Walter Brennan and other Famous Burials of San Fernando Cemetery

hi guys i love road trips i'm taking a road trip a 300 mile road trip this one without sarah so i'm doing this solo i'm going to check out the san fernando mission cemetery in the san fernando valley in southern california and there's a list of famous people that i'm going to try to locate the graves of and i thought i would just kind of introduce kind of what i'm doing this way as i travel up and down highway 99 there's probably about 20 30 names i know this cemetery is full of people who had a association with the entertainment industry there's some big names and some interesting folks a lot of disney voice character actors are are down there buried and one of my favorites we've got to be finding the grave of clarence ducky nash who was the original voice of donald duck i corresponded with mr nash at one point in the 80s i believe it was and he was gracious enough to send me some autographs through the mail so i hope to pay my respects to mr nash [Music] all right so i made it to the san fernando catholic mission cemetery here in san fernando valley it's very windy today we're going to start out finding the grave of lori anders who is a voluptuous blonde who was well known for just one thing back in the 1940s she is right here her last name is radaz or raddatz she lived from 1922 to 1992 so i made her 70 years old lori anders was a voluptuous blonde starlet who enjoyed brief fame as a crooning cowgirl on the ken murray show on cbs tv from 1950 to 1953. her hit theme song was i love the white open spaces [Music] and i think she would love it here as well it became a popular catchphrase of that era henders brought her character to the big screen is the star of the marshall's daughter in 1953 which time magazine called one of the worst westerns ever made and it's considered somewhat of a camp classic once the novelty act wore off anders found little work and left show business in the late 1950s right over here to the left to the statue of jesus right about over there is the grave of inventor lee deforest who is known as the father of radio after he passed away in 1961 he was buried right here on this spot now curiously the marker makes mention of marie his wife but her birth year and her death year have not been etched onto this marker she was his fourth wife all indications are that she's buried here she died in 1983 so that was like 22 years after he died it was his experiments in 1906 that led to the invention of what's called the audience vacuum tube which allowed for a voice to be amplified one year later he applied for a patent for an improved tube called a triode that he dubbed the deforest valve he was one of america's pioneer radio station owners back in 1916 he broadcast the first radio advertising which was for his product and was the first to report presidential election results on the radio he also led the first radio broadcast of music to top it off he was credited with inventing talking movies in fact in 1959 he was awarded an academy award for his pioneering inventions which brought sound to the motion picture so i'm pretty excited to find this grave over here it's of a well-known western actor walter brennan is right underneath this large oak tree i think it's an oak tree his grave is right here he's buried here with his wife ruth if you don't know him he was an amazing guy he had an extensive career in hollywood he became famous as the judge roy bean and the westerner in 1940 he was also nominated for his performance in sergeant york in 1941. he enjoyed a range of roles but he was best known in westerns he appeared with john wayne in red river 1948. he's a thousand miles to missouri ain't it that's right you figure me in my bad leg couldn't ride a horseshit that's it well it might be i could drive the chuck wagon we've already got a cook that is right mr duncan but might be old cookie might not like grubbing the trip all that way you heard me good that time didn't you well i might be able to persuade them it might be just the time of year when old cookie like a change of scenery could be persuaded might be already persuaded because you haven't quit this morning and rio bravo 1959 and was memorable as old man clanton in my darling clementine in 1946. he was in a number of other films including the adventures of tom sawyer in 1938 pride of the yankees 1942 bad day at blackrock 1955 how the west was won in 1962 that was a big one it seems like a really unlikely place for a western movie star to be buried you would expect him to be buried out somewhere in the the plains of texas or arizona and boy the wind is sure kicking up now if you were a kid sometime in the 1950s or 60s you probably remember him in the no mobile 1967 film a little bit corny i think so now we're gonna try to find the grave of jerry colonna so right over here is one of the graves that i absolutely wanted to find it's that of jerry colonna a famous actor comedian singer and composer probably best remembered for his popping eyes and screeching boys as the popular foil for comedian bob hope on those uso tours during world war ii as well as korea and vietnam wars during the 1930s and 40s he was a favorite on the bob hope radio show as professor kelowna during which he needed hope with insults and gags he was on several of bob hope's road movies and was the voice of march hare in the classic 1951 walt disney feature alice in wonderland a stroke in 1966 kind of sent his health spiraling downward 1979 had a heart attack he died of kidney disease in 1986. this is the grave of betty compson gaul is one of those silent film stars whose fame has faded since she was on the silver screen a century ago she received an academy award for the best actress nomination for the barker 1928. betty made her vaudevillian debut at age 15 and broke into films in 1950. can you believe that 117 years ago she also performed in slapstick comedies westerns and cereals in 1919 she appeared in the melodrama the miracle man with lon chaney which made her one of hollywood's reigning leading ladies thompson's career peaked in 1928 with the docks of new york as a vulnerable and blazingly sexy waterfront prostitute who was rescued from suicide by a british sailor when movies developed sounds she adopted well to talkies and worked steadily as a supportive player through 1948 but in her later years she ran a store making and selling earthenware pottery now i'm going to try to find the grave of chuck connors i don't know about you but if you grew up in the 60s you probably know who chuck connors is he was the rifleman a rifleman [Music] starring chuck connors there he is chuck connors he appeared in over 40 films but his greatest fame was as the tv rifleman he had a fine performance as burrow lives worthless son in the big country in 1958 which led to his starting role as a rifleman was a top rated tv show in its first season in which he played lucas mccain a new mexico homesteader raising his son on his own and keeping peace with his trusty winchester the series ran from 1958 to 1963 and had an international following so chuck connors was a friend of president nixon and when he was a guest at nixon's house there in san clemente in southern california the occasion was the visit of soviet premier leonid brezhnev and when mr brezhnev saw chuck connors he gave him a big bear hug because he was a fan of riflemen even from russia believe it or not so across this white expanse of green grass in section j is a forgotten performer by the name of olga san juan her marker shows her with her married name of o'brien she was married to actor edmund o'brien but they divorced so he's not buried here she was actually known as hollywood's island princess of the 1940s and 50s and also as the puerto rican pepper pot appearing as a dancer and singer in several movies often musicals included rainbow island in 1944 and duffy's tavern 1945 she often played a cute and spunky antagonist to other leading ladies and she reached the height of her success dancing with fred astaire in blue skies in 1946 oh [Music] so right here is the grave of dick ferran he's probably best known as a singing cowboy but he was very versatile in his movie roles appearing at a wide category movies from horror comedies dramas musicals in western spanning from the 1930s through the 1960s performing over 200 movies with such stars as james cagney humphrey bogart john wayne and shirley temple although always billed as a prophetic b actor he received an oscar nomination best supporting actor for his role in the petrified forest 1936. warner brothers featured him as their answer to republic's gene autry and champion roy rogers and trigger in a series of b westerns featuring a horse called smoke built as the wonder horse and he is the singing cowboy among his better roles were the fighting 69th ford apache and donovan's reef so quite by coincidence i came across this grave of michael maltese he was a renowned cartoon writer for warner brothers and looney tunes and hannah barbera while he worked for the famous cartoon directors fritz freiling and tex avery he did most of his memorable stories for the legendary chuck jones to create some of the most popular characters of all time including a roadrunner coyote and yosemite sam he later went on to help create some storylines for classic tv cartoons such as the bloodstones huckleberry hound and quick draw mcgraw you might remember those right here is the grave that i just was delighted to find because it has something special on it it's the grave of clarence nash who was the original voice of donald duck and he's buried right here he was born in oklahoma best known for being the original voice of donald duck in 1934 he began his career as a sound man for walt disney studios when he created the voice for donald duck for the next 50 years besides voicing donald duck he also supplied the voices for donald's nephews huey dewey and louie plus his girlfriend daisy duck clarence nash died of leukemia at the age of 80 in burbank in 1985. it's a pretty amazing grave and you consider the fact that his claim to fame was donald duck daisy duck and there they are engraved on his grave marker did you have to audition for uh walt disney well he hadn't hear me on a radio program and he heard me doing all my imitations and little mary reciting mary had a little lamb later on and quacked like a duck yeah and that suggested a new character for him you're also the voice of huey dewey and louie that's right oh this is always sobering to watch bring another vault in for another burial beautiful little monument here christ in the center of it as a mausoleum back here and back here is somebody i want to show you this is jay novello 1904 to 1982 and his wife patricia a beloved wife if you're an andy griffith fan you probably remember the episode where mayberry is celebrating an event and they want to honor a guest and jay novello drives into town he's a thief he's a pickpocket and they honor him they put him up in the hotel and he ends up ripping off half the town he also played an episode as an opportunist lawyer in otis sues the county he also appeared in countless tv series such as i love lucy the millionaire zorro 77 sunset strip mikhail's navy and family affair now a little ways to the left of the statue of mary is this actor and comedian george goble best remember for his lonesome george image and his clean-cut humor during the early years of tv in the 1950s the market here mentions his military service as a first lieutenant in the u.s army air corps during world war ii of course this was before the air force branch was created uh i was a pilot during the war you remember the wars and all the papers i read yes encouraging us well i told you about that the last time i was on your show you know but uh i fought the whole war in oklahoma i don't know why people laugh when i say that you know because that's evidently where they needed me or they wouldn't have sent me looks like george died in 1991. i remember he always wore those flat top haircuts he had a pretty mild-mannered comic delivery started out in tv in 1952. he had his own show the george goble shows in 1954 and for the next five years his show was one of the top on tv after his show was cancelled in 1959 he was a frequent guest on the tonight show the jack benny show the dinoshore show and the ed sullivan show to me it's disappointing that her name is not on this marker but this is the gravesite of penny singleton best known as blondie bumstead in the mini blondie movies popular in the 1930s and 1940s and 1950 she was actually a brunette who dyed her hair for the part you may also know that penny was the voice of jane jessen on the jetsons cartoon series starting 1962. so her sister is june mcnulty flynn whose name is on this marker penny's birth name was marianna dorothy mcnulty and she's also buried right here next to her parents bernard and mary mcnulty singleton appeared in many other films including after the thin man in 1936 good news 1930 racketbusters 1938 the best man 1964. and go west young lady 1941. she also starred in tv shows such as murder she wrote the twilight zone at death valley days here's the grave of ed begley senior 1970s when he passed away he often was cast as a corrupt or misguided authority figure ed begley senior appeared in over 250 tv shows and about 35 movies typically as a villain you didn't like he won a best supporting actor oscar for the role as boss finley in the film sweet bird of youth 1962. he even played in the musical the unsinkable molly brown in 1964. i remember watching a film called the 12 angry men it was a film that my son brett recommended because he was a film major and it was a fascinating look at how a jury could flip ed begley was in that movie with henry fonda if you haven't watched the movie basically they're all convinced about 11 jurors that condense one way and then by the end of the film they've completely flipped so kind of an interesting movie so this grave is a little difficult to shoot it's that of jane wyatt ward she was star of father knows best starring with robert young in the 1950s now it's hard to shoot because the sun is right to its back the marker jane wyatt who is best known as the devoted mother and wife margaret anderson on the tv series father knows best with robert young from 1954 to 1960. before that role jane had a lucrative film career during the 1930s and 40s she lies here next to her husband edgar ward he died in 2000 the day before they were to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary she was one of those rare individuals who was able to juggle work and family to appear in 25 films which included were only human 1935 great expectations 1936 girl from god's country 1940 the kansas 1943 and none but the lonely heart 1944 opposite cary grant and ethel barrymore after father knows best was over she worked in movies and more tv in fact star trek fans will remember jane as mr spock's mother amanda in a classic episode from the second season but her last feature film role came in 1986 when she again played manda in star trek for the voyage home 1990s she retired from show business so sometimes you just have to save the best for last william farley fred mertz on i love lucy's show is right over here gosh i don't know about you but countless hours of fun entertainment watching him as fred mertz on tv back in the 1970s when i was a young kid he's just a hilarious figure i think the one episode that stands out is one that i remember with fred and was when they were in italy it was probably the episode where lucy was stomping grapes and they were i think they were riding a train and somebody wanted to get fred's attention i said look there goes gina lola bridgetta goes where where where it would be kind of easy to overlook the fact that william frawley is buried here next to his brothers john and paul they were born in 1884 and 1888 respectively now i'm looking for one more grave it's that of richie valens and i think i know where it is because of all the flowers that are on it over here is the grave of the legendary rocket musician richie valons who died in that famous buddy hawley plane crash february 2nd 1959 in clear lake iowa he was killed buddy holly was killed j.p richardson known as the big bopper was killed and the pilot named roger peterson were all killed valens is popular he was one of rock and roll's first latino superstars that inspired countless musicians around the world his grave is well visited probably the most visited grave here in the cemetery lots of people come by here and leave flowers and coins and all kinds of other memorabilia and here is his mother concepcion or concha reyes valenzuela she died in 1987 in watsonville so she lived what 28 years without her son now his father died in 1952 way before his son became famous of course he became real popular after la bombo came out in 1987 which was a biographical movie of his life and times you might be curious to know that in 1990 he received a star on the hollywood walk of fame and a 2001 inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame so i think that's going to wrap up our visit to the san fernando mission cemetery we want to thank you for joining us i think a lot of you may have remembered some of the people and maybe you learned something new but i think this was a fascinating trip into hollywood history [Music] you

Channel: History Hunters

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Id: WkW3spJNYiA

Length: 21min 46sec (1306 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 27 2022