Tags
Bettie Page, Billy Wilder, Bob Crane, Dean Martin, Don Knotts, Donna Reed, Dorothy Stratten, Farrah Fawcett, Grave Hunting, Jack Lemmon, Jim Backus, Josef Von Sternberg, Marilyn Monroe, Mel Torme, Richard Conte, Steve Goldstein, Walter Matthau, Westwood Memorial Park, Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery
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.
