Last time, my daughter, son and grandkids had a long day at Universal Studios Hollywood the day before and my brother and I had waited most of the day for my sister to finish her work.
This day, while my sister continued to get caught up with work my brother and I decided to go to the Hollywood cemeteries with my daughter, son and grandkids. One of the main reasons for this trip was to spread some of my husband Steve’s ashes at some of his favorite film stars in Hollywood (he was quite the film buff).
We headed to Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, not realizing there is more than one (actually 6 in the area). After first going to the wrong one, we found our way to the one with most of the celebrities.
Like all big cemeteries, you can’t find your way around without a map. We found the Memorial building where Elizabeth Taylor is interred. Her memorial had a huge marble angel with arms outspread. The building was magnificent with stained glass windows and statues everywhere (no inside pics allowed).
Then my son, thanks to an app on his phone, found us Jimmy Stewart’s grave which was very modest. We left a little of Steve’s ashes there too. My daughter had several memorial pendant necklaces made before the trip that held his ashes in a small vial that could be opened, sprinkled and closed (if you take ashes on an airplane you need death certificate and a document from their crematory). I had no delay going through security, but on the way home my daughter had to show paperwork (she was wearing a “Grateful Dead” T-shirt).
After the cemetery trip we went back to our AirBnB so my sister and her fellow, my brother and I could go to a Paramount Studio Tour we had scheduled. Only 5 at a time fit on a golf cart, so my daughter and the rest went a different day. We were staying less than a half mile from the studio. A nice young tour guide took us on a tour through their little museum first and we got pics in front of the Paramount sign holding an Oscar (they are heavier than you think). Then we got on a golf cart to wind through the sound stages. Our tour guide was trained, but with my husband’s knowledge of film and TV we told him nearly as much as he told us. We saw stage 19 (among others) where the TV shows My Three Sons, That Girl, The Odd Couple, and Happy Days were filmed, plus the movies Citizen Cane and Ghost. It was very cool seeing the backlot of a cityscape used in so many TV shows and movies. We got off the cart and walked through some of these pretend buildings and also went inside one of the sound stages — empty of course, but huge.
One little tidbit of info that was very interesting was the parking lot where the parting of the Red Scene scene in The Ten Commandments was shot! It was filmed in a 4 feet deep, curved walled parking lot. It was painted blue and they built a trench down the middle and rushed water from both sides spilling into the trench — filmed it and then ran it backwards — amazing special effect — no CGI back then.
We enjoyed the studio tour and now regret not going to some of the other studios, but we were only there a week.
That evening we took both vans and went to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now call TCL). It’s a spectacular looking theatre built in 1927 (it has an IMAX inside showing the latest movies) with hand and footprints of celebrities on the front sidewalk. We had fun comparing out handprints to theirs and leaving a little of Steve’s ashes on so many. Some of the women celebrities wore high heels so there is just a little triangle shape and a hole for the heel. Some of the celebrities wrote little messages to Sid Grauman.
You can only go inside the theatre if you have a ticket for a movie or, if you’re like my daughter, to buy popcorn and a soda. I followed behind and saw some cool displays like a mannequin in Marilyn Monroe’s green sequin gown and Scarlett O’Hara’s famous dress made from the drapes at Tara.
That evening my son and daughter enjoyed the warmth of the hot tub. For me it was beautiful weather, but never warm enough for me to put on a swimsuit. The grandson was the only brave soul to get into the pool.
Next time: Part 4 — New Academy Museum.
