Welcome the 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 Forest Lawn
Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills where
we'll find such stars Bette Davis,
Liberace, the co-creator of Mickey Mouse
and many more. Join us won't you?
Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Memorial Park is
located in the southern tip of the San
Fernando Valley nestled right up against
the Hollywood Hills. Sister cemetery to
the original Forest Lawn in Glendale
the Hollywood Hills location is no less
grand and is a fitting resting place for
so many stars as it is right across the
street from both Disney and
Warner Brothers Studios. Forest Lawn Cemetery
are distinct for their flat lawn markers
and are renowned for the beauty of their
Parks, well-kempt lawns and Gardens and
stunning works of art scattered throughout.
Because this cemetery is so
massive and there's so many stars buried
here we're going to break this tour up
into three parts -- oh look, deer!
For this first part will be in the northeast
section of the park in the area known as
the courts of remembrance
this section of cemetery consists of
several open-air courtyards flanked by
wall crypts. Approaching the first
courtyard just to the left of the
entrance to find the tomb of our first
star Bette Davis one of the most beloved
actresses of the 20th century, Bette
Davis ranked number 2 on AFI's list of
greatest female stars. She was nominated
for an astounding 11 Academy Awards in
her career, winning two, for "Dangerous" and "Jezebel."
She was also nominated for
her role in "All About Eve."
So Bette, any parting words for our tour?
"Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a
bumpy night."
Moving into the first courtyard along the
wall to the right we find the crypt of
British actor Charles Laughton who was a
powerhouse on both stage and screen. He
is perhaps best remembered for his roles
in "Spartacus," "Mutiny on the Bounty," and
"The Private Life of Henry the Eighth," for
which he won an Academy Award. Laughton was
married to Elsa Lanchester who famously
played the Bride of Frankenstein.
Kitty-corner to Charles Laughton is the
Crypt of Clyde Beatty known in Hollywood
as the :king of lion tamers." He gained
notoriety for his fighting act in which
he entered a cage of wild animals armed
only with a whip and a pistol, a skill
which landed him in several films in the
30s to the 50s. Crossing to the other end
of the courtyard we enter a small room
called the Columbarium of Remembrance.
Along the far wall on the left corner we
find the niche of a man uniquely named
Ub Iwerks
you may not know his name but you
certainly know his work. Ub was Walt
Disney's right-hand man and the
co-creator of the Mickey Mouse. While
Walt had the idea of Mickey and gave him
his voice and personality it was Ub that
brought him to life on paper, almost
single-handedly drawing most of the
early Mickey Mouse cartoos,
including Steamboat Willie.
Just a few spaces to the right we find the niche of
actor Alvy Moore known as Mr. Wonderful
of Hollywood. Alvy is best remembered for
his role as scatterbrained agent Hank
Kimball on the TV series "Green Acres."
Heading now into the second courtyard we
cross to the far side where on the right
we find the tomb of Mr. Showmanship
himself, Liberace.
Known for his flamboyant style and
incomparable skills on the piano
Liberace was the highest paid
entertainer from the 50s to the 70s.
Maestro take it away...
He dodged rumors of homosexuality his
whole life, successfully suing newspapers
for libel who made such claims.
Sadly he is one of the early celebrities
to die an aids-related death.
In the northeast corner of this courtyard is
another small room, the Columbarium of
the Radiant Dawn. In the middle of the
wall on the right we find the original
resting place of Lucille Ball whose
ashes were placed in this niche for 1989
to 2002, when her remains were moved to
her hometown of Jamestown New York.
Along the far wall above eye-level is the
niche of actor Forrest Tucker who
starred in nearly 150 films and
television programs in his career. He's
perhaps best remembered for his role as
sergeant O'Rourke in the TV comedy "F-Troop."
Turning left to the adjacent wall
we find the niche of Walter Lantz just
beneath the statute. Lantz was a
cartoonist who will forever be
remembered as the creator of Woody Woodpecker.
A few spaces down and to the
left of Lantz with the niche of actress
Pamela Britton, who provided the voice of
Blondie Bumstead in the TV series
"Blondie." She also starred as Lorelai
Brown on the TV series "My Favorite Martian."
Just before the 3rd courtyard we
turn right into the Sanctuary of Light.
At the end on the right is the crypt of
George Raft who broke into acting as a
coin flipping tough in 1932's "Scarface." He
quickly became known for his gangster
roles in crime dramas of the 30s and 40s.
His real life association with New York
mobsters only added to his appeal.
Immediately to the left of Raft is
Freddie Prinze who is best remembered as
the star of the 1970s sitcom "Chico and
the Man." He suffered from depression and
died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
to the head when he was only 22. His son
is actor Freddie Prinze Jr.
Along the opposite wall just above eye-level
is the crypt of actress Wanda Hendrix,
who can be seen in many films from the
40s to the 70s including "Prints of Foxes,"
and "Captain Carey, USA."
Heading now into the third courtyard we round the corner
to the left and find the grand tomb of a
man named Broccoli, Albert Broccoli. He is
the producer we have to thank for
bringing the James Bond series the big
screen. The inaugural film of the series
was 1962s Dr. No.
Just north of Broccoli is a small room, the Columbarium
of Providence. Along the wall to the
right we find niche of actor Rod Steiger
who won an Oscar for his portrayal of
Gillespie in the film "In the Heat of the Night."
He also starred alongside Marlon Brando
in "On the Waterfront."
Along the wall opposite the doorway above and to
the right of the statue is the niche of
the smallest actor in Hollywood,
Josh Ryan Evans, who stood a mere 37 inches tall.
His marker appears to be missing
but here's an earlier picture. You can
see him as a young Grinch in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
In the corner to the left of the doorway
is the niche of husband-and-wife actors
and musicians Julie London and Bobby Troup.
Sultry-voiced London was one of the
most popular vocal artists of the 50s,
and Troup wrote the standard "Get Your Kicks on Route 66."
[music]
They both starred together in the 70s TV series "Emergency."
Back in the courtyard to the northern
wall we find a crypt of funny man Morey Amsterdam,
who was known in his day as
the human joke machine for his ability
to churn out jokes on any subject on demand.
He wrote for stars like Fanny Brice
and Will Rogers before hosting his
own variety program the Morey Amsterdam Show.
He also starred as Buddy on
"The Dick Van Dyke Show." Just down and to
the right of Morey is actress Isabel Sanford,
who played Weezy on "All in the Family,"
and "The Jeffersons."
Her performances earned her five Golden
Globe nominations and seven Primetime
Emmy nominations, winning in 1981 making
her the first african-american woman to
win Best Actress in a Comedy.
Just to the left is a wall of niches
where we'll find Disney animator
Art Babbitt, the man credited for creating Goofy.
Down the stairs along the bottom row is the niche of
actress Ann Harding who is remembered
for her roles in films like "The Animal Kingdom,"
and "Holiday," the latter earning
her an Academy Award nomination in 1931.
Let's step outside the courtyard for a
brief moment and visit one of
Hollywood's most talented voice
actresses. Halfway down the hill where
the markers changed direction is the
grave of Mary Kay Bergman who is perhaps
best remembered as the original voice of
all the female characters on South Park.
Sadly she took her own life in 1999.
Back up the hill and into the courtyard on
the east side in the corridor just south
of the Christus is the crypt of lovely
blonde actress Sandra Dee, who often
played ingenues on screen, such as
Gidget in the 1959 movie of the same
name. She won a Golden Globe in 1959 for
most promising newcomer.
Back in the courtyard in the southeast corner is the
tomb of heavy metal rocker Ronnie James Dio,
who fronted Black Sabbath for a time
before starting his own band, Dio, whose
hits include "Rainbow in the Dark," and
"Holy Diver."
And it wouldn't be a true Dio tomb
without the sign of the horns on either side.
On the opposite side of the
courtyard in the Columbarium of Sacred Trust,
is another heavy metal legend
Lemmy, who founded and fronted the band
Motorhead
Heading now into the southeast courtyard
into the Sanctuary of Treasured Love we
find the crypt of actor and gentle giant
Michael Clarke Duncan, who won the hearts
of audiences the world over for his role
as John Coffey in the 1999 film "The Green Mile."
His performance earned him an
Academy Award nomination.
"I'm tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain.
"I'm tired of me havin' no body to be with,
tell me where we's goin' to, comin' from or why.
"Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly
to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I'm feeling
here in the world everyday, they's too much of it."
Heading west now we cross over into the
last courtyard. In the southeast corner
of this courtyard we find the
Columbarium of Valor. On the wall just to
the right of the door is the niche of
actor Brad Davis, who is best known for his
starring role in "Midnight Express" for
which he won a Golden Globe.
Just to the left and above eye-level is the niche of
McClain Stevenson who played Lieutenant
Colonel Henry Blake on the hit TV show MASH.
And in the wall opposite the door to the
left of the statute is the niche of Leon Ames,
an actors who often portrayed
father figures in films like "Meet Me in St. Louis."
He is also remembered for his
role as DA Sackett in "The Postman Always Rings Twice."
We'll head now to the
outer walls of this courtyard were on
the walls facing west we find one of
Hollywood's shortest actresses Tamara De Treaux,
who at just 2 foot 7 was one of
the actresses who helped portray ET.
Along this same wall a little further
north is the crypt of Andy Gibb. The
youngest of the give brothers of Bee Gees
fame, Andy was a popular singer in his
own right.
He had a top-ten hit with the song "I just
Want to Be Your Everything."
Heading north we find the south facing
wall of the first courtyard. Along this
wall near the western edge is the crypt
of crooner Lou Rawls. The silk voice
singers sold more than 40 million albums
in his career. His most popular single is
"You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine."
Out on the lawn just southwest of the
courtyard with the grave of Lee Van Cleef,
who often portrayed villainous
characters in western films including
"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," and
"For a Few Dollars More." The epitaph,
"Best of the Bad" is an allusion to him having
often portrayed bad guys in
Spaghetti Westerns.
Still out on the lawn in front of the courtyards
we cross to the northwest and head part way
down the hill. Here we find the grave of Syrian
born actor Michael Ansara who starred as
Cochise in the TV series "Broken Arrow"
and as Klingon commander Kang on "Star Trek."
He also provided the voice of Mr. Freeze
on "Batman the Animated Series."
Finally we head out west into the large
lawn directly in front of the courtyard
we're, right in the middle of the lawn
we'll find... with a little luck and a
sharp eye... let's see... ah there they are, husband
and wife entertainers Edie Adams and
Ernie Kovacs. Edie began working on TV
regularly with comedian and future
husband Ernie Kovacs. Her talents were
not just limited to televisions however
as she was an accomplished musician and
singer as well as a stage performer
winning a Tony Award in 1956 for 'Li'l Abner."
She also did a spot-on impression
of Marilyn Monroe.
"This is this is a one of our rare
privileges, we're so happy to have
you visit us here."
"Thank you, it's a pleasure for me too."
"Get that scenery up higher if
it's not flameproof will ya?"
Ernie Kovacs is one of Hollywood's most influential
comic TV stars.
Kovacs' experimental, visually unique, and
often ad-lib style of comedy became his
signature and we're not the employment
shows like "Saturday Night Live." He died
in a car accident when he was only 42.
His epitaph reads "nothing in moderation."
Amen to that Ernie.
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
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Famous Grave Tours. Thanks for watching,
we'll see you on the next one!
Hey check it out, it's the deer we ran into at the
beginning of our tour. Let's see what
they're up to.