They may be dead and gone but celebrities including Elvis Presley, Heath Ledger, John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol continue to rake in the cash

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ELVIS Presley may have left the building more than thirty years ago but his earning power lives on.

‘The King’ has been ranked the highest-earning dead celebrity for the second year running by Forbes.com.

The deceased rock ‘n’ roll legend raked in £32m in the past year, helped by scores of visitors to his Graceland estate to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death.

“While things might be topsy-turvy in the financial markets above ground, it’s still a bull market in the boneyard,” said a spokesperson from Forbes.

He was followed in the list by Peanuts cartoonist Charles M Schulz (£20.6m) and Batman actor Heath Ledger (£12.5m) who died of an overdose in January.

The US business magazine said Ledger's "tragic death" in his New York apartment "was magnified by the talent he displayed in the role of the Joker in this summer's blockbuster Batman film, The Dark Night".

"At the very least, he got paid well," it said.

"Ledger scored a merchandising deal (Joker action figures, etc) and received a percentage of the box office.

"Throw in the up-front payments he received for his work on the unfinished film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Ledger earned an estimated 20 million dollars (£12.5m) over the last year."

Meanwhile John Lennon was the only Brit who appeared in the top ten, ranking at number seven.

The Beatles' singer-songwriter, who was murdered in New York almost 28 years ago, earned nine million dollars (£5.6m) last year from a string of "royalties, merchandising and licensing agreements".

The Forbes listing said Lennon's income peaked in 2006 at 24 million dollars (£15m), mainly because of a one-off settlement among the Beatles, Apple and music distributor EMI.

But it added: "Lennon is still doing fine.

"Imagine a steady stream of music-publishing royalties, merchandising and licensing agreements.

The Forbes' top ten highest-earning dead celebrities were:

1. Elvis Presley (d. August 16, 1977, heart attack) - 52 million dollars (£32.4m)

2. Peanuts cartoonist Charles M Schulz (d. February 12, 2000, colon cancer) - 33 million dollars (£20.6m)

3. Heath Ledger (d. January 22, 2008, overdose) - 20 million dollars (£12.5m)

4. Albert Einstein (d. April 18, 1955, natural causes) - 18 million dollars (£11.2m)

5. TV producer Aaron Spelling (d. June 23, 2006, stroke) - 15 million dollars (£9.4m)

6. Author Dr Seuss (Theodor Geisel) (d. September 24, 1991, natural causes) - 12 million dollars (£7.5m)

7. John Lennon (d. December 8, 1980, murder) - 9 million dollars (£5.6m)

8. Andy Warhol (d. February 22, 1987, complications after gall-bladder surgery) - 9 million dollars (£5.6m)

9. Marilyn Monroe (d. August 5, 1962, overdose) - 6.5 million dollars (£4.1m)

10. Steve McQueen (d. November 30, 1980, complications from surgery) - 6 million dollars (£3.7m)

Pics:Highest-earning dead celebs

Plus:More weird news