15 Celebs Buried in Unmarked Graves

Famous names are often linked to grand memorials, yet many well known figures were laid to rest without a headstone. Some families chose privacy. Others faced cost, controversy, or simple neglect. In many cases the exact burial spot is known but left intentionally bare. In others the location has faded from public record.

This list gathers notable people who were buried without a marker at the time of interment, along with where they were laid to rest and what became of their graves. Several later received monuments after years without one, while a few remain unmarked to this day. Each entry notes the setting, the timeline, and what visitors will or will not find if they go looking.

Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles in 1993. His plot is in a quiet section of the cemetery and was left without a headstone by family choice. Visitors find no engraved marker at the site.

The cemetery office confirms his interment location for those who inquire, but there is no visible stone on the lawn. A cenotaph for other family members sits nearby, yet Zappa’s own grave remains unmarked.

George C. Scott

George C. Scott was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park in 1999. His family did not place a headstone, keeping the grave unmarked among the tightly packed celebrity plots in that small cemetery.

Fans who visit Westwood can locate the area through cemetery maps, but there is no nameplate or slab at his exact spot. The decision has remained in place since his burial.

Lon Chaney

Silent film icon Lon Chaney was entombed in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Glendale in 1930. His crypt lacks an inscription, which was consistent with the family’s preference for privacy at the time.

The mausoleum’s corridors include many famous names, yet Chaney’s specific niche bears no identifying text. Researchers track the section and tier, but a casual visitor would not see his name on the crypt front.

Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge was buried at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills in 1965 without a headstone. For decades her grave had no marker, even as her legacy grew through retrospectives and renewed recognition.

A proper monument was finally placed in 1999 after a fundraising effort and coordination with the cemetery. The stone now identifies her resting place, but she spent many years in an unmarked grave.

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was buried at Mount Lawn Cemetery in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania in 1937. Her family could not afford a headstone then, and the grave remained unmarked through the following decades.

In 1970 a granite marker was installed with help from supporters who wanted the site properly identified. Visitors today can find her name, birth date, and the title that fans long used to describe her.

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston was buried at the Garden of Heavenly Rest in Fort Pierce, Florida in 1960. Her grave was unmarked for years, and for a time even the precise location within the cemetery was uncertain.

In 1973 a headstone was placed after careful investigation of cemetery records and local testimony. The marker stands now, but the burial was unmarked for a long period after her death.

Robert Johnson

Blues musician Robert Johnson was buried near Greenwood, Mississippi in 1938, and his grave went unmarked for decades. Conflicting accounts placed him at more than one churchyard, which led to multiple memorial stones later.

In the late twentieth century markers were added at the cemeteries most often cited in eyewitness recollections and official documents. The original burial lacked a headstone, and the exact spot remains the subject of discussion among historians.

Elmore James

Elmore James was buried in Mississippi in 1963 with no headstone on the grave. For years fans could not find any marked site that confirmed his resting place.

A granite marker was finally installed in the early 1990s after blues enthusiasts documented the cemetery and raised funds. The stone gives his dates and honors his influence on electric slide guitar.

Charley Patton

Charley Patton was buried in Holly Ridge, Mississippi in 1934 without a headstone. His grave site in a small Delta cemetery went unmarked for over half a century.

In 1990 a monument was set at the cemetery after researchers pinpointed the location through local records and interviews. The marker identifies Patton and notes his role in shaping early American music, but the original burial had no stone.

Blind Willie Johnson

Blind Willie Johnson died in 1945 and was buried in Beaumont, Texas. The exact plot is unknown, and the grave has no marker that identifies his remains today.

A memorial cenotaph stands in a Beaumont cemetery to honor him, but it does not mark his actual burial. Researchers have narrowed the likely area through historical records, yet the specific unmarked grave has never been confirmed.

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi was buried in Vienna in 1741 in a poor grave without a headstone. The burial ground was later redeveloped, and the exact plot was lost.

A commemorative plaque in the city acknowledges his burial in that area, but it does not mark the original grave. No surviving stone identifies where his remains were placed.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was buried in a common grave at St. Marx Cemetery in Vienna in 1791. The plot was unmarked, which was customary for that class of burial at the time.

A memorial was added at St. Marx long after his death as a symbolic site for visitors. The monument does not sit on the precise grave, since the original unmarked plot could not be identified with certainty.

Tommy Johnson

Tommy Johnson was buried in Crystal Springs, Mississippi in 1956. His grave went unmarked for many years while family members and local historians worked to document the exact plot.

A headstone was finally placed in the early 2010s after a community effort resolved placement and legal issues. The stone now marks his resting place, but the burial itself was long unmarked.

Judee Sill

Judee Sill was buried in Los Angeles in 1979 without a headstone. For decades fans who visited the cemetery found no marker that identified her grave.

A memorial stone was placed many years later following a fundraising campaign organized by admirers. The site is now identifiable, but the original interment had no marker.

Casey Kasem

Casey Kasem was buried at Vestre Gravlund in Oslo in 2014. The grave was left without a headstone following a prolonged family dispute that affected burial arrangements.

Reports from visitors noted the absence of a marker at the plot for years after his interment. The site remained unmarked while paperwork and family decisions continued to be sorted out.

Share the names or stories you think belong on this list in the comments so everyone can learn more.