A Deck of Cards and A Golden Whistle

The ancient Egyptians interred their dead alongside ­practical objects: cups, bowls, eating utensils, and little statues of servants that were said to come to life when activated by magic spells. Archaeologists call such items “grave goods.” Today, we still bury our dead with grave goods, though the objects tend to be more sentimental than practical. Even actors, whose films have granted them more immortality than most, are routinely buried with mementos meant to defy the nothingness of the beyond. Here are some of the items that Hollywood stars have taken to their tombs.

Harry Houdini (d. 1926) Buried with his mother’s letters

In between his death-­defying feats as a celebrated escapologist, Harry Houdini found time to produce and star in several films, as well as to set up a business devoted to high-speed film processing. Houdini had always worshipped his mother, and when in New York he would try to visit her grave daily, either at dawn or fifteen minutes after midnight, the time of her death. When Houdini himself died, of a ruptured appendix, he was buried in a bronze casket purchased for one of his acts, with his mother’s letters placed in a black bag and propped beneath his head as a pillow.

Rudolph Valentino (d. 1926) Buried with his “slave bracelet”

One of Hollywood’s first heartthrobs, Rudolph Valentino was not exactly considered a “man’s man.” His smoldering gaze and slicked-back hair (some called him “Vaselino”) endeared him to millions of female fans, but male moviegoers just shrugged. According to Valentino’s former manager George Ullman, the Great Lover was buried wearing a “slave bracelet” given to him by his wife, Natacha, as a Christmas present in 1924.  Valentino rarely removed the bracelet (formed of heavy, interlocking platinum links), and throughout his life the press seized on it as a symbol of his supposed effeminacy. The bracelet was even mentioned in a 1926 Chicago Tribune editorial, which held that Valentino, floppy pants, and masculine cosmetics were responsible for the decline of the American male. Enraged, Valentino wrote a letter challenging the writer of the editorial to a ­physical “test of honor,” perhaps a boxing match. His sign-off included the line “Hoping I will have an opportunity to demonstrate to you that the wrist under a slave bracelet may snap a real fist into your sagging jaw.” The journalist never replied.

Bela Lugosi (d. 1956) Buried in his Dracula outfit

The brilliantly ghoulish Bela Lugosi was forever ­pigeonholed as a horror villain, and he spent his later years languishing in B-movie obscurity, addicted to morphine and alcohol. Director Ed Wood shot the very last footage of Lugosi wearing his Dracula outfit, and...