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're exploring Calvary Cemetery, where we'll find the
Barrymores, Lou Costello, Mabel Normand, and many more.
Join us, won't you?
Calvary is a Catholic cemetery located in East LA and run by the Archdiocese of
Los Angeles. It was founded in 1896 and is the oldest Catholic
cemetery in the area. The original Calvary Cemetery was founded in the
mid-1800s closer to downtown, near what is now Dodger Stadium. The who's who of
early LA were buried there, including the Pico family. When development in the area
began to encroach on the cemetery it was decided that it would be shut down and
eventually moved here to East LA in the 1890s. The old cemetery was abandoned,
fell into disrepair, and fell prey to vandals and grave robbers, who sought
after rumors of Spanish treasure entombed with the dead. One jewel thief
even ripped the remains of Maria Pico, once First Lady of Mexican California,
right from her tomb and left her skeleton on the lawn nearby, only to be
discovered by a boy walking home from school. Most of the bodies were
eventually removed to the new Calvary Cemetery or elsewhere, but due to poor
record-keeping it was impossible to know how many bodies were left behind, and
discoveries of graves and remains would continue to be made in the area for
decades. On the site of the old Calvary Cemetery now stands Cathedral High School,
whose mascot is, fittingly, the Phantoms.
Calvary is a monument hunters dream.
Unlike the small flat markers ubiquitous at memorial parks, Calvary
features a veritable forest of large intricately carved upright stone markers
and statues: Jesus, angels, the Saints, and mother Mary all tending to the dead.
The centerpiece of Calvary Cemetery is the main mausoleum, which we will be
visiting today. It was built in 1936 by architect Ross Montgomery. The entrance
guarded by a sentry of angels. The mausoleum's design was inspired by
Italian Romanesque cathedrals with pink and white marble walls, hand-painted
ceiling frescoes, and beautiful stained glass windows.
At the heart of the mausoleum is a chapel where daily masses are held.
Its design echoing Spanish missions from centuries past.
Crypt entombment is an ancient practice among Catholics,
dating back to the early catacombs, and to Christ himself, who was
laid to rest in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea after the crucifixion.
Calvary is a large Cemetery so we're gonna break this tour up into two parts.
Let's make our way up to the main mausoleum for this first part.
Heading into the entrance we pass straight through and up to the second level.
Passing the chapel we head to the alcove immediately to the right. On the
left wall is the crypt of Lionel Barrymore, part of the Barrymore dynasty
of actors in early Hollywood. Lionel was elder brother to Ethel and John Barrymore.
He began his career on stage, reluctantly following his parents into theatre.
In the early 1900s he began performing in film and soon radio.
Lionel became a Christmas tradition to millions of Americans beginning in the 1930s
playing Ebeneezer Scrooge on annual radio broadcasts of A Christmas Carol
for two decades. This role led to perhaps his best-known role as the cantankerous
Mr. Potter on It's a Wonderful Life.
"Hey! Merry Christmas Mr. Potter!"
"Happy New Year to you, in jail! Go on home they're waiting for you."
In addition he won an Academy Award for his performance in A Free Soul.
Entombed next to Lionel
is his wife Irene, an actress who died on Christmas Eve 1936. So distraught was
Lionel that he was unable to play Scrooge that year in A Christmas Carol.
Before her marriage to Lionel Irene actually dated his younger brother, John
whose erstwhile crypt is here below.
John Barrymore is considered one of the
greatest actors of his generation. He was known as the Great Profile for his
distinctive and commanding features. He too began his career on stage, and his
performances and Shakespearean roles like Richard III and Hamlet in the
early 20s led him to be named the greatest living American tragedian.
A film career followed. One of his early roles was in one of Hollywood's very
first horror films: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1920.
His transformation from Dr. Jekyll
to Mr. Hyde was striking, the earliest stages of the transformation
being effected not with prosthetics, but simply by contorting his face unnaturally.
His stage-trained voice was an asset that helped him transition into the
talkies with films like Grand Hotel, 20th Century, and Midnight. Barrymore died in
1942 at the age of 60. He was friends with actor Errol Flynn, who claimed in
his memoir that a director friend had borrowed the body of Barrymore from the
funeral home and propped it up in Flynn's house as a prank, scaring him
half to death when he arrived home.
Whether or not this is true is up for some debate.
John wished to be cremated after his death his ashes buried next to
his parents in Philadelphia. As cremation was strictly prohibited by the Catholic
Church, Lionel had John's remains entombed here after his death.
In 1980 John's son decided to have his father's remains cremated and moved,
according to his wishes. And so this crypt is now empty.
John Barrymore is the grandfather of actress drew Barrymore.
Heading around to the next alcove down, high on the left wall,
is the crypt of Lou Costello. He was a comedian known for his partnership
with Bud Abbott as comedy act Abbott and Costello.
They started in burlesque before moving on to radio and films. They are the
originators of what is perhaps the most famous comedy routine in history:
Who's on First?
"Who's on first, What's on second, I don't know his own third."
"You know the guys names on the baseball team?
- Well go ahead, who's on first?" - "Yes."
- "I mean the guy's name." - "Who."
- "The guy playing first." - "Who."
- "The guy playing first base." - "Who."
"The guy on first base."
"Who is on first."
"What are ya askin' me for? I don't know!"
I'm asking you who's on first"
- "That's his name." - "Well go ahead and tell me."
- "Who." - "The guy on first."
"That's it.
That's his name!"
"Well you ain't said nothin', I ain't asked you nothin'."
- "You did." - "You know the guy's name on first base?"
- "Sure." - "Well tell me the guys name on first base."
"Who."
- "The guy playing first base." - "Who is on first, Lou!"
"What are ya askin' me for!?"
They starred in dozens of films together like Hold that Ghost, and
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Passing behind the altar we turn right
and head to the end of this hallway, then turn left into the last corridor.
On the right is the crypt of actress Mary Philbin. If you saw our Halloween special
you'll remember Mary as the leading lady of several early horror and monster
movies. She played Christine in 1925's the Phantom of the Opera, her unmasking
of the Phantom is one of early Hollywood's most iconic scenes.
In another beauty and the beast tale, The Man Who Laughs, Mary plays a blind woman who
falls in love with a man named Gwynplaine, whose face has been permanently
disfigured into a wide grin. Gwynplaine was the inspiration for the Joker.
Mary retired from acting in the 30s and made few public appearances, with the
exception of an appearance at the Los Angeles opening of the musical,
The Phantom of the Opera.
Just around the corner, back in the main corridor on the
right is Jimmy McHugh. He was one of the most prolific songwriters of the 20s to
the 50s whose hits were performed by artists like Chet Baker,
Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, and more. He wrote songs for Broadway
shows like Blackbirds of 1928, and International Review, which included the
hit "On the Sunny Side of the Street." Another of his popular songs is
"I'm in the Mood for Love."
[music]
In the next corridor down, on the right wall, is the crypt of Vivian Edwards.
Her career in silent-era comedies may have only lasted a few years, but she was one
of the popular supporting actresses in the Keystone films, starring alongside
Charlie Chaplin in many of his early roles.
Above Vivian is the unmarked crypt
of her husband Brian Foy.
He was a filmmaker in the first half of the 20th century
who headed up Warner Brothers B-picture unit.
There he became known as "the keeper of the B's."
He directed Helene Costello in the 1928 film Lights of New York,
considered the first all-talking full-length feature film.
The Jazz Singer was only part talking.
In the years that followed he gained renown
for producing offbeat and unconventional B-films
like I Was a Communist for the FBI,
and House of Wax, starring Vincent Price.
"You shouldn't have done that, my dear."
"It is Cathy... it's Cathy's body under the wax.
I knew it. I knew it all the time!"
Continuing down the main corridor in block 23 is the crypt of cinematographer
Sol Polito. He was the man behind the camera for films like
The Adventures of Robin Hood, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Sergeant York.
He was nominated for three Oscars in his career.
And hey, he was from Sicily, just like our GIuseppe...
so that makes him extra special.
Still further down, low on
the wall is the crypt of another member of the Barrymore family, Ethel Barrymore.
She was the preeminent stage actress dubbed the First Lady of the American Theater.
Like her brothers she shone early in her career on stage in
productions like Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, Romeo and Juliet, and the
Constant Wife. On film she can be seen in The Spiral Staircase, Pinky, and
None But the Lonely Heart, which earned her an Oscar.
Heading into the next corridor on
the right we find Pola Negri on the left. She was a Polish actress popular in the
silent era who often played femme fatales or tragic figures. She rose to
popularity in Europe catching the eye of Hollywood in films like Madame Du Barry.
She then became one of the first European actresses invited to Hollywood
and quickly forged her place as one of the most popular actresses of the era.
Other films include Forbidden Paradise, and A Woman Commands.
She was romantically involved with two silent legends:
Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino.
Back to the main corridor most of the way down, on the left, we find
Eddie Gribbon. He was an actor who early in his career can be seen in dozens of
silent comedies from Keystone and Christie film companies alongside stars
like Ben Turpin, Marie Prevost, and Mabel Normand. He was never a leading man but
worked steadily for decades to follow, even playing a stormtrooper in Charlie
Chaplin's magnum opus The Great Dictator in 1940.
Let's make our way back to the chapel.
A few alcoves down on the right we find the crypt of Irene Dunne. She's been
described as the best actress to never win an Academy Award, being nominated
five times for films including The Awful Truth, Love Affair, and I Remember Mama.
Later in her career she dedicated herself primarily to civic and
philanthropic causes, raising money for hospitals, and even became a delegate to
the United Nations under President Eisenhower.
Continuing down this corridor
we reach the south west wing of the mausoleum. Turning right, low on the left,
we find to the Queen of Silent Comedy, Mabel Normand. She was the leading lady
of Mack Sennett's Keystone studio, the greatest comedy studio of the era, which
teamed her up with legends like Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, and Ben Turpin.
By the early 19-teens she was even writing and directing her own films,
making her one of the first women in Hollywood to do so. In 1914 she starred
in Mabel's Strange Predicament, notable for being the debut of Charlie Chaplin's
Tramp character. That same year she starred in Tillie's Punctured Romance
with Chaplin and Marie Dressler - Keystone's first feature-length comedy.
Many of her films included the Keystone Kops, one of the most iconic scenes
featured Mabel tied to a railroad track with the train barreling down on her.
Other notable films include Mickey and The Extra Girl.
A series of scandals in
the early 20s took a hard toll on Mabel's career. In 1921 her friend and
frequent co-star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was accused in the death of Virginia Rappe.
Though eventually acquitted Arbuckle became persona non grata and
his films, many of which featured Mabel, were banned. The following year Mabel's
close friend William Desmond Taylor was murdered. While ruled out as a
suspect, Mabel was questioned for hours, being the last person to see him alive.
One theory was that drug dealers killed Taylor for his efforts to rid Mabel of
her cocaine dependency. However Mabel's family and a state refute this theory,
stating she never was a drug addict. Mabel retired from the screen in the
late 20s as her health began to deteriorate and died of tuberculosis at just 37.
Next to Mabel is actor John Hodiak. His career began on stage and radio
before landing in Hollywood in the 40s. Health problems kept Hodiak from
military service during World War II, and soon he became a leading man that
filled the gaps left behind by men like Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart who were
off serving their country. His films include Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, and
Somewhere in the Night. He died of a heart attack at just 41 while making the
film On the Threshold of Space.
Finally we make our way all the way down
to the basement of the mausoleum.
Actress Peggy O'Neill, born Barbara O'Neill, was a promising young starlet whose
light was snuffed out before she was ever able to truly shine. She began
landing small roles in films in the 40s, including Song of the Open Road
alongside stars like Jane Powell, Edgar Bergen, and WC Fields.
After a particularly vicious quarrel with her boyfriend
Peggy decided to take her own life, an empty bottle of Seconal found in her
hand - the same sleeping drug that would later claimed the lives of stars like
Judy Garland and Carole Landis.
On the day she was found dead she was set to sign a contract with Paramount.
She was just 21.
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,
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Thanks for watching, we'll see you on the next one!
To all you lovely viewers out there around the world...
Merry Christmas from Hollywood Graveyard!
I know you've all been good this year so I hope Santa brings you everything on
your wish list.
As for me... all I want is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
the size of a car tire.
And maybe a new hat.