Culture

Top-Earning Dead Celebrities

by JeffHuang | October 29, 2008 at 03:10 pm

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Is it really difficult to make millions a year? Not for Elvis and some of his buddies up in the sky. The top 13 "top earning dead celebrities" made an amazing $ 194 million combined this year without doing anything.
Elvis made more than Justin Timberlake and Madonna over the past 365 days thanks to his boosted attendance and merchandise sales at Graceland marking the 30th anniversary of his death.

Topping the list for the second year running, is the former King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. Without so much as lifting a finger, the Memphis Flash earned a whopping $52 million in the last year. That's more than some of the music industry's biggest living acts command--Justin Timberlake pulled in $44 million last year; Madonna $40 million.

Heath Ledger debuted third on the list with approximately $20 million in earnings from The Dark Knight and merchandising from Joker action figures to a percentage of the film's revenue.

Here is the top 13 highest earning dead celebrities:
1. Elvis Presley - $52 million
2. Charles M. Schulz - $33 million
3. Heath Ledger - $20 million
4. Albert Einstein - $18 million
5. Aaron Spelling - $15 million
6. Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) - $12 million
7. John Lennon - $9 million
8. Andy Warhol - $9 million
9. Marilyn Monroe - $6.5 million
10. Steve McQueen - $6 million
11. Paul Newman - $5 million
12. James Dean - $5 million
13. Marvin Gaye - $3.5 million