The Terrible Catsafterme

I may have a hard time convincing you otherwise, but contrary to popular belief I am not a cemetery lurking kind of guy. That was just a rumor started by all of the photos on this website of me with various graves across the country. But honestly, I get no morbid fascination about cemeteries, no yearning to see the grave of just anyone remotely famous, and have no interest in talking to most of the dead people lying under the sod. So why do you frequently find pictures of me with stone slabs engraved with the names of the famous?

That’s not an easy question to answer, but you could start by putting blame on my friend Bob Satterfield. He is definitely one of those cemetery-lurking-kind-of-guys. And during my first visits with him in 1988-1997, he took me to some of the various Hollywood cemeteries to show me the graves of Laurel and Hardy co-stars and members of the Little Rascals, pointing out other famous folk along the way. So I took interest in this, because these people interested me.

Then he got me started on the Presidential graves. This has now become a cross-country scavenger hunt and upon completion, will become a point of pride with me to have visited every Presidential grave. So gradually, I have drifted into the world of treating graves of the famous – and most particularly those whose life or work has greatly affected me – as historic landmarks , just same as any other historic site that I visit on my various road trips and travels. I don’t do pennies, flags, or flowers;  I don’t do etchings, and I don’t bother with them if I didn’t give a hoot about them in life. But yes, sometimes I say hello to those who really meant something to me. And bear in mind too that once you begin a ‘series’ (ie. Presidents), it’s difficult not to want to try and complete it.

So we’ve got that explanation out of the way, now a quick explanation of this posting: Since obviously there are scads and scads of famous people buried in the large Hollywood cemeteries, I decided to break these particular cemeteries off into separate postings rather than including them in the posting that describes the events of the day. I wouldn’t want to inundate anyone with graves when they just want to see the pictures of where I ate dinner, any more so than I like to be inundated with graves during any one road trip. But I did want a place to simply document my visits to these locations on my little online scrapbook.

The graves seen here are not by any means complete and I did not see all of the graves I wanted to in any of the cemeteries. And you may find that I will add both past and future photos to any given cemetery postings. Now on to this particular boneyard…

Hollywood Forever cemetery is located on Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. It was founded in 1899 and for nearly 100 years it went by the name of Hollywood Memorial Park. This is how it was known during my first visits here. As it was falling into disrepair, it was rescued by Forever Enterprises in 1998 and a ban was lifted forbidding the sale of any new plots. There are over 500 ‘famous’ people buried in this cemetery. These are most of the ones who interested me:

Saturday, July 11, 2009– Not long after I arrived in Los Angeles and grabbed some lunch, Bob and I visited Hollywood Forever with the list that I had assembled beforehand, scouting out the folks who really interested me. Along the way, Bob pointed out some additional graves – some of whom I found interesting enough to pose with. Others such as Peter Finch, Kathleen Freeman, Rick Jason, Norma & Natalie Talmadge, I did not. Unfortunately, because we were visiting on a Saturday, the Beth Olam section of the cemetery was closed, so some of the Jewish celebs I had hoped to see will have to wait until a future visit.

Walter Long is a biggie in the Laurel and Hardy realm. He played a major tough guy in five of their films: Any Old Port, Pardon Us, Going Bye-Bye, Pick a Star, and The Live Ghost. In addition, he starred in The Birth of a Nation and The Maltese Falcon. As you can see from the headstone, Long was a veteran of both World Wars.

Cecil B. DeMille was a name that was synonymous with motion pictures from the infancy of the movies. He was both a director and producer and his last two films as director were the epic The Ten Commandments and the Academy Award winning The Greatest Show on Earth.

Okay, this was Bob’s idea and I probably wouldn’t have done it if this was her actual grave, rather than just a cenotaph (meaning a memorial marker under which she isn’t actually buried). The implication here is that bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield was decapitated in a car accident – although this is only an urban legend. The marker also shows her to be five years younger than she actually was. 

Nolan Leary was a small-time Hollywood actor who appeared in a huge number of films – almost 250. But the interest I have in him was the bit role he played in Laurel and Hardy’s Air Raid Wardens. Although I don’t recall meeting him, Nolan Leary attended Hollywood ’80.

Don Adams was Maxwell Smart in the TV series Get Smart. As a legendary sitcom lead, he was important to me, the consummate sitcom fan. I had seen Don Adams in person in 1997 but stupidly never got a photo with him, although I did obtain an autographed photo.

Otto Fries was interred high up on the wall so posing with him wasn’t a viable option. The name is obscure but he starred in many early Hal Roach films including Laurel and Hardy’s silent From Soup To Nuts, The Second 100 Years, and Leave ‘Em Laughing. He also had notable roles in several Our Gang talkies including Free Eats, The First Seven Years, and Choo-Choo (in which his voice was dubbed by Oliver Hardy).

Bob had stumbled onto this memorial display which included the urn and various photos and relics of David White, who played Larry Tate on Bewitched. I found these glass case displays interesting and had never seen anything like them before.

Rudolph Valentino was perhaps the best-known star of the silent era. Classics such as Blood and Sand, The Sheik, and The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse are sadly largely forgotten by the general public of today, but in his day every woman swooned at this ‘Latin Lover.’ His untimely death at the age of 31 propelled him to icon status and for years a legend about a woman in black with a red rose visiting his grave circulated throughout the tabloids.

Although a major motion picture star who had been in Gone With the Wind, because she was black, Hattie McDaniel was denied admission to this cemetery upon her passing in 1952. Instead she was buried in the cemetery that was her second choice, Rosedale. In 1999 when the cemetery came under new management, they offered to rectify the oversight, but the family declined to have her moved. Instead this cenotaph was erected on her behalf. Incidentally, Hattie McDaniel starred in Zenobia with Oliver Hardy, three Charley Chase films, and two Our Gang films, most notably Anniversary Trouble.

I’m not a giant Ramones fan, but I like them enough to have posed with this Johnny Ramone cenotaph at the cemetery. Although I didn’t visit it, the actual grave of Dee Dee Ramone is located here too. On the cover to his single Something is Squeezing My Skull, Smiths frontman Morrissey can be seen hugging this very statue.

Both Douglas Fairbanks and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. are buried in this tomb which features a gigantic memorial and reflecting pool in front of it. The elder Fairbanks was a giant star of the silent screen and his son followed in his footsteps in the talkies. Of significant importance to me, Junior appeared in The Stolen Jools with Laurel and Hardy. My autograph of him can be seen here.

Bobs Watson was part of the famous Watson family (the father being Coy Watson). Known as the ‘First Family of Hollywood’, there were nine kids in the family – all who appeared in the motion pictures. Bobs along with his brother Delmar both starred in small roles in the Our Gang comedies. I met both in 1992. Delmar is interred in a nearby vault but it is currently unmarked.

Most movie buffs would know Charles Middleton for his role as Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gorden serials of the 1930’s, but to me, he is important as Laurel and Hardy’s co-star in The Flying Deuces, The Fixer Uppers, Beau Hunks, and Pack Up Your Troubles. He also has a notable role in the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup.

Mel Blanc is legendary for his portrayal of numerous cartoon characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Barney Rubble, and Foghorn Leghorn. He is also noted for his work on both the radio and TV versions of The Jack Benny Show, often portraying Sy, the Little Mexican. The autograph that I obtained from Mel Blanc is one of the most prized in my collection.

From 1934-1940, Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer starred in 62 of the Our Gang Comedies, portraying one of the most lovable troublemakers in all the series. He had also starred in several notable films in the years following his Our Gang stint such as Going My Way, It’s a Wonderful Life, The High and the Mighty, and The Defiant Ones. It is sad that Alfalfa met with such a sad ending, having been shot by a colleague over a $50 dispute. His death went largely unnoticed in the press as he died on the same day as Cecil B. DeMille. I so wish that I had gotten to meet him.

Unbeknownst to the average Our Gang fan, Alfalfa’s brother Harold Switzer was starring beside his brother in 28 of the Our Gang films, most notable in their first appearance together in Beginner’s Luck in which they perform a hillbilly duet. He too met with an early – and sad – end, first killing his girlfriend and then himself in 1967.

Two graves which sit remarkably close to each other, but completely unrelated, are Eddie Dunn (bottom left), who starred in several Hal Roach comedies including Laurel and Hardy’s Another Fine Mess, Me and My Pal, and Midnight Patrol, and Victor Fleming (above right), the legendary director who directed Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz in the same year!

Interred high up on the wall is Darla Hood, the adorable and lovable leading lady of the Our Gang films. She starred in 49 of the films as well as starring in the title role in Laurel and Hardy’s The Bohemian Girl. It was Darla who suggested the Our Gang reunion that was held at Hollywood ’80, but did not herself survive to attend it. Darla will always hold a special place in my heart. Although it wasn’t easy to pose with her grave, following my pointer all the way to the top, you can see where her grave is located.

Harry Lachman directed one of Laurel and Hardy’s most beloved features Our Relations (in addition to Spencer Tracy’s Dante’s Inferno). Shortly after visiting this grave, the inspiration struck me to try and hit all of the L&H director graves – an undertaking (no pun intended) that could last a while. The inspiration to climb into the graves, which struck me after I leaned against this one and it nearly came open, was quickly abandoned.

Return to the Hollywood ’09 trip…

Continue to the next Hollywood cemetery…

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at 6:22 am and is filed under 2000's - Late, Famous Graves, Laurel and Hardy, Vacations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.