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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