If you're looking for the glitz and glamour of the Golden
Age of Hollywood, you need only to look in the rolling green acres that are its
sepulcher set in the middle of the city its inhabitants talents once
illuminated.
Hollywood Forever is the final resting place of many
Hollywood celebrities and nearly lost to the obscurity of
all forgotten cemeteries were it not for the restoration and rebirthing
befitting such a repository of past fame and glory.
Founded in 1899 on 100 acres of land,
Hollywood MemorialPark Cemetery has had an almost Hollywood-esque history of mismanagement,
character owners, and movie lot neighbors - all to reopen in 1998 with major
reinvestment makeovers and new tools to draw new users even before their ready to
join the ranks in residence.
Hollywood Forever is a bit of a redemption story right out
of a movie made just next door on the Paramount
movie lot.
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| Eastern Garden |
Nestled in a near culturally barren strip of Santa Monica
Boulevard in Los Angeles, the cemetery, now parceled down to 62 acres, is
almost hard to spot amidst the auto shops, strip malls, and warehouses that
line the street both east and west of the entrance. Between the dingy industrial buildings stands
a sign proclaiming its presence flanked by a tall iron fence and small plot of
grass.
A quick turn in and subtle nod to the security guard,
instantly you leave the bustle of the city space and enter into a sacred space
that seems to be almost completely devoid of the noise from the outside world.
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The monument reads: In memory of the soldiers of the Confederate States
Army who have died or may die on the Pacific coast, Erected by the
Confederate Monument Association.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. Lest we forget - lest we forget.
1861-1865 |
Once inside, there are ample driving paths to follow or, as
I did that day, pick a place to park and begin to walk picking your way through
the stones and fauna. The gift shop
sells a map of where the famous sleep (a fair $5.00 for the guide) without
which one could lose more than several days time trying to find the more than 170
resident celebrities.
Sadly, looking at the list even now, few names conjure
memories and of those that do their remembrance come from films I watched as a
child on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in one of the thousand re-runs that
television in the 70's relied upon. And
of those remembered, there are even fewer that stand out in vivid memory.
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Civil War veterans and women at the unveiling of the
Confederate monument at Hollywood cemetery
in Los Angeles, Calif., circa 1920.
from the UCLA Image Archive |
Some notables that will forever be remembered in
Hollywood's History buried there include: Douglas
Fairbanks, Jr. and Senior, Griffith Jenkins Griffith, Jayne
Mansfield' Tyrone Power' Cecil B. DeMille,
Peter Lorre, Charlie Chaplin, Fay Wray, and G. Mel Blanc. One of the more recent celebrities interred
in Hollywood Forever is Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone, memorialized in a bold
bronze statue with his axe forever in hand.
Among the famous I found a Real Daughter of the American Revolution and
a memorial stone in memory of the soldiers of the Confederate States Army who
perished on the
Pacific
Coast, erected by the
Confederate Monument Association. An
interesting consideration given the Confederate monument as Hollywood Forever's
second owner prohibited actress
Hattie McDaniel from being buried there as it
was a segregated cemetery that did not accept the bodies of black people.
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| Johnny Ramone in Hollywood forever |
You can find an extensive list of those celebrities in
residence at
Seeing-Stars.com.
As sacred spaces go, Hollywood Forever is an interesting
one. While it has the quiet attributes
of a place devoted to memory and reverence, it's hard to not be struck by its
proximity to Hollywood
(Paramount Studios abuts the property with sets clearly visible) but also for
the inhabitants which draw a steady stream of devotes. In the time of my visit, there were several
groups who passed through stopping here and there to snap a photo touch a
memorial. Yet, still it evokes a
sentimental sanctity that draws the Poe like writes who sit beneath its trees
and stones looking for inspiration.
All faiths are represented on the grounds too. From the Buddhist shrine (a quick right from
the entrance) to the many Star of David's, Crosses, Squares and Compasses, and
many other motifs of belief. The site
bears a remarkable amount of faiths throughout.
I was especially fond of the use of Egyptian themes in the mausoleums
and the many tall obelisks that memorialize the deceased.
Also, the cemetery is still an active one with an
increasingly dense growth of new grave sites arranged in copses of family plots
or closely associated cultural markers.
In some parts of the space these new marble memorials crowd out the
older markers in some places surrounding a lone antique plaque of a forgotten
family member.
One last emblem of sacredness that I would be remiss to
mention is the old
Masonic Lodge on the northern perimeter of the grounds. Today, the temple is a cultural venue with
any and all past Masonic emblems and motifs all stripped away on the outside but
in name (and purpose) alone. The city
blog posted a photo from 2009 with an
Order of the Eastern Star light fixture
hanging from the rafters. Formed out of the
Bankers Masonic Club in 1924
Los
Angeles, the lodge received a charter from the Grand
Lodge of California in 1925 as Southland Lodge No. 617 when they moved into the
Spanish Renaissance Revival building in 1931.
The building, now part of the main gate of Hollywood Forever, hosts
concerts, plays, and other intimate events.
Outside of the lodge, the cemetery holds a variety of cultural
activities on the grounds from movies in the park to annual
Dia de Los Muertos
celebrations.
With the presence of the Masonic Lodge, the site is
sufficient to solidify its sacredness of space as sacred with all the trappings
that come with that distinction.
Hollywood Forever is definitely worth the visit if you are a
native of the Southland or a visiting lover of all things sacred. Plan to spend an hour or more roaming the
many stones and memorials and be sure to pick up a map from the gift shop to
guide your steps. While you visit, be
sure to take some time to soak in the quiet nostalgia of the site and listen to
the echoes of the past as they carry on the winds from the traffic of breezing
by on
Santa Monica Boulevard.
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| The tomb of Cecil B. DeMille |
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| Douglas Fairbanks |
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| The Griffith family tomb |
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| Tyrone Powers tomb |
