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Westchester Cemeteries Serve As Final Resting Place For Host Of Stars

With Halloween around the bend, thoughts turn to things that go bump in the night.

Mariah Carey's dog, Clarence, is buried at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetary.

Mariah Carey's dog, Clarence, is buried at the Hartsdale Pet Cemetary.

Photo Credit: Submitted

And nowhere better to look -- or at least think about snooping around  -- than at a cemetery. Which got us thinking: Who may be buried in Westchester that's worth a visit?

Lots of famous people are buried in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, among them Actress Anne Bancroft, Baseball Legend Lou Gehrig and Actor Danny Kaye, American Jazz Trombonist Tommy Dorsey and Abstract Expressionist Painter Robert DeNiro Senior, father of well-known Actor Robert DeNiro. 

The Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow also has a large claim to fame with Philanthropist Brooke Astor and her husband, Vincent, Walter Chrysler, founder of the eponymous car company, Makeup Tycoon Elizabeth Arden, Hotel Exec Leona Helmsley, often dubbed the "Queen of Mean," and, of course, Washington Irving, who set much of his beloved “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” in the cemetery.

Actress Judy Holliday, Actors Tony Randall, and Ron Siver, along with Lyricists George and Ira Gershwin are buried in The Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings.

Judy Garland had been at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale for years until her remains were moved to Hollywood.

And if you're more interested in pets than people, check out The Hartsdale Pet Cemetery, the oldest pet cemetery in the nation, where Mariah Carey's dog, Clarence, is buried. According to a spokesperson, it's a very popular destination. 

Among the celebrities who have chosen to bury their pets at Hartsdale are Gene Krupa, Joe Garagiola, Elizabeth Arden, Kate Smith, George Raft, and Evelyn Nesbitt.

Some celebrity pet owners have chosen to be buried with their pets. While burial with a pet is technically illegal in human cemeteries, if people are cremated, they can spend eternity with their pet in a pet cemetery. Hartsdale buries the cremated remains of five to 10 people a year. The ashes of Jack MacPherson, whose television persona was the “Magic Chef" reside in an urn perched atop a gravestone dedicated to his pets. (His wife's ashes are there too.)

The cemetery was established in1896 and is home to more than 80,000 pets and has spurred the creation of 600 additional pet burial grounds across the country.   

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