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Andy Gibb, Bette Davis, Birth of Liberty, Birth of Liberty mosaic, Bob Barker, Boston, Brittney Murphy, Buster Keaton, California, Carl Laemmle, Cecil B. DeMille, Charles Laughton, Clyde Beatty, D.W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, Forrest Tucker, Freddie Prinze, George Raft, Grave Hunting, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Isabel Sanford, John Ritter, Leon Ames, Liberace, Lisa Burks, Los Angeles, Lou Rawls, McLean Stevenson, Melvin Franklin, Morey Amsterdam, Paul Revere's Ride, Rod Steiger, Ronnie James Dio, San Fernando Valley, Sandra Dee, Scott Michaels, Stan Laurel, Telly Savales, The Birth of a Nation, The Court of Remembrance, Tom Bosley, Walter Lantz
Continuing on with “The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited” series of posts. Today’s topic is the Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills location. As I mentioned in the original L.A. Gravecation post on June 1st 2011. Joining me at Forest Lawn, were my good friends and former Detroit natives who now live in Los Angeles, Scott Michaels, AND Lisa Burks.
If your going to be in the L.A. area anytime soon. You can find the Hollywood Hills location of the Forest Lawn conglomeration of cemeteries at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills, section of Los Angeles. The cemetery is situated on the lower north slope at the eastern most part of the Santa Monica Mountains. This particular area overlooks North Hollywood, & Burbank in the San Fernando Valley from its southwest area. From the north you will find The Los Angeles River spanning west to east.
Founded in the 1940s the cemetery encompasses four-hundred acres, of rolling hills, with an overabundance, of various species of tree’s, and shrubs, not to mention lush sharply manicured lawns. Within the confines of this true representation of what a memorial park, should be, you will find artistically hand-crafted fountains, along with beautifully carved statuary, and architecture.
Before the Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills location was set in stone and came to be what it is today. The area was used as a filming location for a multitude of motion picture companies in Los Angeles. Highly respected motion picture directors such as Carl Laemmle, & Cecil B. DeMille, among many others were known to use the pristine location, for a number of their films. One of the films shot in the area was the highly controversial yet historically accurate Civil War silent era drama D.W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation.
One of the things I find exceptionally fascinating about Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills is that the cemetery promotes its self as a serene resting place dedicated to the preservation of American History. Some of the highlighted features you will find within the tranquil confines of this truly majestic museum in stone include the Court of Liberty, Lincoln Terrace, & the Plaza of Mesoamerican Heritage.
The Birth of Liberty mosaic at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills. Courtesy of Lisa Burks.
The highly acclaimed Court of Liberty, features lifelike statues of our nations first president George Washington, & Thomas Jefferson. Another point of interest for history buffs, or connoisseurs of priceless works of art is the Birth of Liberty mosaic. This invaluable representation of Americana art, is considered to be the largest historically depicted mosaic in the United States. The historic mosaic treasure spans an astonishing 162ft, and is 28ft tall. Other points of interest for the aficionado of American history, include but is not limited to The Old North Church which is an exact replica of the historic landmark in Boston. This is the church mentioned in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic colonial era poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” There are many other historic points of interest and things to visualize at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Perhaps one day you will be able to see for your self what this historic immense memorial park landscape has to offer.
Now that I got the background, and history of this majestic memorial park, out-of-the-way. The primary reason I was at Forest Lawn, was to check out the gravesites of you guessed it celebrities. Joining me at Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills, as mentioned above were my very good friends Scott Michaels, & Lisa Burks. While The Motor City Trio (Scott, Lisa, and my self) were strolling around FL-HH, we spent most of our concentrated time in the Court of Remembrance section.
In the area circumventing the Court of Remembrance section. You will find such Hollywood personalities as Sandra Dee, Morey Amsterdam, Isabel Sanford, Rod Steiger, George Raft, Forrest Tucker, Walter Lantz, Freddie Prinze, Liberace, McLean Stevenson, Leon Ames, Ronnie James Dio, Andy Gibb, Bette Davis, Lou Rawls, Charles Laughton, Clyde Beatty, among other noteworthy celebs.
Other personalities who call Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills their final home include Brittney Murphy, John Ritter, Tom Bosley, Buster Keaton, Telly Savales, Stan Laurel, Melvin Franklin, among many others. Bob Barker the game show host, has a pre-need future burial site at the memorial park.
While I didn’t get a chance to see everything there is to see at Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills. I pretty much covered the basics, with who resides there. If your interested I invite you to check out the following links with info on who’s buried in this majestic memorial park. For starters the Seeing-Stars page, this page has detailed maps on where the celebs are buried, also worth mentioning, the Seeing-Stars website, features other local Los Angeles cemeteries on its website. If your interested in checking out the mammoth database on the Seeing-Stars website. You should visit this link. Continuing on the always popular Find A Grave, Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills page, and the Wikipedia page.
And finally to close, below you will find a photo slide show of many of the photos I shot that historic day last Spring, when I was strolling around Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills, with my friends Scott Michaels, & Lisa Burks. I’ll be adding more photos to the slide show as time goes on.
Don’t forget Mark Masek’s e-book “Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, The Unauthorized Guide” for a wonderful walking tour book of the cemetery that you can download to your smart phone or tablet!
Great recap of your trip, Josh!
Thanks Jayne, BTW I didn’t even think about Mark’s e-book on Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills. I dunno if I own that one yet. I know I have the editions on Hollywood Forever, & Forest Lawn – Glendale. I might have to purchase the HH edition, and add it to this post.