Wealthy superfans are spending up to $195,000 (£148,000) to secure burial plots next to Hollywood legends like Marilyn Monroe, according to a report by The New York Post. The trend has turned America's most famous cemeteries into exclusive gated communities for the deceased.
Tech Investor Buys Crypt Next to Marilyn Monroe
Anthony Jabin, a 62-year-old tech investor, paid $195,000 at an auction for a single-space mausoleum crypt at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles. His final resting place sits one row up and four spaces to the left of the Some Like It Hot star. Jabin said: "I bought the crypt next to Marilyn Monroe because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend eternity with the most iconic actress of all time - and she's definitely my favourite blonde." He also sends Monroe flowers on her birthday every year.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sees Surge in Demand
At Hollywood Forever Cemetery, co-owner Yogu Kanthiah noted: "Over the years, many families have told us that being near a celebrity is meaningful because it creates a sense of connection to Hollywood history and culture." In the Garden of Legends, plots start at around $200,000 and can exceed $6 million for custom mausoleums. Noelle Berman, director of Private Estates, said requests for celebrity-adjacent plots happen "all the time." She added: "We take a golf cart tour. We see Neil Sedaka, Johnny Ramone, or another star, and the client says, 'I want a plot near them.'"
Berman revealed that 70% of sales are made in advance because "once it's sold, it's sold." Inside the Judy Garland Pavilion, a niche for an urn starts at around $8,800. Artist Geoffrey Dicker, 49, paid over $50,000 for a glass-front niche steps from Garland. He said: "The niche cost more than $50,000. It's like the size of a big shoe box. There is almost no iconic figure bigger than Judy Garland." Dicker, who is gay, added: "Before I understood what it meant to be gay, I watched Garland play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. It was always that fantasy land that you could escape to."
New York's Woodlawn Cemetery Attracts Jazz Fans
On the East Coast, Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx features a "Jazz Corner" where plots near Duke Ellington and Miles Davis cost around $76,995. Marian Pardo, 79, and her husband Michael Toonkel, 85, bought plots there to be near the musical icons. Pardo said: "My husband and I don't always agree about a lot of stuff. But we always agreed about how much we liked jazz." She added: "I want to be someplace where people want to be."
