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 a Mountain View Cemetery,
where we'll find such stars as George Reeves,
Octavia Butler, Ray Vitte, and many more.
Join us won't you?
Mountain View Cemetery is located in Altadena, California,
about 15 miles east of Hollywood, between the San Gabriel Mountains and Pasadena.
It was founded in 1882, making it one of the oldest cemeteries in the area, and
has been owned and operated by the same family since its founding -
one of the few remaining family-owned cemeteries in operation.
The cemetery is home to not only a handful of entertainers
but also a number of California's historical figures, as well as Civil War vets.
And the cemetery itself has become somewhat of a Hollywood star,
with its large ornate and ageing tombstones,
Mountain View has provided the perfect backdrop for countless film and television productions over the years,
seen in shows like Seinfeld and Desperate Housewives,
movies like Halloween, and even an Ozzy Osbourne music video.
In fact, the day I visited there was a crew there shooting a movie.
We'll begin our tour just right of the entrance at Sunset Lawn.
Right at the base of a tree is actor William Wagner.
He wasn't a leading man,
and most of his roles were uncredited,
but he can be seen in dozens of films in the 30s and 40s,
including alongside Tom Mix in the Rustler's Roundup,
and Shirley Temple in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
He retired from acting in the late 40s
Next we'll head around to the east, to Eagle's View section.
In a ways from the road, in line with a tree, we find J. R. Williams.
He was a cartoonist best known for his syndicated comic strip, Out Our Way.
The series ran from 1922 to 1957,
becoming one of the most popular comic strips of the era, known for depicting American rural life.
After Williams' death, Out Our Way was continued by other artists until 1977.
North of here, across the street is the Mountain Meadow section.
If we head to the back side of this hedge, near the corner, we find Charles Richter.
He wasn't an entertainer, but a scientist.
Southern California is known as much for its earthquakes as for its movie stars,
and as you may have guessed by his name,
Charles Richter was the man who devised the scale by which the magnitudes of earthquakes are measured:
the Richter Scale,
which ranges from 1 to about 10.
What does that all mean? Well, I'll let Paul Giamatti explain.
"Got it!
The Richter just jumped from 6.5 to 8.5."
"Well what does that mean?"
"Powers of 10... so it's 100 times stronger now!"
Let's double back to this partial sidewalk, then head north further into Mountain Meadow.
In our cemetery wanderings over the years we've amassed a veritable zoo of animal friends.
But I never imagined I'd run into one of these beautiful creatures:
A red-tailed hawk, I believe,
just hanging out here by a grave completely unfazed by my pr --
Oh, well, there he goes.
Farewell new friend.
Almost all the way to the fence we find actress of stage and screen, Helen Marlborough.
Known as Miss Marlborough,
the short plump actress is best known for her work on stage in American theater in the late 1800s.
But she did have a handful of roles on screen in the silent era,
including as Mrs. Wright in Cecil B. DeMille film, The Wild Goose Chase, in 1915.
West of here is Mountain Vineyard
In line with the tree, we find the grave of Vance Gerry.
He was an animator and writer best known for his work at Disney, beginning in 1955.
He began working as a layout artist on films like 101 Dalmatians,
but soon showed a knack for storytelling,
and would write or contribute story elements for Disney classics from The Jungle Book to Robin Hood.
Later in life he even did character design work on films like The Lion King and Tarzan.
Back to Eagle's View lawn, on the east side close to the road, is the grande dame of science fiction,
Octavia Butler.
As a child she spent much of her time reading at the Pasadena library.
There she became interested in science fiction,
but quickly observed that there were few figures that she as the black woman could identify with in sci-fi,
and so she wrote her own.
She imbued in her writing feminist and racial themes which were rarely explored in the genre,
giving her a unique voice that appealed to a different kind of sci-fi audience.
She became the first African-American woman to find success
in a genre that to date had been heavily dominated by white men.
Her works include the Patternist Series,
and Parable of the Talents, which won her a Nebula Award.
In 1995 she was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation fellowship.
She died at the age of 58 after suffering a stroke and a fall.
Her epitaph is from her work Parable of the Sower.
It reads: All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you.
The only lasting truth is change.
God is change.
Across the street east is Founder's Lawn. A few spaces in we find Wallace Neff.
He was a star of a different sort in Hollywood. In fact, he's the man who put a roof over many stars' heads.
He was an architect, considered the man responsible for the distinct, California style of homes.
Perhaps his most notable celebrity commission came from Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks,
for their palatial mock-Tudor estate, the hub of the Hollywood social scene in the 20s,
Pickfair.
According to Life magazine, a gathering place only slightly less important than the White House,
and much more fun.
Southeast of here are the Vista del Monte garden crypts.
On the south side at the base of a tree is Ted Husing.
He was a radio broadcaster known for pioneering
play-by-play sportscasting on the radio, and later television.
In the 20s he began covering sports events from boxing,
horse-racing, World Series, Olympics, and even college football.
He became one of the nation's most popular broadcasters,
known for his commanding and rapid-fire voice.
"How do you do everybody? This is Ted Husing announcing.
These sports slants will reveal some of the action in various branches of athletics.
Slant on sports here, there, and everywhere."
He can also be seen as himself in a number of film and TV roles.
On the eastern end of these garden crypts, below eye level, we find the crypt of Ray Vitte.
He was an actor known mainly for comedic films of the 70s and 80s.
He played Bobby Speed in Thank God It's Friday,
and Geronimo in Car Wash.
"At the fabulous, free-wheeling soap sudsin' emporium, where everything goes."
The events surrounding his death remain somewhat mysterious and controversial to this day.
Reports simply state that he died after a scuffle with police who were called to his apartment for a noise complaint.
After the scuffle, he was placed in a patrol car where he stopped breathing.
Officers drove him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 33.
Drug use was ruled out,
but as this was before the days of police body cams, we may never know what really transpired that night.
Circling back toward the entrance we reach Royal Oaks section.
Near the middle of this lawn is the grave of George James Hopkins.
He was a four-time Oscar winning set decorator.
He began his career in the silent era with legendary vamp, Theda Bara.
In the decades that followed he designed and decorated sets for Hollywood classics such as My Fair Lady,
and A Streetcar Named Desire.
He was in a years long relationship with director William Desmond Taylor,
a relationship, which only ended with Taylor's murder in 1922 -
one of Hollywood's oldest unsolved mysteries.
Back down to the southeastern corner of this same lawn, in a short ways from the road, we find Wilbur Hatch.
He was a composer and music director best remembered for his work at Desilu,
for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
His career began on radio creating music for shows like the Whistler and Our Miss Brooks.
He then went on to conduct the Desi Arnaz Orchestra for I Love Lucy,
and even wrote some music for the show.
He became the resident music director at Desilu,
working on not only other Lucille Ball shows like Here's Lucy,
But directing and supervising music for shows including The Untouchables and Star Trek.
Right next to Wilbur is Charles Wysocki.
He was a folk artist specializing in the idealized Americana of yesteryear.
His paintings have become particularly popular as jigsaw puzzles.
We now make our way south to the Pasadena Mausoleum.
This mausoleum, inspired by Greek temples, is often kept locked,
but if you ask nice they'll let you in.
Immediately left of the entrance is a columbarium
In on the right we find the niche and urn of George Reeves,
televisions first Superman.
Early in his career he played one of Scarlett O'Hara suitors in Gone with the Wind.
He also had a small role in From Here to Eternity.
But it was his role as Superman, and his mild-mannered alter ego, Clark Kent, that would make him a star.
Adventures of Superman premiered on television in 1952 and ran to 1958.
"Look, up in the sky!"
- "It's a bird!" - "It's a plane!"
"It's Superman!"
"Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with
powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.
Superman!"
He wasn't the first actor to play Superman on screen,
That was Kirk Alyn. But George Reeves Superman has since become one of the most iconic and he was a national hit.
He grew frustrated in later years being identified only as Superman, though, feeling it limited his career.
But he took the responsibility of being a positive role model for children very seriously,
even giving up smoking.
His untimely death in 1959 at the age of 45
is yet another entry in the annals of Hollywood mysteries that remain
controversial and unsolved to this day.
In the very early hours of June 16th a party was taking place downstairs in his Benedict Canyon home.
A single gunshot was heard upstairs, and Reeves was found dead on his bed, a gunshot wound to the head.
The official cause of death was ruled a suicide.
But doubts from those close to him, conflicting reports from the inebriated guests,
and inconsistencies, like multiple bullet holes found in the room,
and to no powder burns found on Reeves, have led many to believe his death was
not a suicide.
Was he accidentally shot in a lover's spat with his fiancee?
Or perhaps murdered by a mistress or her jealous husband?
We may never know.
The events surrounding Reeves death were explored in the film Hollywoodland, with Ben Affleck playing George.
Right across from George, low on the wall, is the niche of Martinus Sieveking.
He was a concert pianist and composer.
Born in Amsterdam, the virtuoso became known as the Flying Dutchman,
and was considered one of the greatest pianists of his generation.
His good looks, cultured accent, and muscular physique only added to his popularity with audiences,
Becoming a sort of pop star before the age of pop.
He was also an inventor, holding patents for a number of mechanical devices.
We now head across the street east of the cemetery
to the stunning Mountain View Mausoleum.
This masterpiece of mausoleum construction and design
looks like it was plucked right off the shores of Italy and planted here in Pasadena.
It was built in 1925 at a cost of around a half a million dollars.
As soon as you walk in turn your eyes to heaven and you'll see the beautiful ceiling fresco,
The Story of Christianity,
which runs the entire length of the 180-foot main corridor.
It's Southern California's very own Sistine Chapel, painted over the span of several years by Norwegian artist,
Martin Syvertsen.
It was crafted in a similar fashion as the Sistine Chapel, the artist working high atop scaffolding.
His payment for his work included a daily ration of buttermilk and a weekly bottle of scotch.
What more does one need?
Mountain View may not boast the number of big-name stars as other LA cemeteries,
but this mausoleum gives most others a run for their money. If you're an art lover,
architecture lover, tombstone tourist, or all three, head out to Pasadena and the Mountain View Mausoleum.
Like the cemetery this mausoleum has served as backdrop for Hollywood productions,
including some of Robert Stack's intros on Unsolved Mysteries.
And every year around Halloween time this mausoleum plays host to Wicked Lit,
an immersive theater experience.
We found a couple of famous graves within these walls.
First off though,
we'll head up to the second level to visit the man responsible for this magnificent house of the dead,
Cecil Bryan, resting here in the place of honor beneath the rose window.
In the early 20th century Bryan built mausoleums all across the country,
around 80 in total. But he considered this his crown jewel and decided to be entombed here.
Let's head to the northern end of the mausoleum.
Just in from the northern entrance, high on the wall, we find Cy Kendall.
He was the character actor who can be seen in supporting roles in the 30s through the 50s,
known for heavyset shady type characters policemen, or mobsters. His films include
the 1940 Green Hornet serial, and Lady in the Death House.
He was only 55 when he died from heart problems.
Let's continue in along this corridor and stop a moment to admire this replica of a painting by Raphael:
The Transfiguration.
Beautiful.
At the end of this corridor, we turn right and find a wall of niche's on the left.
Here rests actress Maudie Prickett.
She was a character actress, often portraying secretaries, spinsters, maids, and busybodies.
She had a recurring role on the 60s sitcom Hazel, alongside Shirley Booth, and
can be seen in other popular sitcoms of the 60s like Bewitched, The Andy Griffith Show, and
The Jack Benny Program as Jack's secretary.
"Hello?
No, you can't talk to him now he's...
reminiscing.
Yes, I'll be glad to tell him when he comes to."
She even made an appearance on Adventures of Superman with George Reeves who we visited earlier.
For our last stop we'll head back outside to the Pompeian Court, just south of the mausoleum.
Here, in the northeastern corner of this court,
low on the wall is Hugh Sanders.
He was an actor who, despite only two decades in Hollywood, kept very busy,
amassing over 200 credits to his name
and making appearances on most of the major shows in the 50s and 60s -
from the Lone Ranger and The Untouchables, to Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, and the Outer Limits.
On film he can be seen as the doctor on To Kill a Mockingbird.
He died in 1966 at the age of 54.
And that concludes our tour.
What are some of your favorite memories of the stars we visited today?
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Thanks for watching. We'll see you on the next one.
One of the oldest graves at Mountain View is also one of the most unique.
Here lies Civil War veteran, John Dobbings, born 1828, died 1904.
What makes this grave so unique is his marker is made of wood.
It's the only wooden grave marker in the entire cemetery. And though age has worn it to near illegibility,
it's pretty remarkable that it's still here after 114 years.