January 6, 1937
Hal Roach Studios, Inc.,
Culver City, California
Gentlemen:
This will confirm our agreement that the undersigned, STAN LAUREL, will appear in that certain picture entitled "PICK A STAR", including appearances and added scenes, sound tracks, process shots, transparencies, trick shots, trailers, changes or foreign versions, as may be necessary; also as to say stills or publicity pictures that may be desirable for the exploitation of the picture.
You shall have full title to and ownership of the picture and any sound in connection therewith and all copyrights applicable therein.
I shall receive the sum of $10,000.00 for all of my appearances and work in connection with the picture.
Very truly yours,
January 18, 1937
To the envy and entertainment of many a citizen, to the embarrassment and chagrin of a few, the House Ways & Means Committee last week opened for public inspection two fat typewritten volumes containing the names of U. S. employes receiving salaries, commissions and bonuses totaling more than $15,000 in 1935. Not to be confused with the corporate salary schedules required by the Securities & Exchange Commission, this list was compiled from income tax returns. Highest-paid individual in the land that year was William Randolph Hearst, who drew $500,000 as head of Hearst Consolidated Publications Inc. A close second was Mae West. For her box-office sex appeal, the corporeal basis of which she has had immortalized in marble, Paramount paid $480,833.
The list was not without its oddities.
Three hot dog vendors at Manhattan’s Yankee Stadium and Polo Grounds received more ($30,000 to $34,999) than Pitchers Lefty Gomez ($20,000) and Carl Hubbell ($17,500). From Hal Roach Studios fat Funnyman Oliver Hardy had received only about half as much ($85,316) as his slender colleague Stan Laurel ($156,266).