Dead and lovin' it

[Patience]

Top-earning dead celebrities
Rank Name Earnings ($mil)
1 Elvis Presley 40
2 Charles Schulz 32
3 J.R.R. Tolkien 22
4 John Lennon 19
5 George Harrison 16
6 Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel 16
7 Dale Earnhardt 15
8 Tupac Shakur 12
9 Bob Marley 9
10 Marilyn Monroe 8


Elvis Presley. For the third year in a row, Elvis remains King of the crypt, earning a stunning $40 million. Visits to Graceland were up 4% in the past year, to 600,000. A techno version of the forgotten song "Rubberneckin" was used in a Toyota commercial. Bono, Tom Petty and Dave Matthews appeared on an NBC tribute last fall to strum and sing Presley tunes. And in the clearest sign that Elvis never really left the building, his 30 #1 Hits compilation CD sold more than 9 million copies around the world. A follow-up collection, 2nd to None, was released in mid-October and featured more hit singles and the previously unreleased "I'm a Roustabout." It sold 181,000 copies its first week in the stores.

--Davide Dukcevich

Charles Schultz. Talk about a security blanket: Charles Schulz left his heirs with a business empire that generated about $1.2 billion in retail sales last year. A tiny percentage of that is derived from the comic strip, while the bulk comes from licensing of "Peanuts" characters for use in everything from greeting cards to T-shirts. And talk about geographic diversification: "Peanuts" is coveted in the Americas, Europe and Asia. How long do we expect Schulz to appear on our list? For as long as Charlie Brown keeps pining for the Little Red-Haired Girl.Money 2004.
Smarter, faster and easier
than ever.



--Davide Dukcevich

J.R.R. Tolkien. His heirs are said to have thought the fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings" was unsuitable for translation to film, but they certainly can't complain about the financial rewards the films have brought. The second installment of the three-film series, "The Two Towers," grossed $920 million globally. And the books are still going strong. The three volumes that make up Rings sold 8.6 million copies in the United States in the past year, while "The Hobbit," a prelude novel to the series, tallied 2.3 million copies. Book sales alone earned the estate more than $15 million, while royalties from the film, DVD and videogames brought in about $5.6 million.

--Arik Hesseldahl

John Lennon. Lennon's solo record sales came in at 219,000 last year, and Beatles records sales were down to 2 million from 5 million in 2001, according to Nielsen/SoundScan. Still, because Lennon co-wrote the Beatles' biggest hits, his estate continues to reap the profits even though Michael Jackson and Sony own the publishing rights to most of the band's catalog. New products are still being churned out -- a John Lennon documentary was released in September 2002, called "John Lennon: The Messenger." Next year will be much busier for Lennon's estate. In addition to a new DVD, "Lennon Legend," scheduled to be released next month, reportedly there are plans for a big-budget Broadway musical in which 30 Lennon songs will be used. Various actors will portray different parts of Lennon's personality.

--Betsy Schiffman

George Harrison. Judging by record sales alone, the Quiet Beatle certainly seems to be the favored Beatle. Harrison's solo records outsold that of fellow Beatle John Lennon by more than 100% last year. Harrison's estate takes a one-quarter share of royalties from Beatles record sales, which were down but still totaled 2 million units last year. The estate also generates earnings from the books he wrote as well as royalties from the songs he penned, including "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something." Next year should be even better. A tribute concert featuring Harrison's songs, held shortly after he died, will be released on DVD and CD.

--Betsy Schiffman

Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. Consider this the year before the storm. While the estate of Dr. Seuss earned a very respectable estimated $16 million in the past year, that's nothing compared with next year's tally, which will include royalties from the highly anticipated film version of "The Cat in the Hat" as well as scads of related merchandise. In this non-movie year, Seuss income came from book sales, which were up nearly 40% over 2001, the musical "Seussical," the Seuss Landing theme park and Seuss-related clothing and toys.

--Lisa DiCarlo

Dale Earnhardt. Argentines have Evita. Italians have Padre Pio. And the South has Dale Earnhardt. His earning power dipped in the past year, but Earnhardt's estate boosted licensing income by coming out with a new logo. Barring a novelty that would goose sales this year, it will be hard for Earnhardt to stay in the same league as Elvis Presley and Charles Schulz on our list. Still, the racing legend has something those men don't: an eponymous son who not only followed his father's career but excels at it. Twenty-eight-year-old champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. will literally keep his dad's name on fans' minds for years to come.

--Davide Dukcevich

Tupac Shakur. The open ends of Tupac Shakur's brief life have added to his aura, and earning power. Consider that in the past 12 months a documentary, a book and an investigative series in the Los Angeles Times have centered on the rapper's mysterious and violent 1996 murder. Then there are the hundreds of recordings that were never released during his life, many of which have appeared on eight posthumous albums. The fascination has translated into more than 3 million albums sold during the past two years. There's more. A documentary, "Tupac: Resurrection," produced by his mother, and an accompanying soundtrack and book are slated for release later this year.

--Davide Dukcevich

Bob Marley. Although Marley died more than 20 years ago, surviving family members and clever music execs constantly find new ways to keep his music alive -- and profitable. His songs have been covered by a diverse assortment of musicians, including hip-hopper Lauryn Hill and classic rocker Eric Clapton, and every year there seems to be a digitally remastered rerelease of an old album or a live show. Last year fans were treated to a deluxe edition of the 1976 album "Rastaman Vibration." Worldwide, there were over 1 million Bob Marley and Bob Marley and the Wailers albums sold last year. Reportedly on deck for a 2004: a two-disc deluxe edition of the 1973 album "Burnin'" and the 1975 album "Live."

--Betsy Schiffman

Marilyn Monroe. Elton John sung that Marilyn Monroe's candle burned out long before her legend ever did. That's more true than ever, as Marilyn's income surpassed last year's. Half of her $8 million earnings were derived from advertising deals, including two new ones with Chrysler and Volkswagen in Europe. Another third comes from merchandising -- Marilyn Merlot, for example -- and the rest is residuals from movies and other media.

--Lisa DiCarlo

[Force Majeure]

Originally Posted by Patience

2 Charles Schultz. ...The bulk comes from licensing of "Peanuts" characters for use in everything from greeting cards to T-shirts.

I guess Met really DOES pay.

[Westley]

Stunned that Tolkein was so low. Think about it: a series of three movies that were only relatively expensive to make (doin't remember the amount, but it was reasonable, even if a bit high) that EVERYBODY knew were going to be enormous blockbusters. Unless somehow the publisher owns part of it, it makes no sense. If I owned the rights, I would think that any movie producer would have been glad to agree to take the global gross, subtract production costs, and give me a quarter of the remainder., which would be in the neighborhood of $200 million.

[cubedbee]

I believe Tolkien sold the movie rights to his book while he was still alive. So his estate isn't seeing a dime directly from these movies. However, the book sales have undoubtedly skyrocketed because of the movies, so they have benefited indirectly.

[Jables]

Originally Posted by Force Majeure

I guess Met really DOES pay.

I'm pretty sure they renewed a contract to use the characters for another 10 years or so. I'm sure that would cost some serious coin...

[Patience]

If you look at the blurb on Tolkien, the estate did get almost $6 million from the movie, DVD etc..

Also keep in mind this is just one year's income. So any agreements would have been made a few years ago (all the movies were filmed at the same time). $15m is from book sales.

Marylin surprises me. All the rest are people who wrote books or music stuff that continues to sell. Earnhart is all endorsements, but is relatively a recent death. But for Monroe to still be in the top ten is pretty amazing when you think about it.

Originally Posted by Patience

For as long as Charlie Brown keeps pining for the Little Red-Haired Girl.

I pine for a red-haired girl of my own!

:P

[Patience]

or as in City Slickers

Is she a red head?
I like red heads

[Meshuga]

where's hendrix?

[Patience]

Jimi is #14

Rank Name Earnings ($mil)
1 Elvis Presley 40
2 Charles Schulz 32
3 J.R.R. Tolkien 22
4 John Lennon 19
5 George Harrison 16
6 Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel 16
7 Dale Earnhardt 15
8 Tupac Shakur 12
9 Bob Marley 9
10 Marilyn Monroe 8
11 Frank Sinatra 7
12 Richard Rodgers 7
13 Oscar Hammerstein II 7
14 Jimi Hendrix 7
15 Cole Porter 6
16 Irving Berlin 6
17 Dr. Robert Atkins 6
18 James Dean 5
19 Jerry Garcia 5

He made the top ten 8/02

Forbes Richest Deceased Celebrities
Rank Name Earnings ($mil)
1 Elvis Presley $37
2 Charles Schulz 28
3 John Lennon 20
4 Dale Earnhardt 20
5 Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel 19
6 George Harrison 17
7 J.R.R. Tolkien 12
8 Bob Marley 10
9 Jimi Hendrix 8
10 Tupac Shakur 7
11 Marilyn Monroe 7
12 Jerry Garcia 5
13 Robert Ludlum 5

and 2/01

1 Elvis Presley $35 million
2 Charles Schulz $20 million plus
3 John Lennon $20 million
4 Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel $17 million
5 Jimi Hendrix $10 million plus
6 Bob Marley $10 million
7 Andy Warhol $8 million
8 J.R.R. Tolkien $7 million
9 Frank Sinatra $6 million
10 Jerry Garcia $5 million
11 Keith Haring $4 million plus
12 Marilyn Monroe $4 million
13 James Dean $3 million