These 90s Stars Have Net Worths That Made Us Do A Double Take
Whether you hunkered down in front of your TV for T.G.I.F. or you were more focused on popular movies of the 1990s, there's a good chance you loved and maybe even idolized a few actors and actresses above all others. These stars seemed to be everywhere and they left a lasting impression on the decade.
Let's take a look at some of the biggest stars of the 1990s and the net worths they managed to amass thanks to their success as some of the brightest shining stars of a short-lived era.
Melissa Joan Hart: $14 Million
Melissa Joan Hart stole our hearts with her popular series Clarissa Explains It All. Then she continued to triumph into 1996 with her smash hit Sabrina, The Teenage Witch which aired 163 episodes as a stable of the popular T.G.I.F. ABC schedule.
Through her continued work as an actress, director, producer, singer, and businesswoman, among other various roles, she has amassed an estimated fortune of $14 million. You can still catch her making appearances on the small and big screens, including most recently in her TV show Melissa and Joey which co-starred another 90s star, Joey Lawrence.
Freddie Prinze Jr.: $19 Million
Freddie Prinze, Jr. has racked up an impressive $19 million net worth thanks mostly to his popular movie roles that extended through the 1990s and into the early 2000s.
Among his most recognizable roles were I Know What You Did Last Summer and She's All That. Both movies were surprising box office hits that helped the leading man become a bonafide star. When he wasn't busy winning box office glory he appeared on various TV shows and married Buffy The Vampire Slayer star, Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Jennifer Love Hewitt: $22 Million
Jennifer Love Hewitt started acting when she was young. She landed her breakthrough role in the 1990s on the hit TV series Party of Five. Hewitt also started on the hit TV series The Ghost Whisperer and made an appearance in Charmed.
With a net worth of $22 million she never needs to work again. Still, she continues to stay busy with various TV roles including her spot on the recent hit 9-1-1 along with roles in Criminal Minds, Hot In Cleveland, The Client List, and others.
Brandy Norwood: $12 Million
R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer, Brandy Norwood, made a name for herself throughout the 1990s by honing her skills on and off the small screen. Brandy started her career as a backup singer for teen groups but soon she followed in the footsteps of her brother, Ray J, and her cousin, Snoop Dogg.
After a string of hit songs and starring in the TV series Moesha from 1996-2001, Brandy had earned a small fortune. Today, her net worth is estimated to be in the ballpark of $12 million.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar: $9 Million
If you grew up in the 1990s you probably watched Saved by the Bell. The surprise hit show featured the acting talents of Mark-Paul Gosselaar as a trouble-making teenager, Zack Morris. That role eventually led to other hits including NYPD Blue and Raising The Bar.
Through his various TV appearances, Mark-Paul Gosselaar has earned an impressive $9 million. He also continues to entertain audiences with starring roles, including his hilarious but short-lived TV series Franklin and Bash.
James Van Der Beek: $8 Million
James Van Der Beek led the cast of perhaps the most talked-about TV show of the 1990s and early 2000s, Dawson's Creek. It was nearly impossible to head into school after an episode aired and not hear chatter about Dawson Leery and his friends featured in the coming-of-age, and often controversial TV show.
Following Dawson's Creek, Van Der Beek continued to act on the small screen and won acclaim for his role in Varsity Blue. Today, with a net worth of $8 million, Van Der Beek continues to land starring TV roles.
Alicia Silverstone: $20 Million
Alicia Silverstone was a 90s darling thanks to her roles in Clueless, The Wonder Years, and even three appearances in often controversial Aerosmith music videos. It was her role in Clueless that landed Silverstone a multi-million-dollar deal with Columbia Pictures.
Silverstone took a role in the 1997 film Batman & Robin where she played Batgirl. She managed to win Best Female Performer and Most Desirable Female for the role at the MTV Movie Awards. While she was never quite able to match the success of Clueless, she has still amassed a $20 million dollar fortune thanks in large part to her early success.
Shannen Doherty: $5 Million
Shannen Doherty was nearly impossible to escape for most of the 1990s. After appearing as Heather Duke in 1988 hit Heathers, she turned that success into a leading role as Branda Walsh in the smash-hit TV series, Beverly Hills, 90210.
Doherty spun off her 90210 success into a leading role in Charmed which ran from 1998 through 2001. While her recent success hasn't quite matched her earlier years, she has still racked up an impressive $5 million from her various TV and movie roles.
Jennie Garth: $8 Million
American actress and film director Jennie Garth is another Beverly Hills, 90210 alum who managed to find further success on the small screen, this time as Valerie Tyler on the sitcom What I Like About You.
Jennie Garth's estimated net worth is $8 million dollars. Her success actually started before 90210 when she landed the role of Erica McCray in the NBC series A Brand New Life. Garth also reprised her role as Kelly Taylor in 20 episodes of the 90210 series reboot.
Brendan Fraser: $20 Million
Brendan Fraser is worth an estimated $20 million and we're actually surprised it isn't more. In the 1990s and early 2000s, it felt nearly impossible to turn on the TV and not see a movie trailer for a new Brendan Frasier movie.
This is the guy who starred in such massive hits as The Mummy (all three movies), Encino Man, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and many others. Fraiser eventually walked away from larger roles, in part, because of multiple surgeries and other personal issues.
Jaleel White: $10 Million
Jaleel White is best known for his role as Steve Urkel in the long-running sitcom, Family Matters. Throughout the 1980s the actor landed small roles on The Jeffersons and Mr. Belvedere but it was largely his Family Matters role that helped him earn an estimated $10 million.
After Family Matters ended in 1997, he continued to land roles in various series including Grown Ups, Psych, and The Game. White also wrote, produced, and starred in his own web series called Fake It Till You Make It. He's tried honing his skills as a voice actor, most notably as Sonic for the TV series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Pauly Shore: $20 Million
If you turned on an MTV Spring Break special in the 1990s you were almost guaranteed to see the often crazy antics of Pauly Shore. Shore was an MTV VJ from 1989 through 1994 and then he landed his own show Totally Pauly.
What followed was a whirlwind series of surprise hits including Encino Man, Son In Law, In The Army Now, Bio-Dome, and Jury Duty. His net worth is estimated at $20 million. He continued to act and on a side note, his family has owned the famous Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood for many decades.
Ian Ziering: $8 Million
Ian Ziering is another graduate of Beverly Hills, 90210 where he appeared from 1990 to 2000. He also made an appearance in the reboot in August 2019. He never fully left the limelight and even appeared as a contestant on season 4 of Dancing with the Stars where he made it to the semi-final round with dance partner, Cheryl Burke.
His estimated $8 million net worth is largely attributed to his many movie roles including Endless Love, Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off, Batman Beyond: The Movie, Domino, and No Way Back, among other roles.
Skeet Ulrich: $5 Million
Skeet Ulrich has earned an estimated $5 million from his roles as an actor, writer, and producer. The 1990s star almost didn't have the chance to make it that far, having undergone open-heart surgery when he was just 10-years-old.
In the 1990s it was hard not to see Ulrich on the big screen in such massive hits as The Craft, Scream, Boys, As Good as It Gets, and others. You may have more recently seen him on the hit TV shows Jericho, CSI: NY, or Law and Order: LA.
Tahj Mowry: $1.5 Million
Tahj Mowry is the little brother of Sister, Sister stars Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry but he earned his own way. The younger Mowry has an estimated $1.5 million dollar net worth by forging a TV-based career. In the 1990s he was best known for his role as H.J. Henderson in the popular sitcom, Smart Guy.
While Mowry got his start in 1990 on the incredibly popular TV show Who's The Boss he never stopped acting. After appearances on Full House, Star Trek: Voyager and Friends, he landed the role of Tucker Dobbs on Freeform's comedy show Baby Daddy which aired from 2012 to 2017.
Kevin Sorbo: $10 Million
Kevin Sorbo is worth an estimated $10 million and as you might have guessed, it was largely his role on the hit TV show Hercules that helped him reach a decent level of success. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys debuted in 1995 and ran for six seasons.
Sorbo would later appear in Andromeda, The O.C., Two and a Half Men, and various other TV shows. He has also expanded his roles to include voicing video game characters. Fun fact, he met his wife, Sam Jenkins, on the set of Hercules and they've been married since 1998.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner: $6 Million
Malcolm-Jamal Warner is best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on the massive hit The Cosby Show. Warner's early success has helped him earn an estimated $6 million. While The Cosby Show began airing in 1984, it bled over into the early 1990s, ending its run in 1992.
Warner was able to parlay his success into other roles on Tour of Duty, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Throughout the 90s he appeared in more than a dozen TV shows and various films. He continues to act both on-screen and as a voice actor.
Daniel Stern: $12 Million
Daniel Stern's long and celebrated career has earned him an estimated $12 million. While he acted in The Wonder Years from 1987 through 1993, it was his performance in Home Alone in 1990 that skyrocketed his career.
Following Home Alone, the 90s brought about City Slickers (1991), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994). Stern also become a director in 1993 with the hit movie Rookie of the Year. He continues to act both on the big and small screens.
Dustin Diamond: $300,000
Dustin Diamond was a massive 90s star thanks to his role in the surprise hit Saved by the Bell. After the series ended and Saved by the Bell: The College Years failed to gain the same level of success, he tried his hand at music, directing, and stand-up.
Sadly, Diamond fell on some hard times and has never captured anywhere close to the same level of success. His estimated net worth is $300,000. However, it may be lower, given his own public admission in 2006 that he needed to sell t-shirts to his remaining fans in order to avoid foreclosure on his home.
Fairuza Balk: $2 Million
Fairuza Balk continues to act and even has a new TV series, Paradise City, in post-production. However, it was the 1990s that helped her earn much of her estimated $2 million dollar fortune.
It was during that time that Balk appeared in 1996's The Craft, along with The Island of Dr. Moreau, American History X, The Water Boy, and, Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead. Since the 90s she has appeared in dozens of TV shows and movies.
Vanilla Ice: $12 Million
Vanilla Ice's rap career was relatively short-lived but that hasn't stopped him from earning an impressive $12 million. The American rapper, actor, and TV host has managed to stay somewhat in the limelight thanks to his ability to find new ways to stay relevant.
While "Ice Ice Baby" launched his career, the rapper quickly turned his attention towards the real estate market where he now flips multi-million dollar homes. His home makeover TV show, The Vanilla Ice Project, debuted Season 9 on July 27, 2019.
M.C. Hammer: $2 Million
MC Hammer squandered most of his fortune with the belief that his meteoric rise was nowhere near slowing down. At one point the rapper was worth an estimated $70 million. However, after much lavish spending, he was soon forced to sell many of his possessions to pay down his debt.
Today, MC Hammer is worth an estimated $2 million. That's not a bad pile of cash considering the rapper filed for bankruptcy protection in 1996 and failed to top the charts following his initial market success.
David Faustino: $6 Million
David Faustino owes much of his $6 million net worth to his role as Bud Bundy on the massively successful Fox TV series Married... With Children. It was that role, starting in 1987 and running through 1997, that catapulted Faustino into the limelight.
After more than 250 episodes, Faustino and the crew called it quits. He has since appeared in Blossom, Burke's Law, MadTV, Modern Family, Entourage, and various other projects. He also went through a strange period where he released the rap album, "Balistyx" in 1992 under the name D'Lil.
Andrew Keegan: $1.5 Million
Andrew Keegan is an American actor and producer who has earned an estimated net worth of $1.5 million. His career started in 1991 and since then, he has appeared in dozens of TV shows and movies.
There's a good chance you recognize him from the huge hit Independence Day or perhaps from his roles on Full House, Party of Five, 7th Heaven, Step By Step, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, or The Amanda Show. Seriously, it's almost like this guy was required to appear in hit TV shows loved by teens in the 1990s. At one point he was allegedly receiving over 2,000 fan letters a week.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas: $16 Million
Jonathan Taylor Thomas stole our hearts as Randy Taylor in the hit TV show Home Improvement. The show ran from 1991 through 1999, although he fled the show following the 1998 Season 7 finale.
His early success on the show, along with starring roles as the voice of Simba in Disney's The Lion King and Pinocchio in The Adventures of Pinocchio, helped him earn an estimated $16 million dollars. With over two dozen roles to his name, it's hard to believe he decided to walk away from acting in 2005. Fans of JTT can catch him, however, in 4 episodes of Tim Allen's current hit TV series Last Man Standing.
Selma Blair: $6 Million
Selma Blair was hard to avoid in the 1990s and that helps explain her estimated $6 million net worth. There's a good chance you remember Selma from such hits as Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, and Hell Boy.
Blair had originally moved to New York to pursue a career in photography and decided to take acting classes on the side. Fun fact: she graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in Photography, Fine Arts, English, and Psychology.
Joey Lawrence: $250,000
Joey Lawrence ruled the 90s thanks to his roles as an actor, singer, and television host. Surprisingly his net worth is only believed to be around $250,000. Joey Lawrence appeared in Diff'rent Strokes and Silver Spoons and played Joey Donovan on Gimme a Break! From 1983 to 1987.
It was his role as Joey in the TV show Blossom from 1991 to 1995 that made Lawrence a household name. From 2010 to 2015, he co-starred on the sitcom Melissa & Joey which aired 104 episodes over 4 seasons on ABC Family. His co-star on his latest TV series? Melissa Joan Hart.
