Call me crazy but I love a good cemetery. Not just your modern day version, with generic plaques on the ground but ones with headstones, family vaults and a good mausoleum to give it character. My favorite one is Hollywood Forever Cemetery, located at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd. in the city of Hollywood… of course.
This memorial park lies directly behind Paramount Studios, which is appropriate because of the many celebrities who have found eternal peace here. From legendary screen stars such as Rudolph Valentino and Fay Wray to gangsters like Bugsy Siegel, along with punk rocker Johnny Ramone of the Ramones, this place definitely has intrigue.
My first visit to Hollywood Forever was to accompany a photographer friend who works for a local newspaper. The travel editor was doing a piece for Halloween on haunted Hollywood and my friend was to do the photos. As she had no idea what was worth photographing, due to her lack of interest in films, she asked me along. I’m known among my friends as a movie buff and she could count on my knowledge to help her out.
Despite the heat of the Santa Ana winds that day, the cemetery gave the illusion of coolness and peace, especially when entering the Hollywood Cathedral Mausoleum, one of several mausoleums in the cemetery. When you first enter the building, there are a number of larger than life statues depicting the apostles lining the main hallway. If you recognize the interior, it’s been used in television shows such as Charmed.
This is where Rudolph Valentino, legendary hero of the silent screen, lies. There are also several other actors interned in this particular crypt. Peter Finch, Peter Lorre and Larry White of television’s Bewitched series just to name a few.
Just outside, there are a quite a few memorials including one to Douglas Fairbanks and his son Douglas Fairbanks Jr. who were both famous film actors in the early half of the 20th century. Just across the small road is Hattie McDaniel’s monument. She was the first African-American female to win an academy award, for the movie Gone With The Wind.
Not too far from Hattie McDaniel, is probably the most photographed gravestone in the cemetery, the one of Johnny Ramone. On this day, I brought my teenage niece with me. Although not an expert on classic film actors, she does enjoy a good cemetery. She had no idea who Rudolph Valentino was, nor Tyrone Power. However, she did know Johnny Ramone, and his friends Rob Zombie and Eddie Vedder, whose farewell quotes, are written on the side of his memorial.
Fay Wray’s non-descript plaque is adjacent to Johnny Ramone’s impressive monument. When I mentioned Fay Wray she had a blank look on her face. I said, “I can’t believe you don’t know who she is!”
She replied, “Name a movie she was in.”
I said, “King Kong.”
She said, “I got it.”
I said, “The classic, black and white version.”
She retorted, “I said, I got it!”
No matter if you are a classic film buff, long time resident or just a tourist in town to see the sights, Hollywood Forever Cemetery should be on your list of things to see.
A comprehensive site for all the stars interned in this cemetery along with a map is here.
More information and photo by Wikipedia.com
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Mali Elfman // Jan 22, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Creepy…but cool!
2 cornel // Jan 22, 2008 at 5:40 pm
An equally interesting, if not more so, cemetery replete with impressive mausoleums, art deco head stones, weeping angels, etc can be found on Venice Blvd at Normandie, across the street from Loyola High School (my alma mater). This place is a little shabby, sadly, but full of interesting things. Rasputin’s daughter is buried here, but you’ll have to find where.
3 Karl // Jan 22, 2008 at 6:14 pm
**unrelated to topic**
cornel…I can’t click on your name, but email me…what year were you at LHS?
4 The Warner Grand Theater | LA CityZine.com - Los Angeles // Jan 29, 2008 at 10:01 am
[...] I established in my first article, on Hollywood Forever Cemetery, I have a penchant for movies and things from the past. For this piece, the Warner Grand Theater, [...]
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