Home > Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery

Forest Lawn was founded in 1917 by Dr. Hubert Eaton on the grounds of a 1913 cemetery. Eaton was a firm believer in a joyous life after death, who was convinced that most cemeteries were "unsightly, depressing stoneyards," and pledged to create one that would reflect his optimistic beliefs, "as unlike other cemeteries as sunshine is unlike darkness". He envisioned Forest Lawn to be "a great park devoid of misshapen monuments and other signs of earthly death, but filled with towering trees, sweeping lawns, splashing fountains, beautiful statuary, and...memorial architecture..."

Forest Lawn's 300 acres (1.2 km²) of intensely landscaped grounds and thematic sculpture were the inspiration for the biting commentary of Evelyn Waugh's satirical novel The Loved One, and Jessica Mitford's acerbic The American Way of Death. Its sections include Eventide, Babyland, Graceland, Inspiration Slope, Slumberland, Sweet Memories, Vesperland, and Dawn of Tomorrow. Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper has been recreated in stained glass in the Court of Honour ‘in vibrant, glowing and indestructible colors.’ There are three non-sectarian chapels, ‘The Little Church of the Flowers,’ ‘The Wee Kirk o’ the Heather’ and ‘The Church of the Recessional. Over 60,000 people have actually been married here (including Ronald Reagan, who wed Jane Wyman at the "Wee Kirk o' the Heather" in 1940). Regis Philbin has also been married at Forest Lawn. A quarter of a million people are buried at Forest Lawn; there are over a million visitors each year including thousands of local schoolchildren on field trips.

Some of the inspiration at Forest Lawn is patriotic rather than pious, such as the Court of Freedom, with its large mosaic of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence , and a 13 ft (4 m) high statue of George Washington. The Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery is a second park solely dedicated to the preservation of American history.

The main gates of Forest Lawn - Glendale (above, right), claimed to be the world's largest wrought-iron gates, are located at 1712 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, California.

Among those interred or entombed in the cemetery are a number of important personalities, famous persons, including men and women from the entertainment industry, et cetera, and their relatives. Some final resting places, such as those of Humphrey Bogart and Mary Pickford, are secluded in private gated gardens, with no entry for the public.

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1 List of those buried at Forest Lawn

(Note this is a partial list. Those in non-public areas are marked †.)

Use the following alphabetical links to find someone.

2 A

• † Gracie Allen (and George Burns; husband & wife comedy team)
• Lucien Andriot , cinematographer

3 B

• † Theda Bara (1885-1955), pioneer actress, leading "Vamp" star
• L. Frank BaumLyman Frank Baum ( May 15, 1856 May 6, 1919) was an American author and the creator of one of the most beloved classics of children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. Baum's childhood and early life Frank was born in Chittenango, New York, the se, author
• † Warner BaxterWarner Baxter ( March 29, 1889 May 7, 1951) was an American actor. Born in Columbus, Ohio, he moved to San Francisco, California when he was nine. Following the 1906 earthquake, he and his family lived in a tent for two weeks. By 1910 Baxter was in vaudev, actor
• Wallace BeeryWallace Beery ( April 1, 1885 April 15, 1949) was a United States actor, best known for his many cinema appearances. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Beery joined the Ringling Brothers circus at the age of sixteen as an assistant elephant trainer. He left t, actor
• † Rex Bell , actor, Nevada Lieutenant Governor; husband of Clara Bow (below)
• J. Stuart BlacktonJames Stuart Blackton ( January 5, 1875 August 13, 1941), usually known as J. Stuart Blackton was an American film producer of the Silent Era, the founder of Vitagraph Studios and among the first filmmakers to use the techniques of stop-motion and drawn a, filmmaker
• Joan BlondellRose Joan Blondell ( August 30, 1906 December 25, 1979) was an American actress. Born into a vaudeville family in New York City, Blondell was a sexy, wisecracking, blonde pre- Hays Code staple of Warner Brothers who appeared in more than 100 movies and te, actress
• Monte Blue , actor
• † Humphrey BogartHumphrey Bogart ( December 25, 1899 January 14, 1957) was an iconic American actor who retains legendary status decades after his death. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Bogart the Greatest Male Star of All Time. Bogart typically played smart, p, actor
• Gutzon BorglumJohn) Gutzon Borglum ( March 25, 1867 March 6, 1941), was the American sculptor famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. Born to the second wife of a Danish Latter-day Saint (LDS; see also Mormon) who practiced, sculptor of Mount Rushmore
• † Clara Bow, actress; wife of Rex Bell (above)
• † William Boyd, cowboy actor - Hopalong Cassidy
• Joe E. Brown, comedic actor
• † Johnny Mack Brown, cowboy actor
• Dorsey Burnette, early Rock and Roll singer and prolific songwriter
• Johnny Burnette, Rock and Roll pioneer singer
• † George Burns (and Gracie Allen, husband & wife comedy team)
• Francis X. Bushman, actor