Haunted Hollywood: Part 3

[Guest]

Mood Music

Hollywood Forever, formerly known as Hollywood Memorial Park (located
at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd), famous for its Permanent Celebrity Residents,
had become a desolate ruin, especially after being extensively damaged by
the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. It became a horrific disgrace, displaying
crumbling walls that exposed open crypts, broken glass, rotting wood
(Coffins?) and extensive water damage. There were also reports of the stench
of decay.The chief archetect of this scandal was Jules Roth, a con man, a
liar and a thief who stole money from endowment funds and had a wetbar in
his cemetery office. He cared nothing for the cemetery or its legendary
clients. He forced the cemetery into bankruptsy and some people who were
buried there, were exumed by their surviving relatives and taken to another
cemetery. Max Factor was one such person. The State of California brought
the Owners up on charges and threatened the Cemetery with closure. However,
in 1998 a man named Tyler Cassity bought the property for under $400,000.00
and not only made repairs to the place, but also modernized it, bringing it
into the 20th Century with the latest technology and gimmicks such as Living
Memory, Interviews, Biographical Movies and Webcasts of Funeral Services!
Hollywood Forever even has its own website now, The Forever Network located
at http://www.forevernetwork.com .

And, of course, there are ghosts here. One day, a man was searching for
a certain celeb gravesite in the Abbey Of the Psalms Mausoleum. He asked a
quaint looking, old gentleman whom he saw standing in the Foyer where this
persons grave was. The man gave directions. When the other turned around to
thank the man, he was gone! He gave a description of the man to a Cemetery
Employee and was told that it was Mr. Clifton Webb....who had died of a
heart attack in 1966!
The other ghost at Hollywood Forever is not one that you will see, but
you might hear it. It has been said that if you wander near the grave of
tragic starlet, Virginia Rappe, you will hear a ghostly weeping. She died at
the tender age of 25 due to Generalized peritonitis. However, because she
had died after a wild party attended by comedic actor Roscoe "Fatty"
Arbuckle, it was thought she had been murdered. Arbuckle was charged with
the murder. He was tried for the crime THREE TIMES and acquitted each time.
However, his career was irrevokably ruined.
Rudolph Valentino, who died in 1926 of a ruptured appendix, a
perforated ulcer and peritonitis is interred in teh Cathedral Mausoleum. A
grand tomb was planned for his final resting place and Valentino's body was
placed in a temporary crypt until it could be built. Unfortunately, Rudy
owed back taxes which set the building of the tomb back about three years.
Then, another setback occurred on October 24, 1929. The Stock Market CRASHED
and the world wide Depression began. The tomb was never built. Valentino
still rests in that temporary crypt to this very day.
It has been reported that his ghost has been seen walking thru the
rear wall of the cemetery and onto the lot at Paramount Studios, where he
has also been seen. According to eye witnesses, he looks around, seems
confused and then walks back thru the wall and back into the cemetery. Perhaps his confusion stems from the passage of Time and the changes that have taken place in our world since then. He has also been seen at his former home, known as the Falcon's Lair.
His ghost is not the only one at Paramount.


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Peace,

Captain Kundalini
Captain Kundalini

[This message has been edited by Captain Kundalini (edited 25 January 2002).]