The Top 10 Highest-Paid TV Actresses

September 29, 2011 The Extra List

It pays to be living on Wisteria Lane. The four main leads of the ABC show "Desperate Housewives" all made the top 10, and their combined earnings with the other six women on the list totaled $94 million between May 2010 and May 2011.

Find out who tops the Forbes Magazine list!

Top 10 Highest-Paid Actresses of the Small Screen 2011

10. Julianna Margulies

$6 million The actress' newest show, The Good Wife," is a critical hit, earning Julianna her second Emmy this year. The first win was in 1995 for "ER."

9. Ellen Pompeo

$7 million Now in its eighth season, Pompeo's hit NBC show "Grey's Anatomy" is still going strong.

8. Courteney Cox

$7 million Cox is one of the few "Friends" to have found success in life after the popular show ended in 2004. Cox's new show "Cougar Town," returns in November.

7. Felicity Huffman

$9 million Huffman is the first of the four main "Desperate Housewives" leads to make the list. She is also the only one who has an Oscar nod under her belt, having been nominated for Best Actress for the 2005 movie "Transamerica." "Desperate Housewives" is ending its run after this final season.

6. Teri Hatcher

$9 million Hatcher pulls in an estimated $375,000 per episode on "Desperate Housewives."

5. Marg Helgenberger

$10 million Helgenberger is the steady hand that keeps the original "CSI" a long-running hit. This season (the show's 11th) she is acting against a new leading man as Ted Danson takes over from Laurence Fishburne.

4. Mariska Hargitay

$10 million "Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit" is the franchise's most successful spin-off to date, averaging 53 million viewers per week between new and syndicated shows.

3. Marcia Cross

$10 million Cross earns big from "Desperate Housewives" in syndication.

2. Eva Longoria

$13 million Longoria earns more than her "Desperate Housewives" co-stars thanks to lucrative endorsement deals with L'Oreal and LG.

1. Tina Fey

$13 million Fey's first book, "Bossypants," hit stores in April and sold 150,000 copies in the first month. Fey's hit NBC show "30 Rock" returns later this year.

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