Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California is the original Forest Lawn. (see also Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery) Forest Lawn was founded in 1917 by Dr. Hubert Eaton, a firm believer in a joyous life after death, who was convinced that most cemeteries were "unsightly, depressing stoneyards," 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..." \nForest Lawn's 300 acres (1.2 km²) of intensely landscaped grounds and thematic sculpture were the inspiration for the biting commentary of Evelyn Waugh's satirical novel The Loved One, and Jessica Mitford's acerbic The American Way of Death. Its sections include Eventide, Babyland, Graceland, Inspiration Slope, Slumberland, Sweet Memories, Vesperland, and Dawn of Tomorrow. Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper has been recreated in stained glass in the Court of Honour ‘in vibrant, glowing and indestructible colors.’ There are three non-sectarian chapels, ‘The Little Church of the Flowers,’ ‘The Wee Kirk o’ the Heather’ and ‘The Church of the Recessional. Over 60,000 people have actually been married here (including Ronald Reagan, who wed Jane Wyman at the "Wee Kirk o' the Heather" in 1940). Regis Philbin has also been married at Forest Lawn. A quarter of a million people are buried at Forest Lawn; there are over a million visitors each year including thousands of local schoolchildren on field trips. Some of the inspiration at Forest Lawn is patriotic rather than pious, such as the Court of Freedom, with its large mosaic of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a 13 ft (4 m) high statue of George Washington.\nThe Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery is a second park solely dedicated to the preservation of American history. The main gates of Forest Lawn - Glendale (above, right), claimed to be the world's largest wrought-iron gates, are located at 1712 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California. Interred here are many of the pioneers of the American motion picture industry. As well, Forest Lawn is the final resting place for numerous celebrities and entertainers from what is referred to as Hollywood's Golden Age. \nSome final resting places, such as those of Humphrey Bogart and Mary Pickford, are secluded in private gated gardens, with no entry for the public. Some of the people interred or entombed at Forest Lawn are listed here (those in non-public areas marked †):

• Lucien Andriot, cinematographer\n*†Theda Bara (1885-1955), pioneer actress, leading "Vamp" star\n*L. Frank Baum, author\n*†Warner Baxter, actor\n*Wallace Beery, actor\n*†Rex Bell, actor, Nevada Lieutenant Governor; husband of Clara Bow (below)\n*Joan Blondell, actress\n*Monte Blue, actor\n*†Humphrey Bogart, actor\n*Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore\n*†Clara Bow, actress; wife of Rex Bell (above)\n*†William Boyd, cowboy actor - Hopalong Cassidy\n*Joe E. Brown, comedic actor\n*†Johnny Mack Brown, cowboy actor\n*Dorsey Burnette, early Rock and Roll singer and prolific songwriter\n*Johnny Burnette, Rock and Roll pioneer singer\n*†George Burns & Gracie Allen, husband & wife comedy team\n*Francis X. Bushman, actor\n*†Jack Carson, actor\n*†Lon Chaney, Sr, actor\n*Berton Churchill, actor\n*†Nat King Cole, singer\n*†Sam Cooke, singer\n*†Ellen Corby, actress\n*Laird Cregar, actor\n*George Cukor, film director\n*Robert Cummings, actor\n*Michael Curtiz, film director\n*Dan Dailey, actor\n*Dorothy Dandridge, actress\n*Jane Darwell, actress\n*†Sammy Davis, Jr, entertainer\n*Sam De Grasse, actor\n*Georges Delerue, French composer\n*Walt Disney, film studio and entertainment park founder\n*Fifi D'Orsay, actress\n*Theodore Dreiser, author, wrote "An American Tragedy"\n*†Marie Dressler, Academy Award winning actress\n*Don Drysdale, baseball great with the Los Angeles Dodgers\n*Frederick W. Elvidge (1911-1988), aka Ted Howard, actor\n*†W. C. Fields, comedic actor\n*Larry Fine, actor, Three Stooges\n*†Errol Flynn, actor\n*Bruno Frank, author, screenwriter\n*Charles E. Fuller, religious figure\n*†Clark Gable, actor\n*John Gilbert, silent screen star\n*King C. Gillette, businessman, founder of the razor company\n*†Samuel Goldwyn, legendary film producer\n*Huntley Gordon, actor\n*†Sid Grauman, Hollywood entertainer and theater owner\n*Sydney Greenstreet, actor\n*†Jean Harlow, actress\n*Edith Head, costume designer\n*Jean Hersholt, actor, humanitarian\n*Edward Everett Horton, actor\n*Ted Howard, actor\n*Ted Knight, actor\n*†Alan Ladd, actor\n*Louis L'Amour, author\n*Lash LaRue, cowboy actor\n*Mervyn LeRoy, film director, producer\n*Harold Lloyd, comedic actor\n*†Carole Lombard, actress\n*Ernst Lubitsch, pioneer director\n*†Jeanette MacDonald, actress\n*Chico Marx, comedic actor\n*Gummo Marx, comedic actor\n*†Victor McLaglen, actor\n*Aimee Semple McPherson, evangelist\n*Vincente Minnelli, film director\n*Tom Mix, cowboy actor\n*†Clayton Moore, actor, the Lone Ranger\n*William Mulholland, engineer\n*Charles Nash, automobile manufacturer\n*Alfred Newman, composer for films\n*Jack Oakie, actor\n*Merle Oberon, actress\n*Culbert Olson, California Governor\n*Lilli Palmer, actress\n*†Jack Pickford, actor, Hollywood's first Bad Boy\n*†Mary Pickford, actress, businesswoman, co-founder of United Artists\n*Dick Powell, actor\n*Charlie Ruggles, actor\n*†David O. Selznick, film director\n*Athole Shearer, actress\n*Norma Shearer, actress\n*†Red Skelton, comedian\n*Tod Sloan, thoroughbred racing jockey\n*†William French Smith, U.S. Attorney General\n*†Lionel Stander, actor\n*Max Steiner, composer\n*Casey Stengel, manager of baseball's New York Yankees\n*Jimmy Stewart, actor\n*Robert Taylor, actor\n*Jack Teagarden, jazz trombonist\n*†Irving Thalberg, "Boy Genius" - motion picture studio executive\n*†Spencer Tracy, actor\n*Hal B. Wallis, film producer\n*Ethel Waters, singer\n*Mary Wells, Motown singer\n*†William Wrigley, Jr, chewing gum magnate, owner of the Chicago Cubs\n*William Wyler, film director\n*†Ed Wynn, actor, comedian\n*†Keenan Wynn, actor\n*Robert Young, actor - "Father Knows Best"

See also: List of United States cemeteries; List of famous cemeteries (non-US)

External links

\n* Official Site\n* Evelyn Waugh's witty essay, 'Half in love with easeful death' imagines archaeologists in 1000 years coming upon Forest Lawn.\n* Virtual tour.\n* The Political Graveyard - politicians in Forest Lawn Category:Show-biz cemeteries