|
![]() |
[This
is the last page of a six -page article. Click
here to go to page one.]
To find these graves, from the Valentino mausoleum, get back in your car and drive northeast to follow the road that circles the lake. Look to your left (towards the lake), and you will soon see a massive white statue of a man in a suit & tie sitting in a throne-like chair - not unlike the Lincoln Memorial statue. Stop the car and get out.
This is the grave of "Get Smart" star Don Adams (1923-2005). A spoof of the '60s spy fad (such as "James Bond",
"Secret Agent" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."), "Get
Smart" gave us Adams as 'Maxwell Smart' the bumbling Agent 86
of the CONTROL agency, shoe-phone in hand, battling the evil forces
of KAOS and constantly frustrating both his Chief and his seductive partner,
Agent 99. Anyone familiar with the show will never forget Don's trademark voice, as he intoned such running gags as "Sorry about that, Chief!", "Missed it by that much!" and "Would you believe...?" That memorable voice also came in handy later, when Don voiced cartoons such as "Inspector Gadget". (In 2008, three years after Don's death, they made a movie version of the series, "Get Smart", starring Steve Carell in the 'Smart' role.) The grave is right at the (inside) edge of the road,
on the northeast side of the lake.
To your right (west), near the curb (across the road from the lake), you should be able to spot the tall, old-fashioned headstone of actor Darren McGavin (1922-2006).
(Given how much time 'Kolchak' spent running through graveyards on that show, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of those scenes were filmed right here at Hollywood Forever.) But for everyone who knows Darren McGavin as a supernatural
sleuth, there is another who remembers him in a much more down-to-earth
role: that of Ralphie's 'Old Man' in the popular 1983 Christmas comedy:
"A Christmas Story", who becomes infatuated with a leg-shaped
lamp. And there are still a few who remember him as TV's "'Mike Hammer'
in the '50s.
It's called the T-Building, and to enter it you'll have to walk around to the far south side of the building, where you'll find a separate entrance - there are no shared inside hallways to link the two. Stepping inside, you'll find yourself in a small chapel of sorts. Turn to your right (east) and walk down the hallway until you come to a small niche (or short hallway) on your left (north) side. Step inside this niche, and look at the wall on your right (east).
Known to TV fans as the orchestra leader on "The
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" and "The Julie Andrews Show,"
Nelson Riddle composed the themes for several television shows, including
"The Untouchables" and "Route 66," and wrote music
for "Batman" and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." He was a well-known arranger for singers including
Frank Sinatra , Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Peggy Lee - and
more recently for the pops albums of Linda Ronstadt. He also hit the
charts himself with the "Route 66" theme and popular
versions of songs like "Mona Lisa," "Charade"
and Shangri-La."
Now walk back down the main hallway (west), back past the main entrance, and make a right turn at the next corridor, which is labeled T-5.
When you visit the famed forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, you may well notice that the Ritz Bros have a huge square of cement with their footprints & handprints. Along with the Marx Bros, it's one of the largest squares allotted to any star in the famous courtyard. Some might wonder why. The Marx Brothers began cranking out their string of hilarious hits for Paramount Studios back in 1929 - in 1934, they switched to MGM, and continued producing hits. Apparently, Fox must have insisted on equal space for their boys, because just four years after the Marx Bros got their acreage of cement at Grauman's Chinese, the Ritz Bros got their own nearby. Ironically, the trio is buried only steps away from Paramount Studios, the original home of the Marx Bros. You'll find brother Jimmy Ritz (1904-1985) just one corridor over to the west (T-5), but he's about 36 spaces in from the main hallway, and about five spaces up from the bottom of the left (west) wall, making his marker more difficult to read. [see a map] In between these two corridors is a stairway which
leads to an upper floor, where Harry Ritz
(1907-1986) was
laid to rest (I haven't been able to track down his crypt yet.)
Last but not least, we go back outside to find our last (and first) star.
(Click here to see a map of the grounds.) The very first grave left (west) of the corner of that house belongs to a woman whose name most of us have forgotten, but who holds a unique place in Hollywood history. Florence Lawrence (1890-1938), as her worn tombstone reads, was Hollywood's first movie star.
When Florence Lawrence began to gain popularity, her studio, Biograph, merely referred to her as "The Biograph Girl." So she quit Biograph and went to work for a rival
studio, which billed her as Florence Lawrence - and thus she became the
first movie actor (male or female) to truly achieve stardom and receive Unfortunately, her story does not have a happy ending.
When time and fame finally passed her by, Florence took her own life in
a particularly startling way - by consuming ant paste. She was buried in an unmmarked grave. 53 years after her death, this headstone was added in 1991, paid for by actor Roddy McDowall. Perhaps, wherever she is now, Florence can take some
comfort in the fact that movie fans are still visiting the grave of "America's
First Movie Star."
Just hours after George Harrison passed away (at a friend's house in L.A.), the family had his body cremated by Hollywood Forever, in keeping with his Eastern faith. His ashes were returned to the family, and were scattered in the sacred Ganges River in India. His family released a statement following George's
death, which read:
[This
is the last page of a six-page article. Click
here to go to page one.]
Hours: Mon-Fri: 8 AM - 5 PM. Sat-Sun: 9 AM - 4 PM. Getting there: Hollywood Forever is located on Santa Monica Boulevard, between Western Avenue & Vine Street, in Hollywood. The park is bordered by Gower Street (on the west), Van Ness Avenue (on the east), and the Paramount Studios (on the south). / From Hollywood & Vine, take Vine Street south to Santa Monica Boulevard, then turn left (east) on Santa Monica and go three blocks east to the cemetery, and turn right (south) into the gates. / From the Hollywood (101) Freeway, take the Santa Monica Boulevard exit, and head west on Santa Monica Boulevard (one half mile) to the park's entrance (near Bronson Avenue). Turn left (south) into the gates. [This is the last page of a six-page article. Click here to go to page one.] |
|
Click Here to Return to the Main Menu
Copyright © 1999-2022-Gary Wayne
All Rights Reserved
This webpage is not associated with any business
described in the article above, and does not constitute an
endorsement of this or any other business. The photos of celebrities on
this page also do not constitute
endorsements by them of any kind, and are used by the author solely to
illustrate this online article.
(Click here to read
other disclaimers)