Tags
Barbara La Marr, Bugsy Siegel, Constance Talmadge, Dee Dee Ramone, Harold Rosson, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood Memorial Park, Isaac Lankershim, Isaac Van Nuys, Jesse Lasky, Johnny Ramone, Jules Roth, Moe Sedway, Natalie Talmadge, Norma Talmadge, Paul Muni, Peter Lorre, Rudolf Valentino, The Official Walking Directory of Hollywood Forever, The Stars of Hollywood Forever: A Who's Who Guide of Hollywood's Final Resting Place, Tyler Cassity, William Desmond Taylor
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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