So Many Dead Stars, So Much Time: Our Adventure at Forest Lawn Glendale and Hollywood

Our tour wouldn’t have been half what it was without our delightfully awesome tour guide, Jim. He knew Forest Lawn inside and out, and had some pretty amazing Hollywood stories to go along with it. He knew all the “inside scoops,” like how and why Clark Gable insisted on being buried next to his former wife, Carole Lombard, instead of his current wife at the time of his death. 

Here’s the crypt belonging to one of my favorite comedians ever and one of Hollywood’s most adored couples, George Burns and Gracie Allen. When George passed away in 1996, some 32 years after his beloved Gracie, he asked that he be buried under her because “Gracie always deserved top billing.”  Romance… even in a crypt.

Not only is Forest Lawn a dead celeb paradise, it is also home to some very cool (and weird) art and architecture. This picture is of a exact reproduction of Michelangelo’s David, sculpted exclusively for Forest Lawn and out of the same marble as the original in Italy. Also in Forest Lawn, you can find a multi-media presentation showcasing a reproduction of the Last Supper, “The  Crucifixion” - considered the world’s largest permanent religious painting, a giant mosaic of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a 10 foot high statue of a thinking Abe Lincoln. 

Behind this wilted rose and bronze plate (and, also, behind a concrete wall), sits the ashes of legendary actor Humphrey Bogart. And here’s the cool part…without Jim, our tour guide, we would have never been able to see Boogie’s final resting place. In order to access this section of the cemetery, you must be in possession of a golden key (that’s actually what it says on the giant bronze door) and lucky for us, Jim was the lucky possessor of such a key. Also in this section laid Mary Pickford and Sammy Davis Jr. 

Excuse the shoddy photography (it was taken by me, while the rest of the pics were taken by our official photographer, Maggie), but this pic was too cool not to share. Yes, it’s the memorial and grave site for one Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor. Her memorial is located inside the Great Mausoleum, but fully available to the public. Up until several weeks ago, the memorial stood without a name on it. No one knew who’s final resting place it was. Finally, they carved the name Elizabeth Taylor on it, so now every visitor knows what greatness they are standing in front of. 

You maybe asking yourself  ”Penn & Teller? Wait.. they’re still alive, right?” And you would be correct. They are still alive. They had a cenotaph, a marker without a grave, placed as a tribute to their famous card trick, the 3 of clubs, and have called it the payoff for the “mother of all card tricks.”