Although I had visited this cemetery back in 1995, I didn’t make my triumphant return until April 30, 2018. It’s a very important cemetery for Hollywood history and is packed to the rafters, er, the sod, with movie royalty. And yet I wasn’t really looking forward to tackling it again, because 1) the cemetery doesn’t want you taking pictures so you have to be sneaky, 2) the cemetery is not helpful in assisting with locating graves, 3) the cemetery is huge, and 4) the cemetery is exceptionally hilly. Nevertheless, with my friend Bob in tow – or rather towing me – we set out to conquer at least a smattering of these very important graves. We did fairly well considering most of them are flat with the earth and thus not easy to spot… which would explain why this group took part of one day (even if it was only about fifteen minutes) and then a second visit on May 2 when we spent another three hours and fifteen minutes. So here’s who we were able to see during this visit:
Spencer Tracy really doesn’t need an introduction, as he was the recipient of two Oscars – for Captains Courageous and Boys Town – plus an additional seven nominations. He also starred in the ultimate epic comedy film It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Classic married comedy teams don’t get much better than George Burns and Gracie Allen, who shined on radio, TV in The George Burns-Gracie Allen Show, and a handful of films of the 1930’s. George outlived Gracie by 32 years and went on to win an Oscar for his role in the film The Sunshine Boys.
Gene Raymond was an actor primarily from the 1930’s and 40’s who worked in If I Had a Million with W.C. Fields, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the Technicolor remake of Smilin’ Through.
Alan Ladd was an actor who starred in the legendary films Shane and The Great Gatsby, and made an early career appearances in the Laurel & Hardy film Great Guns and Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.
The unsung fifth Marx Brother who only worked with them on sage and thus never appeared in any of their films was Gummo Marx.
Way up top was one of the core three Marx Brothers Chico Marx.
Since you can’t really see him in my photo, here’s a closer look at Chico’s niche.
While we’re speaking of famous comedy teams, here’s Larry Fine, one of the two Three Stooges who appeared in all of the Stooges’ films.
Rumors may persist that Walt Disney, one of the most famous figures in cinema and modern day history, is frozen in ice in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, this marker would suggest that he is in fact buried with his family at Forest Lawn Glendale.
Joe E. Brown was not only a famous solo comedian of the 1930’s, he also has the distinctions of several footnotes in film history including appearances in The Stolen Jools with Laurel & Hardy, a cameo in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and appears in the last scene of Some Like It Hot.
Sadly Charley Chase hasn’t been a household name in decades, but nonetheless he is one of my very favorite solo comedians, and worked alongside Laurel & Hardy and the Our Gang at the Hal Roach Studios during the early 1930’s starring in his own series of short subjects. He also appeared with Laurel and Hardy in several films, most notably Sons of the Desert.
Charlie Hall can be spotted in almost half of Laurel & Hardy’s films (47 to be exact), playing his most prominent roles in the short subjects Them Thar Hills and Tit for Tat. Contemporarily referred to as ‘the little menace,’ Hall is among the top few of Hal Roach stock company players.
In an effort of visiting the graves of as many Laurel & Hardy directors that I could find, at this cemetery we started with James W. Horne, who directed the boys through 11 of their films including two of their most famous: Big Business and Way Out West.
One of Laurel & Hardy’s earliest directors was Fred L. Guiol, who directed them in many of their pre-teaming pictures and then up until their first film as a team The Second 100 Years, bringing his total to 10 films with the boys.
Laurel & Hardy fans will know her as Jacqueline Wells for her appearances in their films Any Old Port and in the title role of The Bohemian Girl. She later acted under the name Julie Bishop, but she’s actually buried under the name Julie Shoop Bergin (after her second and third husbands). Incidentally she was the mother of actress Pamela Susan Shoop.
James Parrott was not only the brother of Charley Chase, and not only the star of his own silent film series using the name Paul Parrott, but one of Laurel & Hardy’s prolific directors, guiding them through 22 of their films including the Oscar winning The Music Box, and the boys’ first feature Pardon Us.
Larry isn’t the only Stooge buried at Forest Lawn, but also Joe Besser, who joined the team for the shortest tenure after the death of Shemp Howard. He was also a prolific character actor and worked prominently with another comedy team in the TV series The Abbott and Costello Show.
Rounding out this visit to Forest Lawn was one of the earliest matinee idols, Francis X. Bushman, who worked prominently from 1911 throughout the teen years, when his roles became less frequent but continued into the 1960’s.
With the sheer size of Forest Lawn, the cemetery will require multiple visits, but for now, I was able to get the crux of the most important folks to me.
Return to Monday 2018 in Los Angeles… (under construction)
Return to Wednesday 2019 in Los Angeles… (under construction)
This posting concludes the Hollywood cemeteries. Return to the beginning here…
Hi there. I randomly came across your blog while at work maybe 9-10 years ago. It was so engaging that I frequently revisited, eventually reading nearly all of your entries whenever things were slow at my job (although I think more entries used to be accessible?). Anyway, I haven’t been back in sometime and see this is the most recent update. I hope everything is ok! Thank you for sharing so many of your journeys. I felt like I was a part of many of your roadt rips with your friend Bob, who I hope is also doing well. All the best, Mike
Mike
April 25th, 2022