32 Celebs Who Had Open Casket Funerals

Not everyone likes the idea of an open casket funeral  of celebs in particular where the casket is in front of the ceremony venue. But people attending the funeral get the chance if they wish to see the body and to pay their respects. However, others appreciate the idea of an open casket funeral for celebs because for them it brings a chance to say goodbye and to get closure on the person’s life.

With an open casket funeral, the body will have been ‘prepared’, which means the celeb will be dressed and made up, giving it a presentable appearance. If you are uncomfortable with an open casket, there is absolutely no obligation to view the body. Many celebs who have an open casket funeral, feel they are allowing their fans to say goodbye. Let’s look at 32 celebs who have Marilyn Monroe One of Famous Celebshad open casket funerals.

  1. Bobbi Kristina Brown – Whitney Houston’s daughter
  2. Whitney Houston – singer – buried with 500,000 worth of jewellery
  3. Robin Williams– actor – suffered with depression, ending his life
  4. Martin Luther King Jr. – American Baptist minister and civil rights leader – shot dead in Memphis
  5. Elvis Presley – rock ‘n rock singer
  6. Rudolph Valentino – actor – died at 31 – 100,000 devoted fans attended the funeral
  7. Babe Ruth – baseball player – his body lay in an open casket in Yankee Stadium on August 17
  8. Judy Garland – actress and singer – mourners viewed her body in its glass-enclosed coffin
  9. James Brown – singer – his coffin was on view at the Apollo Theater in New York
  10. Edgar Allan Poe – classic writer – his death remains a mystery till this day
  11. Rock Hudson – actor – died of Aids complications
  12. Arthur Ashe – tennis player – died at 49 – laid in state – thousands view the casket
  13. Anthony Perkins – star in Psycho series
  14. Freddie Mercury – singer – died at 4 from bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS
  15. River Phoenix – actor – 23 when he died from overdose of cocaine and morphine
  16. Bruce Lee – actor – pictures show Bruce Lee in his open casket for his funeral
  17. Abraham Lincoln – President – his body was on display in cities all over America
  18. Ray Charles – Jazz Legend – he was laid out for public viewing before his funeral
  19. Princess Grace of Monaco – she died at 52 after she had a stroke and crashed her car
  20. Eva Peron – wife of Argentine President Juan Perón – pictured in a coffin beside her husband
  21. Boris Yeltsin – Russian President – died in 2007
  22. General Douglas MacArthur – died at 84 – 35,000 people viewed his open casket
  23. Vladimir Lenin – communist revolutionary leader – died at 53 and lay in state
  24. Robert Reed – actor – his memorial service took place at All Saints Episcopal Church, in Pasadena
  25. John F Kennedy – President of USA – flag draped coffin viewed by hundreds of thousands
  26. BB King – Blues Guitarist – open casket viewing of his body in Las Vegas
  27. Michael Jackson – singer – close family members viewed the body in an open casket at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills
  28. Mahatma Gandhi – Indian leader in British-ruled India -lay in state after his assassination in 1948
  29. Lee Harvey Oswald – assassinated Kennedy – lots of misunderstanding around his burial
  30. Jesse James – American outlaw and bank robber – fatally shot by Robert Ford
  31. Marilyn Monroe – actress and singer – wore a green dress and scarf
  32. Billie Holliday – jazz singer – open casket funeral mass held at Church of St. Paul the Apostle, NY

There is Closure for Fans of Celebs

Of course, there are valid reasons not to have an open casket. But people opt not to because of cultural or religious beliefs. And some people simply want to remember the person as they were. Celebs affect so many lives, and believe they owe it to their supportive fans to say goodbye, and an open casket funeral is one way to achieve this.

Where celebs have been disfigured in an accident, embalming can mask the injuries to some extent to make their appearance more lifelike and at peace. Fans who are afforded the privilege of seeing their idols in an open casket funeral can recall amid the emotional goodbyes, the feeling of peace. The feelings they have experienced from following their idols can now be buried with the celebs.

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All info was correct at time of publishing