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Maintaining leading-lady status in Hollywood requires more than starring roles.
The résumés of Tinseltown's A-list actresses feature offerings from movie and television work to endorsement and fashion deals. Along with the host of gigs come blockbuster paychecks. Proof: Hollywood's 10 top-earning--and ever-active--actresses collectively banked $244.5 million between June 1, 2007 and June 1, 2008.
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Topping the list is tabloid staple Cameron Diaz, who raked in $50 million during the 12-month period, thanks in large part to her lucrative reoccurring role as princess-turned-ogre in DreamWorks' Shrek franchise.
Often typecast as the blonde ditz, Diaz also hit the big screen opposite Tinseltown goofball Ashton Kutcher in Twentieth Century Fox's spring comedy, What Happens in Vegas. Up next: a silver-screen adaptation of Jodi Picoult's best-selling novel My Sister's Keeper and a fourth installment of Shrek.
Keira Knightley places No. 2 on the list, with annual earnings of $32 million.
In a single year, the British-born actress impressively--and successfully-- vacillated between a splashy franchise flick ( Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) and a dramatic literary romance (Focus Features' Atonement).
Off-screen, the Oscar-nominated beauty is cashing in with a series of racy ads for Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle perfume.
Third on the list is Hollywood sweetheart Jennifer Aniston. The former Friends star collected $27 million over the course of the year.
In addition to lining the tabloids with the reported particulars of her personal life, Aniston has kept busy filming a slew of films, including the family comedy Marley & Me and the dating ensemble He's Just Not That Into You.
Aniston also collects income from the syndication of Friends and a lucrative endorsement deal with Glacéau's Smartwater. Though she's lent her famous face overseas to brands like Heineken and L'Oreal, the Smartwater deal marked the actress' first stateside endorsement.
Tied for fourth place on the list: Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow. Each banked $25 million during the year.
Witherspoon will star opposite funnyman Vince Vaughn in New Line's big-budget comedy Four Christmases this winter. Additionally, she'll serve as a producer on the holiday flick.
Off set, the blonde mother of two landed a three-year contract worth an estimated $30 million to pitch Avon cosmetics as the brand's first "global ambassador."
After a series of indie flicks and some time off to play mom, Paltrow scored big with her leading lady role opposite Robert Downey Jr. in the summer blockbuster Iron Man. To date, the movie has generated a whopping $568 million at the worldwide box office, according to tracker Box Office Mojo.
Another moneymaker for the 35-year-old star: a multi-year contract to serve as spokeswoman for cosmetics giant Estée Lauder.
"Years ago, endorsing a product was considered something a movie actress shouldn't do," Paltrow told USA Today, "but now having a contract is almost like a status symbol." The paycheck isn't bad either.
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