You are probably wondering why the introductory photo in this posting shows Bob and me at a limousine rental desk. I can tell you that this spot had great significance and to find out why, you must read on. But while you are being held captive in rapt suspense, allow me to fill you in on the events of Monday, April 26, and Tuesday, April 27, 2010 (with a little bit of Saturday, May 1, thrown in for good measure). My home base for these two days was Bob’s house in San Bernardino, California.
We had returned on Sunday night from a fun and exciting week in Hollywood and Burbank, so a bit of sleeping in was in order on my part. Bob had to report for work as Activities Director for San Gorgonio High School, so I was able to just do some tinkering throughout the day, browsing Bob’s autograph books, playing on Facebook on his dial-up computer (yes, I said dial-up), and chat on the phone with Erin. Bob did come home for lunch on Monday at about 11:30 and we went to one of my all time favorite restaurants, Miyagi Sushi, located just a few blocks from Bob’s house.
Recalling the great gate debacle – or Gategate – from 2007
Greg the chef took great care of us, as we each ordered the all-you-can eat special. And eat we did. Lots and lots of delicious sushi. Las Vegas rolls, Dragon rolls, Volcano rolls, Pizza rolls, albacore sushimi, Dynamite. I finished up as full as I had ever been to be sure. Bob dropped me off at his place and I rolled back in and continued my afternoon of laziness.
Greg does a great job in filling us up with the savory sushi
Bob came home around 3:30pm that afternoon and we headed out to the Riverside National Cemetery. Riverside is less than 20 miles south of San Berdoo. The cemetery was dedicated in November of 1978 during President Jimmy Carter’s administration. There were just a few celebrities buried here that I wanted to visit.
Tommy “Butch” Bond was the first. Tommy had the longest series span of any Our Gang character. He began his career in 1932 and starred in 13 of the films through 1937, and then returned from 1937-40, and starred in 15 more of the films. He was also notable as portraying the very first Jimmy Olsen in the Superman serial starring Kirk Alyn. I had had the opportunity to meet Butch in 1980, 1992, 1996, and 1997.
Darn right, it’s Butch!
A second Our Gang member, Peggy Cartwright, who had actually starred in the very earliest of the films was also buried in this cemetery. I had had the good fortune to meet Peggy in 1992 and 2000. She was interred alongside her husband William Walker, a black actor whom Gregory Peck credited for helping him secure the Academy Award for To Kill a Mockingbird.
Peggy Cartwright Walker and her husband William
And finally, Skip Young portrayed the oafish Wally Plumstead in The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, one of my all-time favorite sitcoms.
Greeting Skip Young, who was actually born as Ronald Plumstead
The centerpiece of the cemetery was the great monument to the recipients of the Medal of Honor, bestowed by Congress. The Medal of Honor Memorial contains the names of every recipient from the Civil War, through the Spanish-American War, Boxer Rebellion, Korean War, Vietnam War, both World Wars, up to the altercations in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. At the time of our visit, there have been 3468 Medals of Honor given to 3449 people.
The Medal of Honor Memorial at Riverside
Medal of Honor reproductions from the Army, Navy/Marine/Coast Guard, and Air Force
Bob indicates Robert Howard, the most decorated American Soldier. Bob met Howard in Chicago just a few months before his death in 2009.
Indicating the name of James Stockdale, who received the Medal of Honor in 1976, later ran for Vice President on Ross Perot’s ticket in 1992. I met Stockdale in 2003, two years before his death
Given the great number of Medals of Honor that have received by heroes of our nation, I opted not to start posing with their graves – an endeavor that Bob is now beginning. He of course made it clear that if the day came that I ever decided to attempt this, he would not be making return visits with me to these graves. Understandable – given my past history with the Presidents, and getting photos with their graves.
However, I certainly don’t object to the fun hunt often involved in finding the graves within the cemetery gates. At Riverside, we located three for Bob: John Henry Balch, Lewis Millett, and Ysmael R. Villegas. He got his photos; I just smiled and paid my respects.
We left the cemetery just before 6pm, stopping at the Mill Creek Cattle Co. restaurant in Mentone for dinner. They had a wide variety of meal choices and I opted for the cheap tacos and enchiladas. We got to Bob’s about 8pm. he heated the hot tub out by the pool, and this time I put more than my feet in. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours soaking our weary bones, whist in good conversation.
Dinner at the Mill Creek Cattle Co.
Bob got home from work a bit earlier on Tuesday, so I didn’t have as much time to tinker around as usual on the computer and phone. We headed out a little bit after 1pm, with our ultimate destination to be at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills before 7:30 that evening. We had six hours of adventure to kill.
We started off that day at Windy C’s, a hot dog stand in Upland (located not far from San Bernardino), ironically known for their Chicago style hotdogs. Hitting various hotdog stands is certainly one of the most pleasurable of the ‘things I do’ – and this one was no exception.
Windy C’s…if you please
Chicago hot dog in Los Angeles
After lunch, we made our way into Los Angeles and the Odd Fellows Cemetery. Here was scattered the ashes of Laurel and Hardy co-star Billy Gilbert, who starred in some of their finest films, including The Music Box, Block-Heads, and County Hospital. He was also the voice of Sneezy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was particularly proud to have written the epitaph for Billy’s marker. Yes, you heard me correctly. Bob had taken up a collection to have this marker added, and asked me for an idea as to what to put on it. This was the best I could do.
Billy Gilbert’s marker at Odd Fellows
The guy responsible for that very clever epitaph
Our next stop was particularly nostalgic for me. It was the Wilshire Grand Hotel, formerly the Los Angeles Hilton. This was the location of the second annual International Sons of the Desert Convention, known more familiarly as Hollywood ’80. Although I never officially met Bob during this convention, this was the first time that he and I were in the same place at the same time. He, at age 23, was organizing and running the convention. I, at age 8, was simply running around the convention.
We spent 30 minutes or so exploring the hotel, mustering up as many memories as we could, as to where the events so firmly rooted in our memories had occurred. As was typically the case, the hotel had gone under a lot of transformation, so things weren’t always as clear as you’d like them to be. And yes, the limousine rental desk, I am fairly certain, was the location of our convention registration desk.
The exterior of the former Los Angeles Hilton, site of Hollywood ’80
The hotel escalator was unchanged
Addressing the masses in the Grand Ballroom, where the banquets (that I didn’t attend) took place
Outside the banquet rooms. Bob was fairly certain it was in this room that the Our Gang reunion and autograph session took place 30 years earlier.
Where the Hollywood ’80 registration took place
It was about 3:15 by the time we made our next stop at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory. There are several famous and interesting resting places located here, although many are either unclaimed or unmarked. Among them, Bess Flowers, Tiny Sanford, Sharon Lynne, and Broncho Billy Anderson, who all had significant roles in Laurel and Hardy history. One major internment here is that of Mae Busch, who so famously scowled her way through several L & H films, often playing Ollie’s wife. Her ashes had been unclaimed for many years, but she finally received her marker over a decade ago.
The site of Mae Busch Tate’s interment
Bob and I worked our way from downtown Los Angeles into Culver City, seemingly my home away from home. Passing by such notable Laurel and Hardy film locations as the Culver Hotel, the Culver City City Hall, and Main Street, we ended up at Holy Cross Cemetery, to scout out some additional graves that we missed during our last visit. You can check out the eight additional graves I photographed at the Holy Cross posting.
We stopped at the Santa Maria BBQ on Culver Boulevard (located between the city hall and Culver Hotel), for dinner. Scenes from the L&H silent Putting Pants on Philip were shot on this street. The food was good although I had ordered the Teriyaki burger and received the Teriyaki chicken, which actually cost more. From here we headed to Beverly Hills to catch our show.
The Santa Maria BBQ on the corner of Culver and Irving. Note the Culver Hotel in the background. Scenes from Putting Pants on Philip were shot here.
Giant Lucy/Desi mural commemorating the Desilu Studios on the outside of the Santa Maria BBQ
Bob and me at Santa Maria, after the wrong Teriyaki was consumed
Saturday Interlude
On Saturday, May 1, Erin and I returned to Bob’s place in San Bernardino. While there, we again went out for lunch to Miyagi Sushi for another scrumptious buffet, followed by a quick visit to the Mountain View Cemetery to see the graves of Ozzy Osbourne’s late guitarist Randy Rhoads and James Earp, the older brother of Wyatt Earp. Bob also gathered another Medal of Honor recipient photo at the grave of Colonol Joseph “Chuck” Rodriguez.
This brief stop came between our visit to Disneyland and Jimmy’s wedding. Since these few photos have no place in either of these upcoming postings, I’m including them here.
Erin, me, and Bob – back at Miyagi Sushi. I didn’t stuff myself quite as much this time. There was a lady present.
Hovering over big brother James Earp
Assuming the Rhoads position. Quite a scholar I am.
Now back to our regularly scheduled timeline…
Tuesday will continue at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills…
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