The World's Most Famous Celebrity Grave Sites
By Wonderwall.com Editors 7:47am PDT, Sep 4, 2009
By Michelle Lanz
Finally, after much ado about location, Michael Jackson's body was laid to rest at the star-studded Forest Lawn Glendale in Los Angeles. His final residence is now in the Great Mausoleum, a gallant structure on the grounds of the cemetery, and home to legendary stars like Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. Also buried in the cemetery are two of his lifelong heroes, Walt Disney and Larry Fine, one of the Three Stooges. We imagine this site will garner much attention and reverence from fans for many years to come. Here are some other beloved stars' final burial spots.
See more pics of Michael Jackson
Jim Morrison was a hard-living rock star whose candle burned from both ends up until his death in Paris at the age of 27. Like many deceased stars, there are numerous conspiracy theories surrounding Morrison's demise. Some say he died of a drug overdose in his apartment, while others suspect foul play. But due to French law, no autopsy was performed, so no one will ever know the truth behind the Doors singer's untimely death.
His current resting place is in the ancient and world-famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His gravesite is never without an abundance of flowers and mementos, and people everywhere consider visiting his grave as a kind of rock 'n' roll pilgrimage.
Marilyn Monroe is another star who should have lived and worked until old age. Instead, in 1962, the iconic actress was found dead in her Brentwood home at the age of 36. The cause of death, according to the autopsy report, was "acute barbiturate poisoning," resulting from a "probable suicide." Of course conspiracy abounds in this case, too.
Marilyn is buried in a crypt at the Corridor of Memories at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, and, man, is it valuable real estate. The crypt above hers recently sold for $4.6 million.
Like Marilyn, Princess Diana should have lived to a ripe, royal age. She was loved by pretty much everyone, so when she died in a car accident in August 1997, almost 2.7 billion people tuned in for her televised funeral. She was only 36 and had two small sons (who aren't so small anymore) and people blamed everyone from the paparazzi to the Queen of England for her death. It was finally ruled in 2008 that the negligent driving of both parties (her driver and the cars following them) were to blame for the accident.
Di's grave now sits on an island within the grounds of Althorp Park, the Spencer family home.
Teenyboppers the world over seriously mourned Elvis Presley's death in 1977, even though the King of Rock 'N' Roll was just a shell of his former self right before his passing. There continues to be some argument about how Presley died. Some believe he died of ingesting a lethal combination of prescription pills, while others argue he died of a heart attack.
Today, Elvis is buried at (you guessed it) Graceland, in an area known as the Meditation Garden.
Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Marshall) was larger than life in many ways. And though she was no stranger to the gossip rags and tabloids, nobody expected her sudden death just five months after the birth of her daughter Dannielynn. Like Elvis, her death was blamed on an overdose from prescription drugs and was fraught with controversy.
The former Playboy model and reality star rests in Lakeview Memorial Gardens in Nassau, Bahamas. A tropical paradise isn't a bad place to spend eternity.
Natalie Wood died in 1981 at the age of 43 from a seemingly minor boating accident that went horribly wrong. After drinking several glasses of wine, she fell overboard one night and accidentally drowned while on vacation with husband Robert Wagner.
The actress's body is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Talk about tragedy. James Dean's rocket of fame was just blasting off when Cal Poly college student Donald Turnupseed slammed head-on into the star's 1955 Porsche Spyder. Hours later, Dean died at the hospital at the age of 24. Famously, his last words (to his mechanic friend in the car with him) were rumored to be, "That guy's gotta stop … He'll see us."
Dean's body is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Ind., where he had spent his high school years.
Old Blue Eyes lived a long, fast-paced movie star life up until he died of a heart attack in 1998 at the age of 82. Frank Sinatra's last words as the doctors attempted to stabilize him were, "I'm losing." What a sadly existential realization.
He's buried in Desert Memorial Park in the California desert town of Cathedral City, near Palm Springs.
Like Frank Sinatra, classic Hollywood beauty Bette Davis lived a long life. After battling a number of ailments, she succumbed to breast cancer at the age of 81 in 1989.
Her final resting place is at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, along with the epitaph "She did it the hard way."
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