Seeing Stars: Final Resting Places of the Stars

Part IV
1712 S. Glendale
Avenue,
Glendale, CA. / (323) 254-3131

[This
is the fourth page of a five page article. Click
here to go to the first page.]
Back in your car again, follow the road northwest,
down the hill to the Hall of The Crucifixion- Resurrection (see
the map).
Inside, you will discover a modern theatre that presents
hourly exhibitions of the colossal painting called "The Crucifixion."
In fact, the Hall was built expressly to house and display this work of
art. The world's largest religious painting, "The Crucifixion"
measures 195 feet long and 45 feet high.
As you might well imagine, Forest Lawn isn't content
to simply draw back the curtain. Instead, there is a 20-minute multimedia
show, in which the complex landscape of the painting is revealed bit-by-bit,
via spotlights accenting the various biblical characters on the elaborately-detailed
canvas, a show replete with narration, music, and light & sound effects,
telling the Biblical story of Christ's final hours.
Upon leaving the theatre, turn to your right,
and you will enter the unusual Forest Lawn Museum, which
houses an eclectic (one might say eccentric) collection of items, ranging
from religious paintings and a complete collection of biblical coins, to
Old West Remington bronzes, lavish reproductions of the British crown jewels,
full-size suits of armor, and a giant, stone idol head (named Henry) from Easter Island!

On
the steep lawn above the "Wee Kirk o' the Heather" chapel (see
a photo), in space 2, lot 8, you'll find the grave of beloved
actor Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997),
star of "It's A Wonderful Life," "Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington" and "The Philadelphia Story."
(See a map of the grounds.)
Don't
try to hike up this grassy slope (unless you want a heart attack) - instead,
get in your car and drive up the road to the top of this hill, and park
where you see a large monument called "Protection," featuring
a black statue of an archer (a man with a bow & arrow), and bearing
the name "Taylor." 
Walk over to this monument and stand right in front
of the man's bow, as if he were aiming at you. Now turn around and face
the opposite direction. Walk six rows ahead (away from the Taylor statue).
Jimmy Stewart's lawn grave (a
fairly simple marker) is in this sixth row, just three spaces to the right
(towards the road).
Jimmy will always be remembered for films like "Harvey," "Rear Window," "The
Spirit of St. Louis," "Vertigo," "Anatomy
of a Murder," "Magic Town," "The
Greatest Show on Earth," "The Shop Around the Corner" and
"How the West Was Won."
But Jimmy was not just a celluloid hero. Enlisting
as an Army Air Force pilot in World War II, he was assigned to a safe job
as an instructor in the States, but bravely insisted on combat duty instead.
He was sent to England, where he led 20 bombing raids against the Nazis,
including a 1,000 plane raid on Berlin. He was twice awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, rising from private to colonel in just four years.

Robert
Young (1908-1997), the beloved 'Jim
Anderson' on "Father Knows Best," and later the wise
"Doctor Welby M.D.," is buried far away, up in the Graceland
section, 5905, space 3.
It
is not an easy grave to find. (Click
here to see a map of
the grounds). As you drive along the southwest side of the huge Graceland
section, near the intersection where the Sunrise Slope, Vesperland and
Graceland sections meet, you'll see a white statue
of a woman wrapped in a robe, with a small child. (See the
photo to the left.)
Robert
Young's grave is on that (northeast) side of the street. From the statue,
note that there are trees located along the curb on the same side as the
statue.
Park next to the third tree to the right (southeast)
of the statue. 
Now (if you're in good enough health), climb up the
grassy slope. Continue past one smaller tree as you make your way up the
hillside, and pause at the second (larger) tree up (the third, if you count
the tree by the curb). Mr. Young's simple lawn marker is located about
nine spaces up in the same row as that second, large tree.
(Click
on the photo above to see the exact spot.)

Now,
check the map you picked up at the gate, and head down the hill to the
area surrounding the Great Mausoleum, the giant, gothic cathedral-like
building on the southwest side of the park which houses some of Hollywood's
biggest stars, as well as replicas of some of the greatest works of art
of Michelangelo and Leonardo De Vinci.
But before we go inside, we will first take
a look at some celebrity graves scattered around the lawns surrounding
the Great Mausoleum. (Click
here to see a map
of the park.)

On the lawns to the east of (behind) the Mausoleum,
are two large monuments.
One
is dedicated to funnyman Joe E. Brown
(1891-1973).
(See the photo - you can't miss it.)
Joe
E. Brown was a popular comic actor in the 30's and 40's, a real character
(like Jimmy Durante) known for his wide mouth, happy smile and trademark
loud yell. You may remember him best from "Some Like It Hot.."
His last line at the end of that classic comedy ("Nobody's
perfect!") may well rank as the funniest final line in the history
of movies.

A
short ways back to the north is the equally impressive tomb of female evangelist
Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944).
Sister Aimee, as she was known, was a flamboyant Pentecostal preacher who
founded the Foursquare Church and its first location, the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles in 1923.
Scandal
hit, however, when she disappeared from a public beach and was feared dead.
She turned up later, and although she claimed to have been kidnapped, it
appears that she had actually gone on vacation with a lover.
Her life story was told in the 1976 TV movie "The Disappearance
of Aimee," with the title role going to actress Faye Dunaway.

Around
on the other (west) side of the Great Mausoleum, you'll find a number
of large, old-fashioned tall headstones (some of the few you'll find in
this park dominated by modern, grass-level markers).
Among
these is the square stone monument of L. Frank Baum
(1856-1919), author of the beloved classic
"The Wizard of Oz."
His
grave is a bit tricky to find. It's located in Section G, near the intersection
of sections G, H, B & C. His grave is right near the road, just
down from a white statue of a woman with a baby (the statue reads "Peters.")
The mausoleum building and its three statues, loom in the background. You
can see it from the road.
(Check this map
for the location.)

Now,
drive to the Great Mausoleum itself and park in the lot in front of its
main entrance. Take a look at the stone wall on the west side of the walkway
here, which leads to the Great Mausoleum. Here, on this wall, you will
find the grave of popular Western author Louis
L'Amour (1908-1988).
During
his writing career, he wrote seventy-five novels and sold over 220 million
books; he has been called America's most popular author. Several of his
stories have been made into movies, including "Hondo" (with
John Wayne), "The Sacketts,"
"The Shadow Riders," "Catlow" and "The
Burning Hills." And he was the only novelist in America to be
awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Also
in front of the Great Mausoleum, just across the driveway from Louis L'Amour's
grave, you'll spot an unusual statue of a boy riding a goat. The statue
was inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen tale, and it marks the grave
of Jean Hersholt (1886-1956)
(the Danish-born actor & humanitarian who was also a writer
and translator of Hans Christian Andersen stories.)
Jean Hersholt is best remembered as the actor
who portrayed 'Dr. Christian', both on radio and in a string of 1940's
movie mysteries. He also co-starred opposite Shirley Temple in 1937's
"Heidi" (virtually unrecognizable in make-up, as her grandfather),
and made over 120 other films during his career, often playing a doctor
or professor. You'll find his footprints in cement at Grauman's
Chinese Theatre, right next to those of Lana Turner. Offscreen, he
served as the president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund for 18 years,
and helped establish the Motion Picture Country Home.

He may be best remembered today for the "Jean Hersholt
Humanitarian Award," presented in his name each year by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which has been given
to such stars as Elizabeth Taylor, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Paul Newman
and Danny Kaye (who, coincidentally, played the title role in the 1952
movie musical "Hans Christian Andersen"! )
Recent recipients of the Hean Hersholt
Award have included Jerry Lewis (2009), Oprah Winfrey (2011), Jeffrey
Katzenberg (2012), Angelina Jolie (2013) and Harry Belafonte
(2014).

It's now time to go inside the Great
Mausoleum (where Clark Gable
and Red Skelton are buried) and conclude
our virtual tour of Forest Lawn Glendale.

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here to go to the last page.
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