Tag Archives: Bugsy Siegel

2012 L.A. Gravecation Day 7-9 – A President & Reputed Mafiosos

16 Tuesday Oct 2012

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On day seven (Monday October 8th) of my 2012 L.A. Gravecation. I didn’t really have much planned. After the wild weekend which I encountered at the 1st Annual Death Hag Weekend extravaganza, I pretty much kicked back for the next two days. It’s not to say I didn’t want to hit the sunny Southern California cemeteries. I just didn’t have much planned. So with that being said I had to improvise.

Being that I was lodging fairly close to Yorba Linda, California in the Anaheim Hills during the 2012 L.A. Gravecation. It came to my attention that former President Richard M. Nixon rests peacefully in Yorba Linda. So on Monday I got up nice and early and thus decided I’d cruise over to the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library, & Museum.

After paying the $11.95 admission fee to get into the library & museum. I then b-lined it straight for the courtyard area where President Nixon and his blushing bride Patricia, were resting six-feet under, so I can then pay my respects at their graveside. I snapped about a dozen or so photos of their respective gravesites. After my photo frenzy was over I then strolled into the museum, looked around a bit then made my departure. If you’re interested in learning more about the life, & times of President Nixon you should definitely visit The Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, in Yorba Linda, California. So that pretty much concludes what I did on Monday.

On Tuesday, October 9th, I decided to visit Inglewood Park Cemetery, which is in Inglewood, California. To get a general historic background of this beautiful cemetery. You definitely should visit the Inglewood Park Cemetery website. Two other websites which are definitely worth a visit, to get an overview of the famous personalities who call this cemetery their final home, are the Inglewood Park Cemetery Wikipedia, & Find A Grave pages.

Moving along when I arrived at Inglewood Park Cemetery, I stopped at the information booth behind the front gate near the entrance, to get a map of the cemetery grounds. I then b-lined over to The Mausoleum of The Golden West building. Interred in this architecturally majestic mausoleum are a whole slew of famous personalities. Some of the personalities who call The Mausoleum of The Golden West their final home (at least who I photographed) include but is not limited to: Betty Grable (actress), Cesar Romero (actor), Ray Charles (musician), Anthony Stralla Cornero (reputed mobster and gambler) along with several other famous people.

After I made my departure from The Mausoleum of The Golden West, I then hopped back into the Nissan Versa which was the official “Gravecation Mobile” for the duration of my L.A. trip, then hightailed it over to where Lillian Leitzel & Alfredo Codona rest. Lillian & Alfredo were aerialist circus performers for Ringling Bros Circus. Lillian tragically lost her life when she fell twenty feet to the ground, after the safety swivel snapped. Meanwhile Alfredo Codona took his own life after putting a gun to his temple and pulling the trigger. The suicide happened after he got into an argument with his second wife. Alfredo and Lillian are buried in the Codona family plot. The centerpiece of this plot is a beautiful monument with a winged angel soaring high into the sky.

After I photographed the Codona family marker, and the gravesides of Lillian, and Alfredo. I then cruised over to where Edgar Bergen, and his wife Frances rest. Edgar Bergen, was a comedian and ventriloquist. Bergen is fondly remembered as the creator of the ventriloquist puppets “Charlie McCarthy” and “Mortimer Snerd” Edgar’s wife Frances was an actress who appeared in several films. Edgar & Frances are the parents of prolific actress Candice Bergen.

After I photographed the gravesides of Edgar, and Francess Bergen, I then cruised over to the area where burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee rests. Unfortunately I had no luck finding this gravesite. I think part of the reason for this was because there was a sprinkler spraying water in the area, and to prevent my Canon digital camera from being destroyed I decided to not look for Lee’s graveside. I did however try though to no avail. So that concludes my adventure to Inglewood Park Cemetery.

On Wedesday, October 10th I decided to kick things up a notch. So what did I do? I cruised over to Calvary cemetery, in East Los Angeles, and Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in Hollywood. Being that I pretty much found the gravesites of everyone I wanted to  the last time I was in town in 2011. I still had a little unfinished business to attend to. After my arrival at Calvary cemetery, I strolled into the office to get a cemetery map & inquire about two particular gravesites, that I didn’t have the locations for. After my inquiries, & much to my pleasant surprise the office clerk gave me the names I was looking for. The names in question were for Rosario DeSimone, & his son Frank DeSimone. Rosario was one of the early Los Angeles Crime Family bosses, during the years 1922 through 1925. Rosario’s son Frank, was the Los Angeles Crime Family boss from 1956 through 1967. If your interested in learning more about the life and times of Rosario & Frank DeSimone, you definitely should visit their Wikipedia biographies which have external links above.

After photographing and paying my respects at the graveside of Rosario & Frank DeSimone, I then hopped back into my “Gravecation Mobile” and cruised over to the front of the mammoth mausoleum building. One of the vaults among thousands in the lawn directly in front of the mausoleum holds the final resting place of another Los Angeles mobster, and that being none other than Jack Dragna. Dragna was the Los Angeles crime family boss  between 1931-1956. If you’re interested you should  visit Wikipedia for a general biographical overview of Dragna’s life.

After photographing the graveside of Jack Dragna, I then hopped back into the “Gravecation Mobile” and made my departure from Calvary cemetery. If you’re interested in checking out who’s buried in Calvary cemetery, which is maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles you should visit the Calvary cemetery Wikipedia page, or Find A Grave.

After visiting Calvary, I had a little time to kill before meeting up with my friend Lia, at The Grove in Los Angeles. So I then made my way to Hollywood Forever cemetery. If you’re interested in visiting this true museum in stone known as Hollywood Forever you can find it on Santa Monica Blvd, directly behind Paramount Studios.

Being that I visited Hollywood Forever a total of three times during the two weeks I was strutting around Los Angeles. I’m gonna combine the three visits into one. The first visit to Hollywood Forever during the 2012 Los Angeles Gravecation I found the graveside of acclaimed Russian actress/ballerina Tamara Toumanova. This particular gravesite I wanted to find in 2011 during my inaugural trip to Los Angeles. With no such luck during that trip, I had better luck this time. With the help via phone from my good friend and L.A. based graver, Jayne. Fortunately I had the location in the cemetery where Toumanova is located, but didn’t know where to find her. So with the help of Jayne, I was able to pinpoint the location. After finding the grave of Toumanova, and photographing it. I then made my departure, because I was meeting my friend Lia (mentioned above) at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles.

Before I forget, another grave I found, at Hollywood Forever. Was a cenotaph memorializing Toto the dog, from the motion picture “The Wizard of Oz“. Toto is not actually buried in Hollywood Forever, but is buried on the land once owned by Carl Spitz, which is now part of the Ventura Freeway.

During the second visit to Hollywood Forever. I was joined at the cemetery after the Death Hag Weekend Sunday brunch at El Coyote Mexican Cafe, by my friend Stacey. While we were there I just showed Stacey some of the graves in the lawn area. We were going to visit the grave of silent film heart-throb Rudolf Valentino, but unfortunately the mausoleum where he is interred was locked, due to construction. After parting ways with Stacey, I then headed back to Anaheim, where I was staying.

During my last and final visit to Hollywood Forever, I visited the gravesites of notorious Las Vegas gangster Bugsy Siegel, & Moe Sedway. Another gravesite on the list which was a new one to find was of John Jacob Factor, he’s related to Max Factor Sr. & Jr. He was a Chicago mobster, aligned with Al Capone. After I visited the gravesites of the three Jewish mobsters in the Beth Olm mausoleum, I then cruised over to where the silent film sibling trio of Constance, Natalie, and Norma Talmadge rest. After photographing their graveside crypts, I then drove around to the front of the cemetery to the columbarium to lurk around in there. After not finding the gravside cremains niche of silent film actress Viola Dana, I then made my departure back to Anaheim.

If you’re interested in checking out what Hollywood Forever cemetery has to offer. Feel free to visit the Hollywood Forever, Wikipedia, or Find A Grave pages. So that pretty much concludes what I did in Los Angeles, and Orange County covering days seven through nine. Stay tuned for more updates on the 2012 Los Angeles Gravecation.

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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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Grave Hunting Chronicles: Grandpa Bugsy by Steve Goldstein

19 Tuesday Jul 2011

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Awhile back, I decided to give some grave hunting friends of mine the opportunity to be guest bloggers of sorts for a series of reader contributed stories I’d like to call “Grave Hunting Chronicles.” These are life stories of grave hunters practicing their craft in the cemeteries they love. The next story I’m about to introduce to you, was graciously donated by my good friend & fellow graver Steve Goldstein. The story relates to a time when Steve, accompanied by a friend of his. Found the graveside crypt of notorious New York bred, Las Vegas gangster Bugsy Siegel. As you will soon find out the story has some interesting twists which will no doubt make you laugh, or at least bring a smile to your face. Anyway without further adieu here is “Grandpa Bugsy”

Grandpa Bugsy
By Steve Goldstein

Back in 1994, my friend Kelly was visiting from Portland, Oregon, and I took her around Hollywood to show her the sites. One place she really wanted to see was Hollywood Memorial Park (which was still called that back then, and was still under the so-called management of the criminally inclined Jules “Jack” Roth), and in particular, she wanted to visit the grave there of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, the infamous mobster who was killed in Beverly Hills back in 1947.

This was shortly after the devastating Northridge earthquake that year, so when we arrived at the cemetery and made our way to the Beth Olam Mausoleum in the back, we found it padlocked with a sign that read “Closed due to earthquake damage. Only Family members will be allowed in. Please check in at the Administration building to be granted access.”

Disappointed but not deterred, we made our way back to the main entrance of the park and into the Administration building. There we found an older, very dour looking woman sitting behind the reception desk. “May I help you?” she asked without ever looking up. “Yes,” I replied, “we would like to be let into the Beth Olam Mausoleum.” “Who are you here to see?” she asked, still not making eye contact with us. “Benjamin Siegel” said I. “Oh, and are you RELATED to Mr. Siegel?” she asked, dripping with sarcasm. “Yes,” I said, “I’m his grandson.” Of course, this was not true, but it was possible. Siegel had two daughters who were born in the early 1930s, about the same time my own mother was actually born, and if either of them had given birth in the mid-1950s to a male child, that child would be about my age and probably fit my general description. Crabby old lady finally looked up. “Really??” She was genuinely impressed now. “Benjamin Siegel was your Grandfather?  Do you know how many people come in here looking for him all the time?” “That’s very nice,” I said. “Can you please let us in?” “Right away, Sir!” She picked up a phone and called a groundskeeper to come and fetch us immediately. Kelly at this point was afraid she would burst out laughing so she ran off to the ladies room, leaving me sitting there alone in the lobby not knowing if I was about to be arrested for impersonating the relative of a dead gangster or actually be escorted to his crypt. She was gone a pretty long time and I was becoming more nervous by the second. I asked the lady if I should perhaps come back at another time. “Oh no, they’re on their way!” she assured me. On their way for what, I wondered.

Kelly eventually pulled herself together and indeed, a very nice groundskeeper pulled up in a golf cart and drove us back to the Beth Olam Mausoleum, where he unlocked the chains and allowed us to go inside, unescorted. He waited for us outside and gave us free reign for as long as we wanted.

We still laugh about that day all these years later. I like to imagine that the crabby old receptionist tells this story still, about how she met Bugsy Siegel’s grandson one day. And I hope she tells folks “He was very nice.”

And there you have it “Grandpa Bugsy” by Steve Goldstein. This story is one of my personal favorites, that Steve shares with his friends. So I just had to go through the proper channels to see about publishing it on this blog, for my readers to see. If your interested Steve has a website Beneath Los Angeles which chronicles the gravesites of famous people buried in Los Angeles. Not only that he also had the book “LA’s Graveside Companion: Where The VIP’s RIP” published by Schiffer Publishing.