7 Biggest Paychecks Actors Made For NOT Playing A Character

5. James Garner - Maverick

During the fifties, things were going pretty swell for James Garner. He'd landed the role of a lifetime as Bret Maverick, a gambling cowboy with a knack for getting into and bluffing his way out of trouble. With Maverick being a consistent ratings hit for Warner Bros. Television, the show was continually being renewed following it's 1957 launch and Garner's star ascended with every episode. But as season four shot onto screens viewers realised that Garner was nowhere to be seen. It soon transpired that he'd been suspended following a writers strike that was raging throughout Tinseltown at the time. While slightly confused viewers were left with Roger Moore instead, Garner himself was mortified, stating that Maverick was not affected by this strike and that he was happy to continue in the role. In a trait that became synonymous with the star, he decided to fight this one in the courthouse. In a 1960 hearing the judge found in favour of Garner and adjudged that Warner Bros. honour the star's contract and pay him for the time missed being on the show. As Garner didn't feature in both seasons four and five, but still received a payout for this run of episodes, this marked the first time a star had ever successfully won in a lawsuit against a Hollywood studio. Once the dust had settled on this standoff, Garner made his break into the movie game with great success.