Enter Hollywood Forever at the main entrance, 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard. The cemetery is bordered on the west by Gower Street, the east by Van Ness Avenue and south by Paramount Studios. As you go in, there's an office to the left and a flower shop to the right, and beyond that, the Chapel of the Psalms, where funeral services are often held. Take Pineland Avenue south, hang a left and off to the left in the Garden of Memory (Section 6), Grave 6, Lot 26, is the grave of "Little Rascals" star Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. The grave is decorated with an image of a dog, which is grimly appropriate since Switzer was killed in a fight over a hunting dog.Continue on Pineland to where it intersects with Woodland Avenue. On the southeast corner of this intersection, in section 12, is the obelisk of "Los Angeles Times" owner General Harrison Gray Otis, and near it, the graves of his descendants, the Chandler family. Keep going east on Maple to Midland Avenue, then turn north and you'll see a lake with an island with a Grecian mausoleum on it. The mausoleum, by the way, was built for William A.Clark Jr., the founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.You've almost certainly seen this part of the cemetery before in numerous movies and music videos. This is Section 8: The Garden of Legends.
Turn north on Midland and on the west side of the street in Section 7, Lot 203, Grave 14 is the tall, gray stone marker of Darren McGavin, star of "A Christmas Story" and "The Night Stalker." On the east side in Section 8, Lot 6 you'll see the grave of director John Huston and his mother. His marker is flat and decorated with gold Celtic knotwork designs. Work your way clockwise around the lake, and to the north in Lot 50 you'll see the white marble sarcophagi of director Cecil B. DeMille and his wife and nearby, in Lot 193, closer to the lake, the stone of Janet Gaynor, winner of the first Best Actress Oscar. Near the road in Lot 57, Grave 20, a statue of an angel marks the grave of "Get Smart" star Don Adams. Also near the lake is a cenotaph dedicated to the memory of actress Jayne Mansfield, which is marked with a cross, heart and ivy and, much further down, in Lot 257, the flat marker of actress Virginia Rappe, whose name would've faded into obscurity had comedian Fatty Arbuckle not been accused of killing her.At the east end of the lake is a mausoleum for the Douras family. Occupants include Arthur Lake, who played "Dagwood" in a series of popular movies and Marion Davies, the actress who was the mistress of William Randolph Hearst. Continue clockwise and the marble bench you see is the tomb of movie heart throb Tyrone Power. At the southwest end of this section in Lot 89 is the grave of actor and singer Nelson Eddy and the sarcophagi of studio boss Harry Cohn and his wife. Southwest of the lake is a column erected in honor of Hattie McDaniel, the "Gone With The Wind" star who was the first African-American to win an Oscar. Because of racial prejudice, she was not allowed burial here, but years later this memorial was set up in her honor. Also southwest of the lake is the grave of "King Long" star Fay Wray, as well as a memorial to musician John Cummings--better known as "Johnny Ramone." The black headstone of Douglas Glenn Colvin--"Dee Dee Ramone"--is located nearby at Lot 2003, Space 4.
Go south of Section 8 and in the sunken garden in Section 11, just behind the reflecting pool, you'll see the tomb of swashbuckling actors Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Jr. Just to the east of this is the Cathedral Mausoleum. If you're a fan of big-band music you might want to check out the niche of Woody Herman, which is behind the Mausoleum in the Columbarium at Niche 6689, Unit 10. Go into the north entrance of the Mausoleum and straight down the main hall to the southern end and on the left side, in Foyer niche 432, tier 3, is actress and dancer Eleanor Powell. Step back into the east-west hallway that leads to this room and turn east and then south or right at the third room down. Here to the left, at 1205, is the crypt of silent-movie god Rudolph Valentino. To the right side of the room, at 1224, is Peter Finch, who won a posthumous Oscar for "Network." Turn back and face the corridor, turn left, cross by the main hallway and over to the west side of the building. On the north side of this hallway, at 594, is the crypt of William Deane Tanner, better-known as William Desmond Taylor, a director whose unsolved murder was one of the earliest Hollywood scandals. Further down, on the left side of the hall, at Corridor C, Alcove of Reverence, Niche 5, Tier 1, is the crypt of Peter Lorre, star of "Casablanca," "M" and "The Maltese Falcon."
Exit the Cathedral Mausoleum the way you came in and make a left on Maple, a left on Midland and a right on Laurel Avenue and head west. Off to the right in Section 13--the Garden of Exodus, between Woodland and Pineland Avenues, is the grave of graphic designer Carl Morgan Brigsby, which is topped with a huge marble Atlas rocket. Right by the road, in the same section, in L-149, is the grave of Mel Blanc, the voice of numerous Warner Brothers cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. Indeed, his epitaph is "That's all folks!"Off in the southwest corner of the grounds is Beth Olam Cemetery, which is actually separate from the main cemetery. Inside the Beth Olam Mausoleum in M2, the second corridor to the right, at C-1087, is the crypt of gangster Bugsy Siegel, though his marker lists his proper given name--Benjamin. Just north of the Beth Olam Mausoleum, in Section 14--the Plains of Abraham--are "Golden Girls" actress Estelle Getty at Row CC, Grave 88 and Oscar-winning character actor Paul Muni at Grave 57.
Face west and just along West Avenue is the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum. At the southern end of this is the New Beth Olam Mausoleum or the "T-Building." Enter on the south side and to the northeast of the entrance at Niche 702 is composer and band leader Nelson Riddle. The three members of comedy team the Ritz Brothers are also here. Al is in T-4, Jimmy in T-5 and Harry is upstairs on the third floor. Warner Brothers animator Leon Schlesinger is in T-5-2, #1275. Exit the T-Building and go around the Mausoleum and enter on the east side.
Proceed down the main hallway, make a left and go down the Sanctuary of Peace. Actresses Constance, Natalie and Norma Talmadge are off to the left in the Shrine of Eternal Love, Talmadge room, corridor G-7. A little further down the Sanctuary of Peace at corridor G-6, crypt 2350 is Clifton Webb, the fussy star of "Laura" and "Cheaper by the Dozen." Turn back towards the north, then make a left at the first east-west hall, than a left into the Sanctuary of Light. Off to the right at corridor G-4, crypt 7213 is "Our Gang" star Darla Hood. Turn left, then right down the corridor, then make a right in the Sanctuary of Refuge. On the west side of this hall, at #2081, is the crypt of Victor Fleming, who director "Gone With The Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz."
