{Hollywood} Holy Cross Cemetery
Holy Cross is a scenic Roman Catholic cemetery in Culver City that opened in 1939. It is said that if a star is Catholic, they’re buried here.
Here in this scenic area called the Grotto are several celebrities grouped close together.
The main reason for our visit was the grave of this eccentric fellow, Bela Lugosi (Dracula). To my classic-horror-fiend friend who traveled with me, Bela Lugosi is her Clark Gable. So he was a must visit!
I stumbled upon the grave of “Der Bingle”, Bing Crosby, not too far from Bela.
Nearby too is the grave of French actor Charles Boyer, known for his role in Gaslight (1944).
Also here is “Gilda” herself, Rita Hayworth.
And we happened upon the grave of actress Sharon Tate, who, along with her unborn baby, was murdered by the Manson gang.
Around the corner from the Grotto is the grave of Gladys Belzer. Who? Gladys was the mother of Loretta Young. Loretta had requested that her ashes be spread over her mother’s grave, but cemetery rules prohibited this, so Loretta’s ashes were placed in with her mother’s instead. So here is the final resting place of Loretta, Clark’s co-star in Call of the Wild and mother of his only daughter, Judy.
The one grave you can’t miss no matter where you are in this cemetery is Rosalind Russell‘s. You can see this giant cross from the street before you even enter the gates. Quite the monument!
Rosalind co-starred with Clark in China Seas and They Met in Bombay. She also had a small part in Forsaking All Others.
I had read on the internet that Cammie King (Bonnie from Gone with the Wind) was interred here after her death last year. But nobody at the office knew where exactly she was and apparently have no record of her. So I am not sure what’s going on with that.
I will say one more thing about Holy Cross. If you are in LA and decide to stop in here, LOCK YOUR CAR. Or, better yet, take your purse and anything you care about with you as you wander. Trust me.
7 Comments
Lara
Wow, this is so cool! I go to L.A. about once a year or so (I’m from San Francisco), but I’ve never been here. Last time my friends and I went to the Westwood Memorial Cemetery, where Natalie Wood, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Billy Wilder, etc. are buried. I LOVE Rosalind Russell’s tombstone, it sort of embodies how she lived–larger than life! Thanks for all these great pics!
Ashley
Thanks for sharing. i didn’t know Cammie was buried there. To bad you couldn’t find her grave. Wow in a bad area huh? I know what you mean. My mom and I went to Atlanta this past summer. And we went to the cemetery where Margaret Mitchell is buried. There was a bob-wire fence outside of the cemetery gate with a police car sitting in the lot. I was like okay then.
admin
Thanks Lara! We didn’t make it Westwood—I would have liked to but we only had time for five cemeteries!–ha!
Ashley–I live in Atlanta so I know just what you mean. That cemetery is in a very bad area; they have had trouble with vandalism in the past. I wish we could have found Cammie but even the office had no record of her which makes me believe the internet is wrong and she is buried elsewhere.
jimmy
Was Clark a practicing catholic?
admin
His mother was a Catholic and he was baptized Catholic but no, he was never practicing. I don’t think he was ever a regular church-goer. His widow, Kay, was raised Catholic so she baptized their son Catholic as well.
Claire
Loved seeing these pictures. My daughter and I toured most of the cemeteries in LA this past February, I’m was more excited to see the graves of the stars I love so much then real live celebs! I’m a huge fan of TCM. We spent a lot of time in Holy Cross, we did lock our car, but did get a little nervous walking around in the mosoleums, there was not a soul insight, which while it was very peaceful we did feel a little vulnerable. The Hollywood Forever had security guards driving around at least…
Pat
Treat since 1965 my family have all been buried Holy Cross Cemetery in La it’s a beautiful Cemetery