Dead Celebrity Rights Pioneer. Lucille was the third wife and widow of comic actor Oliver Hardy (who partnered with Stan Laurel to form the legendary comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy.) In 1975, Lucille and Stan's widow, Ida Laurel, won a landmark judgment from a New York judge who ruled that heirs to the estates of deceased celebrities own advertising and trade rights to the celebrities' likenesses. They were each awarded approximately $10,000 annual financial compensation in profits from previously unauthorized Laurel and Hardy merchandise. Oliver and Lucille (nee Virginia Lucille Jones) met when she was working as a script girl on the Laurel and Hardy film "Flying Deuces" in 1939 and were married in Las Vegas the following year. Lucille's letters about life with "Babe," as he was known to friends, are prominently featured in John McCabe's biography, "Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy." She later married Los Angeles businessman Ben Price. Lucille and Ben's ashes are interred near Oliver's in the Garden of Hope, next to the wall bearing a commemorative plaque honoring his comic genius. (bio by: Lisa Burks)

Lucille Price