Author Archives: Josh Perry

Graveside Recap January 5th 2012 – Clover Hill Park Cemetery

06 Friday Jan 2012

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Today being that it was relatively nice outside for this time of year. The sun was out, the frigid cold temperature was at a tolerable level, and to top it off there was NO snow on the ground which is a shock to me. So in typical form what did I do? I hit the cemeteries of course! On the agenda for today was Clover Hill Park cemetery, which is at 2425 East Fourteen Mile Road Birmingham, MI. Clover Hill Park cemetery was founded in 1918 by Congregation Shaarey Zedek, and is one of the areas oldest Jewish burial grounds serving the Detroit metropolitan Jewish community for over three generations.

After arriving at the Clover Hill, I pulled out the map I downloaded off the Clover Hill Park Cemetery website. I then made my way through the cemetery, driving along while admiring the various forms of monuments and statuary in the cemetery. Arriving at my destination section 24 where noted & highly acclaimed 1950s era B-Movie producer & writer Herman Cohen rests in eternal harmony. After getting out of the car I walked around the section for a while before deciding to head to the cemetery office to get the exact location to where Cohen was buried. After getting the location from the office clerk, I promptly found Herman Cohen’s monument, and gravesite.

B-Movie Producer Herman Cohen's gravesite in Sec: 24 Lot: 484 of Clover Hill Park Cemetery

To give you a little biographical overview on who Herman Cohen was. Born on August 27, 1925 in Detroit. He began his lifelong career in the film industry working at the Dexter Theater in Detroit as an usher. He then got a job at the highly popular Fox Theater in Detroit. After getting out of the Marine Corps, he landed a job at Columbia Pictures as a sales manager. In the 1940s he moved to Los Angeles to work in the publicity department at Columbia. By the time the 1950s came around he started producing motion pictures. Some of the films he was involved with include Bride of the Gorilla, Battles of Chief Pontiac, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, Kid Monk Baroni, just to name a few. To Cohen’s credit his filmography includes a respectable 35 films, to which he was involved as either producer or writer. Cohen resides in Sec: 24 Lot: 484. If your interested I invite you to check out the Herman Cohen Fan Page.

Graveside of William Davidson in Sec: 14 Lot: CM of Clover Hill Park Cemetery, Birmingham, Michigan

Next on the list of gravesites to pay my respects at was that of William “Bill” Davidson. Born on December 5th 1922, Davidson was an American businessman who was the chairman, and CEO of Guardian Industries. Guardian Industries is one of the worlds foremost producers of architectural and automotive glass. Davidson also owned the Detroit Pistons NBA team, and Tampa Bay Lighting NHL team. Davidson rests eternally in Sec: 14 Lot: CM of the cemetery.

Overall even though I just had two gravesites to find, I had a highly enjoyable time, doing what I love in the middle of Winter. Granted there was no snow on the ground. So I had to take advantage of the situation. And finally, I’m working on the post-production of episode 08 of The Gravecast Podcast where I interviewed my friend Lisa Burks. I’ve been working on the post-production editing little by little every day. This podcast episode will by far be the longest one I’ve produced.

The 2011 Gravecast Holiday Gift Guide

13 Tuesday Dec 2011

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Well it’s that time of year again where I publish the annual Gravecast Holiday Gift Guide. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or perhaps Kwanzaa. These gifts I have listed are sure to brighten up the faces of anyone on your shopping list who is hard to buy for, or has macabre thoughts, interests, & tendencies. So without further adieu here is my list. Direct links will be provided where you can buy these splendid gifts.

First on the list is the 2012 “Year in Death” calendar. To give you a little background on how this fabulous calendar came about. The calendar started out in 2010. The popularity of the “Year In Death” calendar pretty much skyrocketed when it was first published. Needless to say the creators of the calendar decided to create the 2011, and now 2012 editions of the calendar. Here’s a quote from Mark Masek about the soon to be famous “Year In Death” calendar.

Once again, “The Year in Death” calendar will help you remember and honor your favorite celebrities and well-known names from history on the anniversary of their passing. For every day of the year, we identify a celebrity who died on that day, the year they died, and the cause of death. Also, for each month, we feature an original photo montage, designed and created especially for “The Year in Death” calendar by Scott Michaels, founder of Dearly Departed Tours, the man behind the phenomenal Find-A-Death website, and L.A.’s No. 1 Death Hag. And once again this year, the calendar is co-created, co-sponsored and co-presented by your dear friends at The Adipocere Society and CemeteryGuide.com. -Mark Masek CemeteryGuide.com

If your interested in purchasing the 2012 Year In Death Calendar you should visit CemeteryGuide.com

Next on the 2011 Gravecast Holiday Gift Guide list are the marvelous “Death Hag Swag” and other morbidly useful goodies being sold on the Find A Death website. Scott Michaels who owns Find A Death.com, along with the highly recommended Dearly Departed Tours in Hollywood. Recently had some tastefully classy t-shirts created to promote his website Find A Death, and sister  company Dearly Departed Tours. On the F.A.D. store which you can find by visiting Find A Death.com you will find a nice assortment of t-shirts, license plate frames, the DVD’s Dearly Departed Vol. 1, and The Six Degree’s of Helter Skelter, along with some celebrity memorabilia with a ghoulish twist.

If the above sites don’t suit your tastes which they more than likely will. Let me introduce you to The Skeletons In The Closet Gift Shoppe THE official gift shop for the L.A. County Coroners office. Here’s a little morbid trivia for you, there are only two coroners offices in the United States which have a gift shop. L.A. being one of them, the other being the Las Vegas Coroners office. Needless to say you will no doubt find something that will entice your interests.

Next up, if the above items do not suit your macabre tastes, for the upcoming Holiday gift giving extravaganza. You might be interested in the book “L.A.’s Graveside Companion: Where The VIP’s RIP”. Written by the grave hunting story telling genius, and frequent contributor to Gravecast, Steve Goldstein. If you do buy the book on Amazon which is linked above, you might also be interested in the companion DVD “Grave Hunting With Steve: A Journey Beneath Los Angeles”

And finally I can’t forget the e-book “Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills: The Unauthorized Guide” by Mark Masek, who is another contributor to Gravecast. I do not own this e-book “yet” BUT I do own other e-books Mark has published and let me tell you, Mark is one of the people in the know when it comes to Hollywood celebrity gravesites. On a lighter note, if your interested in purchasing his “unauthorized” guides to Forest Lawn Glendale, or Hollywood Forever. I invite you to check out the Amazon Kindle Store.

The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited – Westwood Memorial Park

04 Sunday Dec 2011

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Well its been a few days since I’ve done a post titled “The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited”. So lets push on with today’s featured cemetery and that is none other than Westwood Memorial Park cemetery, which is in the Westwood Village section of Los Angeles. The tranquil confines of this cemetery is an easy one to miss, due in part because of the secluded location with the tall office, and apartment buildings which surround the park like cemetery. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d more than likely pass by it. None the less Westwood Memorial Park cemetery is at 1218 Glendon Ave, a few blocks off Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood.

Founded in 1904, the cemetery was a larger in the form of acreage than it is today. At the time the particular area was in a rural section of Los Angeles no doubt with rolling valleys of farmland, and ranches. Over time the land of what used to be the older parts of the cemetery were sold off and eventually turned into what you see today being various office and apartment buildings. The first real celebrity to be buried within the confines of the nicely manicured lawns of Westwood was that of blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe. When Monroe passed away, when her husband Joe DiMaggio wanted her in a secluded cemetery, and he choose Westwood. Part of the reason being that her godmother, and grandmother were buried there.

Joining me at Westwood for my private tour was my very good friend Steve Goldstein. We pretty much started out in the main lawn area, then worked our ways through the wall crypts, private lawn estates, and other sections. Keep in mind this cemetery might not be on par with say Hollywood Forever, or the Forest Lawn cemetery conglomerate. BUT you probably wont find such a high concentration of A- list celebrities buried within three acres of a secluded cemetery in other cemeteries around the country. If your interested I invite you to check out the Westwood Memorial Park Wikipedia page, or Find A Grave. So lets roll on with the photo slideshow. I’ll add more photos to this slideshow as time goes on. ENJOY.

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Introducing The 2012 Year In Death Calendar.

28 Monday Nov 2011

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For those of you who are looking for that perfect Christmas or Hanukkah gift, for the hard to buy for loved one, in your life. Who just so happens to have macabre tendencies with an undying fascination of when celebrities drop dead.

Look no further than The 2012 Year In Death Calendar which was created in conjunction with Mark Masek who wrote the book “Hollywood Remains To Be Seen” and is also the owner of cemeteryguide.com. I can’t forget Jayne Osborne who owns The Adipocere Society website, AND finally Scott Michaels who owns and runs the day-to-day operations of the Find A Death website, and the most sought out HIGHLY recommended Hollywood tour company Dearly Departed Tours.

Do NOT miss out on this calendar, I have the 2010, 2011, AND 2012 editions and I highly recommend ordering one for your self, or loved one as Christmas & Hanukkah are right around the corner. Don’t forget they’re selling out like hot tamales’. Order today by visiting CemeteryGuide.com

The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited – Hollywood Forever

26 Saturday Nov 2011

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Continuing on with the recap extravaganza this week. From when I went to Los Angeles, last Spring, to go nuts in the cemeteries, where anyone who was ANYTHING in Hollywood is buried. In today’s revisited recap I will feature Hollywood Forever cemetery.

To give you the background on Hollywood Forever. The cemetery was originally called Hollywood Memorial Park, and is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Founded in 1899 by Isaac Lankershim, and his son-in-law Isaac Van Nuys. As time went on, the cemetery owners Lankershim & Van Nuys sold off large tracts of land in the rear part of the cemetery to nearby Paramount Studios, another part of the cemetery was set aside for the creation of Beth Olam cemetery which is a Jewish cemetery located within the grounds of Hollywood Forever.

In 1939 a convicted felon by the name of Jules Roth, purchased the cemetery, and then plundered the money which was supposed to be used for the general operations of the cemetery, and thus the cemetery fell into disrepair, and was in the process of being shut down. That is until Tyler Cassity, who came from a long line of relatives  involved in the funeral & cemetery industry, and purchased the 62-acre, hollowed ground for under $400k. So that pretty much gives you the background of Hollywood Forever.

There is a never-ending cast of élite Hollywood stars who call the cemetery their final home. From the world of silent films comes Rudolf Valentino, Barbara La Marr, The Talmadge Sisters (Constance, Norma, & Natalie), William Desmond Taylor who is buried under his real name of Tanner. From the world of crime comes Bugsy Siegel, & Moe Sedway. Other classic stars include Paul Muni, Harold Rosson. Dee Dee & Johnny Ramone, Peter Lorre, & Jesse Lasky, and many other celebrities.

If your interested, the cemetery gift shop sells a colorful cemetery map, marking the gravesites of celebrities in buried in the cemetery, along with “The Official Walking Directory of Hollywood Forever” which is a 47-page booklet with biographical narratives, and photos of the celebrities buried in the cemetery. Another thing I’d recommend getting if you plan on visiting Hollywood Forever is the book “The Stars of Hollywood Forever: A Who’s Who Guide of Hollywood’s Final Resting Place” this particular book is written by Tony L. Scott, I highly recommend the book and any future editions you can get your hands on. T.L Scott has a website which you can visit my clicking here. So now that I got all that out-of-the-way who’s ready to see some gravesite photos? Please navigate at your leisure the photo slideshow below. Just a FYI tomorrow I’ll be going over Westwood Memorial Park. Enjoy!

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