Allstate Reportedly Pays Mayhem Actor Dean Winters A Fortune
Dean Winters has had a varied and consistent acting career with memorable roles in dramatic and comedic series, but his work as the Allstate Mayhem guy is his most well-known part. He did over 100 commercial spots and over 900 radio spots for the insurance company which put him among the commercial actors who make a ton of money, but originally Winters turned down the role. "My smart*** remark was that I became an actor so I wouldn't have to put on a suit and sell insurance," Winters told the Huffington Post in February 2015. Fortunately for the "John Wick" actor, his agent was able to talk him into starring in the commercials.
The Allstate TV spots were the only commercials Winters had worked on besides a brief stint in Colt 45 ads in 1995. Winters was hesitant to take the Mayhem role in 2010, until he found out how the character was created. "Unbeknownst to me, a guy named Matt Miller ... had written the character of Mayhem for me because his three favorite shows were '30 Rock,' 'Rescue Me,' and 'Oz,'" Winters told Backstage in June 2021. "I took a chance, and Mayhem became one of the greatest jobs I've ever had."
That chance paid off, as Winters has a net worth of $6 million, per Celebrity Net Worth. Despite the financial success, there was a sad truth about Winters, as he almost died before landing the lucrative job.
Dean Winters had multiple amputations
Working on the Allstate Mayhem commercials allowed Dean Winters to achieve financial freedom he had always dreamed of. "I was born and raised in New York City and I've always wanted to own an apartment. So I just bought an apartment downtown," he told Page Six in March 2019. "I'm calling it the house that Mayhem built," Winters added. Perhaps more impressive than the financial windfall was the physical recovery Winters made to be able to work again.
Before landing the Allstate commercials, Dean Winters had multiple amputations. "I was out of the game for three years. I had 17 surgeries and nine amputations," the "Battle Creek" actor told the Sioux City Journal in December 2014. The issue stemmed from a bacterial infection which caused Winters to go into cardiac arrest in 2009, and his heart stopped for several minutes while in an ambulance.
After recovering in the hospital, Winters returned to acting and eventually decided to take the Allstate commercial gig. "It's crazy if you look in the Webster dictionary, the Old English definition of the word 'mayhem' is 'one with amputations,'" he told Page Six in November 2021. Unfortunately, the amputations took a physical toll on Winters, who also experiences severe neuropathy. "I haven't taken a step since 2009 without being in pain," the "Rough Night" actor said. In the end, Winters felt a bond with his Allstate family who were "relentless" in pursuing him. Winters later recruited a famous friend to the Allstate team.
How Dean Winters repaid Tina Fey
Following his near-death experience, Dean Winters became an overnight celebrity when his Allstate Mayhem ads started running, which was a surprising turn for the actor. "If someone told me an insurance commercial was going to be the thing [that] resuscitated my career, I would have laughed in your face," he told Esquire in February 2015. Prior to that, he had an eclectic career that was mostly defined by dramatic roles. That is, until he was cast as the scheming ex-boyfriend to Tina Fey's Liz Lemon in "30 Rock," a part that helped Winters nab his high-paying commercial role. "Getting the job on '30 Rock' opened up a whole new world for me," he told Backstage in June 2021.
Not only was Winters's Mayhem character revived in 2020, but he was reunited with Fey in a television spot. In the ad, Mayhem pops up to distract and pester Fey while she attempts to drive her car. Working on "30 Rock" was part of the reason that Winters landed the Allstate job, so he felt Fey — who was a producer on the show — had greatly impacted his career. "She's always been in my corner," he told Backstage about the "Date Night" actor. "I tried to repay the favor: I brought her into the Mayhem world," Winters said about his reunion with Fey.
The Allstate ad was not the pair's last time teaming up. While working as an executive producer on "Girls5eva," Tina Fey hired Winters to appear in four episodes.