10 berühmte Persönlichkeiten in nicht gekennzeichneten Gräbern begraben

Das Leben berühmter Persönlichkeiten ist heutzutage lückenlos katalogisiert, jede Kaffeepause und Bad-Hair-Episode ist detailliert dokumentiert. Selbst im Tod werden Promi- Grabstätten von Scharen von begeisterten Fans besucht. Die meisten berühmten Leute entscheiden sich für eine Art Markierung oder Grabstein, aber gelegentlich widersetzt sich einer (oder seine Familie) dem Trend und wählt ein nicht markiertes Grundstück. Machen Sie sich jedoch nicht zu viele Gedanken darüber, Ihren Lieblingsstar zu finden. Obwohl viele Friedhöfe keine Informationen preisgeben, ist es einfach, detaillierte Wegbeschreibungen online zu finden .

Was macht also ein nicht gekennzeichnetes Grab aus? Die Antwort ist ziemlich einfach. „Wenn es keine Markierung, keinen Grabstein oder kein Namensschild gibt und sich jemand im Grab befindet, gilt es als ‚unmarkiert‘“, erklärt Jolene Mason, General Manager des Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, einem beliebten Rastplatz für moderne und klassische Promis, draußen Los Angeles.

In der Vergangenheit waren finanzielle Einschränkungen und sozialer Status Faktoren dafür, ob eine Person (sogar eine berühmte) einen großen, ausgefallenen Marker erhielt. Nicht gekennzeichnete Massengräber waren auch in Zeiten weit verbreiteter Krankheiten oder Kriege üblich; plus ältere Marker verschlechterten sich einfach im Laufe der Zeit oder wurden gestohlen [Quellen: Texas Historical Commission , Washington Post ]. Moderne Befürchtungen von Prominenten beziehen sich eher auf die Privatsphäre und den Wunsch, Vandalismus zu vermeiden. Laut Mason wollen andere einfach keinen Marker, können sich nicht für eine Formulierung entscheiden oder planen, einen hinzuzufügen, wenn ein geliebter Mensch stirbt und sich ihnen in der Handlung anschließt.

Um unsere Liste der 10 berühmten Persönlichkeiten in nicht markierten Gräbern zu beginnen, schauen wir uns ein großes Musikgenie an, das vielleicht noch zu 100 Prozent an seinem Ruheplatz ist oder nicht!

1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2. John Wayne
3. Bessie Smith
4. John Belushi
5. Roy Orbison
6. Bobby Driscoll
7. Richard Trevithick
8. Maria Färber
9. George C. Scott
10. Fred Gwynne

Er lebte nur knappe 35 Jahre, aber der berühmte Komponist fasziniert noch mehr als 250 Jahre später im Tod. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, dessen Tod 1791 wahrscheinlich durch rheumatisches Fieber verursacht wurde, wurde in einem anonymen Grab zusammen mit anderen Personen auf dem Friedhof St. Marx bei Wien beigesetzt. Trotz seines relativen Ruhms als Komponist und Interpret wurde zu dieser Zeit nur die obere Schicht der Gesellschaft in markierten Gräbern begraben [Quelle: Biographie ].

In den 1850er Jahren wurde ein Denkmal über der Stelle errichtet, an der Mozart begraben worden sein soll. Das Denkmal wurde später in einen Raum für geehrte Musiker auf einem anderen Friedhof verlegt. Heute können Besucher nach St. Marx gehen und an der angeblichen Stelle ein weiteres Denkmal sehen, das aus einer Engelsstatue besteht, die auf eine zerbrochene Säule blickt, auf der Mozarts Name eingraviert ist [Quelle: Wiener Stadtverwaltung ].

John Wayne war, ist und wird wahrscheinlich immer ein kultiger „Menschenmann“ bleiben. Seine öffentliche Rolle war voll von rauem Wildwest-Appeal. Es macht also Sinn, dass er seinem Image entsprechend eine schnörkellose Beerdigung hat, oder? Aber das ist nicht der Grund, warum seine Familie den Oscar-Preisträger in ein nicht gekennzeichnetes Grab gelegt hat. Die Lieben wollten einfach verhindern, dass seine letzte Ruhestätte zu einem übertriebenen Schrein wird, wie es oft bei Persönlichkeiten der Popkultur der Fall ist ( Jim Morrison , irgendjemand?). Sie taten dies auch aus Sorge um die anderen ständigen Bewohner von Pacific View Memorial Park in Orange County, Kalifornien, wie sie es für den berühmtesten Cowboy der Welt taten [Quelle: Los Angeles Times ].

1998, fast 20 Jahre nachdem er an Lungenkrebs erkrankt war, wurde an der Grabstätte, an der er begraben liegt, eine dezente Bronzetafel angebracht. Also, wenn Sie sich entscheiden, weiter nach unten zu gehen, ehren Sie den Herzog, indem Sie respektvoll sind, OK, Partner?

Holen Sie sich als Nächstes einen Einblick in die Blues-Sensation, deren Grabstein von einem anderen singenden Star gekauft und bezahlt wurde.

Some of you may not know who famed blues singer Bessie Smith was, but Janis Joplin sure did. A prominent vaudeville blues vocalist during the early 1920s, Smith was a born entertainer who recorded with legends like Louis Armstrong and Charlie Green [source: PBS]. Her career stalled in large part due to her ongoing bout with alcoholism, but she seemed on the verge of a major comeback when she was killed in a car crash in 1937.

Smith's funeral was attended by thousands of adoring fans. But her grave got no headstone. "Rumor has it that the reason was her husband did not want to spend the money," explains Steve Salter, president of Killer Blues Headstone Project.Killer Blues Headstone Project "It wasn't because she died penniless."

Decades later, she'd earn the love of another famous, but troubled female artist. Janis Joplin, one of the most important female singers of the 1960s, found Smith's brand of blues to be so inspiring that she commissioned a headstone in 1970 for the unmarked grave. Sadly, Joplin died shortly thereafter of a heroin overdose [source: History].

Fans of the "Saturday Night Live" comedian and movie star can visit a headstone that bears John Belushi's name ... but his actual body? Only a treasured few are likely to know exactly where it lies.

Remember the craziness that John Wayne's family sought to avoid by burying him without a marker? Belushi, who died of a drug overdose in 1982, was originally interred in a marked grave in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Unfortunately, rampant littering and shrine-decorating by adoring, but oh-so-inconsiderate fans left the site in disrepair. So his wife quietly ordered his remains moved to an undisclosed location within the same cemetery, some distance from his tombstone [source: Time].

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Check. Gravestone? Not so much. The "Oh, Pretty Woman" warbler died of a heart attack in 1988, and was quickly interred in go-to celebrity burial ground, the Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary. A marker identifying the rock 'n roll great's final resting place has been a much slower process, largely because the family originally planned to relocate him, but never got around to making the move. Ironically, Roy Orbison is buried in close proximity to megastars like Natalie Wood and Marilyn Monroe , who are both popular stops on the celebrity grave circuit [source: Goodman].

Peter Pan is still known today as "the boy who never grew up," but the child who voiced one of Disney's most popular parts most definitely did, and went on to live a very hard life. One of Hollywood's original child actors , Bobby Driscoll voiced the part of Pan, but was also acclaimed for his roles in classics "Treasure Island" and "The Window," among others. Once puberty hit with all its skin-ruining, voice-changing glory, studios dropped him like a hot potato, and he turned instead to drugs and criminal activity [source: Des Moines Register].

He died in New York City at age 31 inside an abandoned apartment. The autopsy concluded that years of drug abuse caused catastrophic heart failure. Sadly, lack of identification forced officials to place him in an unmarked pauper's grave [source: IMDB]. His own mother, seeking his whereabouts a year later, found out he had died when police identified him using fingerprints they had collected before he was buried [source: Des Moines Register].

Whether or not you're a die-hard train enthusiast , it's pretty hard to dispute Richard Trevithick's impact the world. An accomplished mechanical engineer, Trevithick was born in Cornwall, England, in 1771. Among his many notable accomplishments, he's probably best known in transportation circles for constructing the very first steam locomotive .

Unfortunately, Trevithick's engineering skills did not translate to business, and he made many foolhardy decisions that cost him financially (although plenty of other people managed to turn a profit on his ideas). He died virtually penniless in 1833 and was subsequently placed in an unmarked grave, where he remains today [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica].

She may not be famous in the current celebrity sense, but Mary Dyer was a rock star in the religious freedom world. Her "sin" was converting from Puritanism to Quakerism, because Quakers believed that people could hear directly from God, without needing an intermediary like a clergyman. This was a really big deal in the 1600s, as it threatened the authority of the church leaders, who governed the colony, and banned Quakers from living in Massachusetts [sources: PBS, Robinson].

Dyer went into exile in Rhode Island. However, she returned to Boston to support two friends who were imprisoned for their Quaker beliefs. All three were sentenced to death but reprieved and banished. But Dyer came back again, determined to speak out for religious freedom. She was hanged in Boston Common and buried in an unmarked plot in 1660. (Some say her body was taken to the family farm). Remorse over this unnecessary execution led to a lessening of anti-Quaker laws and eventually to the Rhode Island Royal Charter of 1663, legally granting freedom of religion. Today, a statue of Mary Dyer stands in Boston Common, where her life famously ended [sources: National Women's History Museum, Robinson].

His career was huge, respected and ultra-successful, but in death he's relatively understated. George C. Scott appeared in many acclaimed films, including "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Hustler." He's arguably best known for his portrayal of legendary Gen. George S. Patton, although he famously rejected an Academy Award thanks to his disdain for the awards process [source: BBC].

After he died in 1999 of a burst abdominal aneurysm, Scott was buried in an unmarked plot in Westwood Memorial, a stone's throw from fellow anonymous grave-dwellers Roy Orbison and Frank Zappa [source: Los Angeles Times].

It's not clear why actor Fred Gwynne is buried in an unmarked plot, but he has occupied such a spot at Sandy Mount United Methodist Cemetery in Maryland since his death from pancreatic cancer in 1993 [source: Find A Grave].

Don't fret if you're having trouble putting his name with a face – most of us are more accustomed to his visage in full Herman Munster makeup! One of his last roles was that of the oft-exasperated judge opposite Joe Pesci in "My Cousin Vinny," but his body of work was a collection of critically acclaimed films and much-loved television shows, including "Car 54, Where Are You?" and "The Munsters. " Gwynne was also a highly regarded painter, sculptor and children's book author [source: IMDB].

Author's Note: 10 Famous People Buried in Unmarked Graves

Celebs are people too, and deserve to have a peaceful final resting place. If they decide to make it unmarked, so be it! That said, the next time I visit Los Angeles I'll be armed with a map of marked and unmarked plots. Who can pass up a chance to pay respects to Donna Reed and Marilyn Monroe? Not this girl!

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