By Sean P. Means
As the iron-fisted head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn was universally despised. But when he died in 1958,
hundreds came to his funeral.
The comedian Red Skelton, so the old Hollywood story goes (as quoted in Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies),
reflected on the massive turnout: "It proves what they always say: Give the public what they want to see,
and they'll come out for it."
Author Mark J. Masek figures a few people will want to see where Cohn is buried -- the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, about 50 feet from Nelson Eddy -- and hundreds of other celebrity graves.
Masek's book, Hollywood Remains to Be Seen (425 pages, paperback; Cumberland House Publishing; $17.95),
is a guided tour of 14 L.A.-area cemeteries, with biographies of the late stars mentioned.
Masek, a travel writer, visited each of the cemeteries, usually anonymously. "I never went to the cemetery
and announced who I was and what I was doing," Masek said in a phone interview this week. "They all gave me
a map of the grounds. Some of the cemeteries would give me a list of the celebrities, because they were used to that,
but most didn't. . . . I tried to fit in, and tried not to draw attention to myself."
Among the least cooperative sites is the famous Forest Lawn chain of cemeteries, two of which are featured
in the book. Forest Lawn discourages tourists, restricts access to certain areas, and has a reputation for having
trespassers thrown out or even arrested. ("It's kind of a badge of honor among some people to say they were kicked
out of Forest Lawn," he said.)
Access to the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn's Glendale location (where Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard
and Red Skelton are entombed) is restricted. Visitors must be buzzed in by a guard, and must name whose marker
they wish to visit -- and no wandering around.
But, Masek's book notes slyly, "a devious person might find a door in the Great Mausoleum with glass panels,
peek in, and find a name on one of the crypts. Then they could go to a door on the other side of the Great Mausoleum,
ring the buzzer, and tell the employee they want to visit their dear, departed Aunt Edna or Uncle Harry, or whatever
name they saw. But . . . that would be a devious and deceitful thing to do, and I would never recommend it."
Masek said he has never tried this trick, but "I've had other people tell me how to do it."
The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, formerly Hollywood Memorial Park, is considered one of the more tourist-friendly
graveyards. Rudolph Valentino, Cecil B. deMille and Mel Blanc are among those resting in peace there.
The cemetery's longtime owner reportedly mismanaged funds and let the place deteriorate. Families of some
buried there, like makeup man Max Factor, moved their loved ones to other cemeteries. In 1998,
after the old owner died and the cemetery fell into bankruptcy, a new owner -- Tyler Cassity,
son of a St. Louis mortuary-chain operator -- began a massive renovation.
Cassity added a gift shop for tourists, repaired the mausoleums, straightened grave markers, and cleaned
up the more impressive monuments. The new owner also erected a marker honoring "Gone With the Wind" Oscar
winner Hattie McDaniel, who died in 1952 and was refused burial there because of a "whites-only"
policy. (McDaniel's remains are still interred at L.A.'s Rosedale Cemetery, where she did break
the color barrier, Masek said.)
The grave sites range from the simple, like the nondescript marker on Groucho Marx's crypt,
to the massively spectacular, such as Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s 120-foot reflecting pool. Off the
scale completely is Al Jolson's final resting place, with a long waterfall, columned gazebo
and a marble dome bedecked with a mural of Moses. "It's visible from the freeway going to the
airport -- people drive by and think it's a public park," Masek said.
Masek visited his first celebrity grave -- Marilyn Monroe's, at the Pierce Brothers Westwood
Village Memorial Park, just off Wilshire Boulevard -- 25 years ago. Then, as now, the crypt
was littered with flowers, photos, balloons, lipstick prints and other mementos.
"Most of these people weren't alive when she died, and they still remembered her and felt
like she was a family member," Masek said. "I found a lot of other celebrity graves are
like that, too -- just about whenever you go there, there are fresh flowers left behind."
Masek's book is the logical extension of our fascination with celebrity. "With People
and Us magazines, we feel like we know every bit of someone's personal life," Masek said.
"We feel like we know these people. We feel like they are friends. We feel like celebrities
are part of our lives."
The Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 11, 2001:
Guide to Celebrity Cemeteries Shows Where
Stars Make Final Curtain Calls