Sofia Vergara Tops Forbes' List of Highest-Paid TV Actresses

"Modern Family" actress earns whopping $19 million, beating out Kim Kardashian and former "Desperate Housewives."

Sofia Vergara has a lot to celebrate. Fresh off a week-long vacation to fete her 40th birthday (where she reportedly became engaged to beau Nick Loeb), the "Modern Family" actress has just been named as the highest-earning actress in television.

According to Forbes, Colombian-born Vergara raked in an estimated $19 million between May 2011 and May 2012.

To determine how the annual ranking falls, Forbes considers upfront pay, residuals, endorsements and advertising work. It's the endorsements that can push a name closer to the number one spot. Vergara has appeared in campaigns for Pepsi, Burger King and CoverGirl. Kmart is backing her fashion line to the tune of $7 million in advance payments by the end of 2012. 

Sitting at number two on this list is Kim Kardashian with $18 million, missing the top spot by a mere $1 million. Both celebrities have major endorsements under their designer belts: Kardashian and her sisters co-front Kardashian Kollection (a clothing line available at Sears), the reality star's namesake perfume generated more than $6 million in retail sales last year and the family signed a $30 million deal with E! for three more seasons of "Keeping up with the Kardashians."

Vergara and Kardashian have been rival tabloid staples over the past twelve months, also. Kardashian followed up headlines concerning her 72-day marriage to basketballer Kris Humphries by generating even more column inches in gossip mags when she began publicly dating rapper Kanye West. Vergara's on-again, off-again relationship with Loeb kept her in the papers, culminating in the engagement reports of last week, when she was photographed wearing a large diamond engagement ring while celebrating her birthday in Mexico.

Third on the list is Eva Longoria with $15 million, despite the fact that her role on the long-running "Desperate Housewives" series is coming to an end. The show aired its finale in the spring, and at the time, Longoria was earning $375,000 per episode.

In at number four with $12 million is former "Real Housewives of New York" star Bethenny Frankel, who expanded her Skinnygirl drink line from one product to twelve, launched a daytime television talk show (produced by Ellen DeGeneres) and penned her first novel, "Skinnydipping."

Rounding out the remaining top ten are Khloe Kardashian Odom ($11 million), "30 Rock" creator Tina Fey ($11 million), "Law & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay ($10 million), "New Girl" Zooey Deschanel ($9 million), "Desperate Housewife" Felicity Huffman ($9 million), Ellen Pompeo of "Grey's Anatomy" ($9 million), her former co-star Kate Walsh ($8 million) and last but by no means least Teri Hatcher, the top ten's final "Desperate Housewives" cast member with $8 million.

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