Hilarie Burton Net Worth

What is Hilarie Burton's Net Worth?

Hilarie Burton is an American actress who has a net worth of $8 million. That is a combined net worth with her husband, actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

After serving as a VJ on the MTV program "Total Request Live," Hilarie Burton had her acting breakthrough with her role as Peyton Sawyer on the teen drama television series "One Tree Hill." Since then, she has appeared on such series as "White Collar," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Lethal Weapon" and in such films as "Our Very Own," "The List," "Solstice," and "Growing Up Smith."

Early Life and Education

Hilarie Burton was born on July 1, 1982 in Sterling, Virginia to Lisa, a real estate agent, and James, a US Army veteran. She has three younger brothers. As a teenager, Burton went to Park View High School, where she captained the cheerleading squad and served as student council president during her senior year. After graduating in 2000, she briefly attended New York University before transferring to Fordham University. Burton graduated from Fordham in 2004.

Career Beginnings

Burton began her career serving as a VJ on the MTV program "Total Request Live" in the early 2000s. She also appeared in some episodes of the MTV reality show "Becoming Presents: Wannabe." In 2002, Burton played herself in an episode of the teen drama series "Dawson's Creek."

One Tree Hill

Burton had her breakthrough as an actor when she was cast on the WB teen drama series "One Tree Hill," which premiered in 2003. She played Peyton Sawyer, a talented artist and cheerleader harboring intense emotional pain. The character had a complicated romance with the main male protagonist of the show, Lucas Scott, who was played by Chad Michael Murray. "One Tree Hill" was a huge hit with audiences, becoming the WB's top-rated show of 2003. Burton remained on the show through its sixth season, leaving on her own accord in 2009.

Further Television Career

After leaving "One Tree Hill," Burton began playing insurance investigator Sara Ellis on the USA Network series "White Collar." She joined the show in a recurring capacity during its second season in 2010, and was then upgraded to a main role for the third season. For the fourth season of "White Collar," Sara Ellis once again became a recurring character. Meanwhile, in 2012, Burton had a guest role on the ABC series "Castle." The next year, she had recurring roles on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and CBS's "Hostages," and was also in the television film "Christmas on the Bayou." Between 2014 and 2015, Burton appeared on the short-lived ABC series "Forever," and in 2015 she had a recurring role in the second and final season of the CBS series "Extant." During this time, she appeared in the television films "Surprised by Love" and "Last Chance for Christmas."

In 2016, Burton began playing the recurring role of DEA agent Karen Palmer on the Fox series "Lethal Weapon," based on the film franchise of the same name. She left the show early in its second season in 2017. After that, Burton appeared in the television films "The Christmas Contract" and "A Christmas Wish." Kicking off the 2020s, she had a recurring role on the short-lived NBC series "Council of Dads." In 2021, Burton had a guest role in the tenth season of the AMC series "The Walking Dead," playing the wife of her real-life husband's character Negan. She later reprised her role in an episode of the sequel series "The Walking Dead: Dead City" in 2025. Between her appearances on those shows, Burton hosted the crime documentary series "True Crime Story: It Couldn't Happen Here" from 2021 to 2024. She also had a guest role on the short-lived CBS medical drama series "Good Sam" in 2022.

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Film Career

Burton made her big-screen debut in the 2005 coming-of-age film "Our Very Own." Two years later, she appeared in the thriller "The List" and the teen drama "Normal Adolescent Behavior." Burton was in another pair of films in 2008: the horror film "Solstice" and the big-screen adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel "The Secret Life of Bees." She has acted infrequently on the big screen since then, with her handful of credits including the drama "Bloodworth" and the coming-of-age dramedy "Growing Up Smith."

Books and Podcasts

In 2020, Burton published her first book, "The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm." The following year, she began co-hosting the "One Tree Hill" retrospective podcast "Drama Queens" with her former costars from that show Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz. Burton left the podcast in 2024. Meanwhile, she played Shelley Hoskins in three episodes of the podcast "Bridgewater" and published her second book, "Grimoire Girl: A Memoir of Magic and Mischief."

Personal Life

In 2009, Burton began dating actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan. They had a son in 2010 and a daughter in 2018. The couple resided in Los Angeles at first, and then moved to the Hudson Valley following the birth of their son. In 2018, Burton and Morgan purchased a 100-acre working farm they dubbed Mischief Farm. The year after that, they married.

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