If you are planning to visit Hollywood and would like learn about a movie star including how they died and where they are buried, then you would love this book. This is not a morbid book detailing the tragic end of a person, but guides movie fans by giving a brief and useful bio of the stars, and the address of the house where the star lived, and the cemetery information. I have visited gravesite of several stars discussed in this book and paid my respect. This book describes stars whose death was strange, brutal, suspicious or natural, and the appendix and the cemetery info given at the end of the book comes in very handy. Much of the information given in this book is already discussed on television, books or many websites related to Tinsel town, but it is nice to have a copy of the book for immediate reference.
Of many stars discussed in this book, I found Janet Gaynor's bio was interesting. Her death due to complications arising from a car accident in San Francisco, and her burial in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood was helpful in relating to the movies she did. Other interesting bios I read included Grace Kelly, Carole Lombard, Jayne Mansfield, Will Rogers, and Ernie Kovacs; all of whom died in auto/plane accidents. Will Rogers was buried initially at a Los Angeles cemetery but later moved to Claremont, OK.
The celebrities who succumbed to alcohol and drug intoxication included; John Barrymore, Montgomery Clift, W.C. Fields, Judy Garland, William Holden, Veronica Lake, Barbara La Marr and Bel Lugosi. Some of the roles John Barrymore played were as an alcoholic, for example, in the movie "Dinner at Eight," his role reflected his true life. Bela Lugosi was strongly addicted to controlled substances that significantly affected his health, and poor choices he made in his career drove him to poor house. His last wish was that he was to be buried in his Dracula trademark black cape and tuxedo suite. For a small gathering attending the services, it was an eerie feeling to open the casket and see Dracula in the coffin. The story has it that the hearse left the mortuary parking lot, after driver lost control of the vehicle, and drove itself along the busy Hollywood Blvd and turned at Vine Street, the regular walking path of Lugosi.
A friend, after seeing W.C. Fields reading Bible, asked him why he chose to read the holy book, the comic quipped, "Looking for loopholes." Ramon Navarro, Sharon Tate, Rebecca Schaeffer, Haing Ngor (academy award winner for "The Killing Fields,") and Sal Mineo were murdered. The homicides of Tate and Navarro were especially brutal.
The deaths of Susan Hayward, John Wayne, Agnes Moorhead and Dick Powell occurred naturally. But many reporters believe that they were exposed to radiation that hovered over Utah filming site for the movie "The Conqueror." All of them developed cancer after the movie was shot in 1955.
The deaths of actor George Reeves, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, and Bob Crane were perplexing. Much has been written on them and various theories still exist. Recently LAPD reopened the investigation of Natalie Wood's death. George Reeves death was attributed to suicide by LAPD, but some believe that his one time lover Toni Mannix hired a hit man to do the job. She had a motive; his last will and testament read that most of his assets were to go for Mannix and not his fiancée Lenore Lemmon. Clara Blandick, Dorothy Dandridge, Peg Entwistle, Carole Landis, George Sanders, and Lupe Velez committed suicide for either health or economic reasons. Peg Entwistle fell from the Hollywood sign (from letter H) 100 feet below. It has been rumored that this area is haunted by Peg (woman in white) who is restless and never found peace in her life. There is a picture of the suicide scene of Carol Landis in the book, where she is found lying in her house in a crouching position. Landis was in serious financial position and the actor Rex Harrison was the last to see her before her unfortunate decision to end her life on July 4 weekend of 1948.
The book reads wonderfully and many stories I found in this book are well researched
Of many stars discussed in this book, I found Janet Gaynor's bio was interesting. Her death due to complications arising from a car accident in San Francisco, and her burial in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood was helpful in relating to the movies she did. Other interesting bios I read included Grace Kelly, Carole Lombard, Jayne Mansfield, Will Rogers, and Ernie Kovacs; all of whom died in auto/plane accidents. Will Rogers was buried initially at a Los Angeles cemetery but later moved to Claremont, OK.
The celebrities who succumbed to alcohol and drug intoxication included; John Barrymore, Montgomery Clift, W.C. Fields, Judy Garland, William Holden, Veronica Lake, Barbara La Marr and Bel Lugosi. Some of the roles John Barrymore played were as an alcoholic, for example, in the movie "Dinner at Eight," his role reflected his true life. Bela Lugosi was strongly addicted to controlled substances that significantly affected his health, and poor choices he made in his career drove him to poor house. His last wish was that he was to be buried in his Dracula trademark black cape and tuxedo suite. For a small gathering attending the services, it was an eerie feeling to open the casket and see Dracula in the coffin. The story has it that the hearse left the mortuary parking lot, after driver lost control of the vehicle, and drove itself along the busy Hollywood Blvd and turned at Vine Street, the regular walking path of Lugosi.
A friend, after seeing W.C. Fields reading Bible, asked him why he chose to read the holy book, the comic quipped, "Looking for loopholes." Ramon Navarro, Sharon Tate, Rebecca Schaeffer, Haing Ngor (academy award winner for "The Killing Fields,") and Sal Mineo were murdered. The homicides of Tate and Navarro were especially brutal.
The deaths of Susan Hayward, John Wayne, Agnes Moorhead and Dick Powell occurred naturally. But many reporters believe that they were exposed to radiation that hovered over Utah filming site for the movie "The Conqueror." All of them developed cancer after the movie was shot in 1955.
The deaths of actor George Reeves, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, and Bob Crane were perplexing. Much has been written on them and various theories still exist. Recently LAPD reopened the investigation of Natalie Wood's death. George Reeves death was attributed to suicide by LAPD, but some believe that his one time lover Toni Mannix hired a hit man to do the job. She had a motive; his last will and testament read that most of his assets were to go for Mannix and not his fiancée Lenore Lemmon. Clara Blandick, Dorothy Dandridge, Peg Entwistle, Carole Landis, George Sanders, and Lupe Velez committed suicide for either health or economic reasons. Peg Entwistle fell from the Hollywood sign (from letter H) 100 feet below. It has been rumored that this area is haunted by Peg (woman in white) who is restless and never found peace in her life. There is a picture of the suicide scene of Carol Landis in the book, where she is found lying in her house in a crouching position. Landis was in serious financial position and the actor Rex Harrison was the last to see her before her unfortunate decision to end her life on July 4 weekend of 1948.
The book reads wonderfully and many stories I found in this book are well researched
Reference: The Hollywood Book of Death: The Bizarre, Often Sordid, Passings of More than 125 American Movie and TV Idols by James Robert Parish
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