|
|
 |
[This
is the third page of a six-page article. Click
here to go to page one.]
Actually, her crypt and marker are quite plain. It
looks like all the others along the stone wall, except that it's slightly
darker - stained by the multitude of fans who have touched and kissed it.
Her small marker reads "Marilyn Monroe: 1926-1962." Although Marilyn appeared in a number of successful movies, ("Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", "How to Marry a Millionaire", "The Seven Year Itch", "Some Like it Hot", "The Misfits"), the origins of her superstar status may lie more with her life away from the movie camera than with her skill as an actress. Formerly named Norma Jeane Baker, she was Playboy's very first centerfold in 1953 (at a time when nudity was still taboo in Hollywood). Nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell", she was married to both baseball superstar Joe DiMaggio and later to playwright Arthur Miller ("Death of a Salesman"), and was rumored to have had affairs with everyone from Yves Montand to President Kennedy. The memorable subway scene from "Seven Year Itch", where the wind blows up her white dress, has been reproduced (and mimicked) so often that it has become as much a part of Hollywood iconography as the Hollywood sign itself. Add to that her tragic suicide from a drug overdose at a young age (just 36), near the height of her career, and a hint of mystery surrounding her death, and you have the recipe for a true Tinseltown legend. (Her co-star in "Some Like it Hot", Jack Lemmon, is also buried nearby at Pierce Bros. Westwood, as is the director of that film, Billy Wilder.) To find Marilyn's tomb from the park's main entrance,
turn left at the entrance and follow the driveway east, alongside the wall
of crypts, to the northeast corner of the park. Here, on this south-facing
wall of crypts, Marilyn's crypt is the second from the bottom, and the
second from the west corner wall. Marilyn's tomb is easy to spot because
it is discolored (slightly reddish) from all the lipstick fans have left
on it. ( The crypt directly above
Marilyn's
reportedly sold on eBay for $4.6 million in 2009. The original occupant
of that upper crypt, Richard Poncher, was buried upside down above
Marilyn.
But after 23 years, his widow decided to move his remains and
auction
the space to pay off her mortgage and free the money for her kids.
However,
that reported eBay sale fell through, after the buyer backed out. And
at
this writing, Mr. Poncher still occupies the space above Marilyn. And
as of late 2013, the crypt still bears Mr. Poncher's name. )
Marilyn was Playboy's first
centerfold and graced the cover of the magazine's first issue, back in
1953, and that early nude layout helped both of them achieve different
forms of fame (or, in Hef's case, some might say "infamy"). That same
year, Marilyn's career took off with the movie "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", and Hefner began to build his controversial Playboy Empire of magazines, clubs and bunnies. But despite their mutually beneficial business connections via Playboy magazine,
in the real world, Hef & Marilyn never really met in person.(The
few photos you see of them together online are fakes.) Both Hefner and Marilyn were born in the same year (1926). But despite his bohemian lifestyle, Hef managed to outlive her by 45 years, dying at home in his Playboy Mansion, at the ripe old age of 91.
The name may not ring a bell, but the songs he wrote will. Along with his
partner in song, Ray Evans, Jay penned classics such as the Christmas carol
"Silver Bells", and Academy Award winning songs such as
"Mona Lisa" (a big hit for Nat King Cole), "Buttons
and Bows" (a hit for Bob Hope in "The Paleface"),
and "Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"
(which became Doris Day's theme song). Together, the team of Livingston
& Evans wrote 26 songs that sold more than 1 million copies each,
including "Dear Heart" (a big hit for Andy Williams)
and "Tammy" (from the Debbie Reynolds film). They also
wrote the memorable themes to the TV shows "Bonanza" and
"Mr. Ed", and have a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame. However, as of 2012, the marker
disappeared from Jay's crypt, and the spot was blank for a while.
It now bears a new name. My hunch is that the crypts on this wall
have become so valuable (thanks to Marilyn's presence), that Jay's
heirs might have moved him to a less expensive spot, and re-sold the
crypt at a higher price. But that is just a guess... I could be
wrong. (The other half of this songwriting duo, Ray
Evans, lived until 2007, and the ripe age of 92. Ray's ashes
were alongside those of his late wife Wynn in the nearby rose garden at
Pierce Bros.)
Before "The Untouchables", Robert was a handsome young matinee idol in a string of movies in the 40's and 50's. His first film was called "First Love" (1939), in which he gave young Deanna Durbin her first screen kiss. He later spoofed his serious characters with a funny turn as 'Capt. Rex Kramer' in the 1980 comedy "Airplane". Younger viewers may know him best from TV's "Unsolved Mysteries", where his deadpan 'Eliot Ness' persona worked perfectly for him in the role of the host tracking down the perpetrators of unsolved crimes. He was cremated, and his ashes were buried in the
"Room of Prayer", a locked, private mausoleum at the northeast
corner of the park (just a few yards to the right of Marilyn's crypt).
In this series of semi-enclosed "sanctuaries."
surrounding the main lawn,
Here's a clip of him drumming on "The Lucy Show".
Known to his friends as Jimmie,
he began his Academy Award-winning role as director of photography back
in the silent days of 1922, and went on to do such films as "Hud,"
"Picnic," "The Old Man & the Sea"
and "Yankee Doodle Dandy." He
filmed Burt Lancaster (who is buried
nearby) in "The Rose Tattoo," and won an Oscar
for it. He filmed You'll find his small niche nine
spaces up from the bottom, and four spaces in from the right (east) wall.
If that name doesn't immediately ring a bell for
you, think of the classic 60's sci-fi series "Lost in Space",
and then think of the dastardly, cowardly 'Dr. Smith'. Yes, that was Jonathan Harris.
Although the character of Harris also provided the voices for many cartoon characters, such as 'Manny', the pompous praying mantis in Disney's "A Bug's Life". His small crypt is located on the back wall, three spaces in from the right wall, nine spaces up from the bottom, just above eye level.
He was married to actress Lynda Day George (and Vanna White is his niece). His crypt is on the left (east) wall, in the second
row up, five spaces from the south end.
The musical notes on his headstone are from another
of his hit compositions: "You'll Never Know."
His crypt is in the second row up from the ground, two spaces in from its south corner. A chapter of his life was made into the 2005 movie, "Capote", for which actor After Truman's death, his ashes were kept by his close friend, Joanne Carson, best known as the wife of Tonight Show legend Johnny Carson. He had died at her home on Sunset Blvd. After her passing, in 2016, she was
interred alongside Truman, and new bronze markers were added to Truman's
existing marker, with her name, and the epitaph: "Beloved Friends". (For the record, we're unsure of exactly
what happened to Johnny Carson's ashes. All we know is that after
he died at his Malibu home in 2005, he was cremated at Forest Lawn
Hollywood, and his ashes returned to his last wife, Alexis Maas.)
She is interred just below and to the right of Truman Capote, on the bottom
row of the same wall. She died at age 12, on the operating table.
( Her father, Dominick Dunne, was the author of
such best-sellers as "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" and "An
Inconvenient Woman" ; he became an outspoken TV commentator
during the O.J. Simpson trial. )
She wrote trashy, popular novels like "Hollywood Wives" (which was made into a 1985 mini-series), and “The Stud" (which became a movie), what the New York Times
described as "sex-filled, escapist, utterly unpretentious". And
they sold like hotcakes. Her 32 books sold more than 500 million
copies. Alleging to tell the true story of Hollywood behind the scenes, her plots often involved actresses and mobsters, drugs and sex, allowing readers to believe that they were being allowed a peek at the untold dirty side of Hollywood society. (You'll notice that she has the
silhouette of a large cat on her marker. At first, I thought that
might be a sly reference to a cougar. But I learned that Jackie
was particularly fond of leopards, and often sported
leopard/panther jewelry, wore leopard-spot clothing, and even had large statues of the big cats next to her swimming pool.)
A 1940's crooner known as "The Velvet Fog"
(a title he hated), Mel went on to embrace an improvisational jazz style
in his later years, winning Grammy Awards as Best Male Jazz Vocalist in
the '80's. Along the way, he appeared in a number of When they had his funeral here at Westwood Memorial,
"Night Court" star Harry Anderson was among a host
of celebrities and members of the public who attended. Speakers included
Mel Brooks, Donald O'Connor, Nancy Sinatra, Hugh Hefner, Cliff Robertson,
Robert Culp, Harlan Ellison, Gloria DeHaven and Rhonda Fleming. Pallbearers
included Jack Jones, James Darren, Jerry Vale, Ray Anthony and Rich Little.
She also sung part of the show's theme song:
To the west of this tree, near the park entrance,
is a small free-standing mausoleum which is the final resting place of
industrialist Armand Hammer (1898-1990)
and his family, who founded Occidental Petroleum and
was one of the wealthiest men in America. Armand Hammer pioneered trade
with the Soviet Union, back when such openness was unheard of. (The
Hammer Museum is located right across the street, on Wilshire
Boulevard.)
Don was unforgettable as deputy 'Barney Fife', patrolling the peaceful town of Mayberry, NC (single bullet in his pocket) on the
classic "Andy Griffith Show". He had created
a "nervous man" character for the Steve Allen Show,
and played a similar jittery role in the 1958 movie "No Time For
Sergeants" - which also starred Andy Griffith. Originally, Andy
was supposed to be the funny one on the show, but he was soon eclipsed
by 'Barney Fife' and ended up playing straight-man to Don Knotts'
beloved 'Barney' character. Don left the show in 1965 (after starring in the animated film, "The Incredible Mr. Limpet"), and signed with Universal Studios, who starred him in a number of movies where he played essentially the same nervous character, including "The Ghost & Mr. Chicken" and "The Reluctant Astronaut". He later made family films for Disney, such as "The Apple Dumpling Gang". But he never really hit it big in the movies. TV, on the other hand, always loved him. In the 1970's, he adopted another famous role as 'Mr. Furley', the suspicious landlord to the daffy trio on the hit sitcom "Three's Company." In the last part of his life, he reunited with Andy Griffith for Mayberry reunion specials, as well as for Andy's lawyer show "Matlock". And in 1998, Don played the mysterious TV repairman in the movie "Pleasantville". In 2010, his original small marker was replaced with a large, distinctive bronze plaque bearing the likenesses of Don's characters: Barney Fife, Mr. Limpet, the Reluctant Astronaut, etc. ( This may well be my favorite marker, ever. Be sure
to click on the small
photo of his marker (to the right) to see a larger image of it, so
you can appreciate the detail. )
Click
here to continue this tour
of Westwood Village Memorial Park |
|
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)
Look at the upper left corner of the same wall where
Marilyn is buried (just one space to the left and two spaces up), and you'll
see what was, as late as 2010, the crypt of songwriter Jay Livingston (1915-2001).
