Welcome to Hollywood Graveyard where we set out to remember and celebrate the
lives of those who lived to entertain us, by visiting their final resting places.
Today we continue our tour of Holy Cross Cemetery where we'll find such stars as
John Candy, Ray Bolger, Mary Astor, and many more.
Join us won't you?
Continuing our tour of Holy Cross Cemetery we'll be visiting the mausoleum
and the grounds surrounding it. There's nothing grim or doleful about
this mausoleum. The art is bright and colorful, modern, and full of life.
In addition to marble wall crypts there are also glass niches, all adorned with
Catholic symbolism. There are also several open-air courtyards on the north
side of the mausoleum. If you haven't done so already be sure to check out
part 1.
Picking up where we left off at part 1 we make our way over to the
mausoleum. We'll begin our tour on the lawn just
south of the mausoleum in Section P. Several spaces in from the road right at
the base of a tree is Hayden Rorke. He was a popular television actor during
the 60s and is best remembered as comedic foil Dr. Bellows on "I Dream of Jeannie,"
who was never quite able to figure out what was going on with Tony and Jeannie.
"Make it snow."
"Dr. Bellows, honestly."
"Try."
"Snow."
"I'm sorry about all this, sir. I'm sure it was all a coincidence."
"Snow."
He appeared in many other TV series of the era including "I Love Lucy,"
"The Twilight Zone," and "Perry Mason."
Across the street to the east is section N. Right next to the
road is Allison Hayes. She was an actress and model popular in many B-films of the
1950's, including "The Undead," and "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman."
"Attack of the 50-Foot Woman," incredibly huge with incredible desires for love
and vengeance.
Her health began to deteriorate in the 60s when she discovered that calcium
supplements she'd been taking contained extremely high levels of lead, and that
she was suffering from lead poisoning. She was diagnosed with leukemia and died
a few years later at just 46. Motivated by her situation the FDA amended laws
governing the importation of nutritional supplements.
Back four rows, several spaces
north is Jean Acker. She was an actress whose career began in the silent era.
Her notoriety doesn't come from her acting however, but her loved life. In 1919 she
met an aspiring actor named Rudolph Valentino.
They married after a whirlwind two-month courtship, but on their wedding night she
locked him out, quickly regretting the marriage as a big mistake. She fled and
the two were granted a divorce two years later. When asked why she married
Valentino she said, quote, "It was simply a case of California, the glamour of the
Southern California moonlight, and the fascinating lovemaking of the man."
She also had many lesbian lovers including actress Alla Nazimova. Jean was her protege.
Later in life she met a Ziegfeld Follies
girl Chloe Carter, who would become her life partner.
They're buried here next to each other.
Back one row just south is Daws Butler, one of Hollywood's favorite
cartoon voices. He worked mainly with Hanna-Barbera,
voicing such characters as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Wally Gator, and Elroy Jetson.
"Maybe this will teach my folks to believe me. When I'm rich and famous
they'll be sorry."
"Yeah, but I'm hungry."
"Hungry already? Okay. I brought some food for us."
"Now which one do you want? We got a ham and cheese capsule,
a fried egg capsule, a chicken chow mein peel. Pick one.
"What'd you do that for Astro? That was supposed to last us for all whole week."
He was also the original voice of Cap'n Crunch.
North several spaces along this
same row if the King of Comedy, Mack Sennett. In 1912 he formed the
Keystone Film Company, the leading comedy studio of the era, which helped launch
the careers of stars like Mabel Normand, Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle,
Ben Turpin, Gloria Swanson, and more. Sennett was an innovator of the slapstick style
of comedy. He also acted in many of his films. Here he is with Fatty Arbuckle,
watching a movie starring Mabel Normand... not quite able to grasp the illusion of
what he was seeing on screen.
One row up in several spaces north is actress Mary Astor. Her career began as
a teen in the silent era, and she transitioned smoothly into the talkies.
She won an Oscar for her role in the 1941 film "The Great Lie," and also starred
in the noir classic "The Maltese Falcon."
"You've got to trust me Mr. Spade. Oh I'm
so alone and afraid. I've got nobody to help me if you won't help me.
Be generous Mr. Spade. You're brave, you're strong. You can spare me some of
that courage and strength, surely. Help me Mr. Spade, I need help so badly. I've
no right to ask you, I know I haven't but I do ask you. Help me."
"You won't need much of anybody's help, you're good. Chiefly your eyes I think, and
that throb you get in your voice when you say things like, 'Be generous Mr. Spade.'"
"I deserved that."
Her memoir "A Life on Film" became a
best-seller. She once famously summed up her career
with the quote: "There are five stages in the life of an actor:
Who's Mary Astor?
Get me Mary Astor.
Get me a Mary Astor type.
Get me a young Mary Astor.
Who's Mary Astor?
Let's make our way over to the mausoleum, shall we?
Beautiful isn't it? Recently repainted too!
Heading into the main entrance, low on the wall to the left we find the crypt
of Ray Bolger. In our last tour we visited the Tin Man. Here we find the
Scarecrow. Ray Bolger played the part of the beloved bumbling man of straw in the
1939 film "The Wizard of Oz."
"What would you do with the brain if you had one?"
"Do? Why if I had a brain I could..."
[music]
Other film roles include "The Great Ziegfeld," and "Babes in Toyland."
Heading further into the mausoleum, to the right of the dome, is Joan Davis. She was a
comedic actress seen on stage, film, radio, and television. She is perhaps best
remembered for her role in the TV series "I Married Joan." She can also be seen in
films like Abbott and Costello's "Hold That Ghost."
Right next to Joan is singer Mario Lanza.
He was an Italian tenor known as "the singing Clark Gable" for his good
looks and powerful voice. After seeing Lanza perform at the
Hollywood Bowl, MGM head Louis B. Mayer signed him to a film contract. His films
include "The Toast of New Orleans," which featured a best-selling song "Be My Love,"
"The great Caruso," and "Because You're Mine," featuring the Oscar-nominated song of
the same name.
[music]
He was a bright star who burned out too quickly,
dying of a heart attack at the age of 38.
Heading back the way we came we turn
left before the entrance, then right at the statue. At the end of the first
corridor on the left, high on the wall, is Spike Jones. He was a musician whose band
Spike Jones and His City Slickers specialized in satirical and comedic
arrangements of popular and classical songs, accompanied by cowbells,
car horns, tin cans, gunshots, and more. I'll bet you've never heard Tchaikovsky
quite like this before.
Continuing down this corridor we turn right into room 7. High on the left
wall is John Candy, one of the most beloved comedians of the 20th century.
He was born in Canada and rose to prominence on the popular sketch comedy
series SCTV. His work on the show earned him two Emmys. He soon made his way to
Hollywood landing small roles in films like "1941." As his star rose he landed
prominent and leading roles in films like "Uncle Buck," and as the lovable Barf
on Spaceballs,
"What was that?"
"Never mind that... what was that?"
"Hi!"
"Who are you?"
"Barf."
"No in here mister, this is a Mercedes!"
"Nah, that's my name. Barf."
"Barf? What are you?"
"I'm a Mog. Half man, half dog. I'm my own best friend."
He was in the midst of filming "Wagon's East" when he died quite suddenly of a heart attack in
Mexico. He was just 43.
Two spaces down from John is Hollywood's favorite dad,
Fred MacMurray. He's perhaps best remembered for his role in "My Three Sons,"
one of televisions longest-running sitcoms. MacMurray played a single
widower raising his three sons, a revolutionary concept at the time when
the nuclear family was the norm on television. In order to work around his
schedule the series was shot out of sequence, with all of MacMurray's scenes
shot in a block, and all the other scenes shot later.
"My Three Sons," starring Fred MacMurray.
And as Bub, William Frawley."
He also starred in the Billy Wilder noir classic "Double Indemnity."
Entombed alongside Fred is his wife, June Haver, who was an actress in the 40s and 50s.
She was groomed by 20th Century Fox to be the next Betty Grable, though
she never achieved the same level of success as Betty. Her films include
"Look for the Silver Lining" with Ray Bolger who we visited earlier, and "The Dolly Sisters."
She retired from show business in the 1950s.
Heading back to the
entrance let's continue on to the other side of the mausoleum, to block 4.
Near the end, on the right wall, is the crypt of Ned Washington. He was a songwriter
and lyricist whose songs were featured in films and TV shows from the 20s to
the 60s. He was nominated for 11 Academy Awards in his career winning twice.
You'll recall our tour of Valhalla when we visited Leigh Harline, the man who
composed the music for "When You Wish Upon a Star." Ned wrote the lyrics.
Other songs include "Rawhide," "High Noon," and "Baby Mine" from "Dumbo."
[music]
For our last stop we'll be heading out to one of the open courtyards behind the
mausoleum. The easiest way to find it is to head back outside, to the east side
along the road, then head into the second courtyard. In a room of niches to the
left, low on the wall, is child actress and Disney legend Virginia Davis.
Before Mickey Mouse young Virginia was the star of the Walt Disney Company, playing Alice
in a series of live-action hybrid shorts called "The Alice Comedies." She began
working for Walt in 1924 at his Laugh-O-Gram studio while still in Kansas City.
When Disney moved out to LA he convinced Davis and her family to come along to
continue making the Alice comedies. The success of these short films paved the way
for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse, and all the rest. Here she is with a very
young Walt Disney, watching them draw their funnies.
And that concludes our tour! What are some of your favorite memories of the
stars we visited today? Share them in the comments below, and be sure to like, share,
and subscribe for more famous grave tours.
Thanks for watching, we'll see you on the next one.
Did you guys notice that golf cart parked in the mausoleum?
What you've heard about LA is true...
a good parking space is nearly impossible to find.