Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Waking the Dead: Hollywood is Forever

I must admit that I am a sucker for a good celebrity sighting.  The older I get, the less I am struck by the stardom and the more I am struck by the value that our society (myself included) places on celebrity.  As much as certain magazines want to make us believe that they are "just like us," the truth is that celebrities are so very different.  Ask yourself, "When was the last time I worked for a couple months and got paid more money than most people will see over the course of their entire life?"  Ask yourself, "If I got busted for drugs, multiple hit-and-run accidents, and theft, would I still be free to drive my new Porsche?"  Ask yourself, "Will Promises have my regular room available?"  Then ask yourself, "Why do I still love celebrities so much?"  It is a cultural phenomenon which I refuse to battle.

Yes, celebrities are very different from the average Joe in most ways but one; eventually we ALL kick the proverbial bucket.  On one of our patented, absolutely directionless adventure days we headed to Los Angeles and encountered both celebrity and death! 

Do you recognize this house?

Sometimes it seems that the well of excitement around town has run dry; it is at that moment that I break out my trusty list of things that I still haven't seen (or covered here on wacky tacky) and we begin the hunt.  This time we tracked down one of the most infamous addresses in LA - The Los Feliz Murder House.  One Christmas Eve more than 50 years ago, a wealthy doctor, seemingly unprovoked, violently bludgeoned his wife to death before attacking one of his children and eventually killing himself.  As the story goes, the house has remained untouched for lo these many years and the creepy crime scene is still decorated for Christmas!  Every online reference to this property tells a version of the same story, but nobody backs it up with pictorial proof.  Sadly, we will be no exception to the rule; as soon as we got out of the car, a neighbor came out of her house and threatened to call the cops if we trespassed.  Given the house's history, it seems like there are far worse outcomes to exploring its grounds than getting into a hassle with Edison Security guards or the LAPD, but I was really not interested in pushing the limits of the wacky wagon as a getaway car, so we snapped a few photos of the house and hit the road.

With mortality on our mind, we made a short jaunt over to one of Hollywood's most famous resting places, Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

A Rolls Hearse - CLAAAAASSY!!!


Hollywood Forever Cemetery is tucked away off of Santa Monica Blvd. - a quiet respite from the city noise in the shadow of Paramount Studios.  There are many celebrities there, but we ran out of time and steam to track down every last one of them; here are just a few of our favorites.

A modest marker for King Kong's muse.

Fay Wray
(Source)

Finally sedated

Johnny Ramone
(Source)

A really lovely monument, surrounded by roses

Hattie McDaniel
(Source)


Security made it clear that Tyrone Power's tomb is not a park bench.

Tyrone Power
(Source)

Jayne's is just a cenotaph; her remains are elsewhere but a true Hollywood
legend needs a Hollywood address.

Jayne Mansfield
(Source)

C.B. was finally ready for his close up.

Cecil B. DeMille
(Source)

A flock of peacocks roams the grounds

Believe it or not, Vampira's grave wasn't on the map!
Fortunately, Mary found it as she wandered.

Maila "Vampira" Nurmi
(Source)

The most ostentatious temple to to man's ego is found at the grave of Douglas Fairbanks and his son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

A classical-style temple complete with bronze relief and reflecting pool

Dougy, is that you?

I guess if I had the funds, I would do the same thing.

Junior
Senior
(Source)


Movie stars of every kind are buried here, even non-human celebs like Toto!


Toto gets a snuggle
(Source)

Some of the the most celebrated stars are resting inside the Cathedral Mausoleum.


Behind a pane of glass sits a bronze library with a volume dedicated to
tap legend, Eleanor Powell.  If you put your ear up to the glass, you can still
hear some fancy tapping.

Eleanor Powell
(Source)

"I Dood It" - Eleanor Powell
This is one of the finest feats of terpsichore that I have ever seen!!! 


I think this one was my favorite.  Peter Lorre is awesome!

Peter Lorre
(Source)


Hollywood Forever's most famous resident is perhaps the original "Latin Lover," Rudolph Valentino.

There are fresh kisses on the marble!

Rudolph Valentino
(Source)

Other notables include: Clifton Webb, Janet Gaynor, Nelson Eddy, Charlie Chaplin, Jr., Darla and Alfalfa (of Little Rascals fame), Mel Blanc, Norma Talmadge, and even though he doesn't appear on the star maps, David White (Darren's boss, Larry Tate, on Bewitched), is there too!


Hollywood Forever Cemetery is sort of a "must see" for lovers of Hollywood and "Hollyweird."  As morbid as it sounds, this is really my kind of celebrity sighting - no awkward silence (plenty of silence, none of it awkward).  As neat as Hollywood Forever is, I must say that I almost prefer the cemeteries of "regular" people; there I can invent my own backstory about their lives, loves, and losses.  Although they have long since passed on to their great reward, I can't help but get a bit of a thrill seeing the final resting places of so much Hollywood royalty.



Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monica Blvd
Hollywood, CA
(323)469-1181

www.hollywoodforever.com


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

p.s. Don't forget, there is still plenty of time to enter our big giveaway.  Go!  Enter!! WIN!!!

30 comments:

  1. next time I go to LA, I am going here. I know my brother lives there and he went on the tour that takes you to Nicole Brown Simpsons house and by the Viper Room where River Phoenix OD'd

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    1. There is so much to see around LA, it can be exhausting! Exhausting, but loads of fun! Stay tuned for more celebrity sightings!!!

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  2. My sister lives a few blocks away from there and till this day, I haven't gone to visit this place. Ack! I love Valentino's headstone. It is full of kisses.

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    1. You've got to see it! Being "pocket sized," you might need a boost to add your kiss to Mr. Valentino! Next time you're out that way, be sure to visit.

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  3. I always look forward to your posts, and this was another great one! Line of the post: 'Johnny Ramone : Finally sedated' !

    Talking of all the kisses on Valentino's headstone, that is NOTHING compared to Oscar Wilde's - you can see a picture of it on this old blog post of mine:

    http://incendiaryblonde.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/paris-je-taime.html

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    1. You always have to one-up me, don't you?! I give you a bit of Hollywood and you give us a whole lot of PARIS!!! Hahahaha!!! I think they clean Valentino's marble at the end of the day. Who, I wonder, is kissing Oscar Wilde's grave? Your trip looked awesome; take me with next time, please!

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  4. What a great post, I had no idea Toto had his own head stone and Vampira has the most bad ass stone of all!

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    1. I wish all of the great Hollywood animals had headstones - Leo, the MGM lion, Mr. Ed, Francis the Talking Mule, Captain Kangaroo (haha). I'm so glad Mary found Vampira's grave!

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  5. I am still shocked in all my trips to LA I have never been there. I am putting it on my list as a must for next time.

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    1. Next time you are in town, be sure to add it to the itinerary. It's close to a lot of other cool stuff!

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  6. We never did that when we went to Hollywood - great idea! Love the photos along with the tombstones...

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    1. You must go - especially if you are a fan of old Hollywood! We have many more celebrity grave visits coming up so at least you'll get a second hand tour of LA cemeteries!

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  7. Fantastic post!! Definitely my kind of "celebrity sighting", too, as all my favorite stars are long dead, ha. Such beautiful grounds, too, with the ponds and peacocks... a worthy final resting place for sure! I'm putting this on my to-visit list!!!

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    1. It is a really lovely place. There are several beautiful cemeteries around here with Hollywood hotshots that we plan to feature - stay tuned!!!

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  8. I can't believe that in all the years we lived on Normandie (near Franklin) I never knew about the Los Feliz Murder House! The "John Sowden House" built by Lloyd Wright, was right around the corner from us, and some believe the Black Dahlia was murdered there. (I had a slight BD obsession in my twenties and even visited the sight where her body was found)
    The Los Feliz Murder house is beautiful...what a shame it will be if it ever gets torn down...but so typical of Los Angeles. (sigh)

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    1. I'm am not a Black Dahlia buff, but I have always been fascinated by the case. The Ennis House (another Wright masterpiece) can actually be seen from the "Murder House." One day we plan on getting up all of the steps and peeking in the windows; I will report back when it happens.

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  9. I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! As soon as I saw the picture I thought "Los Feliz"! Quite a strange thing there, and no one really knows what became of the daughters that lived there. Im also kind of in shock that the sign for "Hollywood Forever" Cemetery is as plain/tacky as it is... with so many stars in there you'd think they'd have a big statly marble sign out at the gates like that of Fairbanks tomb.

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    1. So sad, and spooky. Apparently another, unrelated family owns the property but refuses to live there or do anything with it - VERY strange! Your absolutely right, the sign is a little odd for such a magnificent place.

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  10. I always love your posts so much! And this one is a great one! I must think to visit some L.A. cimeteries, I have never visited one... looks like Père Lachaise cimetery in Paris, full of stars!

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    1. And I yours; I wonder if someone has done a book/blog/website about all the great cemeteries all over the world. I hope to get to see some European cemeteries soon; we did check one out when we were in Spain - no celebrities though!

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  11. I want to go to there! FABULOUS POST, SIR. I think I would want to see Toto and Doug Fairbanks Sr's grave the most. Too bad you couldn't get into the xmas murder house! Maybe next time.

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    1. Well you wouldn't have far to go; they are right next to each other! The Fairbanks' grave is really a sight to behold. There are actually marble benches built into the structure, so I just hung out in the Dougs' dugout for a little while.

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  12. wow super interesting post! hollywood is such a strange place- full of glitz and glamour but also lies.

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    1. Yes, it is full of all kinds of nefarious things. I guess the whole world is like that with just a particularly high concentration in Hollywood!

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  13. i would loooove to go here! great pictures! ironically enough, i just posted a column i wrote for a new web zine about some of my favorite celebrity grave visits (including hasil adkins!) the web address is hexbeat.com if you're interested.

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    1. Totally interested - I'll check it out. It kind of spurred us on to see all of the celebrity graves around town; there are A LOT!!! We'll keep posting as we see them!

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  14. Great post. I LOVE this cemetary. We need to go to a movie there some time, although I can assure you it won't be as awesome as the backyard. Plus no popcorn maker...

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    1. Let's go!!! Can't wait for movie nights this summer!

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  15. very cool post! i would love to go to hollywood forever. i bet i could wander there all day! i can't believe vampira wasn't on the map!
    i live for a celebrity siting! johnny depp just bought a house in nashville and i'm dying to catch a glimpse of him.

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    1. I hope you get your chance to see him. He seems like the kind of guy who could just show up at a local coffee shop.

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