TNT’s popular detective series Rizzoli & Isles is back with new crimes, crazy crooks and more family drama than ever before. How do the salaries of real life detectives and medical examiners stack up against the salaries of those who play them on television?
Angie Harmon stars as Jane Rizzoli. She’s a tough, tomboyish Boston police detective who would rather spend her Saturday playing softball than at the spa. According to our Salary data, Jane probably earns between $65,000 and $72,000 a year but less than her male co-workers with the same experience. Hardly seems enough for someone who puts her life on the line on a daily basis. Luckily, her job comes with solid medical benefits which she needed when she took a bullet at the end of Season One.
Sasha Alexander plays Medical Examiner Maura Isles. She’s the complete opposite of Jane. She’s a girly girl who shows up at a crime scene in designer clothes and $1,000 Jimmy Choo heels. Maura is a Doctor of Forensic Pathology and likely earns on the high side of the salary scale – around $100,000 a year. Not bad, but that wouldn’t be enough to pay for all the Prada. Good thing Maura comes from money, or she’d have to give up that million dollar home for a one-bedroom apartment like Jane’s.
In real life, Harmon and Alexander earn considerably more than their on-screen counterparts. A former child model, Angie Harmon is married to a retired NFL star and she’s the mom to three girls. She earns Rizzoli’s yearly salary for every episode of the series and she has an estimated net worth of 14 million.
Sasha Alexander is married to a director and her mother-in-law is glamorous film star Sophia Loren. She has two children and currently earns . . . . ??? Though the number hasn’t shown up on the internet, it’s likely she’s making slightly less than what her co-star earns, which is still plenty for the average person.
Watch Rizzoli & Isles Tuesdays at 9 pm on TNT.
What Do You Think?
Angie Harmon the actress earns at least ten times what a Boston police officer earns in a year. What do you think about that? Start the discussion in the comment section below.
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Photo Credit: James White / TNT
This article was very poorly researched. A quick Google search shows that the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts made $257,500 in 2012. See http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/16/once-again-state-list-top-wage-earners-dominated-umass-employees/XMgv3K777DVH40yP2aPdiN/story.html. And Boston police officer salaries are public information and because there is a salary scale set by the union, a female officer will not earn less than a male in the same position. You can see salaries for Police Detectives here: https://data.cityofboston.gov/Finance/Police-Dept-Earnings-2012/cd7h-u9nu. Starting salary is around $75,000. With overtime the majority had total salaries over $100,000,… Read more »