’80s star reveals ‘extraordinary’ payday

Steve Guttenberg has remembered four of his films – pay cheque-wise – as “zip code-changing”.

And the Brooklyn-born actor, 62, said one of them was the 1987 hit Three Men And A Baby, which also starred Tom Selleck and Ted Danson.

“The three of us are part-owners of that picture,” Guttenberg said. “Number one picture of 1987. It made $US180 million dollars around the world, so today that’s over a billion. It still bears fruit.”

It isn’t alone, either.

Guttenberg said of his other iconic ’80s hits: “Cocoon bears fruit, Police Academy bears fruit. Short Circuit bears fruit.”

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“Jack Nicholson had a great line,” Guttenberg added. “(He said) ‘script, money, location,’ and that’s what it’s about. So yes, absolutely, there are some pictures that you do for the craft solely, and there are some you do for the craft and the money, and there are some pictures you do because it is zip code-changing.

“I have a very conservative mind when it comes to respecting money. And yes, when the cheques come in and you look at them, they’re pretty extraordinary, and I’m not the only guy who has gotten them.”

Guttenberg went on: “You think about the acting game – in SAG-AFTRA there might be 250,000 members and maybe 10,000 make a living.

“The chances of making a living as an actor are so infinitesimal.”

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The genial star stressed that the best thing about striking it rich was being able to share the wealth.

“It sets my family up,” he said.

“I’m able to help my family, my friends. I’m able to create a better quality of life for everyone around me. The best thing about being successful is sharing it. I’m very fortunate that it allows me to live a good quality of life and I’m very thankful every day because as an artist, it’s hard to make a living.”

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In the last couple of years, the Diner star said he’s been refining his approach to both his work and his personal life.

“When I think about the work I want to do, it’s work that enriches me,” he said.

“I transferred what enriches me to my personal life, too. Who celebrates me? In show business, when you’re making money, you have a lot of friends. When you’re making money for other people, nobody cares how much money you have. They care about, ‘Can I use you? Can you help me with my project?’”

Guttenberg’s most recent work is on a smaller scale as well: He appeared in a play by Daniel Goldfarb for The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues – a non-profit specialising in plays and musicals created in the eponymous time frame – something he said he enjoyed “immensely”.

In his free time, Guttenberg has been enjoying spending more time with his wife, WCBS reporter Emily Smith, during the lockdown and flying to Arizona once a week to visit his parents.

“I’m very fortunate,” he stressed again. “If my wife wants the organic eggs we can get them.”

This story originally appeared on New York Post and has been reproduced here with permission