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're heading back to Westwood
Village Memorial Park, where we'll find such stars as Hugh Hefner, Virginia Fox,
Richard Conte, and many more. Join us, won't you? Last spring we visited the smallest, yet
no less star-studded cemetery in LA: Westwood Village Memorial Park, hidden
here in the shadows of skyscrapers in Westwood, California. Today we head back
there to visit some stars we missed the first time around, and to pay our
respects to those who have passed since. If you haven't done so already, be sure
to check out our original three-part tour of Westwood. We'll begin just in from
the entrance in the northwest corner of the main lawn. Just next to a bench we
find the small marker for Cornel Wilde. He was an actor who found his greatest
successes in the 30s to the 60s. His best-known role was as Frederic Chopin, in the biopic A Song to Remember. The role earned him an Academy Award
nomination. He also played Sir Lancelot in the Sword of Lancelot, and a trapeze
artist in Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth. Later in his
career he also produced and directed a number of films. Straight east is the grave of
silent film actress Virginia Fox, buried next to her husband Darryl F
Zanuck. Virginia can be seen alongside Ford Sterling and Ben Turpin in a
handful of Mack Sennett silent films of the teens, and in the 20s became the
leading lady in several Buster Keaton films. After marrying Zanuck she retired from
acting, but was known as a behind-the-scenes influence on her
husband at the studio that would become 20th Century Fox. Continuing east, one row
south, is the grave of actor Richard Conte. He played Don Barzini in The
Godfather. He was first considered for the title role, but when that went to
Marlon Brando, Conte was cast as his rival. "Times have changed.
It's not like the old days, Where we can do anything we want. A refusal is not the
act of a friend. If Don Corleone had all the judges and the politicians in New York, then he must share them, or let others use them. He must let us draw the water
from the well. Certainly he can present a bill for such services. After all, we are not communists." He can also be seen in films like Ocean's 11. And if you look close he has one of the most interesting markers here. Look at the dates: 1910 to
1975 to - What does that mean? Is he... is he coming back? Let's head now to the Corridor of
Memories to find one of Westwood's newest occupants, Hugh Hefner,
who now rests next to Marilyn Monroe. In the early 50s Hefner was determined to start his own publication. He managed to raise $8,000 from a number of investors to launch Playboy magazine in 1953, which featured several nude photos
of Marilyn Monroe that he had purchased - photos from a 1949 calendar Marilyn had
done before she was famous. The first issue sold 50,000 copies and Playboy became a hit. The men's entertainment magazine, notable for nude and semi-nude
models, centerfolds, and playmates, was seen as the answer to the sexual
repression of the era, and helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 60s.
Hefner and the Playboy brand became symbols of sexual liberation, freedom of
expression, and the fight against censorship. In addition to his role as
editor-in-chief of the magazine, Hefner was active in political, social, and
philanthropic causes. In the late 70s, when the Hollywood sign was crumbling and deteriorating, he spearheaded an effort to save and restore the sign. Hefner put up the money to sponsor the Y. And without the Y, Hollywood
Graveyard would just be, well... So, thank you Mr. Hefner. He never actually met
Marilyn, but purchased this crypt in 1992 for $75,000 so he could be laid to
rest next to her. Above and to the right is the crypt of Gitta Alpar. She was a Hungarian opera singer, one of the leading Sopranos in Europe in the 20s.
She fled Europe in the 30s at the rise of the Nazi Party, eventually arriving in
the US. She appeared in a number of films in her career, including The Loves of
Madame Du Barry in 1935. On her marker are two of the role she played: Madame Du Barry and La Traviata. In the corner to the right is the Room
of Prayer. Herein we find the niche of author Robert Bloch. He was a writer of
crime, horror, and fantasy. He's best known as the writer of the 1959 novel, "Psycho,"
which was partially inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein. Alfred
Hitchcock would later adapt his book into a movie of the same name. Let's pay a quick revisit to Robert Stack who is also in this room, to get a closer look
at his niche. You'll remember Stack for his roles in TV shows like The
Untouchables and Unsolved Mysteries, and movies like Airplane! and Written on the
Wind, which earned him an Oscar nomination. Following the road south, on
the left, is the crypt of Wayne Rogers. He played captain Trapper John McIntyre on the 70s TV series MASH, and Dr. Charlie Michaels on House Calls, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Mount Sinai isn't the only cemetery with an elevator. I've always wondered about this random elevator that doesn't appear to lead
anywhere. Does it go to some secret underground cemetery? Well, yes actually
it does. This elevator is the access to Westwood's private mausoleum. Songwriter Jay Livingston, who was originally entombed by Marilyn, was recently moved
to this private section. Livingston was half of the songwriting team of Livingston and Evans, who wrote songs for film and television. Jay was the composer,
Ray the lyricist. Their TV themes include Bonanza and Mr. Ed. Their film songs won them three Oscars, for "Que Sera Sera," "Buttons and Bows," and "Mona Lisa." They also wrote the popular Christmas tune "Silver Bells," written for the 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid. [music] Back to the main lawn in the southeast,
just next to Carl Wilson, we find actor Paul Gleason. He is perhaps best
remembered for his role as the principal in The Breakfast Club. He can also be
seen on All My Children, and in the movie Die Hard, playing the
deputy police chief. Straight north, next to the big tree, are Will and Ariel Durant. They were husband and wife researchers
and writers who won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Story of Civilization," an 11
volume set of books covering Western History. Just west, next to Eve Arden, is
Eve's husband, Brooks West. His best-known role as an actor was as the District Attorney in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder, which also starred his wife Eve. He also served as associate producer for his wife on her show, The Eve Arden Show. Further west, next to Bettie Page, we find actor Alan Melvin. He was a character
actor and voice actor, appearing in a number of films and TV shows, including
the Phil Silvers Show, and All in the Family. He also played Sam the butcher on the Brady Bunch. Just passed Bettie, to the left, is Iranian pop singer Hayedeh. As it says on her
marker she was Iran's foremost singer in the 60s and 70s, specializing in
traditional and pop Persian music. [music] She moved to LA in the
early 80s and found renewed success here among the growing population of Iranians
who were leaving Iran after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. She was just 47 when
she died of a heart attack. Let's head now to the garden area to the south. Along this pathway on the right we find composer Jack Elliott. He wrote and
co-wrote themes for a number of television shows, including Barney Miller,
Charlie's Angels, and Night Court. [music] His film scores include The Jerk, and Oh God! He also served as music director of the Grammy Awards for 30 years. Around the corner to the left is the niche of Danny Dark... No relation. He was a voice-over
artist known as the Voice-over King. He voiced a number of award-winning
commercials for Budweiser, Raid, Keebler, and Starkist Tuna, for networks
including CBS and NBC. he was also the He was also the voice of Superman/Clark Kent for 12 years, in the 70s and 80s, in the Hanna-Barbera SuperFriends animated series. High on the wall behind us to the east is the other half of the Livingston/
Evans songwriting duo, Ray Evans. His marker features the song "Que Sera Sera," which he wrote the lyrics for. It was written for the Hitchcock film, The Man Who Knew too Much," and is the song most closely associated
with Doris Day. [music] His wife's marker features another of their popular songs, "Mona Lisa." Following this walkway around to the right we find the niche of Lloyd Bochner. He was an
actor whose films include Point Blank, and Naked Gun 2 1/2. His TV
roles include Dynasty and The Twilight Zone. In fact one of his most memorable
roles was in the iconic Twilight Zone episode, "To Serve Man." If you haven't seen this episode yet...
Spoiler alert! "Don't get on that ship! The
rest of the book, To Serve Man, it's a cookbook!" "No! No!" Let's revisit the O'Connor plot just
west of here. In our original tour we visited
legendary actor and comedian Carroll O'Connor. There is a cenotaph here to his
son, Hugh, who was also an actor. He starred alongside his father as
Lt. Jamison in the long-running TV series, In the Heat of the Night. He struggled with drug addiction, and in 1995 decided to take his own life at the
age of 32. Hugh is not here, he is entombed in Rome, Italy. Back to the main lawn, on
the south next to the road, is musician Ray Conniff. He was a popular bandleader
and jazz arranger in the 50s and 60s who made dozens of records and sold around
70 million albums in his career. His biggest hit is featured right on his
marker, an arrangement of Laura's Theme from Doctor Zhivago, "Somewhere My Love." [music] Let's head to the cluster of small
graves to the west. Here we find another legendary composer Milton Ager. He began
his career accompanying silent films on the piano, and during World War I he
served as a morale officer. It was a fitting role for the man whose biggest hit, featured right here on his marker, was "Happy Days Are Here Again," a tune
that would help boost the morale of a nation that in years to follow would
face a Great Depression and another world war. [music] Other hits include "Ain't She Sweet." If you're a fan of King Kong you may know our next couple: Ruth Rose and
Ernest Shoedasack were two of the minds behind the origin of Hollywood's favorite great ape. Kong was conceived by explorer and filmmaker Merian C. Cooper, who was friends and collaborators with Schoedsack. They were filming on an
expedition to the Galapagos when they met Ruth Rose, who was an official
historian for the New York Zoological Society. Ruth and Ernest fell in love and
soon married, Ruth then joining Cooper and Schoedsack in their film making
adventures. When Cooper began developing the idea for King Kong he brought on Ernest to co-direct and Ruth to co-write the script. Ruth and Ernest wrote and directed other
films about great apes, including Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young. Straight north, at the base of a tree, is the grave of actor Ford Rainey. He played Bisbee Marshal in the original 3:10 to Yuma, and Dr. Mixter in Halloween 2. He became a familiar face in film, TV, and on stage from the 50s all the way to the early
2000s. Finally we head east to find the grave of filmmaker Frank Tuttle. He directed a number of films from the silent era to his final film in 1959, the
Island of Lost Women. His career stalled in the 40s after joining the Communist Party. A decade later he left the party, and named names before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Red Scare. Perhaps his best-known film is
the seminal film noir, 1942's This Gun For Hire, which launched the
career of Alan Ladd. 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! As you wander the grounds of Westwood
looking for your favorite stars, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for graves and markers that are interesting for other reasons. Armand Hammer headed up
Occidental Petroleum, and was the great-grandfather of actor Armie Hammer. In the Sanctuary of Peace are Francis and Sara Taylor, the parents of Elizabeth Taylor. This bench in front of Marilyn's crypt was donated by fans. This one is just beautifully enigmatic - Dear Darling. And this one's being eaten by a tree. And here we find the very first grave at Westwood, belonging to 26 year old Alice
Brown who died in 1905.
