Eleanor Bergstein never got rich from "Dirty Dancing"

According to the website Box Office Mojo, the movie Dirty Dancing has earned about $214 million.

So, the movie's creator, Eleanor Bergstein, must be extremely rich. Well, she is rich compared to you and me, but she is not extremely rich. Several websites that specialize in estimating celebrities' net worth estimate Bergstein's net worth as follows:

Celebrity Net Worths = $1.4 million

Wiki Net Worth = $1.2 million

Net Worth Post = $19 million

Bergstein is married to Michael Goldman, who taught English literature at Princeton University. He alone, from such a career, could have accumulated a wealth of $1.2 million.

My own father was a professor at the University of Oregon. He died last year, and his estate was valued at about $1 million. My Mom was just a housewife. Neither my Dad nor my Mom inherited any significant wealth. They accumulated $1 million from their house's appreciation and from ordinary, conservative investments.

From that perspective, I think it's quite possible that most of Bergstein's net worth might be attributed to her husband's earnings as a Princeton professor and from their joint investments. In other words, surprisingly little of their wealth might be attributed to Dirty Dancing.

Even if Bergstein's net worth is $19 million, that is a surprisingly small amount when compared to her movie's earnings of $214 million.

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Bergstein must have signed away practically all of her copyrights in order to get her movie made. She must have been paid essentially only a flat fee for her screenplay. She did not get a percentage of the movie's profits.

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By comparison, Franke Previte retained the entire copyrights for his songs "Hungry Eyes" and "Time of My Life". His net worth is estimated as follows:

Celebrity Net Worth = (Previte is not listed)

Wiki Net Worth = $1 million

Net Worth Post = $7 million

In other words, Bergstein and Previte have accumulated similar seven-digit net worths.

The difference is that Previte accumulated most of his net worth from the two songs he wrote for Dirty Dancing, whereas Bergstein accumulated little of her own net worth from Dirty Dancing.

Also, Bergstein was married to a Princeton professor who enjoyed a steady, high salary for decades.

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So, is Bergstein belatedly getting rich now from the stage musicals based on her movie Dirty Dancing?

Well, she never goes to bed hungry, but she is not getting as rich as you imagine.

The website Hollywood Reporter has published an article titled Inside the Legal Battle Over a Lucrative 'Dirty Dancing' Stage Musical, which includes the following passages (emphasis added).

... In London alone, a Dirty Dancing musical reportedly grossed $500 million.

Such prosperity should be the formula for happiness among all involved, but it hasn't been. Behind the curtains, the screenwriter of the original film has been tangoing with the stage version's Australian producer over rights. Last year [2013], an arbitrator ruled largely in favor of the production company, but the drama isn't over.

Last week [February 2014], amid reports of new Dirty Dancing musical tour dates in the U.K., a New York judge was asked to confirm the arbitrator's ruling. ...

In 2004, Bergstein's Magic Hour Productions licensed stage rights to the cult film to Time of My Life Pty Ltd. According to a copy of the agreement, Bergstein got a $25,000 advance for an Australian show, further payments in the event that the show opened in other countries and a healthy share of box office profits.

At the time, Time of My Life Pty was run by Bergstein's close friend, Kevin Jacobsen, one of Australia's most important entertainment executives, who also owned a management firm representing the likes of Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Pearl Jam. But according to a 2012 story in the Sydney Morning Herald, Jacobsen fought an intense family battle with his brother, Colin Jacobsen, which he essentially lost.

Kevin reportedly suffered financial troubles, investors demanded money, and after his company was threatened with being placed into receivership, he sold shares.

As a result, Dirty Dancing's global rights eventually wound up in the hands of Colin and his daughter Amber Jacobsen.

Bergstein wasn't happy about this. ,,,

The global rights to the Dirty Dancing stage musical are owned by some investor's daughter named Amber Jacobsen !!

Bergstein got a measly $25,000 !!!

You can read the entire article. Essentially it says that Bergstein was paid a flat fee and does not share significantly in the profits.

Bergstein's main earnings from the stage musical probably are just for her personal appearances. When the musical begins a tour in in Lisbon or Helsinki or wherever, she is paid to go there, sign autographs and appear at public-relations events.

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Bergstein's decision to sell all her copyrights to Dirty Dancing so that the movie would be made was a rational decision.

After the movie Dirty Dancing became hugely profitable after its release in 1987, she was in a strong position to negotiate an advantageous deal for her following movie. She wrote and also directed her following movie Let It Be Me, which was released in 1995. I think the movie is very good, but it played in movie theaters for only a few days -- less than a week -- and then practically disappeared forever because of some bizarre argument with the producer.

This following movie, Let It Be Me, was Bergstein's big chance to earn big money and to launch a lucrative career in the movie business. Because that movie disappeared immediately, however, Bergstein's movie career ended without her ever accumulating an wealth from it.

Bergstein then had a second chance to get rich from her stage musical, but all the copyrights fell into the hands of one investor's lucky daughter, Amber Jacobsen.

Amber Jacobsen, who will earn millions of dollars forever
from the stage musical "Dirty Dancing" while
Eleanor Bergstein lives on Social Security benefits.