Like the old saying goes, 'You don't get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate."
How much effort did it take for Dawn and her hubby to negotiate that one small change in her contract? And look at the upside. I would hope that other actors and their agents have wised up since then.
A similar thing happened with Don Adams, AKA Maxwell Smart. Before the show launched, he was asked if he wanted to be paid a salary or a percentage of what the show earned. He chose percentage. I don't know how well he did with that decision but I'll bet anything he did better than a salary would have done.
I don't think these people were especially clever, or that they could foretell the future. Full salary now or an unknown amount of future earnings later? They gambled and they won. There was nothing at the time to guarantee they were making a the right choice.
By the way, who bought Microsoft back in '86 when it went public? I know I didn't, and I knew about the company.
Gilligan's Island is still one of the stupidest shows ever made. And saying that 40+ years after the fact sure says something.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
