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Seeing Stars: Final Resting Places of the Stars
PART I
5835 W. Slauson
Avenue,
Culver City, CA. / (310) 670-7697

Like its neighbor Hillside
Memorial Park, Holy Cross Cemetery contains the graves of many
of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Bing
Crosby, Loretta Young, Ray Bolger,
Jimmy Durante, Fred MacMurray,
Rosalind Russell, Lawrence Welk,
Charles Boyer, Bela
Lugosi, Rita Hayworth,
Jack Haley, Jackie
Coogan, Pat O'Brien,
Dennis Day, Louella Parsons,
Spike Jones, Sharon Tate,
Joan Davis, Edmond
O'Brien, Mary Astor, ZaSu
Pitts, John Ford,
Mario Lanza, Joe Flynn,
Richard Arlen, MacDonald
Carey, comic actor John Candy,
and more recently, Mary Frann,
Vince Edwards and Audrey
Meadows.
Like Hillside, it's
a beautiful memorial park; indeed, one of the most attractive in Los Angeles,
skillfully landscaped, accented with white statuary, and dotted with small
ponds, waterfalls, and serene grottos. But where nearby Hillside is
a Jewish cemetery, Holy Cross is Roman Catholic.
When
you drive through the large gates of the park (off Slauson Avenue), you
will immediately come to a three way fork in the road. To find the grotto
that contains most of the movie stars' graves, follow the road to your
far left, up the hill. The grotto is on the left hand side (west),
near the top of the hill. It is marked by a rugged volcanic-stone archway
containing a small altar and white statues of St. Bernadette and the
Virgin Mary (recreating the famous apparition scene from Lourdes). There
is also a small pond and waterfall in front of the grotto.
It is here, on the
sloping hillside lawn in front of this grotto, that you will find many
of the graves of Hollywood's most famous. There are round, numbered metal
markers in the grass, allowing you to easily pinpoint most graves - a convenience
not found at some other cemeteries. (The large number on these markers
designates the grave number. The smaller number up above, designates
the tier - or row - number.)
This is a very large
cemetery. You will also need a map
of the grounds to find your way around. Fortunately, I've provided one
for you. Just click here.
Superstar
Bing Crosby's (1901-1977)
modest grave (between markers #125 & #126) is
located four rows back (south) from the grotto and ten graves from the
western edge. Bing is buried next to his first wife, his mother and his
father. Renowned as both singer and actor, Bing
starred in such hits as "Going My Way," "The Country
Girl," "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court,"
"Holiday Inn," and countless "Road pictures."
with buddy Bob Hope. He also recorded what was to become the biggest-selling
record of all time: "White Christmas." The headstone
contains a cross, the insignia IHS, and the words:
"1904-1977.
Beloved by All.
Harry Lillis Bing Crosby."
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[Click
on the small photos to see enlarged versions of the images.]

The
final resting place of actor Bela Lugosi
(1884-1956),
famous as Hollywood's "Count Dracula,"
is located just five spaces to the right (east) of Bing Crosby's grave:
four rows back (south) from the grotto, and
about 15 graves from the western edge, between markers #126 & #127.
At his request, Bela was buried in the black cape that he wore in his famous
role as the Count. His black & white headstone is marked with a cross
(something no self-respecting vampire would tolerate), and reads:
"Beloved
Father.
1882 - 1956."
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 Just
three rows below Bela is the grave of Jack Haley
(1899-1979),
who played "The Tin Man" pining for a heart in the beloved classic
"The Wizard of Oz." Besides that memorable role,
he also starred with Shirley Temple in "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,"
and
in numerous supporting roles.
(Coincidentally, there is another member
of that classic movie's all-star cast buried here at Holy Cross: that of
Ray Bolger, "The Scarecrow,"
is buried in a crypt inside the main mausoleum up on the hill).
(For
a detailed map of this Grotto area, just click
here.)

Immediately
to the right (east) of the grotto, beneath the white statue of a praying
angel, is grave #15, that of actress Rita Hayworth
(1918-1987), with
the epitaph:
"Beloved
Mother.
Oct. 17, 1918 - May 14, 1987.
To Yesterday's Companionship and Tomorrow's Reunion."
Rita
Hayworth starred opposite such superstars as Fred Astaire
in "You'll Never Get Rich" (1941), James Cagney
in "The Strawberry Blonde" (1941), Tyrone Power
in "Blood and Sand" (1941), Gene Kelly in "Cover
Girl" (1944), Frank Sinatra in "Pal Joey."
(1957), and John Wayne in "Circus World" (1964).

Just
a few spots to the right of Rita Hayworth's spot are the graves of Jack Wrather
(who owned both the Queen Mary and the Disneyland Hotel)
and his wife, actress Bonita Granville (1923-1988)
in graves #20 & #21. At age 13, Bonita Granville had a memorable dramatic
role as the bad child spreading lies about her teachers in 1936's "These Three."
(she was nominated for an Oscar). As a teenager, portrayed spunky girl
reporter 'Nancy
Drew' in several movies of the late 1930's, and was also featured in the
WW2 movie "Hitler's Children," and a number of Andy Hardy
films. But she never became a major star as an adult. If you've ever
been to Disneyland Hotel, you've probably seen the fancy restaurant called
"Granville's." That restaurant was named after Bonita (as was
the 'Bonita Tower' at the hotel complex.)

 Right
above the Wrathers is the grave of veteran actor MacDonald Carey
(1913-1994). His
movie career spanned five decades (including Hitchcock's "Shadow
of a Doubt"), and he made countless TV appearances. But he was
probably best known for his role as 'Doctor Tom Horton' which he played
for almost 30 years on the TV soap opera "Days of Our Lives."
(For
a detailed map of this Grotto area, just click
here.)

Now,
walk up to the front of the Grotto and then to your left (west), along
the face of the grotto, and you'll discover another small (western) lawn
- called St. Anne's section. Here, near marker #156, you'll find the grave
of Sharon Tate (Polanski) (1943-1969)
and her unborn child, both murdered by the Charles Manson
gang
in 1969. Her husband, Roman Polanski, was the director of the movie
"Chinatown," and now lives in exile in Europe. Her headstone
is located eight rows from the lawn's western edge, and three markers south
of the lawn's northern edge. It reads:
"SHARON
TATE POLANSKI
1943 - 1969
Our Loving Daughter & Beloved Wife of Roman."
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A
little farther north in this St. Anne section, near marker #194, you'll
discover the grave of French actor Charles Boyer
(1899-1978),
perhaps
best known for his 1944 role in "Gaslight" (in which he
tried to convince Ingrid Bergman's character that she was going insane).
His grave is just one row back from the lawn's western edge, and eight
graves in from the lawn's northern edge. His headstone reads:
"Beloved
Husband & Devoted Father
1899-1978."
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(Incidentally, Charles
Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Jimmy
Durante and Bing Crosby
all share the honor of having their footprints immortalized in the famous
forecourt outside of Grauman's
Chinese Theatre, as does Rosalind Russell.)

Just around the corner are even more celebrity graves.
But there are too many to fit onto this single page. You'll have to go
to page two

Click
here to go to the next page and find the graves of:
Loretta Young, Audrey Meadows, Jimmy Durante,
Jackie Cooper, Pat O'Brien,
Fred MacMurray, John Candy, Ray Bolger, Rosalind Russell,
Lawrence Welk,
Vince Edwards, Spike Jones, Dennis Day, Mary Frann, and others.]
Continue the tour
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