Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles
, California
. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood
district of Los Angeles, adjacent to the north wall, or back, of Paramount Studios
. Among those interred or entombed in the cemetery are a number of important personalities and famous persons, including men and women from the entertainment industry, and important people in the history of Los Angeles, and their relatives. The cemetery is active and regularly hosts community events, including music events and summer movie screenings.
In 1939, Jules Roth, a convicted felon
, bought the cemetery. He used the money from the cemetery's operations to pay for luxuries and let the cemetery fall into disrepair, also closing it to most racial minorities, e.g. forbidding actress Hattie McDaniel
to be buried there. To settle tax bills, he sold some of the cemetery’s buildings along Santa Monica Boulevard, which became home to an auto-parts store and a laundromat. He also sold the original entrance to strip malls, never repaired the roofs or earthquake damage to crypts and left the fund meant to take care of the cemetery till the end of time missing about $9 million, according to the current owner. By 1997, Roth was bankrupt. He died on 4 January 1998. The state of California had revoked the cemetery's license to sell its remaining plots.
On the verge of closure in the bankruptcy
proceeding, Tyler and Brent Cassity of a Missouri funeral home family purchased the now 62 acres (250,905.3 m²) property in 1998 for $375,000. They renamed it “Hollywood Forever” and started restoring, refurbishing and adding to it, investing millions in revitalizing the grounds, offering documentaries about the deceased that are to be played in perpetuity on kiosks and are posted on the Web, and organizing tours to draw visitors.
Since 2002, films are screened at the cemetery at a gathering called Cinespia
on weekends during the summer, drawing an average of 3,000 people who come with beach chairs, blankets, and food to view the films, which are projected onto the white marble wall of one of the mausoleums.
Music events are taking place in the cemetery as well. On 12 June 2009, Scottish rock band Glasvegas
played a special stripped down performance. On 14 and 15 June 2011, The Flaming Lips
played at the cemetery in a two-night gig billed "Everyone You Know Someday Will Die," a lyric from their 2002 single "Do You Realize??
"
's grave every year.
The cemetery is briefly shown in the short Stopover in Hollywood. The television series 90210
featured the cemetery in the episode "Hollywood Forever"
.
In one scene of the novel Expiration Date
by Tim Powers
, the main characters are evading the antagonists of the novel by hiding in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. At one point the main hero, Pete Sullivan, remarks that at the tomb of Bugsy Siegel
that his late Hollywood producer father was friends with Siegel and many of the other celebrities interred at Hollywood Forever. To illustrate, Sullivan knocks the first few beats of "Shave-and-a-Haircut
" on the door of Siegel's tomb, to receive a moment later the response "Two-Bits" knocked from the inside of the tomb.
A scene from the 2010 movie Valentine's Day
took place in the cemetery. The movie shown in the cemetery was Hot Spell
(1958).
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
district of Los Angeles, adjacent to the north wall, or back, of Paramount Studios
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. Among those interred or entombed in the cemetery are a number of important personalities and famous persons, including men and women from the entertainment industry, and important people in the history of Los Angeles, and their relatives. The cemetery is active and regularly hosts community events, including music events and summer movie screenings.
History
The cemetery, the first in Hollywood, was founded in 1899 on 100 acre (0.404686 km²) as “Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery” by developer Isaac Lankershim and his son-in-law, Isaac Van Nuys. The cemetery sold off large tracts to Paramount Studios, which, with RKO Studios, had bought 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) by 1920. Part of the land was set aside for the Beth Olam Cemetery, a dedicated Jewish burial ground, where people from Hollywood’s Jewish community are buried.In 1939, Jules Roth, a convicted felon
Felon
Felon may refer to:* Someone who commits a felony* Whitlow, a purulent inflammation of the pulp of a finger* A slang term for Summer Mastitis in cows in the United Kingdom* Felon, Territoire de Belfort, a commune of the Franche-Comté region, in France...
, bought the cemetery. He used the money from the cemetery's operations to pay for luxuries and let the cemetery fall into disrepair, also closing it to most racial minorities, e.g. forbidding actress Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American actress to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind ....
to be buried there. To settle tax bills, he sold some of the cemetery’s buildings along Santa Monica Boulevard, which became home to an auto-parts store and a laundromat. He also sold the original entrance to strip malls, never repaired the roofs or earthquake damage to crypts and left the fund meant to take care of the cemetery till the end of time missing about $9 million, according to the current owner. By 1997, Roth was bankrupt. He died on 4 January 1998. The state of California had revoked the cemetery's license to sell its remaining plots.
On the verge of closure in the bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
proceeding, Tyler and Brent Cassity of a Missouri funeral home family purchased the now 62 acres (250,905.3 m²) property in 1998 for $375,000. They renamed it “Hollywood Forever” and started restoring, refurbishing and adding to it, investing millions in revitalizing the grounds, offering documentaries about the deceased that are to be played in perpetuity on kiosks and are posted on the Web, and organizing tours to draw visitors.
Since 2002, films are screened at the cemetery at a gathering called Cinespia
Cinespia
Cinespia is an organization that hosts on-site screenings of classic films in and around Los Angeles, California. Launched in 2002, Cinespia shows films from the 1930s through the 1990s mostly in open-air settings at historic locations. Its most popular series runs weekly between May and August...
on weekends during the summer, drawing an average of 3,000 people who come with beach chairs, blankets, and food to view the films, which are projected onto the white marble wall of one of the mausoleums.
Music events are taking place in the cemetery as well. On 12 June 2009, Scottish rock band Glasvegas
Glasvegas
Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan , Rab Allan , Paul Donoghue and Jonna Löfgren . The band received critical acclaim for their debut album Glasvegas which was released in September 2008, reaching No...
played a special stripped down performance. On 14 and 15 June 2011, The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
played at the cemetery in a two-night gig billed "Everyone You Know Someday Will Die," a lyric from their 2002 single "Do You Realize??
Do You Realize??
"Do You Realize??" is a song by The Flaming Lips, released as the first single from their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. It is widely considered to be one of the group's most accessible and popular songs...
"
Lawsuit
In 2010, Tyler Cassity was involved in a lawsuit for fraud in which members of his family, including his brother were indicted of fraud that allegedly cost funeral consumers and funeral homes up $600 million. The trial is expected to begin in 2012.Tours
Motion picture historian Karie Bible leads a walking tour through the cemetery. Bible is also the current "Lady In Black," carrying on the tradition of the mysterious woman who put a rose on Rudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
's grave every year.
In popular culture
A documentary about the cemetery called The Young and the Dead, was made in 2000.The cemetery is briefly shown in the short Stopover in Hollywood. The television series 90210
90210 (TV series)
90210 is an American teen drama television series developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS...
featured the cemetery in the episode "Hollywood Forever"
90210 (season 1)
The first season of 90210, an American television series, began on September 2, 2008. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah are executive producers for the first season, after original producer Rob Thomas dropped out to focus on other projects...
.
In one scene of the novel Expiration Date
Expiration Date (novel)
Expiration Date is a 1996 fantasy novel by Tim Powers. It was nominated for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards in 1996.-Plot summary:There are two main protagonists and two main antagonists....
by Tim Powers
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
, the main characters are evading the antagonists of the novel by hiding in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. At one point the main hero, Pete Sullivan, remarks that at the tomb of Bugsy Siegel
Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
that his late Hollywood producer father was friends with Siegel and many of the other celebrities interred at Hollywood Forever. To illustrate, Sullivan knocks the first few beats of "Shave-and-a-Haircut
Shave and a Haircut
Shave and a Haircut and the associated response "two bits" is a simple, 7-note musical couplet popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comic effect....
" on the door of Siegel's tomb, to receive a moment later the response "Two-Bits" knocked from the inside of the tomb.
A scene from the 2010 movie Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day (film)
Valentine's Day is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and based on the novel by Michael Connelly. The screenplay and the story was written by Katherine Fugate, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Akiva Goldsman, Rob Reiner, P. J...
took place in the cemetery. The movie shown in the cemetery was Hot Spell
Hot Spell (film)
Hot Spell is a drama film directed by Daniel Mann, starring Shirley Booth and Anthony Quinn, and released by Paramount Pictures.-Cast:*Shirley Booth as Alma Duval*Anthony Quinn as John Henry Duval*Shirley MacLaine as Virginia Duval...
(1958).
Partial list of people buried
Use the following alphabetical links to find someone:A
- David AbelDavid AbelDavid Abel was a cinematographer.David Abel was born on 15 December 1884 in Amsterdam to Russian parents. He came to the United States as a child in the first decade of the 1900s and worked as a portrait photographer before entering films with Flying A Studios in 1913. He filmed a total of 110...
(1883–1973), cinematographer - Walter AckermanWalter AckermanWalter Ackerman was an American actor. He appeared in 7 films between 1909 and 1933.He was born in New York City, New York and died in Bishop, California, aged 57.-External links:* at Find-A-Grave...
(1881–1938), actor - Bert AdamsBert AdamsJohn Bertram Adams was a professional baseball player in the early 20th century. Primarily a catcher, Adams played from to , with the Cleveland Naps and Philadelphia Phillies. Adams was not a good hitter, most likely the reason why he never played more than 84 games in a season. Adams' batting...
(1891–1940), Major League Baseball player - Don AdamsDon AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
(1923–2005), actor/comedian - Louis AdlonLouis AdlonLouis Adlon , a.k.a. Duke Adlon, was a German-born American motion-picture actor.-Biography:A supporting actor and bit player from Germany, in Hollywood from the late-1930s. Adlon was the son of Lorenz Adlon, founder of the famous Adlon Hotel in Berlin, where he spent much of his childhood...
(1908–1947), actor - Renée AdoréeRenée AdoréeRenée Adorée was a French actress who had appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s.-Early life:...
(1898–1933), actress - Gilbert Adrian (1903–1959), costume designer
- Helen AinsworthHelen AinsworthHelen Ainsworth , also known as Cupid Ainsworth, was a stage and motion picture actress. She went to Hollywood in the 1920s as an agent, and she helped a number of actors attain stardom: Guy Madison, Marilyn Monroe, Rhonda Fleming, Carol Channing and Howard Keel, among others.-Actress:* The Lady Is...
(1902–1961), actress/producer - Frank AlexanderFrank AlexanderFrank Alexander was an American silent film comedian and actor. Alexander, who was morbidly obese , was best known for playing villains in the films of Larry Semon, who are often the father of Semon's love interest.He is best known to contemporary audiences for portraying a villainous...
(1879–1937), actor - Lester AllenLester AllenLester Allen was a screen, stage, vaudeville, circus actor, and film director. In vaudeville, he appeared in a double act with Nellie Breen and also emceed at the Palace Theatre.-Selected filmography:...
(1891–1949), actor - Murray AlperMurray AlperMurray Alper was an American actor.Alper's earliest screen credit was 1930's The Royal Family of Broadway, and for the following thirty-five years, he appeared in a number of films, usually playing cab drivers, bookies, cops and GIs.Frequently seen in comedies, Alper was featured in the Three...
(1904–1984), actor - Sylvia AshleySylvia AshleySylvia Ashley was an English model, actress and socialite, who was best known for her marriages to British aristocrats and American movie stars.-Personal life:...
(1904–1977), actress/socialite - Agnes AyresAgnes AyresAgnes Ayres was an American actress who rose to fame during the silent film era. She was best known for her role as Lady Diana Mayo in The Sheik and The Son of the Sheik opposite Rudolph Valentino.-Early life and career:...
(1898–1940), actress - A.E. AnsonAlbert Edward AnsonAlbert Edward Anson was a British stage and screen actor.Born in London, he made his first appearance onstage in 1895. He left the stage briefly to pursue a degree in engineering and returned to appear with Beerbohm Tree's company in 1904...
(1879–1936), actor - Gertrude AstorGertrude AstorGertrude Astor was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone on a riverboat.-Career:...
(1877–1977), actress - Charles AveryCharles AveryCharles Avery was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. One of the original seven Keystone Kops, Avery directed Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in thirty-one comedies while at Keystone.-Biography:...
(1873–1926), actor
B
- Fred J. BalshoferFred J. BalshoferFred J. Balshofer was an American pioneer silent film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer.-Biography:...
(1877–1969), director/producer - Leah BairdLeah BairdLeah Baird was an American actress of the silent screen, and a screenwriter.-Life:She began her film career in 1910 in Jean and the Waif opposite Jean, the Vitagraph Dog. She played several leads in William F. Brady's troupe, opposite Douglas Fairbanks...
(1883–1971), actress - William BeaudineWilliam BeaudineWilliam Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:...
(1892–1970), director - Tony BeckleyTony BeckleyTony Beckley was an English character actor. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Beckley went onto carve out a career on film and television throughout the 1960s and 1970s often playing villainous roles, as well as being a veteran of numerous stage productions.-Film career:He made his...
(1927–1980), actor - Elmer BergerElmer Berger (inventor)Elmer C.A. Berger was an inventor in the early 1900s credited for invention of the rear-view mirror, although racing enthusiast Ray Harroun experimented with one as early as 1911 while driving in the Indianapolis 500. He is now buried in Hollywood Forever, a park in Hollywood, California, in the...
(1891–1952), inventor of the rear-view mirror - Herman BingHerman BingHerman Bing was a German-American character actor and voice actor.Herman Bing was also the brother of Gus Bing .-Biography:...
(1889–1947), actor, voice of The Ringmaster in Disney's DumboDumboDumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a... - Richard BlackwellRichard BlackwellRichard Blackwell was an American fashion critic, journalist, television and radio personality, artist, former child actor and former fashion designer, sometimes known just as Mr. Blackwell. He was the creator of the "Ten Worst Dressed Women List", an annual awards presentation he unveiled in...
(1922–2008), fashion critic - Mel BlancMel BlancMelvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
(1908–1989), actor/comedian and voice over talent. His tombstone has one of the most famous epitaphs, "That's all folks" - El BrendelEl BrendelEl Brendel was a vaudeville comedian turned movie star, best remembered for his dialect schtick as a Swedish immigrant. His biggest role was as "Single-0" in the sci-fi musical Just Imagine , produced by Fox Film Corporation...
(1890–1964), actor/comedian - Coral BrowneCoral BrowneCoral Browne was an Australian-American stage and screen actress.-Career:Coral Edith Brown was the only daughter of a restaurant-owner. She and her two brothers were raised in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, where she studied at the National Gallery Art School...
(1913–1991), actress - Edward BunkerEdward BunkerEdward Heward Bunker was an American author of crime fiction, a screenwriter, and an actor. He wrote numerous books, some of which have been adapted into films....
(1933–2005), actor
C
- Lynn CartwrightLynn CartwrightLynn Cartwright was an American character actress probably best known for her performance as the older version of Geena Davis' character, Dottie Hinson, in the 1992 film A League of Their Own....
(1927–2004), actress, wife of Leo GordonLeo GordonLeo Vincent Gordon was an American movie and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. He specialized in playing brutish bad guys during more than forty years in film and television.... - Orlando Costa (1929–2006), Portuguese Minister
- Louis CalhernLouis CalhernLouis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.- Early life :Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
(1895–1956), actor - Harry ChandlerHarry ChandlerHarry Chandler was an American newspaper publisher and investor who became owner of the largest real estate empire in the U.S.-Biography:...
(1864–1944) publisher of the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and investor - Charles Chaplin Jr. (1925–1968), actor, son of Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
- Hannah ChaplinHannah ChaplinHannah Chaplin was the founding matriarch of the Chaplin family of actors as the mother of Sir Charlie Chaplin....
(1865–1928), mother of Charlie Chaplin - Chief Luther Standing BearLuther Standing BearLuther Standing Bear , aka Ota Kte or Mochunozhin, was a Native American writer and actor....
, Sioux Nation actor - Al ChristieAl ChristieAl Christie was a Canadian-born motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.-Career:Born Alfred Ernest Christie, in London, Ontario, Canada, he was one of a number of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood who made their way to Hollywood, California, attracted by the newly developing motion...
(1881–1951), director/producer and screenwriter - Charles ChristieCharles ChristieCharles H. V. Christie was a motion picture studio owner.Born in London, Ontario, Canada, Charles and his brother Al left home to pursue a career in the fledgling motion picture industry...
(1880–1955), movie studio owner - Gertrude ClaireGertrude ClaireGertrude Claire was an actress of the American stage and Hollywood silent motion pictures. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and began appearing onstage at the age of 16. She played minor roles in New York, New York. In the coming years she began to play leads...
(1852–1928), actress - William Andrews Clark, Jr.William Andrews Clark, Jr.William Andrews Clark, Jr. , son of U.S. senator and billionaire William Andrews Clark, was the founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919. Clark also had a hand in the construction of the Hollywood Bowl. Clark was an avid collector of rare books, especially fine prints...
(1877–1934), founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic - Lana ClarksonLana ClarksonLana Jean Clarkson was an American actress and fashion model. Clarkson was a native of Los Angeles County. She played roles in science fiction and fantasy movies. She was murdered by songwriter and producer Phil Spector, who was convicted of the crime on April 13, 2009.-Early life:Born in Long...
(1962–2003), actress - Iron Eyes CodyIron Eyes CodyIron Eyes Cody was an American actor. He frequently portrayed American Indians in Hollywood films. In 1995, Cody was honored by the American Indian community for his work publicizing the plight of Native Americans, including his acting in films...
(1907–1999), actor - Harry CohnHarry CohnHarry Cohn was the American president and production director of Columbia Pictures.-Career:Cohn was born to a working-class German-Jewish family in New York City. In later years, he appears to have disparaged his heritage...
(1891–1958), founder of Columbia Pictures - Thomas F. CookeThomas F. CookeThomas F. Cooke was an Iowa and California banker and a City Council member in Los Angeles, California, between 1929 and 1931.-Biography:...
, Los Angeles City Council member, 1929–31 - Alan CroslandAlan CroslandAlan Crosland was an American stage actor and film director.-Early life and career:Born in New York City, New York to a well-to-do family, Alan Crosland attended Dartmouth College. After graduation he took a job as a writer with the New York Globe magazine...
(1894–1936), director - Cornelius ColeCornelius ColeCornelius Cole served a single term in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican representing California from 1863 to 1865, and another term in the United States Senate from 1867 to 1873.-Life:...
(1822–1924), California Congressional Representative and U.S. Senator - Douglas Glenn Colvin aka Dee Dee RamoneDee Dee RamoneDee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
(1951–2002), Bassist in The Ramones
D
- Cass DaleyCass DaleyCass Daley was an American radio, television and film actress, singer, and comedienne. The daughter of an Irish streetcar conductor, Daley started to perform at nightclubs and on the radio as a band vocalist in the 1940s....
(1915–1975), actress/comedienne - Viola DanaViola DanaViola Dana was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent movies.- Career :Born Virginia Flugrath, Dana was a child star, appearing on the stage at the age of three. She read Shakespeare and particularly identified with the teenage Juliet. She enjoyed a long run at the...
(1897–1987), actress - Karl DaneKarl DaneKarl Dane was a Danish comedian and actor known for his work in American films, mainly of the silent film era. He worked alongside Rudolph Valentino, John Gilbert, and King Vidor. In 1926, he teamed up with George K. Arthur to form the successful comedy duo Dane & Arthur...
(1886–1934), actor/comedian - Bebe DanielsBebe DanielsBebe Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain...
(1901–1972), actress - Joe DassinJoe DassinJoseph Ira Dassin , more commonly known as Joe Dassin, was an American singer-songwriter best known for his French songs of the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
(1938–1980), French/American singer-songwriter - Marion DaviesMarion DaviesMarion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
(1897–1961), actress - Cecil B. DeMilleCecil B. DeMilleCecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
(1881–1959), director/producer - William C. DeMilleWilliam C. DeMilleWillam C. deMille was an American screenwriter and film director from the silent movie era through the early 1930s. He was also a noted playwright prior to moving into film. Once he was established in film he specialized in adapting Broadway plays into silent films...
(1878–1955), director/writer - Molly DoddMolly DoddMolly Dodd was an American actress.Born as Mary Elise Dodd in Los Angeles, California to Neal Dodd and Lila Elsie Weaver , her father was a priest of the Anglo-Catholic Episcopal Church.Dodd began her career on the Los Angeles stage in 1939, debuting in a revival of the...
(1921–1981), actress - Richard DunnRichard Dunn (actor)Richard Dunn was an American character actor popularized by Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. Dunn was best known to audiences for his appearances on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, a sketch comedy television series.Dunn, who was known for his glasses, listed his physical features as...
(1936–2010), character actor
F
- Douglas FairbanksDouglas FairbanksDouglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
(1883–1939), actor - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.Douglas Elton Fairbanks, Jr. KBE was an American actor and a highly decorated naval officer of World War II.-Early life:...
(1909–2000), actor - Julia FayeJulia FayeJulia Faye was a motion picture actress from Richmond, Virginia.-Career overview:Faye had resided in St. Louis, Missouri prior to coming to Hollywood in 1916, to visit friends. She visited one of the film studios and was introduced to Christy Cabanne. The two reminisced about St...
(1893–1966), actress - Maude FealyMaude FealyMaude Fealy was an American stage and film actress who appeared in nearly every film made by Cecil B. DeMille in the post silent film era.-Early life:...
(1881–1971), actress - Charles K. FeldmanCharles K. FeldmanCharles K. Feldman was a film producer and talent agent born in New York City. In 1934 he married actress Jean Howard, whom he divorced in 1948...
(1904–1968), agent/film producer - Flora FinchFlora FinchFlora Finch was an English-born film actress who starred in over 300 silent films, including over 200 for the Vitagraph Studios film company.-Early life and career:...
(1869–1940), actress - Peter FinchPeter FinchPeter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
(1912–1976), actor - Victor FlemingVictor FlemingVictor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were The Wizard of Oz , and Gone with the Wind , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.-Life and career:Fleming was born in La Canada, California, the son of Elizabeth Evaleen ...
(1889–1949), director - John Taintor FooteJohn Taintor FooteJohn Taintor Foote was a novelist, playwright, short-story writer, and screenwriter.Foote studied at Kenyon Military Academy, Gambier Ohio. He began as a writer of sporting stories. His first story was published in The American Magazine in 1913...
(1881–1950), writer - Kathleen FreemanKathleen FreemanKathleen Freeman was an American film, television, and stage actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors, almost invariably to comic effect.-Early life:Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois...
(1919–2001), actress - Joe FriscoJoe FriscoJoe Frisco was an American vaudeville performer who first made his name on stage as a jazz dancer, but later incorporated his stuttering voice to his act and became a popular comedian.Born Louis Wilson Joseph...
(1889–1958), actor/comedian - Leo FuchsLeo FuchsLeo Fuchs was a Polish-born Jewish American actor. According to YIVO, born Avrum Leib Fuchs in Warsaw; according to Schechter, born in Lemberg, Galicia, then Poland, now Lviv, Ukraine)....
(1911–1994), actor
G
- Ed GardnerEd GardnerEdward Francis 'Ed' Gardner was an American comic actor, writer and director, best remembered as the creator and star of the radio's popular Duffy's Tavern comedy series....
(1901–1963), actor/comedian - Janet GaynorJanet GaynorJanet Gaynor was an American actress and painter.One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven , Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Street Angel...
(1906–1984), actress - Carmelita GeraghtyCarmelita GeraghtyCarmelita Geraghty was an American silent-film actress.-Early life:Her father was screenwriter Tom Geraghty. She was the sister of writers Maurice Geraghty and Gerard Geraghty....
(1901–1966), actress, wife of Carey Wilson - Estelle GettyEstelle GettyEstelle Scher-Gettleman , better known by her stage name Estelle Getty, was an American actress, who appeared in film, television, and theatre...
(1923–2008), actress - Maury GertsmanMaury GertsmanMaury Gertsman was a senior-ranked cinematographer at Universal Pictures from the mid-1940s through the mid-1950s.-Career:...
(1907–1999), cinematographer - Leo GordonLeo GordonLeo Vincent Gordon was an American movie and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. He specialized in playing brutish bad guys during more than forty years in film and television....
(1922–2000), actor, husband of Lynn CartwrightLynn CartwrightLynn Cartwright was an American character actress probably best known for her performance as the older version of Geena Davis' character, Dottie Hinson, in the 1992 film A League of Their Own.... - Griffith J. GriffithGriffith J. GriffithGriffith Jenkins Griffith was a Welsh-American industrialist and philanthropist. After amassing a significant fortune from a mining syndicate in the 1880s, Griffith donated to the City of Los Angeles which became Griffith Park, and he bequeathed the money to build the park's Greek Theatre and...
(1850–1919), park and observatory donor - Gidget GeinGidget GeinGidget Gein was an American musician and artist. He was the second bassist and co-founder of the alternative metal band Marilyn Manson. His stage name references and dichotomises serial killer Ed Gein and the novel Gidget.-Early life:Bradley Stewart was born in Hollywood, Florida...
(1969-2008), artist, bassist for the band Marilyn Manson
H
- George HackathorneGeorge HackathorneGeorge Hackathorne was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 59 films between 1916 and 1939...
(1896–1940), actor - Joan HackettJoan HackettJoan Ann Hackett was an American actress who appeared on stage, in films, and on television.- Early life :She was born in New York City of Irish and Italian extraction...
(1934–1983), actress - Bianca HalsteadBetty BlowtorchBetty Blowtorch was an all-female American hard rock band from Southern California.-Biography:The band was formed in 1998 by three members of Butt Trumpet. After releasing the 2001 album, Are You Man Enough?, the group toured with Nashville Pussy. During the tour, drummer Judy Molish and guitarist...
(1965–2001), musician - John HamiltonJohn Hamilton (actor)John Hamilton was an American actor, who appeared in many movies and television programs. He is probably best remembered for his role as the blustery newspaper editor Perry White on the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman.-Biography:Burly, stentorian-voiced John Hamilton was born John...
(1887–1958), actor - Curtis HarringtonCurtis HarringtonCurtis Harrington was an American film and television director whose work included experimental films, horror films, and episodic television.-Biography:...
(1926–2007), director - Kenneth HarlanKenneth HarlanKenneth Harlan was an American leading man of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types.-Career:...
(1895–1967), actor - George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
(1943–2001), musician, cremated here, his ashes were scattered in the Ganges River - Mildred HarrisMildred HarrisMildred Harris was an American film actress. Harris began her career in the film industry as a popular child actress at age eleven. At the age of fifteen, she was cast as a harem girl in D. W. Griffith's Intolerance . She appeared as a leading lady through the 1920s but her career slowed with...
(1901–1944), actress - Jean HavezJean HavezJean Havez , was an American writer of novelty songs and silent era comedy films. In his film career, Havez worked with comedians Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.-Career:...
(1869–1925), song writer - Wanda HawleyWanda HawleyWanda Hawley , was a veteran of the silent screen films era. She entered the theatrical profession with an amateur group in Seattle, and later toured the U.S. and Canada as a singer. She co-starred with Rudolph Valentino in the 1922's The Young Rajah, and rose to stardom in a number of Cecil B...
(1895–1963), actress - Lillie HaywardLillie HaywardLillie Hayward was an American film actress and later screenwriter whose Hollywood career began during the silent era and continued well into the age of television...
(1891–1977), actress/screenwriter - Pauline Pfeiffer HemingwayPauline PfeifferPauline Marie Pfeiffer was the second wife of the writer Ernest Hemingway. She was born in Parkersburg, Iowa, on July 22, 1895, moving to St. Louis in 1901 where she went to school at Visitation Academy of St. Louis...
(1895–1951), wife of Ernest HemingwayErnest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the... - Woody HermanWoody HermanWoodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
(1913–1987), musician - Benjamin Franklin Hilliker (1843–1916), Medal of Honor recipient
- Darla HoodDarla HoodDarla Jean Hood was an American child actress, best known as the leading lady in the Our Gang series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of James Claude Hood and Elizabeth Davner...
(1931–1979), actress, played "Darla" in Our Gang - David HorsleyDavid HorsleyDavid Horsley was an English born pioneer of the movie industry who built the first movie studio in Hollywood....
(1873–1933), built the first Hollywood movie studio - Jean HowardJean HowardJean Howard was an American actress.A former Ziegfeld girl and a Goldwyn Girl, Howard studied photography at the Los Angeles Art Center...
(1910–2000), actress/photographer - John HustonJohn HustonJohn Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
(1906–1987), director/screenwriter
J
- Steve JamesSteve James (actor)Steve James was an American actor, stuntman and martial artist. He starred mostly in action films such as the American Ninja series, The Delta Force , The Exterminator , and Enter the Game of Death...
(1952–1993), actor - Rick JasonRick JasonRick Jason , born Richard Jacobson, was an American actor, born in New York City, and most remembered for his role as 2nd Lt. Gil Hanley in the ABC television drama Combat! .-Biography:...
(1923–2000), actor - Walter JurmannWalter JurmannWalter Jurmann was an Austrian-born composer of popular music renowned for his versatility who, after emigrating to the United States, specialized in film scores and soundtracks....
(1903–1971), composer
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- Olga KaljakinOlga KaljakinOlga Kaljakin was an American art director, graphic designer and film poster artist.-Biography:Kaljakin began her career in advertising by joining Petersen Publishing. She later became a graphic designer and art director for Seininger Advertising, Aspect Ratio and Crew Creative...
(1950–2008), film poster designer - Bronisław Kaper (1902–1983), composer
- Zoltán KordaZoltán KordaZoltan Korda was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer.Born Zoltán Kellner, Kellner Zoltán in Hungarian name order, of Jewish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve in Hungary , he was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander and Vincent Korda.Zoltan Korda went to...
(1895–1961), director - Erich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
(1897–1957), composer - May KitsonMay KitsonMay Kitson , born Mary Ann Morrell, was an American silent film character actor active between 1917 and 1925, known to close family as "De-ah."-Family:...
(1869–1943), actress
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- Don LaFontaineDon LaFontaineDonald Leroy "Don" LaFontaine was an American voiceover artist famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers. His nicknames included "Thunder Throat" and "The Voice of God"...
(1940–2008), voiceover - Arthur LakeArthur Lake (actor)Arthur Lake was an American actor known best for bringing Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling husband of Blondie, to life in film, radio and television.-Early life and career:...
(1905–1987), actor - Barbara La MarrBarbara La MarrBarbara La Marr was an American stage and film actress, cabaret artist and screenwriter.La Marr was known as "The Girl Who Is Too Beautiful", after a Hearst newspaper feature writer, Adela Rogers St...
(1896–1926), actress - Jesse L. LaskyJesse L. LaskyJesse Louis Lasky, Sr. was a pioneer Hollywood film producer. He was a key founder of Paramount Pictures with Adolph Zukor, and father of screenwriter Jesse L...
(1880–1958), pioneer, founded Famous Players-Lasky, which became Paramount Pictures - Jesse Lasky, Jr. (1908–1988), screenwriter, son of Jesse Lasky
- Florence LawrenceFlorence LawrenceFlorence Lawrence was a Canadian inventor and silent film actress. She is often referred to as "The First Movie Star." When she was popular, she was known as "The Biograph Girl," "The Imp Girl," and "The Girl of a Thousand Faces." Lawrence appeared in more than 270 films for various motion...
(1886–1938), actress, known as "The First Movie Star" - Henry LehrmanHenry LehrmanHenry Lehrman was an American actor, screenwriter and film director and producer.Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, Lehrman emigrated to the United States at a young age and although he is best remembered as a film director, he began his career as an actor in a 1909 Biograph Studios production...
(1886–1946), director - Edward LeSaintEdward LeSaintEdward LeSaint was an American silent film actor and director who acted in over 300 films and directed over 90.-Personal life and death:...
(1870–1940), actor - Elmo LincolnElmo LincolnElmo Lincoln was an American film actor.Born Otto Elmo Linkenhelt, the barrel-chested actor is best known in his silent movie role as the first Tarzan in 1918's Tarzan of the Apes as an adult --...
(1889–1952), actor - Perry LopezPerry LopezPerry Lopez was an American film and television actor. His acting career lasted over 40 years before his death in 2008....
(1929–2008), actor - Peter LorrePeter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
(1904–1964), actor - Ben LyonBen LyonBen Lyon was an American film actor and a 20th Century Fox studio executive.-Life:Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Lyon entered films in 1918 after a successful appearance on Broadway opposite Jeanne Eagels. He attracted attention in the highly successful film Flaming Youth , and steadily developed into...
(1901–1979), actor
M
- Robert S. MacAlisterRobert S. MacAlisterNot to be confused with James G. McAllister, Los Angeles City Council member 1928–33Robert Stuart MacAlister , who went by Robert S. MacAlister, was an oil-well-supplies salesman and a member of the Los Angeles, California, City Council between 1934 and 1939.-Biography:MacAlister was born on May...
, Los Angeles City Council member, 1934–39 - Jeanie MacPhersonJeanie MacPhersonJeanie MacPherson was a silent film actress from 1908 to 1917 and a film screenwriter through the 1940s....
(1887–1946), actress, screenwriter - Leo D. MaloneyLeo D. MaloneyLeo D. Maloney was an American film actor, director, producer and screenwriter of the silent era. He appeared in 156 films between 1911 and 1929. He also directed 47 films between 1914 and 1929....
(1888–1929), pioneer actor/director and producer - Jayne MansfieldJayne MansfieldJayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
(1933–1967), actress (she has a cenotaphCenotaphA cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
; she is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Pen Argyl, PennsylvaniaPen Argyl, PennsylvaniaPen Argyl is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, north of Easton, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. It is part of Pennsylvania's Slate Belt.-Population:In 1900, 2,784 people lived in Pen Argyl, and in 1910, 3,967 people lived here...
) - Paul MarcoPaul MarcoPaul Marco was an American actor who often appeared in movies made by Ed Wood, including the "Kelton Trilogy" of Bride of the Monster, Night of the Ghouls and Plan 9 from Outer Space, in which he played a bumbling, fearful policeman named Kelton.-Career:Born in Los Angeles, Marco started taking...
(1925–2006), actor - Tully MarshallTully MarshallWilliam Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
(1864–1943), actor/producer and director - Hattie McDanielHattie McDanielHattie McDaniel was the first African-American actress to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind ....
(1895–1952), actress, (She has a cenotaphCenotaphA cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
; she is buried in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery; Hollywood Memorial Park cemetery did not permit burial of black people in 1952) - Darren McGavinDarren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
(1922–2006), actor - Adolphe MenjouAdolphe MenjouAdolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies, appearing in such films as The Sheik, A Woman of Paris, Morocco, and A Star is Born...
(1890–1963), actor - Charles B. MiddletonCharles B. MiddletonCharles B. Middleton was an American stage and film actor. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, Charles Middleton appeared in nearly two hundred films as well as numerous plays...
(1874–1949), actor - Arthur Charles Miller (1895–1970), cinematographer
- Laura Spellman-Middleton (1890–1945), actress
- Robert MitchellRobert Mitchell (organist)Robert Mitchell was an American organist and choir director whose career spanned 85 years, from 1924 to 2009. He was one of the last original silent film accompanists, having accompanied films from 1924 to 1928. Mitchell revived the art from 1992 until his death in 2009, usually to wild...
(1912–2009), organist - Paul MuniPaul MuniPaul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
(1895–1967), actor
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- Dudley NicholsDudley NicholsDudley Nichols was an American screenwriter who first came to prominence after winning and refusing the screenwriting Oscar for The Informer in 1936....
(1895–1960), screenwriter - Maila NurmiMaila NurmiMaila Nurmi was a Finnish-American actress who created the campy 1950s characterVampira. She portrayed Vampira as TV's first horror host and in the Ed Wood cult film Plan 9 from Outer Space...
(1922–2008), actress ("Vampira")
O
- Donald Allen OreckDon OreckDon Oreck was an American actor who, between 1955 and 1961, played supporting roles was in a number of TV series episodes and made uncredited appearances in a few feature films....
(1930–2006), actor - Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917), Los Angeles Times publisher
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- Art PepperArt PepperArt Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an American alto saxophonist and clarinetist.About Pepper, Scott Yanow of All Music stated, "In the 1950s he was one of the few altoists that was able to develop his own sound despite the dominant influence of Charlie Parker" and: "When Art Pepper...
(1925–1982), musician - Barbara Pepper (1915–1969), actress
- Eleanor PowellEleanor PowellEleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
(1912–1982), actress/dancer - Tyrone PowerTyrone PowerTyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
(1914–1958), actor
R
- Dee Dee RamoneDee Dee RamoneDee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
(Douglas Glenn Colvin) (1952–2002), musician and member of The Ramones - Johnny RamoneJohnny RamoneJohn William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
(1948–2004), musician and member of The Ramones (his ashes were put into the pedestal of his statue) - Virginia RappeVirginia RappeVirginia Rappe was an American model and silent film actress.-Early life and career:Rappe was born to unwed mother Mabel Rapp in New York City. Mabel died when Virginia was 11, and Virginia was then raised by her grandmother in Chicago. At age 14 she began working as a commercial and art model in...
(1891–1921), actress, the woman Fatty ArbuckleFatty ArbuckleRoscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...
was accused of killing during a wild party in San Francisco, creating one of Hollywood's first major scandals - Marie RappoldMarie RappoldMarie Rappold, née Winterroth was an English-born American operatic soprano.-Early life:Rappold was born in London to German parents...
(1879–1957), opera singer - Tom Reddin (1916–2004), Los Angeles police chief (1964–1969)
- Rodd RedwingRodd RedwingRodd Redwing , , was a Native American actor, noted for being the world’s greatest quick-draw artist with six-guns...
(1904–1971), Chickasaw actor - George RegasGeorge RegasGeorge Regas was a Greek actor.Born in Sparta, Greece, he was the brother of actor Pedro Regas. He was a stage actor in Athens before coming to the U.S. In New York he played Romeo in a Grecian version of Romeo and Juliet.In 1921 Regas acted in his first motion picture: The Love Light with Mary...
(1890–1940), actor - Pedro RegasPedro RegasPedro Regas was born in Sparta, Greece and was the brother of actor George Regas.A veteran Greek stage actor, Regas was spotted on the Broadway stage by Mary Pickford who persuaded him to go to Hollywood and be in pictures, which he did in 1920 and continued to play in films for 50 years.Regas...
(1897–1974), actor - Nelson RiddleNelson RiddleNelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
(1921–1985), musician/composer and band leader - Al Ritz (1901–1965), actor/comedian
- Harry Ritz (1904–1985), actor/comedian
- Jimmy Ritz (1907–1986), actor/comedian
- Theodore RobertsTheodore RobertsTheodore Roberts the actor is not to be confused with author Theodore Goodridge Roberts, 1877–1953, who wrote "The Harbor Master". Please see discussion page....
(1861–1928), actor - Harold RossonHarold RossonHarold G. "Hal" Rosson, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer during the early and classical Hollywood cinema. He is best known for his work on the 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz.-Biography:Rosson came from a film-making family...
(1895–1988), cinematographer
S
- Hans J. SalterHans J. SalterHans J. Salter was an American film composer.Hans J. Salter gained his education from the Vienna Academy Of Music, and studied composition with Alban Berg, Franz Schreker, and others. He was Music Director of the State Opera in Berlin before being hired to compose music at UFA studios...
(1896-1994), composer - Tom SantschiTom SantschiTom Santschi was an American leading man and character actor of the silent film era.-Career:...
(1880–1931), actor - Ann Savage (1921–2008), actress
- Joseph SchildkrautJoseph SchildkrautJoseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...
(1896–1964), actor - Leon SchlesingerLeon SchlesingerLeon Schlesinger was an American film producer, most noted for founding Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the golden age of Hollywood animation.-Early life and career:...
(1884–1949), head of animation at Warner Bros. - Herman SchoppHerman SchoppHerman Schopp was a cinematographer of the Frank Buck serial Jungle Menace.-Early years:...
(1899-1954), cinematographer - Vito ScottiVito ScottiVito Scotti was a veteran character actor who played many roles, primarily from the late-1940s to the mid-1990s. He was known as a man of a thousand faces, for his ability to assume so many divergent roles in more than 200 screen roles, in a nearly 50 year career. He was known for his resourceful...
(1918–1996), actor - Rolfe SedanRolfe SedanRolfe Sedan was an American character actor.Born Edward Sedan in New York City, his mother was a Broadway theatre fashion designer and his father a symphony conductor....
(1896–1982), actor - Harry SemelsHarry SemelsHarry Semels was an American film actor. He appeared in over 315 film between 1917 and 1946.-Career:Semels appeared in his first film in 1917. He began to achieve fame after arriving at Columbia Pictures, appearing several Three Stooges shorts including Disorder in the Court, Wee Wee Monsieur and...
(1887–1946), actor - Peggy ShannonPeggy ShannonPeggy Shannon was an American actress. She appeared on the stage and screen of the 1920s and 1930s.-Career:Shannon was born Winona Sammon in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1907...
(1910–1941), actress - Ann SheridanAnn Sheridan-Life and career:Born Clara Lou Sheridan in Denton, Texas on February 21, 1915, she was a student at the University of North Texas when her sister sent a photograph of her to Paramount Pictures. She subsequently entered and won a beauty contest, with part of her prize being a bit part in a...
(1915–1967), actress - Benjamin "Bugsy" SiegelBugsy SiegelBenjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
(1906–1947), gangster - Ford SterlingFord SterlingFord Sterling was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4' he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops.-Biography:...
(1883–1939), actor - Yma SumacYma SúmacYma Sumac was a noted Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music. She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.Yma...
(1922–2008), singer, actress - Josef SwickardJosef SwickardJosef Swickard was a German-born veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America.-Career:...
(1866–1940), actor - Carl "Alfalfa" SwitzerCarl SwitzerCarl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer was an American child actor, professional dog breeder and hunting guide, most notable for appearing in the Our Gang short subjects series as Alfalfa, one of the series' most popular and best-remembered characters.-Early life and family:Switzer was born in Paris,...
(1927–1959), actor, played "Alfalfa" in Our GangOur GangOur Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively... - Harold SwitzerHarold SwitzerHarold Frederick Switzer was an American child actor, most notable for appearing in the Our Gang short subjects series as an extra...
(1925–1967), actor, older brother of "Alfalfa" in Our Gang - Natasha ShneiderNatasha ShneiderNatasha Shneider was a Russian musician. She was most notably the keyboardist and vocalist in the musical group Eleven, and was the partner of bandmate Alain Johannes...
(1956–2008), musician, actress
T
- Constance TalmadgeConstance TalmadgeConstance Talmadge was a silent movie star born in Brooklyn, New York, USA, and was the sister of fellow actresses Norma Talmadge and Natalie Talmadge.-Early life:...
(1897–1973), actress - Natalie TalmadgeNatalie TalmadgeNatalie Talmadge was an occasional silent film actress who was more well-known as the sister of her movie star siblings Norma and Constance Talmadge until her marriage to silent film actor and comedian Buster Keaton....
(1899–1969), actress - Norma TalmadgeNorma TalmadgeNorma Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.Her most famous film was Smilin’ Through , but she also...
(1893–1957), actress - Eva TanguayEva TanguayEva Tanguay was a Canadian-born singer and entertainer who billed herself as "the girl who made vaudeville famous".-Early life:...
(1879–1947), singer - Estelle TaylorEstelle TaylorEstelle Taylor was an American Hollywood actress whose career was most prominent during the silent film era of the 1920s....
(1894–1958), actress - William Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond Taylor was an Irish-born American actor, successful film director of silent movies and a popular figure in the growing Hollywood film colony of the 1910s and early 1920s...
(1872–1922), movie director, murder victim (unsolved), crypt is marked with his birth name, William Deane Tanner - Verree TeasdaleVerree TeasdaleVerree Teasdale was an American actress born in Spokane, Washington.A second cousin of Edith Wharton, Teasdale attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and trained as a stage actress at the New York School of Expression...
(1906–1987), actress, wife of Adolphe MenjouAdolphe MenjouAdolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies, appearing in such films as The Sheik, A Woman of Paris, Morocco, and A Star is Born... - TerryTerry (dog)Terry was a Cairn Terrier whose most famous role was Toto in the movie The Wizard of Oz . She appeared in 15 different movies but was only credited in that one, though not as Terry but as Toto....
(1933-1945), dog actress, best known for playing Toto in the Wizard of Oz - Charles E. TobermanCharles E. TobermanCharles E. Toberman was a real estate developer who was known as "Mr. Hollywood" and the "Father of Hollywood" for his role in developing Hollywood and many of its landmarks, including the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theater, El Capitan Theatre, the Roosevelt Hotel, the Grauman's Egyptian...
(1880–1981), built the Roosevelt Hotel - Gregg TolandGregg TolandGregg Toland, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer noted for his innovative use of lighting and techniques such as deep focus, an example of which can be found in his work on Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.-Career:...
(1904–1948), cinematographer - Noel ToyNoel ToyNoel Toy was an American burlesque performer famous for her fan dance and bubble dance, initially at the Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco, California. Later, she acted in films and on television.-Early years and career:Toy was born in San Francisco, California...
(1918–2003), actress/dancer, wife of Carleton YoungCarleton YoungCarleton Scott Young was an American character actor born in New York City, New York and known for his deep voice.-Private life:...
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- Rudolph ValentinoRudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
(1895–1926), actor
W
- George D. WallaceGeorge D. WallaceGeorge Dewey Wallace was an American stage and screen actor.Wallace co-starred with Mary Martin in the Broadway musical Jennie and was nominated for a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for playing the male lead in New Girl in Town opposite Gwen Verdon...
(1917–2005), actor - Jean WallaceJean WallaceJean Wallace was an American television and film actress.-Biography:Born Jean Walasek in Chicago to John T. Walasek and Mary A. Walasek , Wallace began her career as a model then got her first small movie role at the age of seventeen...
(1923–1990), actress - Steve WayneSteve WayneSteve Wayne was a film and television actor appearing in movies and commercials for products such as Alka-Seltzer, Wheaties and Ocean Spray.Wayne was born Norman Weinberger. He had two brothers...
(1920–2004), actor - Clifton WebbClifton WebbClifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...
(1889–1966), actor - David WhiteDavid White (actor)David White was an American stage, film and television actor best known for playing Darrin's boss Larry Tate in the 1964-72 sitcom Bewitched.-Early life:...
(1916–1990), actor - Marjorie WhiteMarjorie WhiteMarjorie White was a Canadian-born actress of stage and film.-Career:Born Marjorie Ann Guthrie in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she was the first-born child of a grain merchant born in Simcoe, Ontario...
(1904–1935), actress - Hobart Johnstone WhitleyHobart Johnstone WhitleyHobart Johnstone Whitley , also known as H.J. Whitley is the "Father of Hollywood", was a real estate developer who helped create the Hollywood subdivision in Los Angeles, Southern California. He and his wife, Margaret Virginia Whitley named the town while on their honeymoon in 1886...
(1847–1931), Named Hollywood while honeymooning with his wife; gravesite is marked "The Father Of Hollywood" - Harvey Henderson WilcoxHarvey Henderson WilcoxHarvey Henderson Wilcox owned a ranch to the west of the city of Los Angeles, which his wife Daeida named their ranch Hollywood, and where the center of the American cinema industry developed in the early 1900s.-Biography:...
(1832–1891), founded the city of Hollywood - Rozz WilliamsRozz WilliamsRozz Williams was an American vocalist and musician of several varieties, most famous for fronting the band Christian Death, then later Shadow Project with musician Eva O, though his main project throughout his career was the industrial, Premature Ejaculation...
(1963–1998), founded the death rock band Christian DeathChristian DeathChristian Death is an American deathrock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979. The band was founded and fronted by Rozz Williams. Christian Death is most notable for their first album Only Theatre of Pain.... - Fay WrayFay WrayFay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...
(1907–2004), actress