Celebrity Graveland

September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999

Because of his rich, smooth voice, Melvin Howard Tormé was known as “The Velvet Fog.” This was not just a silly nickname. His voice was incredibly deserving of such a perfect analogy.  Tormé began singing almost immediately as a young child and enjoyed a long career, both solo and in groups, performing his special brand of jazz classics.  In addition to his singing, he was also a gifted composer, lyricist, drummer, actor, author and – oddly enough – quick-draw artist. Mel made appearances in many films and TV shows over his 60 years in the business. Of course, my favorites were always his guest appearances as himself, and Judge Harry Stone’s idol, on NBC’s Night Court and his memorable cameo on the Seinfeld episode, “The Jimmy.”  Tormé suffered a stroke in 1996 and another, more fatal, one three years later.

Burial

Westwood Village Memorial Park – Los Angeles, CA

Specific Location

Section B, Lot 114; In the small lawn section at the northern end of the park, right near the entrance, Mel’s large red marker can be spotted easily just to the left (west) of the outdoor mausoleum.

This entry was posted on June 4, 2013 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Westwood Memorial Park with tags Singers, Westwood Memorial Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.