Entertainment top earners

1 Sir Anthony Hopkins �19m 2 Ridley Scott �17m 3 David Dimbleby �8.2m 4 Liam Neeson �8m 5 Anne Robinson �6.5m 6 Catherine Zeta-Jones �5.5m 7 Ewan McGregor �5m 7 Patrick Stewart �5m 7 Tracey Ullman �5m 10 Jude Law �4m

Tarrant earned his crust from fronting the popular ITV1 quiz Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and his own show on Capital FM.

The newspaper annually publishes a survey of the UK's biggest earners from business people to celebrities.

Cannibal

The highest paid person from the entertainment world is Sir Anthony Hopkins, who registered in the top 500 at number 19.

His net earnings of �19m were boosted by the success of the Silence of the Lambs sequel Hannibal, in which he reprised his role as the cannibal Dr Lecter.

Close behind is Hannibal director Ridley Scott with �17m following the success of the Oscar-winning movie Gladiator.

Sir Anthony Hopkins is the UK's richest entertainer

Third in the list of media-related people, but �9m behind Scott, is David Dimbleby, who profited from the sale of his newspaper empire to the tune of �8.2m.

Irish actor Liam Neeson is next on the list after earning �8m over the past 12 months despite appearing to have had a quiet year in terms of film releases.

His bankability was ensured by starring as Qui-Gon Jinn in the Star Wars first episode The Phantom Menace.

His co-star Ewan McGregor also profited from its success by earning �5m in a year before appearing in the smash Moulin Rouge.

Troubled

Catherine Zeta-Jones has taken Hollywood by storm

Robinson beat the likes of Hollywood stars such as Catherine Zeta Jones, Sir Sean Connery and Sir Michael Caine.

And the finances of Michael Barrymore have continued to hold strong despite his troubled personal life.

The My Kind of Music entertainer earned around �2m last year, keeping him in the top 20 of TV and film stars.

But the fortunes of the Spice Girls appears to have severely waned, with only Posh Spice Victoria Beckham making the top 500.

But her bank account looks a lot healthier when her husband David Beckham's giant �16m pay cheque is added.