Strange Burial Requests: Unusual Items Famous People Were Buried With

Renowned escape artist and magician Harry Houdini had a slow start in the theater before gaining fame and a loyal audience for his grand performances. He achieved international fame and enjoyed various pleasures that he shared with his beloved mother. When his mother passed away in 1913 while Houdini was abroad, he was devastated. When he died in 1926, he requested to be buried with the letters his mother had written to him during the early days of his career; these served as a pillow for the deceased magician.

Legendary singer Frank Sinatra, who always had a glass of Jack Daniel’s whiskey while performing for 50 years, was buried in 1998 at the age of 82 with a bottle of his favorite drink, a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and several quarters. It's said he always carried coins for emergency calls after his son was kidnapped.

Bela Lugosi might not be a name you recognize at first, but he was the first “Count Dracula” who brought the character to life in 1931. Being an iconic character still used today, his role followed him throughout his life and even after his death. When he passed away in 1956, he was buried with a replica of the cape used in the movie.

Queen Victoria was a woman who established many customs in the modern world. Notably, wearing white for your wedding day (for women) and black when you are in mourning. The Queen fell deeply in love with her first husband, Prince Albert, who died many years before her, and although she found love again, it was never the same for her. When her husband died, she requested a plaster cast of his arm so she could sleep holding his hand, and upon her death, she was buried with her late husband's plaster arm.

When Bob Marley died in 1981 at the age of 36 while overseas, he was brought back to his hometown in Jamaica. He was buried with his red Les Paul guitar, the Bible opened to passage 23, and “a fistful of marijuana, placed by his widow, Rita,” according to 'The Guardian'.

Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy was a collector of whale bone and walrus ivory, intricately carved by miners and hunters. First Lady Jacqueline gifted him an ancient tooth from a sperm whale, engraved with the presidential seal, for Christmas in 1962. When he was assassinated in 1963, the tooth was buried alongside him.

Princess Diana met Mother Teresa during her travels to support organizations and people worldwide. When she died in 1997 after a car accident in Paris, she was privately buried on a small island on her family estate along with a rosary she received from Mother Teresa.

George Burns was a radio and television comedian who lived to be 100 years old despite smoking up to 15 cigars a day. The comedian famously said, “If I had taken my doctor's advice to quit smoking when he adviced me to, I wouldn't have lived to go to his funeral.” He was buried with three of his favorite cigars.

Many celebrities wish to be buried or cremated with expensive luxuries, but Whitney Houston's family expressed concern that her grave might be robbed after she was buried in a gold-lined casket wearing designer clothes, according to 'Daily Star'. The total cost of what was buried with Houston is close to $450,000 USD.

Legendary Hollywood actor Humphrey Bogart found love in his fourth and final marriage to Lauren Bacall. The couple met in 1944 during the film 'To Have and Have Not,' where Bacall’s character said to Bogart, “You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” The line became very popular, and during Bogart's cremation in 1957, Bacall added a gold bracelet with a whistle she had previously given him. It was inscribed with the words “If you want anything, just whistle.”