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 continue our tour of New York
City, where we'll find such stars as Mae West, Harry Houdini, Louis Armstrong, and
many more. Join us, won't you? In our previous video we kicked off our
tour of New York City. Today we continue our tour, picking up not far from where
we left off, and making our way across Brooklyn and Queens. If you haven't done
so already, be sure to check out part 1. In 1847 New York passed the Rural
Cemetery Act, which allowed for the development of commercial cemeteries
outside Manhattan. Until that time the dead, for the most part, had to be buried
in either a churchyard or on private land. The result of the new Rural
Cemetery Act was that in the mid 1800s large parcels of land bordering Brooklyn
and Queens were developed as rural cemeteries - dozens of them, many clustered
together, making essentially a massive borough of cemeteries. In Brooklyn and
Queens the dead outnumber the living. We'll begin our tour on the eastern edge
of Brooklyn at the Evergreens Cemetery, the westernmost in the largest
concentration of cemeteries spanning Brooklyn and Queens. Evergreens was
founded in 1849 just after the passage of New York's Rural Cemetery Act, and for
a time it was New York's busiest cemetery, hosting now some half a million
souls. Not far in from the entrance we take the first left and find Lawn
Section on the right. Here we find the grave of animation and cartoon pioneer
Winsor McCay. He's considered America's first great cartoon film animator, long
before the days of Disney and Fleischer. He gained renown with his 1905 comic
strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, an innovative and visually stunning comic
which followed the adventures of a boy named Nemo through his dreams. By 1911 he
had branched out into animation creating an animated short film with his Little
Nemo characters - one of the earliest cartoons ever produced. He began using
these cartoons in his vaudeville act. His best-known and most significant cartoon
was Gertie the Dinosaur, produced in 1914. Gertie was introduced in his vaudeville
act as a tame, trained dinosaur, with which McKay would interact. This film was
innovative in that it was the first to use detailed backgrounds separate from
foreground characters, as well as animation techniques like key framing,
in-betweening, registration marks, and animation loops.
This little film would influence generations of animators to follow. Let's cross evergreens to the far east
side. At the intersection where Redemption section begins we find
legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles "Robinson, one of vaudeville highest-paid and best
known performers. It wasn't long until he branched out into every major form of
entertainment, from Broadway, Records, radio, film, and television. He was
considered the greatest tap dancer of his era, known for his stare dance
routine. Here he is performing that routine with Shirley Temple. Robinson used his fame to overcome racial barriers of the era, from being one of
vaudeville first Black solo performers, to headlining Broadway, and appearing in
the first interracial dance team on screen, with Shirley Temple. The 1943
musical film Stormy Weather was based on his life, and featured many other top
African-American performers of his day, including Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, and
Dooley Wilson. National tap dance day is May 25th,
Bojangles birthday. If we cross Cyprus Avenue to the
Northeast we reach the next cemetery in this cluster: Union Field Cemetery, a
Jewish cemetery founded in 1878. Following this pathway a short ways we
find the grave of Bert Lahr on the right. He was a comedic actor who worked his
way through burlesque, vaudeville, and Broadway. He's best remembered today for
his role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. "Why don't you come along
with us? We're on our way to see the Wizard now, to get him a heart." "And him a brain." "I'm sure he could give you some courage." "Well, wouldn't you feel degraded to be seen in the company of a Cowardly Lion? I would." On Broadway Lahr
won a Tony Award for his role in Roxy in 1964. He died in 1967 while filming The
Night They Raided Minsky's. If we continue east through Union Field we'll
pass into Beth El Cemetery. These are some of those magnificent old cemeteries
you'd best get out of your car and walk through. Try and get lost -- after all, that's the
best way to get somewhere you've never been. Here at Beth El Cemetery, just northwest
of the roundabout, is the Goodman family mausoleum. This is where legendary actor
Edward G. Robinson is entombed. Robinson epitomized the tough-guy gangster of
Hollywood's golden age. He shot to stardom for his acclaimed performance as
the sneering, psychotic, Rico Bandello in 1931s Little Caesar. "Ernie, you're through. You hired these mugs, they missed, now you're through. If you ain't out of town by
tomorrow morning, you won't never leave it except in a pine box. I'm taking over this territory.
From now on it's mine." Other notable roles include Johnny Rocco in
Key Largo, Barton keys in Double Indemnity, and Dathan in the Ten Commandments. He died just weeks after finishing Soylent
Green, and has since been ranked among the greatest male stars of classic
cinema. Let's continue to enjoy this magnificent
old necropolis as we turn south to Machpelah Cemetery. Not far from the entrance and the road
is the grave of one of the most legendary magicians in history: Harry
Houdini. He was born Erik Weiss in Budapest, his family arriving in the
States when he was a child. He began performing magic as a teenager in New
York which is when he changed his name to Houdini, after French magician Jean
Eugène Robert-Houdin. He performed in dime museums and sideshows, initially
with card tricks, but soon began experimenting with escape acts. He rose
to fame with his handcuff escape acts, and found himself performing in the
biggest vaudeville houses in the country. The escape acts he performed soon
expanded to straitjackets, coffins, chains, prisons, and more, becoming evermore
spectacular. He was also known for his submersion
feats, like the milk-can escape, and the Chinese water torture cell. In the 20s he
appeared in several films which showcased his magic, but live performance
was always his bread and butter. The seal on his tomb is the Society of American
Magicians, for which he served as president from 1917 until 1926. Every
year the Society holds a broken wand ceremony here at his grave. In later
years Houdini shifted his efforts towards studying and debunking
spiritualism, mystics, and psychics -- an effort carried on today by other
magicians such as James Randi and Penn & Teller -- to un-muddy the waters between
skilled illusion for the sake of entertainment, and fraud. So in this vein
before his death Houdini agreed with his wife, Bess, that after his death if he
could find a way to communicate with her, he would send her the secret message,
"Rosabelle Believe." Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926 at the age of 52. Days earlier he had been struck in the gut by a man testing his strength.
Houdini wasn't prepared for the blows, and performed thereafter in great pain.
He refused medical treatment, and days later his appendix ruptured and he died
of peritonitis. His wife, Bess, held a seance annually for ten years after his
death, but never heard the secret code from Houdini from the other side. The
tradition of holding a seance for Houdini continues, held by magicians
around the world on Halloween. Bess was not only his wife but also a
performer and his stage assistant. She isn't actually buried here, though.
She's at Gate of Heaven, further north. Sadly, her family, who was Roman Catholic,
would not allow her to be buried here in a Jewish cemetery with her husband. Continuing east across Cypress Hills
Street we reach the last but oldest in this cluster of cemeteries: Cypress Hills.
It's about the same size as the Evergreens, but was founded one year
earlier in 1848, making it the first nondenominational rural cemetery in the
boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. On the grounds are two mausoleums, including the
grandiose Cypress Hills Abbey, completed in 1931. This is where we'll begin our tour... Hmmm, but the doors appear to be locked. Maybe if we ring the doorbell? And we're in!
The only living souls in this entire building. Let's make our way up to the second floor, then left and head all the
way to the end of the corridor, then right. Near the end on the left is the
crypt of comedic actor Victor Moore. He made his screen debut in 1915 and was a
major Broadway star in the 20s and 30s, including in the Gershwins' Of Thee I Sing.
Some of his notable film roles include Swing Time alongside Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers, and It Happened on Fifth Avenue. His final role was as the plumber
in The Seven-Year Itch in 1955. Back the way we came let's pass the stairway to
the south side. On the right we find the West family
plot. Way up at the top is the queen of innuendo, Mae West. She was an actress,
writer, and comedian, whose career entertaining audiences spans seven
decades. She began performing at the age of seven and by her teens was a
professional on the vaudeville circuit. As a young woman
Mae wore her sexuality on her sleeve, and began writing her own risque plays,
including the 1926 play entitled Sex. The play was a success, but it scandalized
many viewers and locals for its immorality. Mae was even arrested on an
obscenity charge and sentenced to 10 days in a workhouse. The scandal only
increased her popularity. Other plays include The Drag in 1927, which dealt
with homosexuality, and Diamond Lil in 1928, a Broadway hit. Hollywood soon came
calling, launching her film career at close to 40. She was a box-office hit in
the early 1930s in films like She Done Him Wrong, and I'm No Angel.
As her film career took off film censors from the production code were in full
force. She continually pushed the limits of censorship with her tawdry one-liners
and dodged censors with naughty double entendres. "Well, when I'm good, I'm very good,
but when I'm bad I'm better. "I see a man in your life." "What, only one?" "Aren't you forgetting that you're married?" "I'm doing my best." "You certainly know the way to a
man's heart." "Funny too because I don't know how to cook." "I'll never forget you." "No one ever does." "You were wonderful tonight." "I'm always wonderful at night." "Why don't you come up sometime and see me?" By the mid-1930s she was the highest-paid woman in America, but the
censors began to crack down so she left film and returned to stage for a time.
When censorship began to end in the 60s she returned to film, like in Myra
Breckinridge. After her death at age 87 a service was held at Forest Lawn in
Hollywood before being entombed here in New York with her family. She's
considered today one of the greatest female stars of classic cinema. That's all we find here in the Abbey. Let's turn out the lights,
lock the doors behind us, and head back out into the rain. We now sojourn south, pass under Jackie Robinson Parkway which splits the cemetery, to find the grave of
its namesake. In section 6, next to the road, we find
legendary number 42, Jackie Robinson. He was a professional baseball player who
broke the color barrier in 1947, becoming the first African-American to play in
the major leagues since it was segregated in the 1880s. He played one
season in the Negro Leagues before being signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. By the
end of his first season he was awarded Rookie of the Year, and in the years to
come he'd be a six-time all-star and MVP in 1949, the first black player to win
the honor. Donning the Dodgers uniform and playing in America's favorite sport,
Robinson was a powerful and courageous symbol of equality in an age when racial
segregation still prevailed in this country. His influence helped spark the
civil rights movement in the decades that followed. Robinson retired in 1956
and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. And in 1997 MLB retired
his number 42 across all major league teams. He died of a heart attack in 1972
at the age of 53. In 2013 the film 42 was released,
chronicling the life of Jackie Robinson. We've reached the end of this massive
cluster of cemeteries, so let's leave the entertainment world for a short time and
enter the criminal underworld, to find a few individuals who are more notorious
than famous. North of Cypress Hills a few miles is st. John Cemetery, a Catholic
cemetery, where a large number of organized crime figures are laid to rest.
St. John Cemetery was consecrated in 1881 and now covers 190 acres here in
the Middle Village area. In Section 3, near the intersection, south of the St. John Cloister, is the Lucania family mausoleum, where the notorious Lucky
Luciano is entombed. He was born Salvatore Lucania
in Sicily and his family emigrated to New York when he was a child. He soon
embarked on a budding career in crime. As a teen he befriended Jewish mobsters
Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. Lucky worked for one of the prominent
bosses of the era Joe "the Boss" Masseria. But Masseria and rival boss Maranzano,
who are known as "Mustache Petes," were old-school in their approach to
organized crime, refusing to branch out and do business with Jewish or Irish
gangs. During the Castellammarese War in the early 30s which pitted Masseria
and Maranzano against each other, Lucky led and orchestrated the efforts
to remove both of them, with the vision of a national crime syndicate. Masseria
was murdered, ending the war, and then Maranzano was murdered, ending the era of
the old-world Mustache Petes, and ushering in an era of modern organized
crime, with Lucky Luciano as the prominent crime boss. He's therefore
known as the father of modern organized crime in America. He then formed The
Commission, the governing body for organized crime, composed of
representatives of Five Families, one led by him, the Luciano family, which later
became the Genovese family. In 1936 lucky was sent to prison for his
crimes for 30 to 60 years. However, during World War II he offered to help in the
war effort, to use his criminal connections to aid the Allies' causes
against Italy, in exchange for a commuted sentence. The offer was accepted, and
after the war he was released from prison, but deported back to Italy. He
died of a heart attack at the Naples Airport in 1962 where he had gone to
meet with a producer to discuss a film about his life. In section 11, near the
Resurrection Mausoleum, we find the man who took over the Luciano family: Don
Vito Genovese. He was an Italian-American mobster who rose to
power during Prohibition. Along with Lucky, Genovese it was part of the
Costellammarese War, and was one of the men responsible for the
assassination of Masseria. In 1957 he took over the Luciano family, which then
became known as the Genovese family. He was known as "the boss of all bosses" in
that era, leading what was, and remains to this day, one of the most wealthy,
powerful, and dangerous crime organizations in the world. In 1959 he
was convicted of smuggling and distributing narcotics, and was sentenced
to federal prison for 15 years. He would continue to run the family and order
hits from behind prison walls, where he finally died of a heart attack in 1969. Let's make our way over to the
Magnificent St. John Cloister. This mausoleum is unlike any we've seen
before, with many crypt faces actually covered
in wood rather than marble, perhaps symbolic of Jesus the carpenter, or the
craftsmanship of old-world monasteries and chapels. Let's head up to the fifth
floor, leaving the carpet and wood and entering the familiar marble and
concrete, into section 2. Here we find Carlo Gambino. After the formation of the
Commission in 1931 he belonged to the family formed by Vincent Mangano. Power
struggles within the family led to a succession of bosses, usually by murder,
and in 1957 Gambino assumed command of the family, which then bore his name. Don
Carlo's preferred rackets included extorting labor unions, gambling,
loan-sharking, etc, but he forbade narcotics trafficking. He led the family
twenty years until his death. Unlike many of his contemporaries who were either
murdered or died in prison, Gambino died at home of natural causes
at the age of 74. He was one of the inspirations for the Vito Corleone
character in The Godfather. "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Heading down to the third floor we find
one of the men who succeeded Gambino. Here we find John Gotti, who became head
of the Gambino family in the 1980s. Unlike other mob bosses, Gotti didn't shy
away from the limelight, and kept a genial public appearance, despite being
one of the most dangerous and powerful mob bosses in the country. He was known
as the "Teflon Don" for his ability to avoid prosecution...
that is until his own underboss, Sammy the Bull, turned against him and helped
the FBI bring various charges against Gotti, including murder, racketeering, and
tax evasion. He was sentenced to life in prison where he died of cancer in 2002.
After his death his descendants were featured in a reality TV show,
Growing Up Gotti. That's all we find today at St. John's. Heading northwest
now several miles in the Woodside area of Queens is Calvary Cemetery.
First Calvary Cemetery is where Don Corleone's funeral took place in The
Godfather. Today we'll visit the new Calvary
Cemetery, just next to it to the east, and re-enter the entertainment world.
Calvary Cemetery, a Catholic cemetery, was consecrated in 1848, making it one of the
oldest cemeteries in the country. Over the years additional divisions were
added, and there are now four, spanning some 365 acres.
It's the largest cemetery in the United States, not by acreage, but by the number
of interments - somewhere around 3 million. In 2nd Calvary, section 42, adjacent to
the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, is the grave of funnyman Dom DeLuise. His early
roles were in television, seen in appearances on shows like Tinker's
Workshop and The Munsters. He was good friends with Mel Brooks, becoming a
regular in Brooks's films, like Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, and History of the
World Part 1. Dom was also good friends with Burt Reynolds, and they appeared
together in several films, including The Cannonball Run, and
Smokey and the Bandit II. Fans of animation and Don Bluth films will also
recognize his voice as a number of lovable characters, from Itchy in All
Dogs Go to Heaven, to Jeremy in The Secret of NIMH. "Hey, there's a cat out there!" "Quiet! Does he ssee you?" "No... Yes!" "Stand perfectly still." "Everything's fine.
He's headed right for us!" "Don't panic! Fast or slow?" "Medium... make that fast. Very
fast! I have to go now, excuse me, I really..." In addition to acting in comedy Dom was
quite renowned as a chef. He died in 2009 at the age of 75. From here we travel
east several miles to Flushing Cemetery, where the cool autumn rains have
returned. This is a non-denominational cemetery, founded in 1853, and covering
around 75 acres. In section 6, in the north end of the cemetery, we find one of
the great music legends of the last century: Louis Armstrong, a stone trumpet
adorning the top of his tombstone. Born into poverty in New Orleans, young
Louis performed on the streets as a child for change. He rose to prominence
in the 20s as a jazz trumpeter and cornet player. He was innovative in that
he shifted the focus of jazz music to the solo performer and not just group
improvisation. In 1925 he formed his own band, Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five,
recording some of his early hits, like "Potato Head Blues." His nickname, Satchmo,
was a shortening of another nickname he had acquired as a child, "satchel mouth,"
though the accounts of how he acquired this nickname vary. Louis Armstrong would
become as well known for his distinctive gravel singing voice and scat singing as
for his trumpet playing, and by the 50s he'd become a beloved American icon and
jazz ambassador. Many of his biggest hits came later in life, like Mack the Knife,
Hello Dolly, and What a Wonderful World. [music] Our last cemetery of the day is just
beyond the eastern limits of Queens in Elmont: Beth David Cemetery. This is a
large Jewish cemetery founded in 1917. South of the entrance, in section 4
off of Lincoln Avenue, we find Dr. Joyce Brothers. She was a psychologist, perhaps
best remembered for her daily advice column that ran in various newspapers
from 1960 to 2013. And in the 1950s she was given her own TV show where she
dispensed relationship advice, becoming a pioneer in the field. She appeared in a
number of film and TV roles, often as herself or as a self-parody. She was also
the only woman to win the top prize on the $64,000 Question gameshow. Dr. Joyce
would influence other radio and TV doctors, including Dr. Laura, and Dr. Phil. Let's double back to the northern end of the cemetery to section BB2. East
along this path several rows then left we find legendary film composer Bernard
Herrmann. He was one of the most innovative and unconventional composers
of Hollywood's Golden Age, perhaps best known for his scores with Alfred
Hitchcock, including Vertigo and Psycho. He's the man behind the shrieking
strings in Psycho, the low woodwinds in Orson Welles Citizen Kane, the saxophone in Taxi Driver, and the Twisted Nerve whistle. Herrmann could hold you in suspense, unnerve you and terrify
you with his music, but at the same time move you to tears with his stirring
string writing, something no one did better, like Scene D'Amour in Vertigo. [music] He was also an early experimenter of
unconventional sounds in film scores, like the theremin in the Day the Earth
Stood Still. [music] He was nominated for five Oscars, winning
for All That Money Can Buy. His work for television includes music for the
Twilight Zone, including the first season's opening theme. He died just
hours after finishing recording the score for Taxi Driver. South the handful
of sections we reach section A. South of the road, nearly hidden, is the grave of Abe Vigoda. He was an actor who had a number of notable and memorable roles
throughout his career. He played Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather. "Barzini wants to arrange a meeting. He says we can
straighten any of our problems out." "You talked to him?" "Yeah. I can arrange security on my territory. "Alright?" "Right." "Alright." In the 70s and 80s he played
Phil Fish on the popular sitcom Barney Miller, a role which earned him three
Emmy nominations. Beginning the 80s Abe Vigoda was the subject of a number of celebrity death hoaxes, being mistakenly reported as having died, first in 1982,
then again in 1987. This led to a running gag Vigoda would play along with about
whether or not he was still alive. In the end he lived and performed into his 90s. Continuing south to the second to last
section, section 1-4, we find the Kaufman family plot near the southwest corner.
Here is actor and comedic performer Andy Kaufman. His brand of comedy wasn't
telling jokes but rather performance art that borders on the absurd and
irrational. He was one of the inaugural performers on Saturday Night Live when
it debuted in 1975. "I think we should turn off the TV. I don't know if you are laughing at me or with me." He often performed as an unnamed foreign man, which eventually
evolved into the Latka Gravas character on the 70s and 80s sitcom, Taxi.
Other memorable characters include lounge singer Tony Clifton. At the young
age of 35, Kaufman, a nonsmoker, was diagnosed with a rare form of lung
cancer which took his life in 1984. Before his death Kaufmann had often
spoken of faking his own death as a grand hoax, so for years after he died
many people believed he was still alive preparing for a return.
Sadly such was not the case. As a tribute to Andy Kaufman the band REM wrote the
song "Man on the Moon." [music] Man on the Moon would
also be the title of the film about his life starring Jim Carrey. If you have a car now is definitely the
time to get back in it; it's a long way to our last stop in the far southeast
corner of the cemetery, section H9. Next to the road is the Landau family plot,
where we find Martin Landau. He worked as a cartoonist before breaking into acting
in the 50s in films like Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. On
television he made appearances on shows like The Untouchables, The Outer Limits,
and The Twilight Zone, and was a series regular on the original
Mission Impossible TV series, as master of disguise Rollin Hand. The role made
him a star and earned him three Emmy nominations. In the late 80s he starred
in a series of Oscar-nominated roles culminating with the 1990 Tim Burton
film Ed Wood, in which he played Bela Lugosi. The role won him the Oscar. "Children! I love
children!" "Trick or Treat!" "Aren't you scared, little boy? I'm going
drink your blood." "You're not a real vampire. Those teeth don't frighten me." Landau was also an acting coach who mentored greats such as Jack Nicholson. He died in 2017 at the age of 89. 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. Where the tombstones go when they die?
Right here in a tombstone graveyard.
