I See Dead People

As you know, I like finding graves of famous people. It's the same reason some people like doing puzzles. You can do research with cemetery maps, cemetery websites, city maps, www.findagrave.com (yes, a real thing), and so on. Even with all those clues, it can be tough when you actually get there.

There were three cemeteries right next to each other (Not sure why. The cemetery district?) about 15 miles from where we were staying in So Cal.

The first one had several low-level stars. Chuck Connors (The Rifleman), Walter Brennan, Jane Wyman (Father Knows Best), Richie Valens (Early rock star. Most famous for dying in the place crash with Buddy Holly).

Next up was a small cemetery right next door. It was in an old Spanish Mission. Bob Hope is buried there. I think his wife was very Catholic. Bob, I think just went along with that. So it is a very nice location and I don't think I've ever been in a Spanish mission before, so that was interesting.

Next was Eden Memorial Cemetery, which is a Jewish Cemetery. I knew Groucho Marx's remains were in a small room with many others. I was looking at each of the names and it was taking a long time. Then I thought there might something different about his. I glanced around and saw where there were three Groucho glasses fastened to his box. Bingo. His real first name was Julius, but it was labeled "Grouch Marx", which was surprising.

Also Lenny Bruce is there. I didn't go looking for him. He was apparently a famous comedian, because he was one of the first to use bad language in your act. I can't see that as being any claim to fame.

L.A. obviously would have a lot of famous graves. A lot of the best ones, though, have bad reputations. They won't help you find anything and even threatened to call police for trespassing. Also they might have famous names, but they're in locked up areas.

However, there is one great one in the middle of Hollywood. I've written about this place before. I visited it a couple years ago. Its kind of hidden away, but its pretty small, the workers there are friendly and has tons of big stars - Dean Martin, Rodney Dangerfield, Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Truman Capote, and a ton more. It's like Disneyland.