Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills
Details
Location Los Angeles
Country United States
Coordinates 34°08′42″N 118°19′12″W / 34.145°N 118.320°WCoordinates: 34°08′42″N 118°19′12″W / 34.145°N 118.320°W
Type Public
Owned by Forest Lawn Group
Number of graves 119,216
Website Official website
Find a Grave Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)

Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Hollywood Hills is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica Mountains range that overlooks North Hollywood and Burbank in the San Fernando Valley from its southeast. The Los Angeles River courses from west to east immediately to the north.

Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills is a park dedicated to the preservation of American history and hosts high-profile events such as an annual Veterans Day ceremony attended by dignitaries and other VIPs. Los Angeles Magazine described it as a "theme-park necropolis", paraphrasing Jessica Mitford, indicating "Forest Lawn’s kitsch was just a sophisticated strategy for lubricating the checkbooks of the grieved."[1]

Features

The park features such sights as:

Court of Liberty

A section of the Birth of Liberty mosaic

Lincoln Terrace

Plaza of Mesoamerican Heritage

A large Aztec calendar replica in the plaza

History

The first Forest Lawn, in Glendale, was founded in 1906 by businessmen who hired Dr. Hubert Eaton, a firm believer in a joyous life after death, who was convinced that most cemeteries were "unsightly, depressing stone yards," and pledged to create one that would reflect his optimistic beliefs, "as unlike other cemeteries as sunshine is unlike darkness." He envisioned Forest Lawn to be "a great park devoid of misshapen monuments and other signs of earthly death, but filled with towering trees, sweeping lawns, splashing fountains, beautiful statuary, and... memorial architecture".[2]

Before it was a cemetery, Forest Lawn was a filming location used by directors such as Carl Laemmle and Cecil B. DeMille. The climactic battle scenes for D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation were filmed there. The alternate names of the filming site are Providencia Flats, Nestor Ranch, Oak Ranch, Oak Crest Ranch, Universal Ranch/Universal City, Lasky Ranch, and Paramount Ranch until November 1927.

When Eaton (self-proclaimed as "The Builder") made known his desire to open a second Forest Lawn location in the Hollywood Hills, the local residents protested vehemently. To circumvent the protesters, Mr. Eaton sent his staff to the county morgue to claim 4 "John Does" and buried them at the corners of the property in the dark of night. In the morning, the protesters had no power because, by law, the property was now a cemetery. The new mortuary and cemetery opened in 1952.

Notable interments

Interred or entombed in the Hollywood Hills cemetery are many famous people, particularly from the entertainment industry.

Contents :

A

B

C

D

Bette Davis' tomb

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

Stan Laurel's memorial marker, with the Birth of Liberty mosaic in background

M

N

O

P

R

Lou Rawls's tomb
John Ritter's grave

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ehrenreich, Ben (1 November 2010). "The End. – Features". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "The Builder's Creed", March 2009
  3. ↑ "Animator Jim Duffy dies at 75, He was key figure at L.A.'s Klasky Csupo". Variety Magazine. 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2012-04-15.
  4. ↑ Dillon, Nancy (December 24, 2009). "Brittany Murphy's family, friends gather for somber Christmas Eve funeral". New York Daily News.
  5. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6080144
  6. ↑ Daily Advocate, October 2, 1914 Page 6
  7. ↑ http://www.flickr.com/photos/universalstonecutter/collections/72157627237874198/

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).