by Ted Sherman

Created on: July 28, 2008   Last Updated: July 30, 2008

It's a macabre joke in show business that an early death of a popular star is a "good" career move. Further, if the young performer dies tragically, so much the better for keeping the lasting interest of the public. Of course, the reality of the tragedy is that the dead celebrity can't stick around afterward to enjoy the long-lasting fame and fortune. In our school days, many of us had to memorize a familiar phrase from Thomas Gray's poem, "Elegy in a Country Churchyard. As it applies to our late superstars, it sums up the fragility of fame and life itself:

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour;
The paths of glory lead but the grave."

However, in many cases, the deceased young celebrities have continued their "paths of glory" by earning millions annually long after they've gone to their graves. For instance, Elvis Presley, who died suddenly in 1977 at the age of 42, is the best example of a top earning dead celebrity. His popularly skyrocketed after a lavish funeral and clever promotion of his image. Today, his estate hauls in close to $50 million a year from royalties generated by the still-lucrative earning power of the late superstar. The millions continue to flow in from reissues of long-ago movies, TV programs, recordings, tourism, hundreds of professional Elvis impersonators performing throughout the world, and an enormous merchandise enterprise.

According to some authorities, Elvis is the wealthiest dead celebrity in the world, if not also in the next world. Most of the annual flow of dollars goes to Priscilla, Presley's shrewd divorced first wife and administrator of the vast financial estate, and to his only child, daughter Lisa Marie, and her children.

The estate of Marilyn Monroe, who died in 1962 at age 32, as with Elvis, also from an overdose of medication, earns about $8 million a year. Royalties on clothing, cosmetics, books, Marilyn showbiz clones and other sources bring many millions annually to her bank holdings. Makes you wonder if anyone is making Capitalist dough these days from all the t-shirts, hats, signs and other chochkas featuring the grim faces of Che Guevera, Karl Marx, Fidel Castro and other dead or almost dead Reds.

Currently, with rock, TV and movie stars dying early from similar errors or intentional medications excess, we may forget that entertainers' post-mortem moneymaking has a long history. For at least the past 30 years, many TV commercials have

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