Star Trek legend Walter Koenig looks back on the good, the bad, and the hilarious after 57 years of the franchise.
“Everybody thinks if you're an actor, and certainly if you're an actor and on a television series, you must be doing very well,” Koenig said. “Well, I was barely making more than minimum the first season. The second season I was on the show … I had a contract. I was paid a week's wage whether I worked a day or a week. So I made a little bit more. Whereas I made $10,000 for the whole year in 1967, I made $11,000 in 1968. Well, that'll only go so far.”
$10,000 in 1967 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $92,911.98 today, an increase of $82,911.98 over 57 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.99% per year between 1967 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 829.12%.
I think it's about the continuation of pay. If you made $100,000 this year but then make nothing next year... Your average really starts pulling that number down.
Fair, but that's now, no? What was considered a livable wage in 1967 CA? If you take $130K of 2024 cash into 1967, it's worth around $13K in 1967 money.