Array
Pamela Anderson had the biggest assets on “Baywatch,” but she didn’t reap the rewards.
Turns out, the blond bombshell pulled down a measly $1,500 per episode during the first season. By the end of her five-season run, she was making $300,000 an episode — still peanuts compared to co-star David Hasselhoff, a producer on the beachy drama with an ownership stake that paid off big when the series was added to Amazon’s Prime Video library in 2019.
“The producers of ‘Baywatch’ made a fortune,” the 55-year-old told Variety in a new cover story interview. “I just didn’t have the representation back then. Or the know-how.”
Anderson was so integral to the show’s success, she revealed, that there were “Pamela clauses” in some of the licensing and syndication deals for the ‘90s smash hit, in which she played the lifeguard C.J. Parker for five seasons, starting in 1992 and ending in 1997. Many of the international broadcasters only wanted to buy “Baywatch” episodes featuring Anderson, while a Barbie doll based on her iconic character ended up a bestseller. She didn’t see a penny, she claims.
“You don’t realize when you’re doing a TV show that it’s going to be that popular, so you kind of sign your life away,” she said.
The former Playboy model has been speaking out about her life, leading up to the dual Jan.
