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Ledger Debuts On Richest Dead Celeb List

Elvis Highest-Earning Celebrity For Second Straight Year

POSTED: Wednesday, October 29, 2008

UPDATED: 8:49 am CDT October 29, 2008

Even though they're no longer with us, Heath Ledger, Paul Newman and some other celebs continue to bring in paychecks.

Images: Rich Dead Celebrities

Big ones, too. Ledger is right behind Elvis Presley and Charles Schulz on Forbes' list of dead celebrities who are top-earners.

Other dead celebs whose projects, merchandise or licensing deals keep the money coming in include Aaron Spelling, Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, James Dean and some others.

The 30th anniversary of Elvis' death helped boost attendance and merchandise sales at Graceland, and new ventures such as an Elvis Sirius Satellite Radio show add to a long list of publishing and licensing deals, Forbes.com reported.

Ledger, most famous for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, the latest installment of the Batman movie franchise, made his first appearance on the list.

At the time of his overdose in January, the 28-year star seemed poised on the cusp of a lucrative film career.

To find the numbers for the celebrities, Forbes talked to experts and sources inside their estates and dug up the gross earnings (before taxes, management fees and other costs) from the period of October 2007 to October 2008.

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Ledger Debuts On Richest Dead Celeb List

Elvis Highest-Earning Celebrity For Second Straight Year

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