Where Are They Buried? (101 page)

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Many small cemeteries do not have their own telephone or a regular person on staff but, nonetheless, I’ve found a very easy way to contact their caretakers. Call the town hall, the fire department, the police station, or any municipal office, and ask whoever answers the phone if they know who it is that takes care of the cemetery. Someone will know the person who holds that responsibility and, more often than not, they’ll even give you his or her home telephone number.

If a cemetery’s name clearly identifies it as being affiliated with a particular religious denomination, simply call and inquire through churches or synagogues. You’ll find someone who knows something, trust me. Persistence is the key.

A cemetery refuses to divulge the exact location of someone’s grave.
This is almost unheard-of at small cemeteries, but it’s a common obstacle at the large ones, especially those in southern California, where many celebrities are interred. These cemeteries are so vast that it’s absolutely impossible to find a grave unless, at the very least, you know in which section or mausoleum the person rests. Again, persistence usually pays off, but at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park chain of cemeteries, where employees are strictly instructed not to give celebrity grave information to the general public, you sometimes need to be cunning and have an extra trick up your sleeve. Modesty aside, I’ve had my moments.

When I was trying to find the grave of George Burns, I developed a particularly sly maneuver. If I had simply walked into the Forest Lawn office and asked where George was interred, the receptionist would immediately have recognized his name and refused me the information. So instead, I politely asked if she could direct me to the resting place of my dear great-aunt, Mrs. Grace Allen. Of course, my “aunt” was George’s wife, the famous Gracie Allen, whom I knew would be resting alongside George. But the manner of my query caught her off guard and she diligently drew a map to the spot.

The cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas, that holds Lee Harvey Oswald has a strict policy against divulging his location, but a clerk dutifully sought out my request for a “Leonard Oswold who died back in the sixties.” She returned from the back room about ten minutes later, apologizing for the wait and explaining that she had been unable to find any record of a Leonard Oswold. In fact, the only guest whose name was even close was a Lee Oswald who had died in 1963. “Would you like to check that gravestone?” she asked. “Perhaps there was a misspelling somewhere.” I obliged.

If these methods fail and you can’t find the location of someone’s grave, you’ll have to step it up a notch and contact people
who were a little closer to your subject. I’ve had phone conversations with relatives of rock stars, received emails from the agents of sports heroes and actors, and was faxed a hand-drawn map by the editor of a bestselling author. I had a particularly difficult time finding film reviewer Gene Siskel’s grave, so I called his employer, the
Chicago Tribune
, on my cell phone from the cemetery. With a bit of diplomacy, I managed to get patched through to one of Gene’s colleagues. He had attended Gene’s funeral and, while I drove the cemetery’s lanes, he described Gene’s grave location to the best of his recollection. I easily found it. It’s all about creativity and stamina.

Having said all of this, let me remind you that the Internet has changed everything. These days, an online search or a few well-placed, carefully worded emails to Usenet groups and fan clubs can often save a lot of phone calls. If you want to find the grave of a famous person who’s not listed in this book, before you do anything else, look at the variety of websites dedicated to that interest. Through the cumulative contributions of thousands of like-minded folks, many long-lost celebrity gravesites have been unearthed and such databases can be an excellent staring point. Some sites even offer section and plot numbers or general landmarks that can help you locate a grave, while a few others even boast of Global Positioning System coordinates. But no site offers concise directions to the graves—
Where Are They Buried?
is the only comprehensive source for that information. Good luck.

—TOD BENOIT

INDEX
INDEX OF NAMES

PAGE NUMBERS IN BOLD INDICATE ILLUSTRATIONS.

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
V
W
Y
Z

INDEX OF PLACES

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
V
W

A

Abbey, Edward,
24

Abbott, William “Bud,”
24
,
25
,
26

Adams, Ansel,
300

Adams, Douglas,
301

Albano, Lou,
96
–97

Alcoholics Anonymous founders,
568
–569

Alcott, Louisa Mae,
303

Allen, Gracie,
63
–64

Allen, Steve,
253
–254

Allman, Duane,
380
–381

Andre the Giant,
97
–98

Armstrong, Louis,
456
,
457

Armstrong, Neil,
569
–570

Arnaz, Desi,
189
–189

Ashe, Arthur,
98
,
99

Asimov, Isaac,
301
–303

Astaire, Fred,
58
,
59
–60

Atlas, Charles,
502
–504

Auerbach, Red,
99
–100

Autry, Gene,
457
–458

B

Bakker, Tammy Faye,
502

Ball, Lucille,
189
–190

Ballard, Florence,
458
–459

Band, The,
381
–384

Barrow, Clyde,
504
–505
506
,
507
–508

Baum, L. Frank,
266
–267

Beach Boys, The,
385
–386

Beatles, The,
27
–28,
29
,
30
–33

Beats, The,
306
–313

Belushi, John,
234
,
235
–238

Berle, Milton,
60
–61

Berlin, Irving,
459
–460

Besser, Joe,
252

Bishop, Joey,
83
,
88
–89

Blanc, Mel,
150
,
151

Blandick, Clara,
267
–268

Block, Harlan,
593
–594

Bogart, Humphrey,
61
–63

Bolan, Marc,
387
–388

Bolger, Ray,
268
–269

Bombeck, Erma,
278
–279

Bonham, John,
388

Bonnie & Clyde,
504
–505
506
,
507
–508

Bono, Salvatore “Sonny,”
33
,
34

Boone, Daniel,
570
,
571
,
572

Booth, John Wilkes,
572
–574

Borden, Lizzie,
508
–509

Bradbury, Ray,
313
–315

Bradley, John,
594

Brando, Marlon,
151
–152

Bronson, Charles,
152
–163

Brown Simpson, Nicole,
521
–523

Brown, James,
388
–390

Bruce, Lenny,
35
–36

Buck, Pearl S.,
315
,
316

Buonarrotti, Michelangelo,
316
–318

Burke, Billie,
269
–270

Burns, George,
63
–64

Burroughs, William S.,
309
,
311
–313

C

Cabot, Sebastian,
166
–167

Cagney, James,
153
–154

Camus, Albert,
318

Candy, John,
154
–155

Capone, Al,
509
,
510

Capote, Truman,
319
–320

Carlin, George,
36
–37

Carpenter, Karen,
460
–461

Carroll, Lewis,
321
–322

Carson, Johnny,
255
–257

Carter, Billy,
511

Cash, Johnny,
461
–462,
463

Cash, June Carter,
461
–462,
463

Cassady, Neal,
308
,
309
,
310

Cazale, John,
155
,
156

Chamberlain, Wilt,
37

Chapin, Harry,
390
–391

Chaplin, Charlie,
65
–66

Charles, Ray,
463
–465

Chavez, Cesar,
574
,
575

Child, Julia,
279

Christie, Agatha,
322
–323

Clark, Dick,
38
–39

Clemente, Roberto,
39
–40

Clemons, Clarence,
391
–393

Cline, Patsy,
465
–466

Clutter Family,
319
–320

Cobain, Kurt,
16
–17

Cobb, Ty,
100
–102

Cochran, Eddie,
393
–394

Cody, Iron Eyes,
156
–158

Cody, William “Buffalo Bill,”
575
–577

Cole, Nat King,
466
–467,
470

Collins, Allen,
422
–424

Coltrane, John,
467
,
468
,
469

Columbus, Christopher,
577
–579

Colvin, Douglas “Dee Dee Ramone,”
434
–436

Como, Perry,
469
,
470
,
472

Connally, John,
599
–600

Cosell, Howard,
102
–103

Costello, Lou,
24
,
25
,
26

Cousteau, Jacques,
511
–512

Crane, Bob,
158
–159

Crawford, Joan,
159
–160

Croce, Jim,
394
–395

Crosby, Harry “Bing,”
470
,
471
–472

Cummings, John “Johnny Ramone,”
434
–437

Custer, General George,
579
–580

D

Dahmer, Jeffrey,
512
–513

Dali, Salvador,
323
–324

Dangerfield, Rodney,
513
–514

Daniel, Jack,
514
–515

Danko, Rick,
381
,
382
,
383

Darwin, Charles,
580
–581

Davis, Bette,
66
,
67
,
68

Davis, Miles,
472
,
473
,
474

Davis, Sammy, Jr.,
83
,
85
–87

Dean, James,
10
,
160
–161

Dean, Jay “Dizzy,”
103

Denver, John,
474
–475

DeRita, Joe,
249
,
252
–253

Di Maggio, Joe,
120
,
124
–125

Diana, Princess of Wales,
280
–281

Dickens, Charles,
324

Diddley, Bo,
399
,
400
,
401

Dillinger, John,
515
–517

Dio, Ronnie James,
401
–402

Disney, Walt,
161
–162

Divine,
163

Doherty, Denny,
426
–428

Downey, Morton, Jr.,
517
–518

Duke, Doris,
518
–519

Durante, Jimmy,
68
–69

Dylan, Bob,
8
,
12
,
13

E

Earnhardt, Dale,
103
–105

Ebert, Roger,
555
–557

Edison, Thomas,
581
–582

Einstein, Albert,
582
–583

Elliot, “Mama” Cass,
426
–427

Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
304

Entwistle, John,
448

Epstein, Brian,
28
,
29
,
30

Evans, Dale,
229
–231

Evers, Medgar,
583
–584

F

Falk, Peter,
163
–165

Family Affair,
165
–167

Farley, Chris,
234
,
239
–240

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