Universal Studios had a decidedly different roster of money-making stars than the other major studios: a “nice girl” operatic soprano, Deanna Durbin; the most popular girl trio of the day, The Andrews Sisters; and the zany comedy team, Abbott and Costello. Durbin, who was inadvertently dismissed from M-G-M in 1936, was signed immediately by Universal and featured in twenty films over the next decade. At one point in the '30s Durbin was the highest paid female star in film, surpassing even her rival, Shirley Temple. Abbott and Costello and the Andrews Sisters, both of whom had achieved wide popularity by 1940, were the “bread and butter” wage earners for Universal between 1940 and 1947. Each group appeared in over fifteen films; on three occasions they were cast in the same film!