Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale

Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately-owned cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles, in the United States. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California (termed "memorial parks" by the company).

Forest Lawn was founded in 1906 as a not-for-profit cemetery by a group of businessmen from San Francisco. Dr. Hubert Eaton and C. B. Sims entered into a sales contract with the cemetery in 1912. Eaton took over the management of the cemetery in 1917 and is credited as being the "founder" of Forest Lawn for his innovations of establishing the "memorial park plan" (eliminating upright grave markers) and being the first to open a funeral home on dedicated cemetery grounds. Eaton was a firm believer in a joyous life after death. He 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 ...." A number of plaques which state Eaton's intentions are signed "The Builder."

Most of its burial sections have evocative names, including Eventide, Babyland (for infants, shaped like a heart), Graceland, Inspiration Slope, Slumberland (for children and adolescents), Sweet Memories, Vesperland, Borderland (on the edge of the cemetery), and Dawn of Tomorrow. Packages for burial cover a wide spectrum of prices: cremation urns, for example, range from those with names like "The Olympus," priced in the tens of thousands of dollars, down to the more frugal "The Plastic Container" and "The Steel Box," each priced less than $100.

The six Forest Lawn cemeteries contain about 1,500 statues, about 10% of which are reproductions of famous works of art, in various locations. Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" has been recreated in stained glass in the Memorial Court of Honor ‘in vibrant, glowing and indestructible colors.’ There are also a number of full-sized reproductions of other Renaissance sculptures, including Michelangelo's "David" and "Moses". This cemetery is the only place in the world containing a complete collection of Michelangelo's sculptures which were made from castings taken from the originals and using marble from the same quarry used by Michaelangelo.

There are three non-sectarian chapels: ‘The Little Church of the Flowers,’ ‘The Wee Kirk o’ the Heather,’ and ‘The Church of the Recessional’, which are all exact replicas of famous European churches. Over 60,000 people have actually been married here (including Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman, and Regis Philbin and his wife, Joy. More than 250,000 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" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

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] and a convert|13|ft|m|sing=on-high statue of George Washington. On display in the "Hall of the Crucifixion" is the panorama painting by the Polish artist Jan Styka entitled "The Crucifixion"." It is the largest permanently mounted religious painting in the world, measuring convert|195|ft|m in length by convert|45|ft|m in height. The main gates of Forest Lawn - Glendale ("above, right") are claimed to be the world's largest wrought-iron gates and are located at 1712 South Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California.

The Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery is a second park solely dedicated to the preservation of American history.

Forest Lawn's 300 acres (1.2 km²) of intensely landscaped grounds and thematic sculptures 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". Many commentators have considered Forest Lawn to be a unique American creation, and perhaps a uniquely maudlin Los Angeles creation, with its "theme park" approach to death.

Among those interred in the cemetery are many important personalities and famous people, including men and women from the entertainment industry and their relatives. Some final resting places, such as those of Humphrey Bogart and Mary Pickford, are secluded in private gated gardens with no public access. A number of interment locations are also kept from the public eye. The Court of Honor advertises that in some of the crypts beneath it are spots which no amount of money can buy, but individuals may be "voted in" as "Immortals."

Forest Lawn Museum

The Forest Lawn Museum at Glendale displays art and artifacts collected by Hubert Eaton representing specific locations and peoples from around the world. There are sections for India, Africa, the Middle East, East and Southeast Asia, the United States, South America, Australia and Europe. The collection includes paintings, stained glass, Western bronze sculptures, American historical artifacts, world cultural artifacts and one of the Easter Island statues, rescued from the bottom of a boat where it was used as ballast. It is named "Hubert".

List of notable and celebrity burials at Forest Lawn

(Those in non-public areas are marked †.)

A

*Art Acord, actor
*Anita Louise Adler, actress
*Maurice "Buddy" Adler, producer
*†Gracie Allen, actress and comedienne
*LaVerne Andrews, singer
*Maxene Anglyn Andrews, singer
*Lucien Andriot, cinematographer
*Gene Austin, singer

B

*†Theda Bara, actress
*Joan Barclay, actress
*Ben Bard, actor
*Jack Barry, television host and producer,
*L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
*Warner Baxter, actor
*Wallace Beery, actor
*Alphonzo Bell, Jr., congressman
*†Rex Bell, actor and Nevada Lieutenant Governor
*William Benedict, actor
*Joe Besser,actor,comedian, member of The Three Stooges
*Billie Bird, actress
*J. Stuart Blackton, filmmaker
*Joan Blondell, actress
*Clara Blandick, actress, Aunt Em in The Wizard of Oz
*Monte Blue, actor
*Betty Blythe, actress
*†Humphrey Bogart, actor
*Mary Boland, actress
*Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore
*Frank Borzage, actor/director
*†Clara Bow, actress
*†William Boyd actor
*Betty Bronson, actress
*Rand Brooks, actor
*Joe E. Brown, actor and comedian
*†Johnny Mack Brown, actor
*John Bunny, Jr., actor
*Milo Burcham, test pilot
*William R. Burnett, novelist and screenwriter
*Dorsey Burnette, singer and songwriter
*Johnny Burnette, singer
*†George Burns, actor and comedian
*Francis X. Bushman, actor

C

*Charles Wakefield Cadman, composer
*Alice Calhoun, actress
*May Cambern, composer
*Judy Canova, entertainer
*June Caprice-Millarde, actress
*Earl Carroll, theatre impresario
*†Jack Carson, actor
*William Castle, film director
*†Lon Chaney, Sr., actor
*Charley Chase, actor and comedian
*Tim Choate, actor
*Berton Churchill, actor
*Joe Cobb, actor
*†Nat King Cole, singer
*Russ Columbo, singer
*†Sam Cooke, singer
*†Ellen Corby, actress
*Edward Coxen, actor
*Laird Cregar, actor
*Donald Crisp, actor
*George Cukor, director
*Robert Cummings, actor
*Lester Cuneo, actor
*Michael Curtiz, director

D

*Dan Dailey, actor
*Buddy DeSylva, songwriter
*Dorothy Dandridge, actress and singer
*Ruby Dandridge, actress
*Mickey Daniels, actor
*William H. Daniels, cinematographer
*Jane Darwell, actress
*Dorothy Davenport, actress, screenwriter, film director, and producer
*Allen Davey cinematographer
*Jim Davis, actor
*†Sammy Davis, Jr., actor and singer
*Sam De Grasse, actor
*Carter DeHaven, actor
*Georges Delerue, composer
*William Demarest, actor
*Carol Dempster, actress
*Noah Dietrich, businessman
*Walt Disney, film studio and entertainment park founder
*Richard Dix, actor
*George Dolenz, actor
*Fifi D'Orsay, actress
*Lloyd C. Douglas, novelist
*Theodore Dreiser, novelist
*Chuck Dressen, MLB baseball player, manager
*Louise Dresser, actress
*†Marie Dressler, actress
*Don Drysdale, MLB baseball player
*David Dukes, actor
*Junior Durkin, actor

E

*Hubert Eaton, founder of Forest Lawn cemeteries
*Mary Eaton, actress
*Howard Arden Edwards, artist
*Ralph Edwards, host
*Sally Eilers, actress
*Caryll Ann Ekelund, actress
*Frederick W. Elvidge, actor
*Francis de Erdely, painter
*Leon Errol, actor

F

* Joseph Farnham, screenwriter and film editor
* Romaine Fielding, actor and director
* †W. C. Fields, actor and comedian
* Larry Fine, actor,comedian, member of The Three Stooges
* Johnny Flamingo, singer
* Frank P. Flint, politician
* Errol Flynn, actor
* Tony Fontane, singer
* Harrison Ford, silent film actor
* Betty Francisco, actress
* Bruno Frank, novelist and screenwriter
*Rudolf Friml, composer
* Dwight Frye, actor
* Charles E. Fuller, evangelist
* Jules Furthman, screenwriter

G

*†Clark Gable, actor
*John Gilbert, actor
*King C. Gillette, businessman
*Hermione Gingold, actress
*J. Frank Glendon, actor
*†Samuel Goldwyn, producer
*Edgar J. Goodspeed, theologian
*Huntley Gordon, actor
*Jetta Goudal, actress
*Edmund Goulding, director and writer
*Joe Grant, artist and writer
*Charles Grapewin, actor, Grandpa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath and Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz
*†Sid Grauman, theater owner
*Alfred E. Green, director
*†Sydney Greenstreet, actor
*Harold Grieve, art director
*Jetta Goudal-Grieve, actress
*Bessie Griffin, singer
*Paul A. Guilfoyle, actor
*Fred L. Guiol, director and screenwriter

H

*Alan Hale, Sr., actor
*Ernest Haller, cinematographer
*Emile Hamaty, banker and actor
*Russell Harlan, cinematographer
*†Jean Harlow, actress
*Elizabeth Harrower, actress and screenwriter
*Phil Hartman, actor (he was actually cremated with his wife Brynn Omdahl; their ashes were scattered at sea)
*Charles Hatfield, "The Rainmaker"
*Harry Hayden, actor
*Lela Bliss-Hayden, actress
*Edith Head, costume designer
*Ralph Hepburn, race car driver
*Babe Herman, baseball player
*Paul Herrick, songwriter
*Jean Hersholt, actor
*Józef Hofmann, concert pianist
*Alice Hollister, actress
*George Hollister, cinematographer
*Burton Holmes, director and producer
*Helen Holmes, actress
*James W. Horne, actor and director
*Edward Everett Horton, actor
*Rupert Hughes, filmmaker
*June Hutton, singer

I

*Wiard Ihnen art director and production designer
*Rex Ingram, director

J

*Carrie Jacobs-Bond, singer and songwriter
*Claire James, actress
*Luther James, writer
*Elsie Janis, actress
*DeWitt Jennings, actor
*Rupert Julian, film director

K

*Gus Kahn, songwriter
*Bert Kalmar, composer
*Terry Kath, musician
*Tom Keene, actor
*A. Atwater Kent, businessman
*Charles Henry King, paternal grandfather of President Gerald Ford
*Leslie Lynch King, Sr., biological father of President Ford
*Martha Alicia Porter King, paternal grandmother of President Ford
*Ted Knight, actor
*Clarence Kolb, actor
*Kathryn Kuhlman, evangelist

L

*†Alan Ladd, actor
*Louis L'Amour, novelist
*Carole Landis, actress
*Lash La Rue, actor
*Mervyn LeRoy, director and producer
*Anna LeSueur, mother of Joan Crawford and Hal LeSueur
*Hal LeSueur, actor, brother of Joan Crawford
*Fritz Leiber, actor
*Irene Lentz, costume designer
*Robert Z. Leonard, film director
*Mitchell Lewis, actor
*Ann Little, actress
*Harold Lloyd, actor and comedian
*†Carole Lombard, actress
*Tom London, actor
*Ernst Lubitsch, director
*Ida Lupino, actress
*Eustace Lycett, special effects designer

M

*†Jeanette MacDonald, actress and singer
*Jimmy MacDonald, voice of Mickey Mouse
*Chico Marx, actor and comedian
*Gummo Marx, agent
*Marian McCargo, actress
*J.P. McGowan, director
*†Victor McLaglen, actor
*Jimmy McLarnin, boxing champion
*Aimee Semple McPherson, evangelist
*William Cameron Menzies, art director
*Robert Millikan, physicist and Nobel Prize winner
*Vincente Minnelli, director
*Tom Mix, actor
*Antonio Moreno, actor
*†Clayton Moore, actor, best known for his portrayal of The Lone Ranger
*Harvey Seeley Mudd, engineer and educator
*William Mulholland, engineer
*Spud Murphy, composer
*Dimitre Mehandjiysky, artist

N

*Charles W. Nash, automobile manufacturer
*Alla Nazimova, actress
*Alfred Newman, composer
*Fred Niblo, director
*L. L. Nunn, educator

O

*Jack Oakie, actor and comedian
*Jose Miguel Obando, father, husband and friend
*Merle Oberon, actress
*Clifford Odets, playwright
*Charles Ogle, actor
*Edna May Oliver, actress
*Culbert Olson, California Governor
*Maria Ouspenskaya, actress
*Richard F. Outcault, cartoonist

P

*Lilli Palmer, actress
*Alexander Pantages, theatre impresario
*Allen E. Paulson, aviation entrepreneur
*†Jack Pickford, actor
*†Lottie Pickford, actress
*†Mary Pickford, actress, businesswoman, co-founder of United Artists
*Dick Powell, actor
*John Robert Powers, model agency owner

Q

*Fred Quimby, producer
*John Qualen, actor

R

*Wallace Reid, actor
*Cleo Ridgely, actress
*Lyda Roberti, actress
*Blossom Rock, actress known for starring on The Addams Family
*Ruth Roland, actress and producer
*Henry Roquemore, actor
*Gladys Root, criminal defense attorney
*Charlie Ruggles, actor
*Wesley Ruggles, film director

*S. Z. Sakall, actor
*Chic Sale, actor
*Paul Scardon, actor, producer, director
*Victor Schertzinger, composer, director, producer, screenwriter
*Mabel Julienne Scott, actress
*Ynez Seabury, actress
*William A. Seiter, director
*†David O. Selznick, producer
*†Myron Selznick, producer and talent agent
*Phil Selznick, nightclub owner (uncle of David O. Selznick)
*Ethel Shannon, actress
*Athole Shearer, actress
*†Norma Shearer, actress
*S. Sylvan Simon, director
*†Red Skelton, actor and comedian
*Tod Sloan, thoroughbred racing jockey
*Hillel Slovak. musician
*Rainbeaux Smith, actress
*Tom Smith, thoroughbred trainer
*†William French Smith, U.S. Attorney General
*Marguerite Snow, actress
*Hanley Stafford, actor
*John M. Stahl, director and producer
*†Lionel Stander, actor
*Max Steiner, composer
*Casey Stengel, MLB manager
*James Stephenson, actor
*Anita Stewart, actress
*James Stewart, actor
*Ruth Stonehouse, actress and director
*Axel Stordahl, composer, arranger
*Herbert Stothart, arranger, composer
*Elbridge Amos Stuart, industrialist, Carnation Company founder
*Jan Styka, painter
*Frank Swann, actor

T

*Frank Tashlin, animator, director, screenwriter
*Art Tatum, jazz pianist
*Robert Taylor, actor
*Jack Teagarden, jazz trombonist
*†Irving Thalberg, producer
*Fred Thomson, actor
*Chief Thundercloud, actor
*Lawrence Tibbett, actor
*Dimitri Tiomkin, composer
*Sammee Tong, actor
*Ernest Torrence, actor
*Raquel Torres, actress
*†Spencer Tracy, actor
*Henry Travers, actor
*Jim Tully, writer
*Ben Turpin, actor and comedian
*Lurene Tuttle, actress

U

V

*Valda Valkyrien, ballerina

W

*Beryl Wallace, singer
*Hal B. Wallis, producer
*Bill Walsh, producer
*Clara Ward, singer
*Jay Ward, producer and writer
*Ethel Waters, actress and singer
*Johnny "Guitar" Watson, rhythm & blues musician
*Mary Wells, singer
*Ted Wilde, director and writer
*Claire Windsor, actress
*George Woolf, Hall of Fame jockey
*Robert Woolsey, actor and comedian
*†William Wrigley, Jr., chewing gum magnate, owner of the Chicago Cubs
*William Wyler, director
*†Ed Wynn, actor and comedian
*†Keenan Wynn, actor

X

Y

*James "J-Dilla" Yancey, hip-hop producer
*Paramahansa Yogananda, teacher of meditation and yoga
*Robert Young, actor

Z

ee also

*List of United States cemeteries
*List of other famous cemeteries
*The Loved One -- a satirical novel inspired by Forest Lawn.

External links

* [http://www.forestlawn.com Official Site]
* [http://www.forestlawn.com/Special-Events-And-Facilities/Museum-Exhibits.asp Forest Lawn Museum Exhibits] ]
* [http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/Easeful-Death.htm Evelyn Waugh's witty essay, "Half in love with easeful death", imagines archaeologists in 1000 years coming upon Forest Lawn.]
*Virtual tours [http://www.seeing-stars.com/Buried2/ForestLawnGlendale.shtml Glendale,] [http://www.seeing-stars.com/Buried2/ForestLawnHollywood1.shtml Hollywood Hills,] [http://www.seeing-stars.com/Buried2/ForestLawnCypress.shtml Cypress.]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CA/LA5.html#R9U0QR556 The Political Graveyard - politicians in Forest Lawn]