Johnny Ramone

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , , , on September 12, 2018 by Cade

October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004

Guitarist for the pioneer punk group the Ramones, Johnny Ramone (John William Cummings) was the downstroke/bar chord king. Formed in 1974 in Forest Hills, Queens, Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone (all adopted pseudonyms) exploded onto the New York City club scene with their “wall of sound” and lightning fast songs. Their performances at storied venues GBGB and Max’s Kansas City drew massive attention and helped usher in a new genre of rock-and-roll: Punk. Johnny’s no-nonsense playing style was the rhythmic driving force behind the band’s massive hits like “Rockaway Beach”, “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Blitzkrieg Bop.” Continue reading →

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Dee Dee Ramone

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , , on September 11, 2018 by Cade

September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002

1-2-3-4…

Douglas Colvin, aka Dee Dee Ramone, was the bass player and most prominent songwriter for the legendary punk rock band, the Ramones. Colvin was the first to adopt a “Ramone” pseudonym after urging the rest of the band to do the same and call themselves the Ramones. Early on, Dee Dee was the main singer, but eventually opted to just play, leading to former-drummer Joey taking over lead vocals. After recording 11 albums with the Ramones, Dee Dee left the band in 1989 to pursue other solo projects – including, but certainly not limited to, a critically-panned hip hop album. Continue reading →

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Jane Greer

Posted in Westwood Memorial Park with tags , on September 9, 2018 by Cade

September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001

“Mine is a sissy name. It’s too bo-peepish, ingenueish, for the type of role I’ve been playing.”

When Bettejane Greer legally changed her first name to just “Jane,” she was not wrong in her observation. RKO Picture’s ‘woman with the Mona Lisa smile’ was well-known for her femme fatale roles – most notably, opposite Robert Mitchum in the film noir classic Out of the Past – and enigmatic, hard shell characters. A Bettejane, she was most certainly not. Greer was a model, a singer and an actress whose career spanned more than half a century. Continue reading →

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Friz Freleng

Posted in Hillside Memorial Park with tags , , on September 7, 2018 by Cade

August 21, 1906 – May 26, 1995

Legendary, Academy Award winning animator, Isadore Freleng – known to his friends as “Friz” – was responsible for the creation and/or development of some of the most recognizable American cartoon characters of all time: Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety, Yosemite Sam among others. Freleng grew up in Kansas City where he worked with other soon-to-be pioneers and legends like Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks before eventually and inevitably making the move to Hollywood. After a brief move to New York, Freleng was enticed back to California by friends Rudolph Ising and Hugh Harmon to begin working for Warner Bros. and their Looney Tunes shorts. Friz went on to direct more than 250 cartoons for Warner Bros. Continue reading →

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Victor Fleming

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , , , on September 4, 2018 by Cade

February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949

Legendary Hollywood producer, director and cinematographer, Victor Fleming’s entire career could have only lasted one year…and he still would be considered one of the greatest of all time. The year in question was 1939 when Fleming directed TWO classic films ranked among the best or most beloved ever: The Wizard of Oz (released in August) and Gone with the Wind (December). He literally could have just quit there. Fortunately for all of us, there were 38 other years where Fleming worked in the movie business. His movies earned several Academy Award nominations including a Best Director nod for Gone with the Wind, which he won. Continue reading →

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Chris Cornell

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , , on August 31, 2018 by Cade

July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017

An enormous talent and an unmistakable voice, Chris Cornell not only soared from the early 1990’s grunge-rock movement, but helped define and shape it. Cornell’s first success was found with the Seattle-based grunge-pioneer band, Soundgarden, which he fronted from the mid-80s until the band dissolved in 1997. Soundgarden shot through the charts and their seminal 1994 release, Superunknown – the band’s 4th – remains one of the most successful and influential albums of that decade. Following Soundgarden, Cornell joined members of Rage Against the Machine to form the supergroup, Audioslave, which went on to release 3 albums and the gold-single “Like a Stone.” Continue reading →

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Florence Henderson

Posted in Westwood Memorial Park with tags , , on August 27, 2018 by Cade

henderson1February 14, 1934 – November 24, 2016

It can be hard to go your entire career being associated with one character or one performance. For Florence Henderson, being the spokesperson for Wesson cooking oil for 2 decades was a defining persona and the kind of role every struggling actor covets. A gifted stage actress and singer, Henderson made a splash early on with performances on Broadway and televised productions of musicals. She appeared in game shows and on talk shows and was instantly recognizable in any household thanks to her long tenure with Wesson.

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Leonard Nimoy

Posted in Hillside Memorial Park with tags , on August 24, 2018 by Cade

March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015

In 1975, Leonard Nimoy wrote his first autobiography entitled I Am Not Spock.

Born in Boston in 1931, Nimoy caught the acting bug early and by the time he was 17 – and portrayed a Depression-era Jewish boy with similar family dynamics to his own – he knew it’s what he wanted to do. A talented singer and performer, he made his way through theatre and bit roles in movies and television for years, amassing quite the IMDB page chock-full of appearances in dozens of the most popular shows of the time. Then, in 1966, he was cast in Gene Roddenberry’s new sci-fi production, Star Trek, and the world was introduced to Mr. Spock. Continue reading →

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Mickey Rooney

Posted in Hollywood Forever Cemetery with tags , on August 22, 2018 by Cade

September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014

Mickey Rooney was one of the most enduring figures of the classic age of Hollywood. He got his start as a child in vaudeville and quickly found success in film. By the age of 25, he was one of MGM’s biggest and most successful stars. He starred in 14 Andy Hardy movies and began working with another young star on the rise by the name of Judy Garland. Together, Mickey and Judy made 10 films together and both careers were catapulted. After serving in the Special Services during World War II, Mickey’s career waned…if you can call 60 more years of being loved by millions “waning.” As an adult, he remained short of stature, so he never made the transition to leading man roles. But, that didn’t stop the Mick. Continue reading →

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Jonathan Swift

Posted in St. Patrick's Cathedral (Ireland) with tags , on July 10, 2018 by Cade

November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745

Author, satirist and all-around political rabble-rouser, Jonathan Swift, is most widely known for his creation: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships…which is colloquially and mercifully shortened as: Gulliver’s Travels. Born in Ireland, Swift received a Doctor of Divinity degree from Trinity College in Dublin. He spent a lot of time in England involving himself in the rise and fall of the Tory government in the early 18th Century. He wrote some of his most scathing satire during this period and eventually ticked off Queen Anne enough that he was effectively “banished” back to Ireland, where friends were able to get him appointed as the Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Continue reading →

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