Welcome to Hollywood Graveyard,
where we set out to remember and celebrate the lives of those who lived
to entertain us, by visiting their final resting places.
Today we conclude our tour across England,
where we'll find such stars as the Bronte sisters,
Gladys Cooper, Spike Milligan, and many more. Join us, won't you? It's the home stretch of our tour of
famous graves across England. We've visited some amazing and legendary
men and women so far, seen some incredible sights, and today
will be no exception. Not a lot in the way of
preamble, so let's get rolling. We'll be
accompanied on our tour today by the English cousin of Closeup the Hollywood
Forever Cemetery cat, who I've named Sir Alfred Hitch-Cat.
If you haven't done so already be sure to check out parts one and two. Our first two stops today aren't graves
but memorial markers. We're back in the Stratford-upon-Avon
area at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theater. On the grounds of this
storied place, near the rive, is a memorial to a lass
unparalleled, Vivien Leigh, one of the greatest actresses
of classic stage and cinema. In 1939 she won the most coveted role in
Hollywood, the role for which she would be best
known - that of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.
The role won her an Oscar. "You'll never corner me, Rhett Butler, or frighten me.
You've lived in dirt so long you can't understand anything else,
and you're jealous of something you can't understand.
Good night." She would go on to win another Oscar for her role as Blanche Dubois in a A Streetcar Named Desire. She was also
well known as a stage performer, bringing to life characters such as
Ophelia, Juliet, and Lady Macbeth. In 1940 she became one
half of an acting power couple when she married
Laurence Olivier. Vivian suffered from chronic tuberculosis much of her life.
The disease would eventually claim her life in 1967
at the age of 53. After her death Vivien was cremated at Golders Green,
her ashes scattered on the lake of her Tickeridge Mill home.
This stone was later placed here in her honor. Nearby is also a similar memorial marker
to Bille Brown. He was an Australian actor and
playwright. Early in his career he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company,
where he would become the first Australian commissioned to write and
perform in his own play - The Swan Down Gloves. He would also
appear in a handful of film and tv productions, like
Fierce Creatures, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
He returned to Australia in 1996 where he would continue to perform on stage
and live out the rest of his days. He died from cancer at age 61.
Let's head now to Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, and St
Mary the Virgin churchyard. Here we find the grave of actress
Elizabeth Spriggs. She was also a part of the Royal
Shakespeare Company, winning an Olivier award for her role in Love Letters on
Blue Paper. On film she was nominated for a BAFTA
for her role in Sense and Sensibility, and Harry Potter fans will recognize her
as the first actress to play the fat lady
in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. She lived to be 78. Next up is All Saints Church in
Broad Chalke. In the grounds of this churchyard is the
grave of Cecil Beaton. He was an artist and photographer, as
well as a stage and costume designer. He's perhaps best remembered for
designing the sets and costumes for the 1964 film
My Fair Lady. He won two Oscars for My Fair Lady.
He had also won an Oscar for designing the costumes for Gigi
in 1958. He also designed for stage productions winning four Tony awards,
including for the stage production of My Fair Lady.
And as a photographer he took the official portrait of Queen Elizabeth ii
on her coronation day. Cecil Beaton lived to be 76. This is Holy Cross Cemetery in Avening. And here is the grave of Pamela Brown.
She was an actress whose career began on stage in England and subsequently
America. She began landing film roles in the 40s,
often performing in historical dramas like Richard III,
Cleopatra, and the Van Gogh biopic, Lust for Life. She won an emmy for
her role in Victoria Regina. Pamela was just 58 when
she died from cancer. Next to Pamela is her partner, film director and optimist,
Michael Powell. In the 40s and 50s he directed a number of classic British
films, including Black Narcissus, and The Red Shoes, and received an
oscar nomination for One of Our Aircraft is Missing.
His 1960 film Peeping Tom was controversial in its day,
but has since become a cult classic, a progenitor to the slasher genre.
Michael died from cancer at age 84. Not far from here in the small rural
area of Blackland, is Saint Peter's Church. On these grounds is the grave of David
Hemmings. He was an actor and director known as an
icon of the groovy London pop culture movement in the 60s and 70s.
As an actor he's perhaps best remembered for his lead role in the counterculture
1966 film Blow-up, the film which won the Palme d'Or
at Cannes the following year. Other film roles include Dildano in
Barbarella, and Cassius in Gladiator. Later in his career he would direct a
number of television shows including the A-Team, and Magnum PI.
He died on the film set of Blessed after suffering a heart attack
at the age of 62. Taking in more of this beautiful England
countryside we're in Bowerchalke, and Holy Trinity
Churchyard. Resting under a large yew tree is author
William Golding. He's best known for his debut 1954 novel
Lord of the Flies, considered one of the century's great novels.
It would be adapted on film a number of times.
Golding would go on to publish another 11 novels, including his
To the Ends of the Earth trilogy. And in 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in
literature. Golding died from heart failure at age
81. Over now to Saint Cross churchyard in
Holywell, Oxford. In the southwest corner of the
churchyard we find the final resting place of another storied writer,
Kenneth Grahame. He's fondly remembered for penning the children's classic
The Wind in the Willows, published in 1908.
It would inspire the play Toad of Toad Hall, and Disney would also adapt The Wind in the Willows, as well as another of
Graham's stories, The Reluctant Dragon. So next time you
enjoy a spin on Mr Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland, think of Mr Grahame here.
He died in 1932 at age 73. In another part of this cemetery, alive
with lush foliage, is an important figure of English sacred
music, John Stainer. He was active and very popular during
the Victorian era, and is perhaps best known today for his
oratorio "The Crucifixion," often performed at Passiontide in
Anglican churches. Stainer died in 1901 at age 60. This is Ebdon Road Cemetery in Western-
Super-Mare, Somerset. Here lies popular television personality
and journalist Jill Dando. She's remembered for having
hosted a number of shows in the 90s perhaps most notably
a show called Crimewatch UK, a British analog of America's Most Wanted.
She would often end the show by reminding viewers that most people never
experience a crime. There was tragic irony in these words. On
the morning of April 26 1999 Jill was shot and killed execution
style on the doorstep of her own home. She was 37. And in another tragic twist
of irony her own murder would be featured on Crimewatch UK,
the very show she had hosted, in an attempt to solve her murder.
A man was tried and convicted, but later acquitted on an appeal.
Her murder remains unsolved. I just love these rural English
churchyards, don't you? This is Saint Andrew's churchyard in
Mells Somerset. And among those resting in peace here is
Siegfried Sassoon. He's considered one of the leading poets
of the WWI era, having served during the war and
witnessed firsthand its brutalities. He would go on to write angry and
impassioned poetry about the horrors of war. He would also receive
acclaim for his prose work including
The Sherston Trilogy. Sassoon died from cancer at age 80. Hope you brought your umbrella, cause
those autumn rains are back. This is Allerton Cemetery in the
Liverpool area, where we find the grave of singer and entertainer
Cilla Black. Early in her career she was championed by The Beatles,
and would go on to have hits in the songs "Anyone Who Had a Heart," and "You're My World." Between 1968 and 1976 she hosted her own
variety program "Cilla" on BBC TV. And later hosted hit
shows like Blind Date, and Surprise Surprise. She died at
age 72 after suffering a stroke and a fall in her home. Also here at Allerton we find
delightfully eccentric comedian Ken Dodd. "Doddy," as he was known, was
considered one of the last great music hall entertainers.
His stand-up routines would often run for hours
with strings of surreal jokes, rapid one-liners,
physical comedy, and songs. So long were his performances he once earned a place
in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest ever joke telling
session: 1,500 jokes in three and a
half hours. His career spanned some sixty years,
continuing to make audiences laugh well into his eighties. he lived to be
ninety. Next up we visit Liverpool Long Lane
Jewish Cemetery. Beatles fans know this name: Brian
Epstein. He was a music manager in the 60s best
known for having managed The Beatles from 1962 until
his death. He was instrumental in discovering the fab four
and helping develop their image, abandoning the scruff in favor of their
iconic clean-cut style and matching suits, and
also for landing a recording contract with George Martin.
Within months The Beatles were international stars.
And like Martin, Epstein was sometimes referred to as the fifth Beatle.
Epstein also signed Cilla Black who we visited earlier.
He died from an accidental drug overdose at the age of 32. "Death must be so beautiful, to lie in the
soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head,
and listen to silence." This is Saint Thomas Beckett and Thomas
the Apostle Churchyard in Heptonstall, where lies Sylvia Plath. She was a poet
and author known for the genre of confessional poetry.
Her best-known works are the published collections The Colossus and Other Poems,
and Ariel. She also published a semi-autobiographical novel,
The Bell Jar, shortly before her death. It dealt with her struggles with
depression and mental illness. On February 11 1963 Sylvia took her own
life by carbon monoxide poisoning in her London flat,
Her head placed in the oven with the gas turned on.
she was 30. in 1982 she was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
The inscription on her stone here was chosen by her husband Ted Hughes,
believed to be a Buddhist or Hindu quote. You'll also note the name Hughes has
been rubbed out. Over the years vandals have repeatedly
tried to remove the name Hughes from her stone,
as many blame him for her death and are aggrieved at the way he handled her
legacy. Our journey north continues in Howarth,
where we find Saint Michael and All Angels Church.
A famous literary family has a strong association with this church,
where they now rest. In 1820 Patrick Bronte became the vicar of this parish
which he would serve for 41 years. He's known for having a number of very
talented and famous children. In the vault beneath this pillar rests
the Bronte sisters. Emily Bronte was an author and poet born
in 1818. Even though she only wrote one novel in
her short life she's considered a major English literary figure.
The book was Wuthering Heights, first published in 1847
under the pen name Ellis Bell. It was initially met with controversy having
challenged victorian ideals about religion,
morality, class, and a woman's place in society.
Since its publication there have been numerous adaptations of Wuthering Heights, on stage radio television and film.
Emily's health began to decline in 1848, compounded by unsanitary conditions -
the water source thought to be contaminated by runoff from the church's
graveyard. In September of that year Emily caught a
severe cold at her brother Branwell's funeral,
which led to tuberculosis. By December she was dead,
having grown so thin her coffin only measured 16 inches wide. Resting alongside her sister is Charlotte Bronte, also a writer.
The same year Emily published Wuthering Heights, Charlotte published the novel
Jane Eyre, under the pen name Currer Bell. The sisters used pen names to mask their
gender. Jane Eyre would become one of the most
famous romance novels of all time, and was revolutionary in its approach to
prose and first-person narrative. With its novel treatment of sexuality
and feminism Jane Eyre was once even labeled as being
unsuitable for young ladies. And of course
countless adaptations would follow. Charlotte didn't live much longer than
her sister, dying at the age of 38. The cause was
given as tuberculosis, but researchers believe complications of a pregnancy
were also contributing factors. Poor Patrick Bronte didn't just bury his
two daughters, he buried every one of his children,
and his wife. Maria died at age 38 from cancer,
daughter Maria died at age 12, Elizabeth aged 10, and son Branwell aged 31,
all from tuberculosis. The only Bronte sibling not buried here is Anne.
She died at age 29 from tuberculosis and was buried at St Mary's in Scarborough.
We visited Anne in part four of our viewers special. Turning back south again we're at Upperthong in West Yorkshire and St. John the Evangelist Churchyard. Here we find Bill Owen. As an actor he's
perhaps best remembered for playing Compo in the long-running BBC comedy
series Last of the Summer Wine, which ran from
1973 until 2010. The wellington boots you see
here on his grave are an allusion to that role.
Owen was also a regular in the Carry On films,
and even had a career as a songwriter and playwright.
He continued entertaining audiences until his death at age 85
from pancreatic cancer, choosing to be buried here near where
Last of the Summer Wine was filmed. Next to bill is his Last of the Summer Wine co-star,
Peter Sallis, who played Clegg in close to 300 episodes of the beloved comedy.
And fans of Wallace and Gromit will recognize him as the voice of Wallace
in various TV, film and video game productions. "Gromit, that's it. Cheese! We'll go somewhere where there's cheese!" Peter Sallis lived to the ripe old age of 96
dying of natural causes in 2017. Still further south in Little Ponton is
Saint Guthlac's Churchyard. Confession: I'd never heard of Saint
Guthlac, but now I know he was a saint from this
region of England, Lincolnshire. And herein lies actor Richard Todd. He
received both a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for his role
as Corporal McLaughlin in the 1949 film The Hasty Heart. No doubt his experiences
serving and fighting during World War II as a
captain during the D-day landings, would inform his performance. He would
become known for war dramas including The Dam Busters. He played
Robin Hood in the live-action Disney adaptation,
and was even Ian Fleming's first choice to play James Bond,
but due to scheduling conflicts the role went to Sean Connery.
Richard Todd lived to be 90. We're back down now in the south of
England at All Saints Church in Danehill. "Life is real,
and death is the illusion." So reads the epitaph
of Peter Butterworth. His military career ended when he was shot down by germans
during WWII, and captured as a prisoner of war. He
briefly escaped before being recaptured by those
pesky Hitler Youth. While in the prisoner camp he met and befriended Talbot
Rothwell, who would go on to write many of the Carry On films.
They would perform together in the camp shows, and after the war Butterworth
would become a regular in the Carry On films,
making 16 appearances in the series. He's also known for his roles in
children's radio and television, and for playing the monk in Doctor Who.
Butterworth died after suffering a heart attack at age 63.
Resting here with Peter is his wife Janet Brown. She was an actress,
comedian, and impressionist, known particularly for her spot-on
impersonation of Margaret Thatcher in the 70s and 80s.
She lived to be 87. Next up is this wonderfully photogenic
churchyard at Winchelsea Church. This is where we find the final resting
place of a legend of British comedy Spike Milligan. Se's known for being a
co-creator, writer, and principal cast member of the
Goon Show, with Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe, who we visited in previous tours.
The Goon Show was a predecessor and great influence of comedy troops like
Monty Python, beginning on radio in the 50s and later
expanding into film and television. Milligan is partly responsible for the
more absurdist shift in both British and American comedy in the 50s and 60s.
He also wrote comedic poetry as well as a number of books documenting his time
during WWII, beginning with Adolf Hitler: My Part in
His Downfall. Spike died from kidney failure at age 83.
A humorist to the end he wrote his own obituary, stating that
he wrote The Goon Show, and died. He also wanted the words "I told you i was ill"
inscribed on his tombstone, but the churchyard refused the epitaph.
As a compromise the phrase was inscribed with the Irish translation. Circling back around to the greater
London area we find ourselves in Cranford and Saint Dunstan
with Holy Angels churchyard. Here lies Tony Hancock,
a popular comedian and entertainer of the
50s and 60s, who found great success in the BBC
series Hancock's Half Hour, a radio comedy and later TV series. He
also had a brief film career including 1961's Call Me Genius.
But as his career began to decline he fell deeper into discouragement and
alcohol, eventually taking his own life by
overdose while in Australia at the age of 44.
He was cremated there and returned here to be laid to rest. Man, even the signs are cool here. As it
reads this is Saint Mary the Virgin church in Radnadge,
Buckinghamshire. "What will survive of us is love." So reads
the epitaph of actress Wendy Hiller. She was principally known as a stage
actress, a favorite of George Bernard Shaw, and preferring modern dramas like those of Henrik Ibsen over
classics like Shakespeare. But she did shine on film earning an Oscar
nomination for her role as Eliza Doolittle in Shaw's Pygmalion.
She would also be nominated for her role in A Man for All Seasons,
and win the Oscar for Separate Tables. Wendy Hiller lived to be 90. The City of London Cemetery was
established in 1856, one of the early public cemeteries to
open in response to overcrowding in London Churchyards.
Another of the great actresses of British stage and screen rests in these
historic grounds, Anna Neagle. In 1949 she was voted the
most popular star in Britain. She brought much much-needed levity to
war-torn Britain with musicals, comedies, and historical dramas.
She often portrayed historical figures including Nell Gwynn,
Florence Nightingale, and Queen Victoria, in two films.
Her proudest role on film was that a French resistance fighter Odette.
Anna Neagle lived to be 81 and rests here with her husband.
Their grave was re-commemorated by Princess Anne in 2014.
Anna's husband Herbert Wilcox was an award-winning film producer and
director, the two often collaborating. Among the films they made together are
Victoria the Great, The Lady with a Lamp, and Odette. He lived
to be 87. Also here at the City of London Cemetery
we find Christopher Wicking. He was a screenwriter known for his work
writing horror films in the 70s, including Murders in the Rue Morgue,
To the Devil, a Daughter, and Scream and Scream Again. He died at
the age of 65 after suffering a heart attack. One last stop here at the City of London
Cemetery. Joseph Merrick was better known in his
life as The Elephant Man. He suffered from a condition that
caused his body to deform from an early age, believed to have been
Proteus Syndrome. Shunned by society he did the only thing
people in his position could do, he joined a circus freak show. He
eventually made his way to the London Hospital where he was cared for for the
remainder of his life. He died at age 27. His body was donated
to science. His skeleton is held by Queen Mary
University of London's medical school, and after extensive research into his
condition the rest of him was laid to rest here.
His life was dramatized in the 1980 David Lynch film, The Elephant Man.
The film was nominated for eight Oscars and won the BAFTA for best film. We head now to St Patrick's Roman
Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone. Here lies actor Stephen Lewis. He was
another regular on the Last of the Summer Wine,
as Smiler. He's also known for his role as Blakey
on the sitcom On the Buses, a role he reprised in the 1971 film.
He boarded the last bus to the cemetery gates at age 88. This is Downs Crematorium in Brighton. Here we find the Cheeky Chappie, Max
Miller, regarded as one of the great stand-up
comedians of his generation, in the 30s through the 50s. Censorship
was strict in his era so he often relied on innuendo,
getting away with risque humor by allowing the audiences to fill in the
punchline of a joke, then blaming the audiences for being the
ones with the dirty minds. He also starred in a number of films
including Educated Evans. And if you know where to look you'll
spot Max Miller on the cover of the Beatles album,
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lived to be 68. Long Buckby is our next stop, at St. Lawrence churchyard. This is Stanley Unwin. His career as an
entertainer began quite by accident. He was a radio engineer
and while testing equipment made his first accidental transmission,
ad-libbing some comedic spoof commentary. He was encouraged to go into show
business and would become known for developing his own style of linguistic
comedy dubbed Unwinese, a sort of mangled form
of English in which words are altered and misused to hilarious effect.
On film he can be seen as the chancellor in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He died from natural causes at
the age of 90. We find ourselves now at Hampstead
Cemetery in the greater London area. Here lies legendary actress
Gladys Cooper. Her career on stage and screen spanned
some seven decades, beginning in the silent era before the
first world war. Between 1917 and 1933 she managed the
Playhouse Theater where she often performed, eventually
making her way to the West End and Broadway.
She received three Oscar nominations for her film roles, in My Fair Lady,
The Song of Bernadette, and Now Voyager. And fans of The Twilight Zone, as you
know I am, remember her in three episodes, including
one particularly chilling one in which she receives haunting late
night phone calls from a local graveyard. "Who's there? Hello?" "Hello. Hello." She died from pneumonia
at age 82. This is Saint John the Baptist Church in
Little Missenden. Strolling through the churchyard we find
the grave of Dulcie Gray and Michael Denison. Dulce Gray began her
career as an actress on stage in productions like Brighton Rock.
She would then make her way to film in melodramas like
They Were Sisters. And on TV she was known as Kate Harvey on the series
Howard's Way. She found a second career in writing,
having penned dozens of mystery novels. She died from pneumonia at age 95. Her
husband Michael Denison is also here, an actor often seen as the
quintessential English gentleman. He starred with his wife in Angels One Five,
and also starred in The Importance of Being Earnest.
He died from cancer at age 82. Myriad are the churches named Saint
Mary's in England. This one is located in Wargrave
Berkshire. Along the southern wall we find
character actor Robert Morley, often seen as the pompous Englishman.
He received an Oscar nomination for his role as Louis XVI
in the 1938 film Marie Antoinette. Other notable films include Major
Barbara, alongside Wendy Hiller, and The African Queen. He died after
suffering a stroke at age 84. Also here is Robert's son Sheridan who
was a distinguished writer and theater critic in London. Our next stop is Banbury Crematorium in
Oxfordshire. Here we find one of The Two Ronnies,
Ronnie Barker, a man who made comedy look effortlessly
funny. The Two Ronnies was a popular sketch
comedy show in the 70s and 80s, which Ronnie Barker wrote and starred in
with another Ronnie, Ronnie Corbett. Other sitcoms include
Porridge, and Open All Hours. Ronnie died from
heart failure at age 76. We're in East Preston West Sussex, and St
Mary the Virgin churchyard. where rests Stanley Holloway. He was an actor
and humorist known for his comic monologues and songs.
On stage and screen he's perhaps best remembered for his role as Alfred P
Doolittle in My Fair Lady. The role earned him an Oscar nomination.
He can also be seen in Brief Encounter and as the gravedigger in Hamlet.
He lived to be 91... a lot of longevity among those we visited today. In Little Malvern is Saint Wulstan Roman Catholic Cemetery. Here lies British composer Edward Elgar.
Among his best-known orchestral works is the series of marches,
the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. The theme from the first march was adapted
as the official coronation music for King Edward VII,
and today is instantly recognized as the graduation march tune.
And among his notable choral works is The Dream of Gerontius.
He would be one of the first composers to take gramophone recordings seriously,
conducting a series of recordings of his own work beginning in 1914.
Elgar died from cancer at age 76. If you're tired of grave hunting we
could always kick back and watch a game of cricket. What's that you say?
You're not tired of grave hunting? Good! Neither am I. This is Golders Green Jewish Cemetery,
across the street from the Golders Green Crematorium.
Here we find one of the great musical interpreters of Elgar,
Jacqueline du Pre. She was a musical child prodigy,
a cellist, who achieved mainstream popularity, becoming regarded as one of
the greatest cellists of all time. Her career was cut
short by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
which forced her to stop performing at just 28.
The disease took her life at age 42. A film was made about her life titled
Hillary and Jackie. Not far from Jacqueline is screenwriter
and producer Jack Rosenthal, one of the small screen's great
dramatists. He wrote over a hundred episodes of Coronation Street.
Other of his well-known TV plays include Bar Mitzvah Boy,
The Evacuees, and Spend Spend Spend. He also wrote for film including Yentl
starring Barbara Streisand. He died at age 72 from cancer. From a Jewish cemetery to a Catholic
Church, this is Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church in the London area. In a quiet corner lit by colorful light
from stained glass windows we find Marie Tussaud.
Thanks to Madame Tussaud many of us can get up close and personal with our
favorite stars... or at least with wax figure effigies of
our favorite stars. Marie was a sculptor who worked in
France, known for sculpting wax figures of famous people.
She learned from Philippe Curtius who in 1765 created
what is the oldest wax work figure, of Madame du Berry,
which is still on display in Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
During the french revolution she was imprisoned and given the gruesome
responsibility of making wax death masks of recently guillotined notables,
among them Marie Antoinette. After the war she relocated to London where she
opened Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in 1835. In the centuries since branches have opened across the world,
including one back home in Hollywood where you can strike a pose with Marilyn
Monroe, among others. This Saint Mary's churchyard is located
in Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire. This is the final resting place of
Dennis Potter, considered one of the most influential
and innovative dramatists in British television.
He received acclaim for productions like The Singing Detective,
and the 1978 musical drama serial Pennies from Heaven,
which would be adapted on film in 1981. The film adaptation earned him an Oscar
nomination. His writing for film also includes
Dreamchild and Gorky Park. He even has a writing award named after
him. In 1994 Potter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
He named his cancer Rupert, after Rupert Murdoch, a man he held in the same
regard as the cancerous growth inside of him. He was just 59 when he died. Also here at St Mary's we find actress
Noele Gordon. She's remembered for her role as Meg
Mortimer in close to 300 episodes of the long-running british soap opera
Crossroads, in the 60s to the 80s. She also has the distinction of being
the first woman seen on color television, during experimental transmissions in
1928. She died from cancer at age 65. Just north of here is picturesque Great
Malvern Cemetery. In these grounds we find a woman known
as The Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind. She was an opera singer
regarded as one of the greatest sopranos of the 19th century.
Her career began in her native Stockholm, and she would become
highly sought after throughout Europe. In 1850 at the invitation of showman PT
Barnum, Jenny Lind came to America where she toured and sang in some
93 hugely popular concerts, raising money for various charities.
If you saw The Greatest Showman, Jenny was portrayed in that film by Rebecca
Ferguson. The Swedish Nightingale settled in
England passing away at the age of 67. And finally my friends, we reach
Addelstone Cemetery in Surrey. This is the final resting
place of Rod Hull, a beloved comedian and entertainer in
the 70s and 80s. He's best remembered for teaming up with
a silent flightless puppet bird, an emu, which often created a sort of
gleeful havoc in their appearances on television,
The bird would appear to have a mind of its own, sometimes attacking the poor
hosts to hilarious effect. Among these
unwitting hosts was Johnny Carson. "There's a way of making friends with him,
if you have to go, who's a pretty emu then?
Who wants a little ...... See, see, look.
You try it." "Who's a little emu?" "Oh, he likes you." In 1999 Rod was up on his roof adjusting
his TV antenna. Tragically he slipped and fell from the
roof, dying from the injuries he sustained in the fall.
Rod Hull was 63. As for Emu, he along with his creator will live
forever in the hearts of those who simply need a good laugh.
And so as our time in England comes to an end,
to quote Rod Hull, "I loves ya. That's why I say cheerio, not goodbye." And that concludes our tour. What are some of your favorite memories
of the stars we visited today? Share them in the comments below and be
sure to like, share, and subscribe for more famous grave tours. Thanks for watching!
We'll see you on the next one.
