#31: Mayim Bialik

TV Show: The Big Bang Theory

Amount: $10 million per year

Talk about starting from the bottom and ending up at the top! Just take Neil Patrick Harris, for instance. From his early days as the young genius on Doogie Howser, M.D., he catapulted to superstardom, raking in the big bucks as Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. (I bet those residuals are something else!)

But he’s not the only one with a rags-to-riches story. Remember Mayim Bialik? She had a tiny role on Doogie Howser before hitting the jackpot as Amy Farrah Fowler on The Big Bang Theory. With a paycheck of at least $10 million a year from the hit CBS sitcom, that measly $0.02 check from her Doogie Howser days must seem like chump change now!