The funeral for the great Roman emperor was as dramatic as the way he died—assassinated at the mutinous hands of fellow senators in 44 B.C. A written play-by-play of the funeral survived. Mark Antony gave an emotional speech: "It is not fitting, fellow citizens, that the funeral oration of so great a man should be pronounced by me alone, but rather by his whole country.” Onlookers devastated by his death couldn’t control themselves: “They groaned, and girding themselves, they burned the Senate chamber, where Caesar had been slain, and ran hither and thither searching for the murderers, who had fled some time previously."
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The unexpected death of the “Latin Lover” at the age of 31 stunned the world—and nearly killed his hordes of female fans. The early sex symbol and silent film star died on August 23, 1926 after being hospitalized for appendicitis, ulcers, and peritonitis. During his funeral the streets of New York City were flooded by nearly 100,000 fans. People trying to get a glimpse of their idol smashed the windows of the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on the Upper East Side—although inside was equally chaotic. To garner publicity, the funeral home hired actors to impersonate a fascist group sent by Mussolini, and a young actress collapsed near his coffin. Valentino’s first mass was held at Saint Malachy’s church in New York and the second one was in Beverly Hills before he was appropriately buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
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The Bambino died August 16, 1948 from pneumonia and cancer at the age of 53, leaving behind an untouchable baseball career. For more than 12 hours, Ruth’s body was kept at the entrance of Yankee Stadium—the House he built—in an open casket and 100,000 mourners walked by to pay their respects. His funeral, held in grand fashion at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, was attended by 6,000 people and eulogized by the Archbishop of New York. Nearly 75,000 people lined the streets outside the gothic church, and later that day he was buried in upstate New York, 25 miles from the Bronx.
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The blonde beauty’s death on August 5, 1962 was ruled from an accidental overdose—but that did little to quell the heartbreak of her fans. Her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio made arrangements for Monroe to be buried three days later at Westwood Memorial Park, and she was dressed in a green Pucci dress and scarf. Famed acting coach Lee Strasberg gave the eulogy, saying, “Marilyn Monroe was a legend. In her own lifetime she created a myth of what a poor girl from a deprived background could attain. For the entire world she became a symbol of the eternal feminine…Marilyn never liked goodbyes, but in that peculiar way she had of turning things around so that they faced reality–I will say au revior.” Three times a week for the next 20 years, DiMaggio, who two weeks earlier planned on asking Marilyn to remarry him, sent red roses to her crypt.
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Garland couldn’t recover from an accidental sleeping pill overdose on June 22, 1969 and died, leaving behind her three children. Thousands of fans—undoubtedly touched by her most famous performance in The Wizard of Oz—lined up outside the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home (site of Valentino’s service) and nearly 15,000 were allowed inside to view her glass-enclosed coffin. The chapel was filled with flowers sent by Fred Astaire, James Stewart, William Paley, and Irving Berlin, and a rainbow-shaped wreath for her most famous song lay nearby. Her mourning daughter, Liza Minnelli, then 23 years old, made the funeral arrangements and the guest list rivaled a red carpet gathering: photographer Richard Avedon, Cary Grant, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Mickey Rooney, and Sid Caesar attended.
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The groundbreaking entertainer, affectionately called “La Baker,” broke racial boundaries in Hollywood by being the first African American woman to headline a major film. Four days before her death she premiered in a critically-acclaimed revue highlighting her 50 years in show business, attended (and bankrolled) by Prince Rainier of Monaco, Princess Grace, and Jackie O. Baker suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1975 at 68 and the expatriate received French military honors at her funeral, including a 21-gun salute held in front of 1,500 in Paris’ Church of the Madeleine.
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Everyone remembers where they were when the news came on August 16, 1977 that the King was dead at 42. Two days later, thousands of fans descended on Memphis for the funeral at Graceland, which was attended by Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie, Ann-Margret, George Hamilton, Chet Atkins, James Brown, Col. Tom Parker, Sammy Davis Jr., among many other stars. A funeral motorcade of 14 white Cadillacs led Elvis’ hearse from Graceland to Forest Lawn cemetery where he was laid to rest. “Son,” Elvis’ father, Vernon, cried alongside the casket, “Daddy will be with you soon. Daddy will be with you soon.” Not long after, Elvis was re-interred at Graceland and two years later Vernon was buried next to his son.
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The legendary Beatle was shot on December 8, 1980, outside his New York apartment building, The Dakota, by Mark David Chapman, an obsessed fan—just hours after Lennon had posed for photographer Annie Leibovitz. The news of Lennon’s death was first reported by Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football and soon thousands of fans had gathered outside The Dakota and began serenading Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon, who were upstairs. Ono sent a message to the crowd that their singing was keeping her awake and asked that they come back the following weekend and observe ten minutes of silence in Lennon’s honor. The next day, Ono announced, “There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean.” He was later cremated. And that weekend, 100,000 people gathered in Central Park (with 30,000 more in Liverpool) to remember Lennon silently. To this day, fans come to Strawberry Fields in Central Park to pay their respects.
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On September 13, 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco suffered a stroke while driving with her daughter Stephanie along a mountainside. She was pulled from the wreckage but never recovered. Five days later, a mass for 400 guests—including her To Catch a Thief costar Cary Grant, and Princess Diana, the only member of the British Royal family to attend—was held at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco. The funeral for America’s princess was viewed on television by nearly 100 million worldwide. In his eulogy, Jimmy Stewart said of Princess Grace, “You know, I just love Grace Kelly. Not because she was a princess, not because she was an actress, not because she was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met.”
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Two weeks after he was gunned down leaving a music industry party, 24-year-old rapper Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls and Notorious B.I.G) was memorialized at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home. Dressed in a double-breasted white suit and white hat, and laid to rest in a mahogany coffin lined with white velvet, Biggie was remembered by a who’s who of the rap world, including Dr. Dre, DMC of Run DMC, Foxy Brown, and his widow Faith Evans, who sang at the funeral. Sean Combs delivered the eulogy. The event was not without controversy—as a motorcade drove Notorious B.I.G. through his Brooklyn neighborhood, rowdy fans got into fights trying to get close to the cars.
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One week after Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris, her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997. Attended by the entire royal family as well as celebrities such as Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg, the service was watched on television by an estimated 2.5 billion people. Elton John sang a special tribute song to his good friend Diana, a new version of “Candle in the Wind,’ which he had originally written as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe.
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When the Chairman of the Board of show business dies, proper respect must be paid. And on May 20, 1998, following Frank Sinatra’s death at the age of 82, Hollywood young and old turned out to say goodbye to Ol’ Blue Eyes. Wayne Newton, Gregory Peck, and Robert Wagner were among the honorary pallbearers, and guests included Angie Dickinson, Don Rickles, Ed McMahon, Tom Selleck and Tony Danza. Among the music played was “Ave Maria”—and a medley of Sinatra songs.
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