Who is the Highest-Paid Actress in Television?

2012 is really shaping up to be a swell year for Sofia Vergara. Not only did she turn 40 (while still looking 25) and get engaged to her longtime sweetie, but now she is officially the highest-paid actress in television, according to Forbes magazine.

Vergara is estimated to have earned an impressive $19 million between May of 2011 and May of 2012. How did she do it? Vergara has several irons in the fire that have helped her reach this point.

Vergara is most well known for her role as Gloria Delgado-Princhett on the ABC mockumentary comedy Modern Family. She has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Comedy Actress for her part on the show.

"Her appeal with Hispanics is unrivaled; she has a positive Q Score more than twice that of the average celebrity," Forbes' Meghan Casserly wrote. "And with the ABC smash hit Modern Family, Vergara’s won over American audiences without alienating her Latina roots. For advertisers, the combination is electric."

The Columbian beauty also makes extra dough endorsing huge brand names like Cover Girl and Diet Pepsi, as well as her own clothing line at Kmart. Vergara makes no bones about the fact that her appearance has certainly helped her along the way to fame and fortune.

“Part of my career has always been because of the way I look,” Vergara told In Style magazine. “I’m not ashamed. It has opened doors. But I also know that if I didn’t have something else, I’d be long gone.”

Her “something else” appears to be a great business sense. Vergara is also cofounder of Latin WE, which raked in $27 million last year.

Second place on Forbes’ top female earners in the past year went to Kim Kardashain, 31, with $18 million. Helping Kim score her position was her televised marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries (which famously lasted only 73 days) and her family’s $30 million contract for three more years of the reality series Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Rounding out the top three is Eva Longoria, 37, with $15 million. Making $375,000 per episode, Longoria’s golden ticket, the television show Desperate Housewives, finished up its final season this year. She will be producing a pilot for a new series as well as a reality dating show.