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The Crawleys of Downton Abbey, their friends, and their servants hit TV screens in the United States in January of 2011. Over six seasons, we sat riveted. Rober Crawley, Earl of Grantham, his rich American wife Cora, their daughters Lady Mary, Lady Sybil, and Lady Edith all became part of our lives. Below stairs, we followed the machinations of scheming Thomas Barrow, often foiled by the Butler Carson and the sensible housekeeper Mrs. Hughes.
In 2019, more than three years after it left TV screens, Downton Abbey, the Movie picked up the story. Downton Abbey changed the lives of its actors. In fact, it made some of them quite rich. Using data from celebritynetworth.com and gobankingrates.com, here are the net worths of the main Downton Abbey actors, in ascending order.
Robert James-Collier - $1.1 Million
Let's face it, Footman Thomas Barrow is a piece of work. He constantly schemed to feather his nest and get his way. He would beg, borrow, cheat and steal, whatever it took to become the Earl's valet or to step up to butler.
Robert James-Collier has said that not only did he enjoy the character of the wicked Thomas Barrow, but he also became great chums with many of his fellow cast members. Now, largely thanks to Downton Abbey, he has joined the millionaire club.
Allen Leech - $1.2 Million
Millionaire actor Allen Leech was the leftie Irish chauffeur, Tom Branson. He started out as a firebrand, then won the heart of Lady Sybil (Jessica Rose Brown Findlay). They married. Shock and horror all around. Butler Carson was appalled. The Earl heaved a huge sigh. Then it got better or worse, depending on how you look at it when Sybil got pregnant.
Then, it all ended badly. Fans cried buckets when Sybil died in childbirth, but she left behind a daughter Sybil, or Sybie. Tom was angry, beside himself with grief takes it out on the family. Can you blame him?
Phyllis Logan - $1.8 Million
Phyllis Logan has had a long, distinguished career in movies, television, and theater. She earned her money delivering stellar performances with a great sense of character. In the show, she was Mrs. Elsie Hughes, the uber-efficient housekeeper, a sensible Scotswoman who called a spade a spade. Fans were thrilled when she married the Butler Carson.
Originally, the plans were to have Mrs. Hughes have a fairly minor role in the TV show. But Phyllis soon proved that Mrs. Hughes deserved better. She has said she gave her character legs to run and run. And run she did, becoming one of the below stair linchpins of the show. That probably meant more money for the actress and that is a good thing.
Joanna Froggatt - $2 Million
Joanna Froggatt made her first TV appearance in the UK in 1996 when she was only 16-years-old. She has been working steadily ever since. She plays lady's maid Anna Bates, the wife of Bates, the Earl's valet. Their below-the-stairs story is full of drama and was central to maintaining dramatic tension in the plotline.
She has thanked the show (and the movie) for catapulting her into a breakout moment in her career. After murder trials and gosh know what else, she and Mr. Bates end up happy, with a new baby and the promise of a better life. Ah.
Laura Carmichael - $2 Million
No wonder she's smiling. She's living in an ornate castle. Laura Carmichael was hapless and unlucky-in-love Lady Edith. At some point, she has said in interviews, she realized Edith was supposed to be the ugly sister. For a while, she was a bit put off, but then decided what the heck and just got on with it.
Since the TV show ended, she has appeared on UK television shows Marcella and The Spanish Princess. And she is all loved up with English actor Michael C. Fox, who played Andrew Parker in seasons five and six of the show. He was, of course, below stairs in castle terms.
Matthew Goode - $3 Million
He's a millionaire several times over. He is incredibly handsome, talented and, by all accounts, a totally nice guy. In addition to Downton Abbey, he has played Tony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret's unfaithful husband, on The Crown. He was not such a great guy in that part.
Matthew played Henry Talbot, headstrong Lady Mary's second husband. Did we say long-suffering? Matthew has nothing but good things to say about his Downton Abbey experience, calling it a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of such an iconic show. Long considered a character actor, the part of Henry Talbot gave him leading man credentials.
Jim Carter - $4 Million
Jim Carter is very much his own man. His wife Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter) has said that as far as his career is concerned, he picks and chooses his parts and doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do. Nice luxury to have. He has had a busy and long career, amassing his millions from hard work and persistence.
He was the quintessential stiff and stern Mr. Carter, Lord Crawley's formidable butler and sometimes confidant. All fans know that his only soft spot was Lady Mary and, later Elsie Hughes who became his wife.
Michelle Dockery - $4 Million
Poor old Lady Mary. She had a baby with solicitor husband Matthew Merton (Dan Stevens), only to have him die on her. She eventually finds happiness with Henry Talbot, but it's a bit of a slog for her.
In an era when women were supposed to be seen and not heard, Lady Mary was as in your face as anyone could be. Michelle Dockery has had a busy career of nearly fifteen years, gradually working her way up in terms of salary and parts. Lady Mary was a breakthrough moment that catapulted Michelle into the major leagues of acting.
Elizabeth McGovern - $4 Million
She started her career on TV when she was still only a teenager. That was forty years ago in 1979. Elizabeth McGovern is an American actress who personified the steel magnolia that was Cora Crawley. Cora was a rich American (with a toxic mother played by Shirley MacLaine). She and her husband Robert Crawley were tight. Nothing, well almost nothing if you don't count the Earl's encounter with a maid, ever came between them.
Elizabeth McGovern has said that she adored Cora and the show, that is was a very good (and lucrative) time for her. Surprisingly, she is also a musician, a musician who has played in rock bands. What would the Earl think?
Brendan Cole - $5 Million
Brendan Coyle has gone on record, saying that his friends would laugh out loud if they heard fans of the show calling Bates hot and smoldering. We can totally see it, though. The Irish Actor has had a long and varied career on stage and screen (small and large). He's an actor's actor, well respected and very, very busy.
He has said that, while he liked Bates, he found him a bit gloomy and moody. But loyal. Bates was at the Earl's side, for most of the six seasons. And the love story between Bates and the lady's maid Anna is one of the major plotlines of the show. Most agree Coyle deserves his success.
Maggie Smith - $8 Million
Maggie Smith tells it like it is. She was acid-tongued Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey and Professor Minerva McGonagall in Harry Potter. Nice little earners. But she has, not very diplomatically some say, come out and said she found neither of those roles very satisfying. Lucrative, yes. Satisfying, no.
The Dowager Duchess of Grantham was famous for her barbed comments and witty replies. When someone mentioned catching up on something "at the weekend" she asked, "What's a weekend?" Or her declaration that "Principles are like prayers: noble, of course, but awkward at a party."
Hugh Bonneville - $8 Million
Hugh Bonneville is an actor who has had a career that has seen him act on stage and screen. Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, was not exactly a breakout role, but it did put the actor in a higher league. It was an iconic show and a memorable character.
The Earl was a man of his age, an old fashioned Edwardian who is at pains to keep up with the pace of change. Beginning with the first episode which revolved around the sinking of the Titanic down to season six and the roaring 20s, the Earl just can't quite join the brave new world. He is a decent man, but hopelessly out of touch with modern times.