Backend Deal For Baywatch Worth $4 Million Per Year
Looking at David Hasselhoff’s net worth, fans would expect it to be higher than $10 million. That’s especially true given his Baywatch pay. The actor earned $100 million during its 11 year run. In addition, he was able to ink a massive residual deal worth $4 million per year, a salary he still gets.
However, David’s divorce set him back. The settlement agreed on was $120 million, along with payments of $66K per month. Because of that, the actor has stayed active, even in less than stellar roles.
At the very least, the actor has the Baywatch residuals to fall back on. The actor himself admits the chances of Baywatch’s popularity were very slim, especially after its cancelation.
“I think the favorite thing about Baywatch was the fact that it was all run by us,” he said.
“The show was canceled, we brought it back, and there was four of us. So one of us was a writer, one of us was a director, one of us was the lifeguard, and David Hasselhoff was the PR guy, the star, keeping up the morale. … Keeping it afloat, and keeping it positive, and keeping it light.”
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It definitely enjoyed quite the turnaround and Hasselhoff was able to make millions off of it. However, the same didn’t hold true for every star on the show.
Pamela Anderson Made Very Little In Comparison And Feels Like She Was Taken Advantage Of
Unlike her co-star, Anderson claims she made very little for the career-changing experience, which started with a pay of $1,500 per episode. Near the end of the series, it changed to $300,000, still nothing close to Hasselhoff-type money. Anderson’s son defended his mom and how she made no money from Baywatch, despite the show’s success.
“She was definitely being taken advantage of,” Anderson’s son, Brandon Lee told Variety. “It still feels weird, how there hasn’t been some sort of discussion with Amazon, or the ‘Baywatch’ producers to get her her fair share. It’s funny how it works with Dave Chappelle with Netflix; he can somehow go back and get paid for a show that he didn’t own anything of. And with the Amazon library deal, we didn’t get a penny.”
Pamela Anderson’s Generous Act With Her Five Figure Salary For A Playboy Shoot Caused More Harm Than Good
Pamela Anderson’s $25K contribution thanks to Playboy was frowned upon by certain organizations.
Despite the lower pay for Anderson, she still maintains a net worth higher than David, doubling his total to $20 million. Had she scored a residual deal similar to David’s, that net worth could’ve been a lot higher for Anderson.
David Hasselhoff Could’ve Bolstered His Net Worth Even Further, But Was Given Bad Advice
Throughout his career, Hasselhoff also received some bad advice from his peers and team. One of those decisions was turning down the chance to play Superman. The Baywatch star was “really close” to playing the role. The actor was told he’d be type cast as that character for the rest of his career. Looking back, Hasselhoff doesn’t feel like that was a bad thing.
“A long time ago, I was up for Superman, and my manager at the time said to me, “I don’t think you should do Superman, because if you do Superman, you’ll be Superman for the rest of your life.” And you know, Christopher Reeve went on to be Superman in real life and in films and in all kinds of different films. That was probably the worst advice.”
Hasselhoff tells A.V. Club that he embraces the roles he is remembered for by fans.
“When people say, “You’re such a nice guy. You still embrace Knight Rider and Baywatch! Most actors get really upset!” What? Why?! I mean, look at Schwarzenegger. He went right back to the Terminator. Get over it. You’re lucky if you get one hit. You’re freaking lucky if you get one hit! I’ve had like five or six. So that’s the advice I got, and I’m still laughing about that, because I was really close to getting Superman, and we pulled out of it.”
It would’ve been interesting to see the actor in such a role.
