Where Are They Buried? (101 page)
Read Where Are They Buried? Online
Authors: Tod Benoit
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
PAGE NUMBERS IN BOLD INDICATE ILLUSTRATIONS.
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Abbey, Edward,
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Abbott, William “Bud,”
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Adams, Ansel,
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Adams, Douglas,
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Albano, Lou,
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Alcoholics Anonymous founders,
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Alcott, Louisa Mae,
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Allen, Gracie,
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Allen, Steve,
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Allman, Duane,
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Andre the Giant,
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Armstrong, Neil,
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Arnaz, Desi,
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Asimov, Isaac,
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Atlas, Charles,
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Auerbach, Red,
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Autry, Gene,
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Bakker, Tammy Faye,
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Ball, Lucille,
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Ballard, Florence,
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Band, The,
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Barrow, Clyde,
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Baum, L. Frank,
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Beach Boys, The,
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Beats, The,
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Berle, Milton,
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Berlin, Irving,
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Besser, Joe,
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Blandick, Clara,
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Block, Harlan,
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Bogart, Humphrey,
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Bolan, Marc,
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Bolger, Ray,
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Bombeck, Erma,
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Bonham, John,
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Bonnie & Clyde,
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Booth, John Wilkes,
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Borden, Lizzie,
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Bradbury, Ray,
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Bradley, John,
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Brando, Marlon,
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Bronson, Charles,
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Brown Simpson, Nicole,
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Brown, James,
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Bruce, Lenny,
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Buonarrotti, Michelangelo,
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Burke, Billie,
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Burns, George,
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Burroughs, William S.,
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Cabot, Sebastian,
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Cagney, James,
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Camus, Albert,
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Candy, John,
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Capote, Truman,
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Carlin, George,
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Carpenter, Karen,
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Carroll, Lewis,
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Carson, Johnny,
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Carter, Billy,
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Chamberlain, Wilt,
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Chapin, Harry,
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Chaplin, Charlie,
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Charles, Ray,
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Child, Julia,
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Christie, Agatha,
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Clark, Dick,
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Clemente, Roberto,
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Clemons, Clarence,
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Cline, Patsy,
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Clutter Family,
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Cobain, Kurt,
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Cobb, Ty,
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Cochran, Eddie,
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Cody, Iron Eyes,
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Cody, William “Buffalo Bill,”
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Collins, Allen,
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Columbus, Christopher,
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Colvin, Douglas “Dee Dee Ramone,”
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Connally, John,
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Cosell, Howard,
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Cousteau, Jacques,
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Crane, Bob,
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Crawford, Joan,
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Croce, Jim,
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Crosby, Harry “Bing,”
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Cummings, John “Johnny Ramone,”
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Custer, General George,
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Dahmer, Jeffrey,
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Dali, Salvador,
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Dangerfield, Rodney,
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Daniel, Jack,
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Darwin, Charles,
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Dean, Jay “Dizzy,”
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Denver, John,
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Diana, Princess of Wales,
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Dickens, Charles,
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Dillinger, John,
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Dio, Ronnie James,
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Disney, Walt,
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Divine,
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Doherty, Denny,
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Downey, Morton, Jr.,
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Duke, Doris,
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Durante, Jimmy,
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Earnhardt, Dale,
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Ebert, Roger,
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Edison, Thomas,
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Einstein, Albert,
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Elliot, “Mama” Cass,
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Emerson, Ralph Waldo,
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Entwistle, John,
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Evans, Dale,
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Evers, Medgar,
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Falk, Peter,
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Family Affair,
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