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The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited – Forest Lawn Cypress

Posted by Josh Perry on January 24, 2012
Posted in: Gravecations. Tagged: "Nasty Nuisance" (1943), "Tarzan and the Leopard Woman" (1946), "The Crime Doctor's Courage" (1945), "The Thing From Another World" (1951), Abe "King Kong" Kashey, Abe Kashey, and "Don't Go Near the Water" (1957)., Angel, Angel Florez, Beyond the Blue Horizon, Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942), Cherie Currie, Christ in the Garden, Chuck Rio, Church of Our Fathers, Donatello Gabbrielli, Eddie Cochran, Forest Lawn Cypress, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cypress, Garden of Protection, George Grandee, George L. Grandee, Glenn Quinn, Harold "Bouncy" Wertz, Harold Wertz, HIV/AIDS, I-605 Freeway, I-91 Freeway, Joan Jett, John LaFarge, Karen Carpenter, Ken Maynard, King of the Mounties, King of the Mounties (1942), Lita Ford and Jackie Fox., Los Alamitos Racetrack, Los Alamitos Thoroughbred Race Course, Los Angeles, Michelangelo's David, motion pictures, Mount Vernon, My-ca Dinh Le, Our Gang, Our Gang Comedies, Philip Ford, Philip John Ford, Pierce Bros Valley Oaks Memorial Park, Professor (1937), Renee Chen, Rosanne, Sandy Pesavento, Sandy West, Sharon Sheeley, Swing It, The Ascension, The Ascension Mausoleum, The Champs, The Godfather of Latin Rock, The New Mickey Mouse Club, The Runaways, The Twilight Zone, Vic Morrow, WWII. Leave a Comment

Continuing on with “The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited” collection of posts. Today’s discussion is the Cypress, location of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park conglomeration of cemeteries. Nestled, a stones throw away between the I-605 Freeway to the west, & the I-91 Freeway to the north-east. The Cypress location of Forest Lawn Memorial Park was founded in 1958, and opened for burial in 1961 and is at 4471 Lincoln Avenue Cypress, CA 90630.

The History:

Before the hollowed ground came to be known what it is today. The area where Forest Lawn – Cypress is situated, was comprised mainly of acre upon acre of citrus ranchos, dairy farms, small family homesteads, and orchards. After WWII ended, and many soldiers came home from the brutal fighting in Europe. The residential housing boom erupted, replacing many of the ranchos, farms, & orchards, with sprawling tree-lined, residential communities, growing mom & pop shops, and other businesses. One of the businesses that call the area home which will no doubt entice your gambling endeavors, is the Los Alamitos Thoroughbred Race Course which has weekly Thoroughbred racing, for your enjoyment.

Behind the beautiful gated tranquil confines of Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress. You will stroll along 146 acres, of lush sharply manicured lawns, charming tree-lined roads, along with an abundance of various statuary exhibits, depicting historic and religious symbolism, not to mention the lovely mausoleum building, and other structures. The sections you will find in this true godly acre, are a reflection of names representing “Compassion” “Everlasting Hope” “Constant Love” “Sheltering Trees” “Fond Remembrance” among many others.

For those of you who consider yourself patrons of the arts you will be delighted to find out that some of the statuary, and artistically designed mosaics, you will no doubt stroll past, include: an almost exact replica of Michelangelo’s “David” which soars an imposing 16 feet into the clear blue sky. Other priceless, breathtakingly featured works of art include the impressive marble sculpture “Christ in the Garden” which was designed by noted Italian sculptor Donatello Gabbrielli.

The prominent buildings, you will find at Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress include structures representing the modern-day look and feel of the American-colonial designed building. The main building which you will find as you enter the cemetery off Lincoln Avenue, is an adaptation replica of George Washington’s Virginia home Mount Vernon. This particular building houses the cemetery administrative offices, mortuary, crematory, visitation rooms, along with the reception area, and chapel.

Another building which is worth a leisurely stroll, is The Ascension Mausoleum. As you walk into The Ascension Mausoleum building, you will come across the soaring thirty-foot-tall reproduction of John LaFarge’s beautiful painting The Ascension. This complex mosaic is composed of over a million pieces of Venetian glass tile, in over 3,000 beautiful vibrant hues. Continuing through the tour of buildings in this majestic godly acre. Your going to want to visit the charming Church of Our Fathers. This particular church is an archetype of The Old St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. The original Old St. John’s Church, is where colonial patriot, and fighter Patrick Henry uttered the never forgotten fiery “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death” speech.

The Tour:

Now that I’ve got the history, & background of this particular branch of Forest Lawn Memorial Park, out-of-the-way. Lets talk about who’s buried there. But before we get started I have to kindly warn & inform you that much like the Glendale, and Hollywood Hills locations, of Forest Lawn Memorial Park the office personnel will NOT disclose the locations of the famous personalities who call this tranquil Memorial Park home. So the best advice I can give you in finding out who’s buried there will have to be online resources such as the highly popular website Find A Grave, or the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Cypress page on the Seeing-Stars website.

Joining me on the days hunt was my good friend and Orange County based grave hunter Terry Myers. After arriving at Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress. I met up with Terry near the section where the highly popular 1950s era singer/songwriter, & rockabilly guitarist Eddie Cochran rests in eternal harmony. To give you an overview on Eddie Cochran’s life I invite you to visit his biography on the Wikipedia website. Cochran tragically lost his life in a horrendous car accident, traveling the English countryside, while he was on a European tour with his band. Buried next to him is Sharon Sheeley who survived the car accident, but passed away in 2002, a few days after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. Sheeley was Cochran’s fiancé at the time of his untimely death.

After snapping several photos of Eddie’s final resting place, the next graveside we checked out was that of Ken Maynard, who was a western actor in the silent, & early talkie era of Hollywood. While living at The Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, CA Maynard succumbed to complications of stomach cancer.

After leaving Ken Maynard’s graveside, Terry & I strolled over to the other side of the Churchyard section, where child actor My-ca Dinh Le rests. During the making of The Twilight Zone film, My-ca Dinh Le was tragically killed, along with fellow actors Vic Morrow, & Renée Chen, when the helicopter which was hovering above them lost control after two special effects explosives detonated, and thus damaged the helicopter. The helicopter meanwhile plunged into the makeshift lagoon below, and decapitated Le, and Morrow, while crushing Chen. Killing the three actors instantly.

After paying our respects to Le. Terry, and I strolled over to The Ascension Mausoleum. Over in The Ascension Mausoleum, you will find what used to be the resting place of the highly popular Karen Carpenter, that is until her brother and fellow Carpenter’s band mate Richard, had Karen, and their loving parents moved to Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park, in Westlake Village, CA. Karen, and her parents now rest for all eternity in a beautiful private mausoleum at the new location. Keeping with the tradition of this blog, and my self-respect, I snapped several photos of Karen’s old sarcophagus style crypt.

After leaving The Ascension Mausoleum. Terry, and I, strolled over to the Garden of Protection area of Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress. In this section you will more than likely find the largest contingent of celebrities buried in the cemetery. Keep in mind while I can’t recollect who we found first in the Garden of Protection. I’m just gonna go over who we found in general.

First on the list in this area is Sandy Pesavento, better known to her fans as Sandy West. She was one of the co-founders of the 1970s female rock group “The Runaways” which included female rockers and prominent musicians in their own right: Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Lita Ford and Jackie Fox. In 2006 at the age of 47 Sandy tragically lost her battle with lung cancer.

Continuing on, the next person on the list for the Garden of Protection area, is Harold “Bouncy” Wertz. Harold portrayed the character “Bouncy” in three “Our Gang” comedic films. Those films included Choo-Choo!, The Pooch, & Hook and Ladder. In November of 1999 he tragically lost his life from complications after suffering a stroke.

Continuing through the Garden of Protection area, the next graveside featured in this section is that of actor Glenn Quinn. Born in Ireland, Glenn had a multitude of acting roles, most notably as the character Mark Healy in the television sitcom Rosanne, and as the character Allen Doyle in the television series Angel. Quinn had other acting roles if your interested in checking out the versatile roles he portrayed, I invite you to visit his page on the IMDb website. In 2002 while visiting a friend in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Quinn, was found deceased on the couch of his friend’s home. The autopsy reports disclosed the cause of death to be from an accidental heroin overdose.

Moving through the Garden of Protection area of Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress, the next celebrity on the list is professional wrestler turned actor Abe “King Kong” Kashey. Born in Syria, he made his American wrestling début in 1932. By the late 1930s early 1940s while still wrestling, the acting bug enticed him, and he appeared in seven motion pictures starting with “Beyond the Blue Horizon” (1942), followed by “King of the Mounties” (1942). Other motion pictures he had outstanding roles in include “Nasty Nuisance” (1943), “The Crime Doctor’s Courage” (1945), “Tarzan and the Leopard Woman” (1946), “The Thing From Another World” (1951), and “Don’t Go Near the Water” (1957). In 1965 Kashey tragically lost his life after suffering from congestive heart failure.

The final celebrity who’s buried in the Garden of Protection area of Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress, is that of noted actor/director Philip John Ford. Ford got his start in motion pictures as an actor during the silent era of the 1920s. As the silent era was coming to a close, as the adaptation of sound in motion pictures was becoming the name of the game. Ford decided to try his hand at directing motion pictures. Ford has an impressively long list of motion pictures he was involved with as director. If your interested in checking out his film credits to get a first hand look at his credited work, I invite you to check out his page on the IMDb website. Ford passed away in 1976 at the ripe old age of 75.

Moving on, the next graveside you should visit is that of actor George L. Grandee who is buried in the Sheltering Trees area of Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress. Starting in many films of the silent era, Grandee had character roles in over fourteen films. His last role which was uncredited, he portrayed a dance director in the 1937 film Swing It, Professor. In 1985, Grandee passed away from unknown causes.

Continuing through the tranquil confines of this true centerpiece in stone, the next stop on the Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress tour is the graveside of musician Danny Flores. Flores is buried in the area known as Everlasting Hope. Flores was the singer, and songwriter of the smash hit “Tequila” which was an American Billboard Number One Hit in 1958 with the band The Champs. At the time “Tequila” busted the charts, Flores was credited for the hit under the pseudo name Chuck Rio, because when the song came out Flores was under contract with another record label. Known as “The Godfather of Latin Rock” because of his killer voice, Flores passed away in 2006 from complications of Pneumonia.

Rounding out the highly productive day at Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress, the last graveside my sidekick Terry, and I checked out was that of Angel Florez. Florez was one of the original twelve members of Disney’s “New Mickey Mouse Club.” His only film/TV credits included appearances on The New Mickey Mouse Club, and The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World. After Florez left the show, he didn’t have much success in the media industry, and for the most part faded into obscurity. Sadly in 1995 he passed away after contracting the HIV/AIDS virus. Despite the circumstances of his  untimely death, Florez was one of my favorite finds of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress trek.

While there isn’t an insane amount of celebs buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Cypress, CA location of the Forest Lawn conglomeration of cemeteries. There is a fairly decent list of famous people buried there. If your interested in checking out a sampling of many of the photos I snapped during the trek, I personally invite you to check out the photo slide show you will find below. And lastly I’d like to personally thank my good friend Jayne Osborne for sending me some literature on the Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemeteries, which I’ve used in the history portion of this article.

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Gravecast Podcast Ep09: Interview With Scott Wilson

Posted by Josh Perry on January 18, 2012
Posted in: Podcasts. Tagged: 000 Famous Persons, Author Scott Wilson, McFarland Publishing, Resting Places, Resting Places: The Burial Sites of Over 10, Scott Wilson. Leave a Comment

In episode 09 of The Gravecast Podcast, I got a chance to interview Scott Wilson, who is the author of the book “Resting Places: The Burial Sites of Over 10,000 Famous Persons” which is published by McFarland Publishing. This was a highly informative but short interview which I’m sure you will enjoy.

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The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited – Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills

Posted by Josh Perry on January 15, 2012
Posted in: Gravecations. Tagged: Andy Gibb, Bette Davis, Birth of Liberty, Birth of Liberty mosaic, Bob Barker, Boston, Brittney Murphy, Buster Keaton, California, Carl Laemmle, Cecil B. DeMille, Charles Laughton, Clyde Beatty, D.W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, Forrest Tucker, Freddie Prinze, George Raft, Grave Hunting, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Isabel Sanford, John Ritter, Leon Ames, Liberace, Lisa Burks, Los Angeles, Lou Rawls, McLean Stevenson, Melvin Franklin, Morey Amsterdam, Paul Revere's Ride, Rod Steiger, Ronnie James Dio, San Fernando Valley, Sandra Dee, Scott Michaels, Stan Laurel, Telly Savales, The Birth of a Nation, The Court of Remembrance, Tom Bosley, Walter Lantz. 3 comments

Continuing on with “The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited” series of posts. Today’s topic is the Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills location. As I mentioned in the original L.A. Gravecation post on June 1st 2011. Joining me at Forest Lawn, were my good friends and former Detroit natives who now live in Los Angeles, Scott Michaels, AND Lisa Burks.

If your going to be in the L.A. area anytime soon. You can find the Hollywood Hills location of the Forest Lawn conglomeration of cemeteries at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills, section of Los Angeles. The cemetery is situated on the lower north slope at the eastern most part of the Santa Monica Mountains. This particular area overlooks North Hollywood, & Burbank in the San Fernando Valley from its southwest area. From the north you will find The Los Angeles River spanning west to east.

Founded in the 1940s the cemetery encompasses four-hundred acres, of rolling hills, with an overabundance, of various species of tree’s, and shrubs, not to mention lush sharply manicured lawns. Within the confines of this true representation of what a memorial park, should be, you will find artistically hand-crafted fountains, along with beautifully carved statuary, and architecture.

Before the Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills location was set in stone and came to be what it is today. The area was used as a filming location for a multitude of motion picture companies in Los Angeles. Highly respected motion picture directors such as Carl Laemmle, & Cecil B. DeMille, among many others were known to use the pristine location, for a number of their films. One of the films shot in the area was the highly controversial yet historically accurate Civil War silent era drama D.W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation.

One of the things I find exceptionally fascinating about Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills is that the cemetery promotes its self as a serene resting place dedicated to the preservation of American History. Some of the highlighted features you will find within the tranquil confines of this truly majestic museum in stone include the Court of Liberty, Lincoln Terrace, & the Plaza of Mesoamerican Heritage.

The Birth of Liberty mosaic at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills. Courtesy of Lisa Burks.

The highly acclaimed Court of Liberty, features lifelike statues of our nations first president George Washington, & Thomas Jefferson. Another point of interest for history buffs, or connoisseurs of priceless works of art is the Birth of Liberty mosaic. This invaluable representation of Americana art, is considered to be the largest historically depicted mosaic in the United States. The historic mosaic treasure spans an astonishing 162ft, and is 28ft tall. Other points of interest for the aficionado of American history, include but is not limited to The Old North Church which is an exact replica of the historic landmark in Boston. This is the church mentioned in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s epic colonial era poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” There are many other historic points of interest and things to visualize at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Perhaps one day you will be able to see for your self what this historic immense memorial park landscape has to offer.

Now that I got the background, and history of this majestic memorial park, out-of-the-way. The primary reason I was at Forest Lawn, was to check out the gravesites of you guessed it celebrities. Joining me at Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills, as mentioned above were my very good friends Scott Michaels, & Lisa Burks. While The Motor City Trio (Scott, Lisa, and my self) were strolling around FL-HH, we spent most of our concentrated time in the Court of Remembrance section.

In the area circumventing the Court of Remembrance section. You will find such Hollywood personalities as Sandra Dee, Morey Amsterdam, Isabel Sanford, Rod Steiger, George Raft, Forrest Tucker, Walter Lantz, Freddie Prinze, Liberace, McLean Stevenson, Leon Ames, Ronnie James Dio, Andy Gibb, Bette Davis, Lou Rawls, Charles Laughton, Clyde Beatty, among other noteworthy celebs.

Other personalities who call Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills their final home include Brittney Murphy, John Ritter, Tom Bosley, Buster Keaton, Telly Savales, Stan Laurel, Melvin Franklin, among many others. Bob Barker the game show host, has a pre-need future burial site at the memorial park.

While I didn’t get a chance to see everything there is to see at Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills. I pretty much covered the basics, with who resides there. If your interested I invite you to check out the following links with info on who’s buried in this majestic memorial park. For starters the Seeing-Stars page, this page has detailed maps on where the celebs are buried, also worth mentioning, the Seeing-Stars website, features other local Los Angeles cemeteries on its website. If your interested in checking out the mammoth database on the Seeing-Stars website. You should visit this link. Continuing on the always popular Find A Grave, Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills page, and the Wikipedia page.

And finally to close, below you will find a photo slide show of many of the photos I shot that historic day last Spring, when I was strolling around Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills, with my friends Scott Michaels, & Lisa Burks. I’ll be adding more photos to the slide show as time goes on.

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Requests From Viewers/Readers Like YOU!

Posted by Josh Perry on January 14, 2012
Posted in: Miscellaneous Posts. 2 comments

With the recent spike in viewers to the Gravecast blog. I’ve decided to ask you the loyal viewers/readers, of Gravecast, what kinda topics you’d like to see on the blog. Keep in mind your suggestions have to be grave hunting, celebrity death, or maybe even ghost hunting related. I’m trying to make things as interactive as I can, especially with the videos, and podcasts I produce, and post. So that’s why I’ve decided to reach out to the readers/viewers of the blog, to ask them what they’d like to see on the blog. If your interested in chiming in some suggestions, feel free to make a comment to this post, or contact me via email, OR Facebook.

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Gravecast Podcast Ep08: Interview With Lisa Burks

Posted by Josh Perry on January 11, 2012
Posted in: Podcasts. Tagged: Grave Hunting, Grave Hunting Podcast, Grand View Memorial Park, Lisa Burks Interview, Lisa Burks, The Gravecast Podcast, memorial park, blog, preservationist. Leave a Comment

In episode 08 of The Gravecast Podcast, I got a chance in November of 2011 to interview my good friend, & noted cemetery preservationist Lisa Burks. We had a discussion about Grand View Memorial Park, and general grave hunting topics. I personally invite you to check out Lisa’s blog Adventures In Grave Hunting

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The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited – Forest Lawn Glendale

Posted by Josh Perry on January 7, 2012
Posted in: Gravecations. Tagged: Dearly Departed Tours, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale, Gravecation, L. Frank Baum, Michael Jackson, Scott Michaels. Leave a Comment

Its been a while since I’ve done an L.A. Gravecation Revisited post. So I figure while I had some free time today, I should put my budding writing skills to work, and get cracking. While I was in Los Angeles, last Spring, I had the honorable privilege of visiting the Forest Lawn – Glendale location of majestic cemeteries.  Being that it was Memorial Day, the cemetery has a lot going on in the form of commemorating the holiday with Memorial Day related activities. Some of the things I encountered included a presidential reenactor portraying Abraham Lincoln complete with top hat and authentic beard, reciting (I think) The Gettysburg Address. While I was strolling about, I ran into fellow grave hunter & Hollywood-Underground member Debra Mobley. Apparently she recognized me by the floppy hat I was wearing, and the designer horn rimmed eye-wear I had on which I bought before the trip.

As the Memorial Day activities were winding down, and the few hundred attendees were disbursing, to stroll around the cemetery. Being a grave hunter to the extreme me and my motley crew of grave hunting friends had “other” plans. Meanwhile I get a phone call from my good friend Jayne Osborne, who asked me which part of the cemetery I was in. Because her and my other friend Mark Masek, were looking for me. So they eventually catch up to where Debra and I were hanging out. As we were just lounging around, another friend of mine and fellow grave hunter who I planned to meet up with at Forest Lawn, David Eastburn shows up.

Photo of the Baum family monument in Forest Lawn Glendale cemetery. This is where L. Frank Baum resides.

So the five of us are just standing there making our game plan, on what to do. While we were strolling around, David points out the graveside of L. Frank Baum who was the author of The Wizard of Oz novel. So I snap a few photos of the monument. After we make our game plan, its decided that we all will check out the historically renown Great Mausoleum. Being that the security is beyond water tight in this particular majestic mausoleum building, its decided that we would split up into two groups. Mark, & Jayne would go off in one direction, while myself, Debra, and David would go off into another.

One thing I’d like to point out is that as much as I really wanted to go berserk and start snapping photos. I was asked by a friend of mine who will remain anonymous that it wasn’t a good idea to take any photos. I did see the sarcophagus crypt of Michael Jackson, & Elizabeth Taylor. So that pretty much wraps up the time I spent at Forest Lawn – Glendale. If your interested in seeing the who’s who listing of A-List celebrities buried this spacious cemetery, feel free to visit the Forest Lawn – Glendale Wikipedia page or the Find A Grave page

Being that I wanted to see more of what Forest Lawn – Glendale had to offer, I had other things to do that day. Namely I was invited to go on the sightseeing tour my friend Scott Michaels was giving later that day. So I bid farewell to David, Debra, Jayne, & Mark, and off I went down to Hollywood. After going through the somewhat frustrating process of finding a parking spot. I strolled along Hollywood Boulevard admiring the “stars” on the Walk Of Fame. After arriving at Larry Edmunds Bookshop which is the official pick-up/drop-off point for Scott Michaels Dearly Departed Tours company. I strolled around the bookshop, admiring the vast amount of books, and film memorabilia.

After I met up with Scott, and his passengers off we went to tour the notorious scenes of celebrity death, scandal, and other mayhem, around Hollywood. While the tour was a top-notch experience, that I’ll never forget, I can’t remember everything I saw. But I do HIGHLY RECOMMEND taking the tour if and when you get a chance to visit Hollywood. Oh and in case you’re wondering you can visit the official website for Dearly Departed Tours by visiting DearlyDepartedTours.com.

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Graveside Recap January 5th 2012 – Clover Hill Park Cemetery

Posted by Josh Perry on January 6, 2012
Posted in: Graveside Recaps. Tagged: Battles of Chief Pontiac, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, Bill Davidson, Bride of the Gorilla, Clover Hill Park Cemetery, Columbia Pictures, congregation shaarey zedek, Detroit Pistons, fox theater, Herman Cohen, Kid Monk Baroni., Tampa Bay Lighting, William "Bill" Davidson. Leave a Comment

Today being that it was relatively nice outside for this time of year. The sun was out, the frigid cold temperature was at a tolerable level, and to top it off there was NO snow on the ground which is a shock to me. So in typical form what did I do? I hit the cemeteries of course! On the agenda for today was Clover Hill Park cemetery, which is at 2425 East Fourteen Mile Road Birmingham, MI. Clover Hill Park cemetery was founded in 1918 by Congregation Shaarey Zedek, and is one of the areas oldest Jewish burial grounds serving the Detroit metropolitan Jewish community for over three generations.

After arriving at the Clover Hill, I pulled out the map I downloaded off the Clover Hill Park Cemetery website. I then made my way through the cemetery, driving along while admiring the various forms of monuments and statuary in the cemetery. Arriving at my destination section 24 where noted & highly acclaimed 1950s era B-Movie producer & writer Herman Cohen rests in eternal harmony. After getting out of the car I walked around the section for a while before deciding to head to the cemetery office to get the exact location to where Cohen was buried. After getting the location from the office clerk, I promptly found Herman Cohen’s monument, and gravesite.

B-Movie Producer Herman Cohen's gravesite in Sec: 24 Lot: 484 of Clover Hill Park Cemetery

To give you a little biographical overview on who Herman Cohen was. Born on August 27, 1925 in Detroit. He began his lifelong career in the film industry working at the Dexter Theater in Detroit as an usher. He then got a job at the highly popular Fox Theater in Detroit. After getting out of the Marine Corps, he landed a job at Columbia Pictures as a sales manager. In the 1940s he moved to Los Angeles to work in the publicity department at Columbia. By the time the 1950s came around he started producing motion pictures. Some of the films he was involved with include Bride of the Gorilla, Battles of Chief Pontiac, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, Kid Monk Baroni, just to name a few. To Cohen’s credit his filmography includes a respectable 35 films, to which he was involved as either producer or writer. Cohen resides in Sec: 24 Lot: 484. If your interested I invite you to check out the Herman Cohen Fan Page.

Graveside of William Davidson in Sec: 14 Lot: CM of Clover Hill Park Cemetery, Birmingham, Michigan

Next on the list of gravesites to pay my respects at was that of William “Bill” Davidson. Born on December 5th 1922, Davidson was an American businessman who was the chairman, and CEO of Guardian Industries. Guardian Industries is one of the worlds foremost producers of architectural and automotive glass. Davidson also owned the Detroit Pistons NBA team, and Tampa Bay Lighting NHL team. Davidson rests eternally in Sec: 14 Lot: CM of the cemetery.

Overall even though I just had two gravesites to find, I had a highly enjoyable time, doing what I love in the middle of Winter. Granted there was no snow on the ground. So I had to take advantage of the situation. And finally, I’m working on the post-production of episode 08 of The Gravecast Podcast where I interviewed my friend Lisa Burks. I’ve been working on the post-production editing little by little every day. This podcast episode will by far be the longest one I’ve produced.

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The 2011 Gravecast Holiday Gift Guide

Posted by Josh Perry on December 13, 2011
Posted in: Miscellaneous Posts. Tagged: Dearly Departed Tours, Dearly Departed Vol I, Find A Death, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills The Unauthorized Guide, Grave Hunting, Grave Hunting Holiday Gift Guide, Grave Hunting With Steve: A Journey Beneath Los Angeles Review, Gravecast, Holiday Gift Guide for Grave Hunters, L.A.'s Graveside Companion: Where The VIP's RIP, LA County Coroner's Gift Shop, Mark Masek, Scott Michaels, Steve Goldstein, The Six Degree's of Helter Skelter, The Skeletons In The Closet Gift Shop. Leave a Comment

Well it’s that time of year again where I publish the annual Gravecast Holiday Gift Guide. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or perhaps Kwanzaa. These gifts I have listed are sure to brighten up the faces of anyone on your shopping list who is hard to buy for, or has macabre thoughts, interests, & tendencies. So without further adieu here is my list. Direct links will be provided where you can buy these splendid gifts.

First on the list is the 2012 “Year in Death” calendar. To give you a little background on how this fabulous calendar came about. The calendar started out in 2010. The popularity of the “Year In Death” calendar pretty much skyrocketed when it was first published. Needless to say the creators of the calendar decided to create the 2011, and now 2012 editions of the calendar. Here’s a quote from Mark Masek about the soon to be famous “Year In Death” calendar.

Once again, “The Year in Death” calendar will help you remember and honor your favorite celebrities and well-known names from history on the anniversary of their passing. For every day of the year, we identify a celebrity who died on that day, the year they died, and the cause of death. Also, for each month, we feature an original photo montage, designed and created especially for “The Year in Death” calendar by Scott Michaels, founder of Dearly Departed Tours, the man behind the phenomenal Find-A-Death website, and L.A.’s No. 1 Death Hag. And once again this year, the calendar is co-created, co-sponsored and co-presented by your dear friends at The Adipocere Society and CemeteryGuide.com. -Mark Masek CemeteryGuide.com

If your interested in purchasing the 2012 Year In Death Calendar you should visit CemeteryGuide.com

Next on the 2011 Gravecast Holiday Gift Guide list are the marvelous “Death Hag Swag” and other morbidly useful goodies being sold on the Find A Death website. Scott Michaels who owns Find A Death.com, along with the highly recommended Dearly Departed Tours in Hollywood. Recently had some tastefully classy t-shirts created to promote his website Find A Death, and sister  company Dearly Departed Tours. On the F.A.D. store which you can find by visiting Find A Death.com you will find a nice assortment of t-shirts, license plate frames, the DVD’s Dearly Departed Vol. 1, and The Six Degree’s of Helter Skelter, along with some celebrity memorabilia with a ghoulish twist.

If the above sites don’t suit your tastes which they more than likely will. Let me introduce you to The Skeletons In The Closet Gift Shoppe THE official gift shop for the L.A. County Coroners office. Here’s a little morbid trivia for you, there are only two coroners offices in the United States which have a gift shop. L.A. being one of them, the other being the Las Vegas Coroners office. Needless to say you will no doubt find something that will entice your interests.

Next up, if the above items do not suit your macabre tastes, for the upcoming Holiday gift giving extravaganza. You might be interested in the book “L.A.’s Graveside Companion: Where The VIP’s RIP”. Written by the grave hunting story telling genius, and frequent contributor to Gravecast, Steve Goldstein. If you do buy the book on Amazon which is linked above, you might also be interested in the companion DVD “Grave Hunting With Steve: A Journey Beneath Los Angeles”

And finally I can’t forget the e-book “Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills: The Unauthorized Guide” by Mark Masek, who is another contributor to Gravecast. I do not own this e-book “yet” BUT I do own other e-books Mark has published and let me tell you, Mark is one of the people in the know when it comes to Hollywood celebrity gravesites. On a lighter note, if your interested in purchasing his “unauthorized” guides to Forest Lawn Glendale, or Hollywood Forever. I invite you to check out the Amazon Kindle Store.

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The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited – Westwood Memorial Park

Posted by Josh Perry on December 4, 2011
Posted in: Gravecations. Tagged: Bettie Page, Billy Wilder, Bob Crane, Dean Martin, Don Knotts, Donna Reed, Dorothy Stratten, Farrah Fawcett, Grave Hunting, Jack Lemmon, Jim Backus, Josef Von Sternberg, Marilyn Monroe, Mel Torme, Richard Conte, Steve Goldstein, Walter Matthau, Westwood Memorial Park, Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery. 2 comments

Well its been a few days since I’ve done a post titled “The Great L.A. Gravecation of 2011 Revisited”. So lets push on with today’s featured cemetery and that is none other than Westwood Memorial Park cemetery, which is in the Westwood Village section of Los Angeles. The tranquil confines of this cemetery is an easy one to miss, due in part because of the secluded location with the tall office, and apartment buildings which surround the park like cemetery. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d more than likely pass by it. None the less Westwood Memorial Park cemetery is at 1218 Glendon Ave, a few blocks off Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood.

Founded in 1904, the cemetery was a larger in the form of acreage than it is today. At the time the particular area was in a rural section of Los Angeles no doubt with rolling valleys of farmland, and ranches. Over time the land of what used to be the older parts of the cemetery were sold off and eventually turned into what you see today being various office and apartment buildings. The first real celebrity to be buried within the confines of the nicely manicured lawns of Westwood was that of blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe. When Monroe passed away, when her husband Joe DiMaggio wanted her in a secluded cemetery, and he choose Westwood. Part of the reason being that her godmother, and grandmother were buried there.

Joining me at Westwood for my private tour was my very good friend Steve Goldstein. We pretty much started out in the main lawn area, then worked our ways through the wall crypts, private lawn estates, and other sections. Keep in mind this cemetery might not be on par with say Hollywood Forever, or the Forest Lawn cemetery conglomerate. BUT you probably wont find such a high concentration of A- list celebrities buried within three acres of a secluded cemetery in other cemeteries around the country. If your interested I invite you to check out the Westwood Memorial Park Wikipedia page, or Find A Grave. So lets roll on with the photo slideshow. I’ll add more photos to this slideshow as time goes on. ENJOY.

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Introducing The 2012 Year In Death Calendar.

Posted by Josh Perry on November 28, 2011
Posted in: Miscellaneous Posts. Tagged: 2012 Year In Death Calendar, Celebrity Death, Cemetery Guide, Dearly Departed Tours, Find A Death, The Adipocere Society. 2 comments

For those of you who are looking for that perfect Christmas or Hanukkah gift, for the hard to buy for loved one, in your life. Who just so happens to have macabre tendencies with an undying fascination of when celebrities drop dead.

Look no further than The 2012 Year In Death Calendar which was created in conjunction with Mark Masek who wrote the book “Hollywood Remains To Be Seen” and is also the owner of cemeteryguide.com. I can’t forget Jayne Osborne who owns The Adipocere Society website, AND finally Scott Michaels who owns and runs the day-to-day operations of the Find A Death website, and the most sought out HIGHLY recommended Hollywood tour company Dearly Departed Tours.

Do NOT miss out on this calendar, I have the 2010, 2011, AND 2012 editions and I highly recommend ordering one for your self, or loved one as Christmas & Hanukkah are right around the corner. Don’t forget they’re selling out like hot tamales’. Order today by visiting CemeteryGuide.com

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