9. Marilyn Monroe
Earnings: $7 million
Occupation: Actress
Died: Aug. 5, 1962
Age: 36
Cause: Overdose from sleeping pills
The breathy, blonde bombshell is at the center of a legal debate over who retains publicity rights to her celebrity image. In May, a New York judge rejected claims by CMG Worldwide, which oversees the Monroe licenses, that it held exclusive post-mortem publicity rights. (The case was inspired by the family of Monroe photographer Sam Shaw, which allegedly licensed its own Monroe image to Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ).) Now the California legislature is taking up the issue, debating whether to pass a bill that would allow celebrities to secure post-mortem publicity rights even for non-relatives. Meantime, the Shaw case paves the way for rightful owners of Monroe photos to sell them without approval of her heirs.