Funeral home to the stars celebrating 125 years protecting high-profile clients
nypost.comformer Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Mayor Ed Koch, mobster Frank Costello, Aaliyah, Heath Ledger, Biggie Smalls, Joan Rivers and Ivana Trump.Villanova, 54, revealed the most expensive casket Frank E.
Campbell offers to the rich and famous — the Pharaoh sarcophagus, which goes for over $150,000 and is made of cast bronze.“It’s one of a kind, never to be made again,” he said.
Founded in 1898 by Frank E. Campbell, the funeral home’s star-studded history dates back to their first buzzed-about viewing, in 1926 for actor Rudolph Valentino.The services for Valentino, who died suddenly from a ruptured ulcer at age 31, attracted more than 30,000.“I can’t tell you how many times that we have walked out of the funeral home with a casket and there are just tourists standing there in their shorts.
They have no clue who the person is,” said Villanova, who has been at the helm there for 25 years.When Jackie O died in 1994, she was waked at her Fifth Avenue apartment, but a hearse from Frank E.
Read more on nypost.com
