Famous Actors and Actresses Graves 

Harry Houdini. Entertainer. A legendary magician and escape artist, he was born Ehrich Weiss in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a rabbi and religious teacher. When he was about four, his family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where he grew up. When he was about 8 years old, he sold newspapers and worked as a bootblack to help support his poor family. When his father took him to see a traveling magician, his interest in magic and in performing took off, and shortly after his family moved to New York City, he began to study magic. After reading about the famous magician, Robert-Houdin (1805 to 1871), he took the stage name, Harry Houdini, in honor of Houdin. When his father died in 1890, Harry Houdini began working full time at amusement parks, museums, and theaters, trying his hand at magic and escape attempts. In July 1894, he married Beatrice “Bess” Raymond, a struggling singer and dancer, and she became the love of his life. After perfecting many escapes, he began to work the vaudeville theaters, and proving to his critics that he could escape any restraint. Adding danger to his escape increased the audience suspense, and he took risks that most escape artists would shy away from. This only increased the audience’s appreciation of his work. Many of his tricks involved being cast under water, with the threat of suffocation, but he always came through. Many of his greatest escapes still defy explanation even today. In the last years of his life, he formed the Houdini Motion Picture Corporation, which made numerous silent films, many of them featuring Houdini in one of his escapes. In the early 1920s, spiritualism became a great interest in the country, and after researching it himself, Harry became convinced that most of the practitioners were frauds, and he spent much of his time debunking the fakes. On October 22, 1926, while in Montreal, Canada, giving a lecture on spiritualism, he was asked by a college student if he could withstand a blow to the stomach. Before he could prepare himself for the blow, the student suddenly hit him three times, the last blow rupturing his appendix. Harry thought he would recover, and went on to perform several times over the next few days. By the time he was properly diagnosed, it was too late, and he died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix on October 31. Houdini memorabilia remains popular even today, and commands a good price in auctions.

Evel Knievel. Daredevil, Entertainer. Robert Knievel was born in Butte, Montana. He was a motorcycle daredevil whose daring and highly publicized motorcycle jumps, including attempting to jump over the Snake River canyon, made him a household name. Despite suffering a series of major injuries during stunts, he had a long career in stunt riding. He is immortalized in Washington’s Smithsonian Institution as “America’s Legendary Daredevil.” His son, Robbie “Kaptain” Knievel, has carried on in his father’s daredevil footsteps as a motorcycle stunt entertainer.

John Wayne. Actor. He is noted mostly for his military and cowboy roles, and an American Icon. Fiercely patriotic and a staunch American, he represented an American ideal of rugged individualism. Politically conservative and hawkish, he was directly the opposite of many Hollywood stars, and often ridiculed for his political opinions. Born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, his family moved to southern California, where his father owned a ranch, and he learned to ride a horse. When the ranch failed, his family moved to Glendale, California, where he attended high school, and had an airdale dog named “Duke” (source of his later nickname). When he narrowly missed getting an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, he went to the University of Southern California (USC) on a football scholarship. Actor Cowboy Tom Mix got him a summer job as a prop man, in exchange for USC football tickets. On the set, he became lifelong friends with Director John Ford, for whom he began doing bit parts. His first film, in 1930, was “Men Without Women.” After bit parts in some 70 films, his breakthrough came in the 1939 film “Stagecoach,” where he emerged a star. He holds the record for the actor playing the most leading parts, in 142 movies. He stayed mostly with his best acting roles, those of strong military men or fierce independent cowboys, since that suited the audiences. He was exempt from military service in World War II due to an ear infection which left him partially deaf. In 1948, he starred in “Red River”, giving a dynamic performance which made critics take notice. However, he is best remembered for his performance in the John Ford cavalry trilogy, “Fort Apache”, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, and “Rio Grande”. He had good film chemistry with Maureen O’Hara, and in 1952, he made “The Quiet Man” with her, considered by many to be Wayne’s most endearing film. When Republic Pictures refused to make “The Alamo”, Wayne started his own studio, Batjac, and made the film (1960). In 1968, during the Vietnam War, he made the film “The Green Berets”, considered the only pro-Vietnam War film made in that period. He won an Oscar (his only one) for his role as a boozy, one-eyed, over-the-hill lawman in “True Grit” (1969), a role he reprised in “Rooster Cogburn” (1975). His acting abilities were often underrated by the critics, yet he was always a professional actor who knew his lines, his mark, and was on time for shooting.

Michael Landon. Actor, Motion Picture Director. Born in Forest Hills, New York, the family moved to Collingswood, New Jersey, when he was four. Although he had a genius level IQ he failed to maintain passing grades in high school. He was, however, a popular student and was considered by most to be very funny. Discovering the javelin turned his life around. He became so proficient in the sport that he was offered several athletic scholarships and accepted the offer from the University of California. While there he injured his arm and was forced to relinquish the scholarship. He dropped out of college and became employed at a warehouse in California. An audition was planned at Warner Brothers Studio for Michael and a co-worker. Warner Brothers was impressed with his audition. They signed him and sent him to acting school for four months. During this time he decided to take a stage name and chose the name Michael Landon, picking it from a telephone book. His first notable appearance on film was in “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” in 1957. Around this time producer David Dortort had a television show in the works that he had created called Bonanza. Dortorts successful persuasion to the network that he could make a hit television show with relatively unknown actors was another turning point in Michael’s life and would form the basis of his career. Dortort chose him for the roll of Little Joe Cartwright. The show premiered on September 12, 1959 and was a hit for 10 of the 14 years it was on the air. While involved in Bonanza he was able to nurture his talent of writing and directing. He wrote and directed several of the episodes. His next project was Little House on the Prairie. The series, which premiered in 1974 and ended in 1983, was very successful. Relationships with his fellow actors on these projects were an essential part of his life and many remained close friends until his death. In 1984 he started his last television series, Highway to Heaven, which was to run until 1989. He was working on the production of a series when he became ill and was not able to see it to fruition. In April of 1991 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was married three times. His first wife was Dodie Frasier. They were married from 1956 until 1962. In 1963 he married model Marjorie Lynn Noe and they divorced in 1982. He married makeup artist Cindy Clerico on February 14, 1983. He was the father of five sons and four daughters. The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum posthumously inducted him into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1998. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 1500 N. Vine Street.

Bruce Lee. Martial Artist, Actor, Motion Picture Director. Balancing martial arts theory and film performance, Bruce Lee remains the most recognized martial artist of the twentieth century. Though born in San Francisco, Lee would move to Hong Kong with his family while still an infant and would act in several films there as a child. After losing a street fight in 1953, he would also study Wing Chun Kung Fu, a style emphasizing economy of movement. He would quickly become one of the most feared street fighters in Hong Kong, in addition to, ironically, becoming the Crown Colony Cha-Cha dance champion in 1958. His street reputation led to several problems with the police, who took a dim view such things, and Lee’s parents convinced him to return to the United States in 1959, a trip largely financed by giving Cha-Cha lessons to first-class passengers aboard the ship to America. Working odd jobs and teaching Kung Fu, Lee entered the University of Washington in 1961, eventually earning a degree in philosophy. His reputation as a martial artist grew, and in 1964 he was invited by Kenpo Karate pioneer Ed Parker to do a demonstration at the Long Beach International Karate Championships. His performance became the sensation of the martial arts world, and Lee opened his first formal school in Oakland, California later that year. Within a few months, rival instructor Wong Jack Man, taking umbrage at Lee’s policy of teaching all students regardless of ethnicity, challenged Lee to a fight with the loser closing his school. By all accounts, Lee won the no-holds-barred contest handily, but his difficulty in forcing his opponent to submit caused him to seriously rethink his approach to martial arts. Lee would eventually devise a new style called Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist). While retaining the economy of motion embodied in Wing Chun, Lee’s new style did away with strict conceptions of form and freely incorporated techniques from a wide variety of styles, including the top Kung Fu schools as well as boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, Philippine Boxing, and even some ideas from fencing. In 1966, Lee starred as Kato in the television series “The Green Hornet”. Though modestly received in the United States, “The Green Hornet” was a huge success in Hong Kong. After establishing a fantastically successful martial arts school in Los Angeles that catered to several celebrity clients, Lee capitalized on his Hong Kong popularity, returning to the city in 1970 to do a series of martial arts films, including “Fists of Fury” and “The Chinese Connection”. These films became popular worldwide, earning Lee a fanatically devoted following. He followed these with the higher-budgeted “Enter the Dragon” and “Return of the Dragon”, directing the latter himself. In 1973, after experiencing a series of headaches, Bruce Lee died of a cerebral edema. Though many still speculate that the incongruous death of “the fittest man alive” may have been a martial arts-connected murder of some sort, the prevailing medical opinion remains that Lee died from an unfortunate combination of medications.

Leonard Nimoy. Actor. He is best remembered as his role as ‘Spock’ in the “Star Trek” science fiction television and motion picture franchise. After serving in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955, he appeared in small roles in a few films, but mostly found roles in television series, appearing in episodes of “Dragnet”, “Sea Hunt”, “Bonanza”, “Wagon Train”, “Rawhide”, “The Twilight Zone”, “The Untouchables”, “The Outer Limits”, “Get Smart” and “Gunsmoke” before being spotted by ‘Star Trek’ creator Gene Roddenberry. Nimoy was offered the role of ‘Spock’, co-starred in the 1965 “Star Trek” pilot. He would go on to appear on the series until it was canceled in 1969, but would go on to be a hit in syndication, spawning films and other television incarnations and gaining a huge following of fans known as “Trekkers” or “Trekkies”. After the series ended, he joined the fourth season of spy series “Mission: Impossible”, but left after the fifth season. He went on to star in the 1971 Western “Catlow” and the 1978 remake of the science fiction movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. He also made a series of television films throughout the 1970s and received an Emmy nomination in 1982 for his role as Golda Meir’s husband in telepic “A Woman Called Golda”. He also narrated the docu-series “In Search of …,”. In 1979, he reprised his role as ‘Spock’ for 1979’s movie “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”, as well as the sequels that would continue into the 1990s: “The Wrath of Khan” (1982), “The Search for Spock” (1984), “The Voyage Home” (1986), “The Final Frontier” (1989) and “The Undiscovered Country” (1991). Nimoy also directed for television, including episodes of “Rod Serling’s Night Gallery” and “T.J. Hooker”, as well as four other feature films, including “3 Men and a Baby” (1987) and “The Good Mother’ (1988). Nimoy, who also had a long history of stage work, wrote two autobiographies: “I Am Not Spock” in 1977 and “I Am Spock” in 1995, as well as several books of poetry and released five albums, the first of which was space-based music and spoken word. He died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Bob Kane. Cartoonist. Born in New York City, he was a comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comic’s superhero “Batman” character. He was a trainee animator when he entered the comic book field in 1936. Merging with DC Comics action series in 1938, editors were in a scramble for more heroes such as Superman. It was then when Kane who had influences from film actor action characters, conceived “Batman” as a superhero. Writer Bill Finger joined artist Kane and the “Batman” character debuted in DC’s Detective Comics series in May 1939, and was a breakout hit. For the decades to follow, he added more characters to the series which evolved “Batman” from comic books, to television shows and many full feature block buster films. He died from natural causes at age 83 in Los Angeles, California.

Joseph Wapner. Television Personality. He was a fixture on the popular television program “The People’s Court” from 1981 to 1993, appearing in nearly 2,500 episodes. A graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) Law School, he served in the U.S. Army’s 132nd infantry during the Second World War. He was a recipient of the bronze star and purple heart, and was involved in the South Pacific assault on the island of Guadalcanal. He was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1959 before advancing to the Los Angeles Superior Court. He remained on the court until his retirement in 1981. Following retirement from the “Peoples Court” he appeared on Animal Planet’s “Judge Wapner’s Animal Court.” He was the author of “A View from the Bench” published in November 1987. He died at the age of 97 after suffering a series of strokes.

Brandon Lee. Actor. Born to Bruce Lee, creator of the Jeet Kune Do style of martial arts, and the German born American, Linda Lee Emery, in Oakland, California. The Lee family moved to Hong Kong in 1971 where the senior Lee made several films, and Brandon became fluent in Cantonese. After his father’s death in 1973, the family returned to the United States. Brandon attended the Chadwick School until he was expelled for insubordination. After attaining a GED, he enrolled in Emerson College in Boston before moving to New York to attend the Lee Strasburg Academy acting school, and joined the American New Theatre. He made his film debut on American television in “Kung Fu: The Movie” in 1986. His feature film debut was in the Hong Kong produced Cantonese language film “Long Zai Jiang Hu” in 1986. He returned to American television in 1987 for “Kung Fu: The Next Generation” and a short lived role in the television series, “Ohara.” In 1990 he starred in his first English language feature film “Laser Mission,” which he followed with his breakthrough role in “Showdown in Little Tokyo.” His first starring role was the action adventure “Rapid Fire” in 1992. He was then cast as Eric Draven in “The Crow,” which was based on the comic of the same name. The production of the film was plagued with numerous problems from the beginning of filming including injuries among the crew. A week before the scheduled end of production, they were running behind schedule, and it was decided that dummy rounds used in the firearms would be made from real cartridges. On the third take of the evening, the cameras began to roll and Lee entered the scene in progress, he was shot at as scripted. Lee fell backwards against a door and collapsed. It was then discovered that he was bleeding from the abdomen and slipping into shock. An ambulance was called. At the hospital, five hours of surgery was unable to save the actor’s life. A fragment of a dummy bullet had apparently been lodged in the barrel of the gun, and the blank charge, when fired, propelled the fragment into Lee’s abdomen where it lodged near his spine.

Rodney Dangerfield. Actor, Comedian. Born Jacob Cohen, a native of Long Island, New York, he was fortunate to have two starts in the show business industry. His first was in the 1940s appearing in the “Borscht Belt” resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York state where he wrote jokes, was a singing waiter and did a stand up act under the name of Jack Roy. He struggled until he decided to leave the business to earn a stable living as aluminum siding salesman and a house painter. He would later return in the 1960s at age 40 as Rodney Dangerfield, and his stand up act took off with various television appearances and comedy albums. The man who was famous for his signature phrase “I can’t get no respect,” he opened up the self-named comedy club “Dangerfield’s” in New York City, New York, where he helped the careers of notable comics such as Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr, Jeff Foxworthy, Tim Allen and Sam Kinison. His movie career was as varied as his comedy act, making his acting debut in the 1971 movie “The Projectionist.” He would later appear in such movies as “Caddyshack,” “Easy Money,” “Back to School,” “Ladybugs,” “Moving,” “The Scout,” and “Meet Wally Sparks.” He took a rare turn at dramatic acting in 1994 that drew positive reviews in “Natural Born Killers” as the abusive father. Over the years, he never lost a blunt and sarcastic appeal for his brand of humor. He was a regular when Johnny Carson hosted “The Tonight Show” and would appear frequently on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.’ One of his last appearances was in August 2004, just days before his hospitalization for heart valve replacement, on the television show, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live.’

Bela Lugosi. Legendary stage and screen actor of the 1910s through 1950s. He is most widely identified with his title role in the movie “Dracula” (1931). Born Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko in Lugos, Banat, Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania), he was the youngest of four children of a banker. Bela began his acting career on the stage in Hungary, playing in several Shakespearean plays (Hamlet, MacBeth, King Lear, and Richard III), and appeared in several silent movies of the Hungarian cinema under the stage name of Arisztid Olt. When World War I broke out, he became an infantry lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army, being wounded three times. In 1917, he married Ilona Szmik, but she died without children three years later. In 1919, Bela moved to Germany and was well received in German cinema, appearing in “The Death Caravan” (1920) and other films. Following the death of his wife, in 1921 he emigrated to the US, and worked as a laborer before being spotted in the title role of the 1927 stage play “Dracula.” When Universal Pictures decided to film “Dracula” (1931), he had to campaign vigorously for the opportunity to get the same role. When the movie, “Dracula” (1931) became successful, Lugosi was given a studio contract with Universal; that same year, he became a US citizen. In 1929, he married a wealthy San Francisco widow named Beatrice Weeks, their marriage lasted only three days, and their divorce papers named actress Clara Bow as the cause of the breakup; the notoriety quickly brought him to Hollywood film attention. Due in part to his heavy accent and his success in Dracula, he was soon typecast in such B-horror films as “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1932), “Chandu the Magician” (1932), “Mark of the Vampire” (1935), “The Raven” (1935), “The Invisible Ray” (1936), “Son of Frankenstein” (1939), “The Black Cat” (1941), “Night Monster” (1942), “Voodoo Man” (1944), and “Zombies on Broadway” (1945). He was often paired with Boris Karloff, an actor most famous as the Frankenstein monster, and despite their rivalry, they remained good friends. In the 1940s, he was reduced to making B-films, and after suffering a back injury, he became addicted to morphine. On the set, he would disguise his addiction by sipping burgundy wine. He ended up making movies for Ed Wood, considered by many as the worst director in Hollywood history, and he died while shooting the now-cult classic film “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959 – released after his death). He died of a drug related heart attack in his Los Angeles home, a copy of the script for “Final Curtain,” written by director Ed Wood, in his lap. He was buried wearing one of his many Dracula capes, per the request of his fifth wife, Hope Lininger, and his son, Bela Jr. At the time of his death, he was so poor that his family could not afford to bury him, and his friend Frank Sinatra quietly picked up the cost of the funeral. In 1997, he was honored on a 32 cent US postage stamp, part of a set of five stamps honoring “Famous Movie Monsters,” in his Dracula role.

Robert Stack. Actor. Born in Los Angeles, California to James Langford Stack and Elizabeth Modini Wood Stack. His parents divorced when he was one year old, and his mother took him to Europe when he was 3, he couldn’t speak English until he was 6. Robert spoke fluent Italian and French, but had to learn English when they returned to Los Angeles. His parents remarried in 1928. He was a National skeet champion at age 16 and a member of the all-American team. He took drama courses at the University of Southern California. When he visited the set of Universal Studios at age 20, producer Joe Pasternak offered him an opportunity to enter the business. Stack’s first film teamed him with popular starlet Deanna Durbin. He was the first actor to give Durbin an on screen kiss. During World War II, Stack served as gunnery instructor in the United States Navy. He continued his movie career and appeared in such films as “Fighter Squadron” (1948), “A Date With Judy” (1948) and “The Bullfighter And The Lady”(1951). In 1954, Stack was given his most important movie role. He appeared opposite John Wayne in “The High and the Mighty”. In 1957, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for “Written on the Wind”. He starred in more than 40 films, His early television career included appearances on live programs like, “Lux Video Theatre”, “Ford Theatre”, and “Producers Showcase” during the early 1950s Robert married Rosemarie Bowe January 23, 1956, and they had 2 children, Elizabeth and Charlie. In 1959 he co-produced and starred as Eliot Ness in the ABC crime drama “The Untouchables” and won the Best Actor Emmy in 1960. He surprised everyone with his flair for comedies in movies like “1941” (1979) and “Airplane!”(1980). Later TV audiences would come to know him from his hosting duties on TV’s “Unsolved Mysteries” which debuted in 1988.

William Frawley. Actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Lucille Ball’s gruff landlord ‘Fred Mertz’ on the groundbreaking 1950s television situation comedy “I Love Lucy.” By the time he came to “I Love Lucy” he was a veteran of vaudeville, the theatre and over 100 Hollywood motion pictures. Born in Burlington, Iowa, in his youth he sang in the St. Paul’s Catholic Church choir, played at the Burlington Opera House, and also appeared in amateur shows at the Garrick Theater. His first “real” job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. But his true love was show business, which he pursued in a vaudeville act with his brother Paul, and later joined pianist Franz Rath in an act they took to San Francisco, “A Man, a Piano, and a Nut.” After four years, in 1914 he formed a light comedy act with his new wife Edna Louise Broedt, “Frawley and Louise,” touring the Orpheum and Keith vaudeville circuits until they divorced in 1927. Then he moved to Broadway and appeared in such shows as “Here’s Howe!” “Bye, Bye Bonnie,” “The Gingham Girl,” “Sons o’ Guns,” and “She’s My Baby” (with Bea Lillie, Clifton Webb, and Irene Dunne). His first dramatic role was that of press agent ‘Ward O’Malley’ in a 1932 production of “Twentieth Century” at the Broadhurst Theater. Then in 1932, it was off to Hollywood for a seven-year contract with Paramount. When Frawley approached Lucille Ball about a part in “I Love Lucy” in 1951, she was surprised to hear from a man she knew only barely from the forties. Lucy responded, “Bill Frawley, how are you?” and promised to discuss the matter with Desi Arnaz. Arnaz agreed that Frawley would be wonderful for the ‘Fred Mertz’ role, but shared the network’s concern over his reputation for instability and drinking problems. Arnaz immediately leveled with Frawley about CBS’s reservations. He denied it, but Desi warned him that if he was late to work, or unable to perform except because of legitimate illness more than once, he’d be written out of the show. So began the saga that continued until 1957 when “Lucy” went off of prime time after 179 episodes. 

Dick York. Actor. His best known acting role was that of ‘Darrin Stephens’, the often-frustrated husband of a witch played by Elizabeth Montgomery, in the television sitcom series, “Bewitched.” Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he quickly found work in the entertainment industry. In 1943, at age 15, he became the star of the network radio program, “That Brewster Boy.” Beginning in movies in 1947, with the role of Philip Norton in the film “Shy Guy,” his roles were few and far between. To further develop his skills and to earn money, he played a number of small roles on early television shows, beginning with “Visit to a Small Planet” on the Goodyear Television Playhouse in May of 1955. Over the next several years, he continued playing small, supporting actor roles on such TV series as “Kraft Television Theater,” “The Philco Television Playhouse,” “Studio One,” “The United States Steel Hour,” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” all the while doing numerous other supporting actor roles in less than memorable films, waiting for the big breakthrough role which never came. In 1959, while acting in the role of Private Renziehausen in the cavalry film “They Came to Cordura,” he injured his back, which later aggravated into a painful degenerative spine injury. York was in the movie “Inherit the Wind” in 1960, which was based on the real-life court case of 1925, “Scopes Monkey Trial.” In the film two great lawyers argued the case for and against a science teacher, the role played by York, accused of the crime of teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school biology class room. In 1964 he won the supporting role of Darrin Stephens in the comic TV series “Bewitched,” where he played the all-too-human husband of a witch with supernatural powers, played by Elizabeth Montgomery. His back continued to hurt him, and he quit the role in 1969, being replaced by actor Dick Sargent. From 1983 to 1985, he regained his health enough to play a couple of small supporting roles in such TV series as “Simon and Simon” and “Fantasy Island.” He later founded Acting for Life, a private fund raising effort for the homeless. 

Red West. Actor, Stuntman. He went from being a body guard and confidant for Elvis Presley to becoming a Hollywood stuntman and respectable actor. Born Robert Gene West, he was a well-rounded athlete during his youth and participated in high school football and later was a Golden Gloves boxer and karate instructor. He began his association with Elvis Presley as a driver and following service with the United States Marine Corps, West expanded on his friendship with Presley. He initiated his career in entertainment during the late 1950s with bit roles in film and television. West appeared in several of Presley’s pictures including “Kid Galahad” (1962), “Viva Las Vegas” (1965) and “Harum Scarum” (1965). He became a familiar presence to television audiences on the program “The Wild, Wild West” (1967 to 1969); usually cast as a villain sidekick. Additionally, he performed stunt work during the course of the show’s run. He formed a friendship with the series’ star Robert Conrad for which led to West being cast in the recurring part of ‘Sergeant Micklin’ in the show “Black Sheep Squadron” (1977 to 1978), of which Conrad was the star. West remained busy in both TV and films (among his films include “Road House”, 1989) into the 2010s. 

Don Brockett. Actor. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he is best known for his role as Chef Brockett on the children’s television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”. He also had parts in many major films including “Flashdance” (1983), “Day of the Dead” (1985), “Fletch Lives” (1989), “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991) and “Houseguest” (1995). He died of a heart attack at age 65.

Dennis Hopper. Actor, Motion Picture Director. Considered one of Hollywood’s most outspoken and versatile actors, he appeared in over 150 motion pictures during his lifetime, working as both an actor and film director in a career that spanned over five decades. Known in the motion picture industry for his anti-establishment reputation, he was nominated for two Academy Awards during his professional career. His first Oscar nomination came for his work in the 1969 motion picture “Easy Rider” which he wrote, co-starred and directed, and as a Best Supporting Actor nominee for his work in the 1987 basketball classic “Hoosiers” with Gene Hackman. He made his motion picture debut in the 1955 film “Rebel Without a Cause,” but it wasn’t until his performance as a drug-induced motorcycle hippie in “Easy Rider,” that launched him on path to international stardom. In 1979 he received critical acclaim for his screen performance as a maniacal Vietnam War photojournalist, working alongside Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen in the motion picture “Apocalypse Now.” He became a fan favorite for his villainous portrayals as the mad bomber in the 1994 motion picture “Speed,” and as the one-eyed leader of the “Smokers” in the post-apocalyptic film “Waterworld” (1995). His notable film credits include “Giant” (1956), “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” (1957), “Key Witness” (1960), “Cool Hand Luke” (1967), “Hang ‘Em High (1968), “True Grit” (1969), “Rumble Fish” (1983), “Blue Velvet” (1986), “Black Widow” (1987), “Blood Red” (1989), “Paris Trout” (1991), “The Blackout” (1997), “Lured Innocence” (1999), “The Spreading Ground” (2000), “The Piano Player” (2002), “Legacy” (2004) and “Alpha and Omega” in 2010. His notable television credits include: “Medic” “Cheyenne” “Studio One” “The Rifleman” “The Twilight Zone” “Wagon Train” “Petticoat Junction” “Bonanza” “Gunsmoke” “The Big Valley” “Saturday Night Live” “24” “Las Vegas” and “Crash.” In 1997 he was voted as one of Hollywood’s Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time by the British publication “Empire Magazine,” and was the recipient of several lifetime achievement awards. During the final years of his life he appeared frequently on television as a commercial spokesman for Ameriprise Financial Services. Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002, he suffered a recurrence of the disease in October 2009, which ultimately resulted in his death. He made his final public appearance on Friday March 26, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, accepting a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Famous Actresses Graves 

Florence Henderson. Actress. Born Florence Agnes Henderson, she was best known to television viewers as Carol Brady, the matriarch on the ABC television sitcom “The Brady Bunch” from 1969 to 1974. She grew up in rural Kentucky and received her high school education at St. Frances Academy in Owensboro, Kentucky. She later moved to New York City and studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She made her stage debut in 1952 in the musical comedy “Wish You Were Here” and that same year, was cast in the lead role of Laurey in the national tour of “Oklahoma!”. Her other stage credits included the title role in “Fanny” from 1954 to 1956, Maria in the national tour of “The Sound of Music” in 1961, Anna in the “The King and I” in 1965, and Nellie Forbush in “South Pacific” in 1967. Her popularity on the stage led her to numerous appearances on TV variety shows as well as game and talk shows. She was the first female guest host on “The Tonight Show” in 1962. Her actual television debut came in 1955 on the television series “I Spy” (not the 1960s series with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp). Besides “The Brady Bunch” and its several spin-offs, television movies, and reunion specials, her other television credits included “The United States Steel Hour”, “Medical Center”, “The Love Boat”, “Hart to Hart”, “Fantasy Island”, “The Love Boat”, “Murder, She Wrote”, “Dave’s World”, and “30 Rock”. She also hosted the television cooking shows “Country Kitchen” from 1985 to 1993 and “Florence Henderson’s Short-Cut Cooking” from 1998 to 1999. She also appeared in several films during her career. She was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996. She passed away of heart failure.

Carrie Fisher. Actress, Author. The daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher, she will be remembered for playing ‘Princess Leia’ in the “Star Wars” film franchise. She followed her parents into the entertainment industry and made her professional debut in the TV-Movie “Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children” (1969). In 1973, she co-starred opposite her mother on the Tony Award garnered play “Irene”. After this experience, she studied at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. This was followed with her motion picture debut in “Shampoo” (1975). In 2008, She received an Emmy Award nomination for an episode from the series “30 Rock”. Her 1987 novel “Postcards from the Edge” was made into a 1990 motion picture adaptation which starred Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine. Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, she went on to become an advocate for mental health issues. Additionally, she battled drug addiction during part of her career. She was briefly married to singer Paul Simon from 1983 until 1984. Her daughter Billie Lourd went on to become a successful actress in her own right. Fisher suffered a serious heart attack onboard a flight from London to Los Angeles and died four days later. Her book “The Princess Diarist” was released just prior to her death.

Bettie Page. Model, American Folk Figure. Called variously the “Queen of Pinups”, the “Queen of Curves”, and the “Dark Angel”, she was the subject of thousands of photographs during and shortly after the Korean War years years. Raised in Nashville, Tennessee, in a large and ultimately broken family in which she was molested by her father while her mother worked at two jobs, she was nevertheless a good student, graduating as salutatorian of her high school class in 1940. In 1943 she married for the first of several times and in 1944 graduated from George Peabody College. Bettie drifted for a time, working odd jobs in San Francisco, Miami, Haiti, and finally New York. Spotted on Coney Island in 1950 by photographer (and New York City Policeman) Jerry Tibbs, she posed for her first professional photos. Cass Carr took a large number of images which quickly became popular in such publications as “Wink”, “Titter”, and “Eyefull”; between 1952 and 1957 Bettie was the subject of later controversial bondage and sadomasochism themed photographs and short films (with such titles as “Leopard Bikini Bound”) produced and sold via mail order by Irving Klaw. In 1953 acting lessons led to some film, television, and stage work, with “Striporama” providing the only movie preservation of her voice. During a 1954 Miami vacation Bettie met model and photographer Bunny Yeager setting the stage for her best remembered work; posing with and without leopard skins (she always made her own costumes and did her own hair and make up) at Florida’s now defunct Africa USA theme park, she gained a large audience. Wearing a Santa hat and nothing else she was “Playboy” magazine’s Miss January 1955; she continued to model up thru 1957, and while she often posed nude the images were never sexually explicit. During the late 1950s she gave behind the scenes help to the F.B.I. and to Estes Kefauver’s Senate Committee investigating the mail order pornography industry, though she was never made to testify in public. Bettie dropped from view in 1957, moving to Florida where she became a born-again Christian on New Year’s Eve 1958; she attended three different Bible colleges and worked for several Christian organizations including that of Dr. Billy Graham. Her personal life remained troubled, with hospitalizations for psychiatric problems and more failed marriages, including a second try with her first husband Billy Neal. Gradually in the early 1980s collections of her photos appeared, a popular comic book character was built around her, and a fan magazine called “The Betty Pages” gained good circulation. By the early 1990s Bettie was broke and living in a shelter, for a time completely unaware that others were making money off of her. After one agent failed to assist her she hired the Curtis Management Group and finally began collecting some royalties. An “official” 1996 biography entitled “Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-up Legend” told her story, then Richard Foster’s 1997 “The Real Bettie Page: The Truth About the Queen of Pinups” told the darker side of it; Bettie gave a few interviews and appeared at occasional autograph sessions, though she repeatedly declined to be photographed. In 2005 she was portrayed by Gretchen Mol in “The Notorious Bettie Page”; multiple DVDs have been released of her films including those done for Klaw and her image continues to be marketed worldwide. At her death from heart disease litigation over the rights to her legacy was ongoing. In a 1998 “Playboy” interview she said of her time before the camera: “I never thought it was shameful. I felt normal. It’s just that it was much better than pounding a typewriter eight hours a day, which gets monotonous”.

Mary Tyler Moore. Actress. She was an actress best known for her roles on both the 1960s sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and the 1970s sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Originally a dancer, she got her start in television as a dancing elf “Happy Hotpoint” in Hotpoint Appliance commercials during the popular show “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” in 1952. She would go to perform in various television shows such as “Richard Diamond, Private Detective”, “Bourbon Street Beat”, “77 Sunset Strip”, “Riverboat”, “Bachelor Father”, and “Hawaiian Eye”. In 1961 she got the first television role that would make her well known to viewers and that was of Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. She would go on to play this role from 1961 to 1966, which also won her a Golden Globe in 1965 for Best Female TV Star and two Emmy Awards. After “The Dick Van Dyke Show” went off the air, she continued in acting until receiving her second big role, that of Mary Richards on”The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1970. She played this role, which won her three Emmys, from 1970 to 1977. After the show ended, she went on to act in various films and television series for the remainder of her career with such credits as “Ordinary People” (1980), “Mary”, “Annie McGuire”, “New York News”, “The Naked Truth”, “Flirting with Disaster” (1996), “That 70s Show”, and “Hot in Cleveland”. She also appeared in various theatrical productions through the years. She received numerous other honors and awards throughout her long career in acting. She, along with then husband Grant Tinker (they divorced in 1981), had a production company MTM Enterprises that produced a variety of television sitcoms and dramas during the 1970s and early 1980s. She also did charity work for both animal rights and diabetes causes through the years. 

Eva Gabor. Actress. She is best remembered for her role of ‘Lisa Douglas’ in the comic television series, “Green Acres”, in which she plays a city socialite forced to become a rural farmer’s wife when her husband, played by Eddie Albert, decides to abandon his career as a lawyer to return to his roots. Born in Budapest, Hungary, the youngest of three daughters to Vilmos and Jolie Gabor, she was considered the best actress compared to her other two sisters, Magda and Sari (Zsa Zsa). She began her career as an ice skater in Hungary, and immigrated to the United States just before World War II broke out. She married Dr. Erik Drimmer, who became the personal physician to actress Greta Garbo, and from that exposure, she decided to become an actress. Her first few films, including “Forced Landing” (1941), and “Pacific Blackout” (1942), did nothing to help her career, and for most of the decade, her appearances were minor. In 1950, she landed a starring role in the Broadway play “The Happy Time” and her quality acting got her noticed in Hollywood. Unfortunately, her sister, Zsa Zsa Gabor, arrived in Hollywood about the same time, and they were pitted against each other for many roles, although Eva managed to have hit movies in “The Last Time I saw Paris” (1954), and “Gigi” (1958). Her autobiography, “Orchids and Salami”, was published in 1954. In the 1960s, she returned to Broadway, taking on comic roles in such plays as “New Kind of Love” and in the mid 1960s to early 1970s, she landed her famous role of ‘Lisa Douglas’ in the hit television comedy, “Green Acres,” a role that gained her lasting fame. In 1990, she made a two hour television movie, “Return to Green Acres,” proving that she had not lost her comic timing. Like her sister, Zsa Zsa, she had a string of five husbands. She died in Los Angeles, California, from respiratory failure due to complications of food poisoning. She was once quoted as saying, “All any girl needs, at any time in history, is simple velvet and basic diamonds.”

Loretta King. Actress. Her best known role was as investigative newspaper reporter ‘Janet Lawton’ in maverick motion picture director Ed Wood’s 1955 film “Bride of the Monster,” with Bela Lugosi. She appeared in several episodes of Hallmark Television Playhouse the same year, but then quickly retired from film work. After her 1970 marriage to Herman Hadler, Loretta re-emerged briefly as an actress, appearing in two films under the name Loretta Hadler. Loretta King was portrayed by actress Juliet Landau in the 1994 Tim Burton bio-pic, “Ed Wood.” Interviewed in the 1996 documentary, “The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr,” Loretta disputed many of the anecdotes that other people had told of her Ed Wood period. She denied that she was ever allergic to water, or that she received her “Bride of the Monster” role in exchange for financing the film. Both of these allegations had been dramatized in 1994’s “Ed Wood.”

Brittany Murphy. Actress. She landed her first job in Hollywood when she was 14, starring as Brenda Drexell in the series Drexell’s Class. She then went on to play Molly Morgan in the short-lived The Torkelsons spinoff Almost Home. Murphy has also guest starred on several television series including Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, Blossom, and Frasier. She also had recurring roles on Sister, Sister, Party of Five, and Boy Meets World. In 1997, she began voicing the character of Luanne Platter (as well as the younger version of Joseph Gribble) on the long-running animated series King of the Hill. She went on to star in many successful films, including Clueless (1995), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Don’t Say a Word (2001), the TV adaption of the novel The Devil’s Arithmetic (2001), 8 Mile (2002) and Uptown Girls (2003) as well as many lesser-known films, such as Spun (2003). In 2004, she starred in the romantic comedy Little Black Book, and the critically acclaimed Sin City (2005). In 2009, she was cast in the Lifetime TV movie, Tribute, as the main character, Cilla.

Bobbi Kristina Brown. Singer and Reality Television Star. The only child of entertainers Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston, she was thrust into the spotlight at an early age when she appeared with her parents, who had a tumultuous 14-year marriage, tarnished by rumors of infidelity, drug use, and domestic violence, on the widely criticized 2005 reality show ‘Being Bobby Brown’. Brown performed with her mother in several live duets on such songs as “My Love is Your Love” and “Little Drummer Boy” and had appeared in the television series ‘The Houstons: On Our Own’ and ‘Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse’. Upon her mother’s death in 2012, from what was later ruled an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, she was named the sole beneficiary of her mother’s entire estate. On January 31, 2015, Brown was found face down in a bathtub in her Georgia home. Doctors later placed her in a medically induced coma after determining her brain function had significantly diminished. On February 2, she was moved to Emory University Hospital, where she remained in a coma and on a ventilator. In June of 2015, she was moved to Peachtree Christian Hospice Care where she ultimately died from her injuries.

Gene Tierney. Actress. Brooklyn born Gene Eliza Tierney would survive several major tragedies in her life during a reign of stardom as a glamorous and talented Hollywood actress. Her role in the film version of the best-selling book “Leave Her to Heaven” earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. However, her most defining performance that made her a major star was in the Otto Preminger murder mystery movie “Laura.” She had much success throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s…”The Razor’s Edge” “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” and “The Left Hand of God.” Her final career performance was in the TV miniseries “Scruples in 1980. 

Natalie Wood. Actress. Most remembered for her role of Susan Walker in “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947), a Christmas classic movie. She appeared in over 56 movies for the silver screen and television, and was nominated three times for an Oscar (she never won). She was born Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko, of Russian emigrants in San Francisco, California. Natalie won a bit part at age 4 in a movie, “Happy Land” (1943), then being shot in her Santa Rosa neighborhood. The family then moved to Los Angeles, hoping to land more film roles for her, but her second role did not come until 1946, when she appeared in “Tomorrow is Forever.” In 1947, she won the role of Susan Walker in “Miracle on 34th Street,” and began a successful career as a child star, appearing in 18 films. In 1955, she played in “Rebel Without a Cause”, the famous James Dean movie, and won an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. She played opposite John Wayne in “The Searchers” (1956) and in “Kings Go Forth” (1958). Roles continued to come to her. She appeared in “Splendor in the Grass” (1961), West Side Story (1961), as Gypsy Rose Lee in “Gypsy” (1962), and in “Love with a Proper Stranger” (1963), for which she earned her third academy award nomination. She had earned a second nomination for an academy award as best actress for “Splendor in the Grass.” In 1966, the Harvard Lampoon voted her the year’s worst actress, and she made Harvard history by appearing at the celebration to accept the award (she was the first person ever to appear in person to accept their award). After filming “This Property is Condemned” (1966), she stayed away from films for 3 years, returning to play the role of Carol Sanders in “Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice” (1969). After that, she made a few appearances on television, but spent most of her time with her family. Her only major role until 1980 was in the television mini-series “From Here to Eternity.” In 1981, she began work on “Brainstorm” (released in 1983), but she did not live to see it finished. While sailing on her yacht off Santa Catalina Island with her husband, Robert Wagner, and their friend, Christopher Walken, she disappeared one night, supposedly while trying to get into a dinghy. Her body was found just off shore the next morning, and the circumstances of her death have never been fully determined. The cause of death was determined as drowning. In a book written by her actress sister, Lana Wood, Natalie was portrayed as insecure and unhappy in life. She was married three times, first to Robert Wagner (28 Dec 1957 to 27 April 1962, divorced), then to Richard Gregson (30 May 1969 to 1 August 1971) with whom she had a daughter, Natasha. After discovering Gregson was having an affair, she divorced him and soon remarried her first husband, Robert Wagner, again on 16 July 1972. They had a daughter, Courtney Brooke Wagner, in 1974.

Barbara Bates. Movie and TV actress of the 1940s and 50s. After winning a local beauty contest, she won a trip to Hollywood where she met Cecil Coen, a publicist for UA whom would later be her first husband. Her second husband was William Reed. After some bit parts and a cover of Yank magazine in 1945, she won some parts in “A” list films, including “The Inspector General,” costarring Danny Kaye, with whom she reportedly had a brief affair. Her most memorable role was the shortest in 1950. In “All About Eve,” she played the scheming Phoebe, a wannabe actress and self proclaimed protege of Eve Harrington, played by Anne Baxter. In Eve’s bedroom, she dons her bejeweled gown, picks up a stage acting award Eve had just won, and in the very last scene of the movie, bows into a three way mirror. The image is breathtaking and critics and audiences were intrigued by the young actress. Sadly, she suffered from depression and insecurity, and as a result lost some valuable later roles. By 1958, she was out of show biz and moved back to Denver. After her husband Coen died in 1967, she became suicidal. She was found dead in her garage in 1969 from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Famous Directors / Producers / TV Host Graves

Billy Mays. Television Pitchman. He was notable for the products he advertised such as OxiClean, Orange Glo, and Mighty Putty. He recently starred in the Discovery Channel show “Pitchmen” with Anthony Sullivan. He began his selling career in 1977 on the Atlantic City boardwalk. The first item he sold was the Washmatik portable washing device. Later he traveled to home shows, auto shows, and state fairs selling various maintenance products, tools, cleaning products, and food choppers. He hit it big in 1993 when he struck up a friendship with rival salesman Max Appel who was the founder of Orange Glo International. It was after that he was hired by the company to promote their line of cleaning products such as OxiClean on the Home Shopping Network. He was CEO of Mays Promotions Inc.

Ed Sullivan. Legendary television variety show host. Born on East 114th Street in a Jewish and Irish section of Harlem, New York, he had a twin brother, Daniel, who died as a child. It was after the death of Daniel and a sister, Elizabeth, that his father, Peter, decided to move the family to Port Chester, New York. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School and Port Chester High School where he won 12 letters in athletics. He ran away from home in 1917 to Chicago where he tried to enlist in the Navy but was rejected because of his age. After high school graduation, Sullivan worked for The Port Chester Daily Item – a newspaper he had written sports news for in high school. In 1919, he joined The Hartford Post, which folded in his first week there. He then landed a job at The New York Evening Mail, which closed in 1923. From 1923-1927 he wrote for The Associated Press, The Philadelphia Bulletin, The Morning World, The Morning Telegraph, The New York Bulletin, and The Leader. Finally, in 1927, Sullivan joined The Evening Graphic as a sports writer and quickly became sports editor. Two years later, when Walter Winchell moved to The New York Daily News, Sullivan became the paper’s gossip columnist. During his career as a columnist, he produced vaudeville shows, which he was also master of ceremonies for, in the 1920s and 1930s. He also directed a radio program at WABC (which later became WCBS) and organized benefit shows for a variety of causes, which reached its peak during World War II. It was through emceeing that Sullivan entered the new world of television. In 1947, he was master of ceremonies for the Harvest Moon Ball, an annual event sponsored by The New York Daily News. The event was broadcast on TV and drew the attention of Worthington Miner, manager of television program and development at CBS, who was impressed with Sullivan’s showmanship and hired him to be master of ceremonies for the TV show, “Toast of the Town.” The show eventually became “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The show, which Sullivan affectionately called a “rilly big shew” from the first broadcast, ran on CBS from June 1948 until 1971, when the station dropped the show in favor of movies. During the show’s 23 year run, between 45 and 50 million people tuned in for a weekly cavalcade of live performances from the biggest music acts, performances from Broadway musicals (some of which are the only visual recordings of those shows), and an array of carnival performers. The show cost $8 million per year to produced for which Sullivan received $164,000 annually to host. In the early years, Sullivan even put up some of his own salary to pay the talent when CBS wouldn’t. At one time, it cost $82,000 for one minute of advertising on his show. His show featured the American TV debuts of The Beatles, Humphrey Bogart, Jackie Gleason, Maria Callas, Elvis Presley and Rudolf Nureyev, among others. The Beatles’ February 9, 1964, appearance remains one of the most watched shows in television history. Sullivan also introduced the Italian puppet mouse Topo Gigio to the world. The puppet’s creator, Maria Perego Caldura of Milan, later secured a patent and the puppet went on to become a movie star. He was honored many times and in many ways – most notably on the December 10, 1967, broadcast when CBS renamed the studio he worked in “The Ed Sullivan Theater.” David Letterman taped his late night show in that theater.

Danny Thomas. Actor, Singer, Producer. His career began as a nightclub comedian with a brief fling in the movies. His greatest success was achieved in television starring in long run sitcom’s then a producer responsible for such shows as…Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gomer Pyle and the Mod Squad. However, his show business career pales in comparison to his role as Humanitarian. As a young man, he embraced as his patron saint, St Jude Thaddeus, one attributed to lost or impossible causes and founded as a memorial, St Jude’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, using much of his own money while spearheading the fundraising for its construction. For good measure, Danny Thomas, founded ALSAC (American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities) an organization comprised of wealthy Arabs that raises funds for the maintenance and operating costs of the hospital allowing free treatment to needy children while finding cures for catastrophic children’s diseases. He was born Muzyard Yaakoob (Amos Jacob) in Deerfield Michigan the fifth of 10 children born to Arab immigrants. The family moved to nearby Toledo, where he grew up considering the city his hometown. Schooled by Ursuline nuns at St. Francis de Sales parochial school then attended Woodward High School becoming a drop out in his junior year to pursue a show business career. Exposed to movies after taking a job selling snacks in the isles of the Empire Theater, St. Clair & Orange street, downtown Toledo, Amos became enamored as he watched during the course of his duties dreaming of a movie career. He began his career as a singer at a Detroit radio station while also performing as an MC-comedian in nightclubs. He first performed under his Anglicized birth name, Amos Jacobs, before settling on Danny Thomas, a derivative from first names of his two brothers. Danny debuted in 1946 with a brief film career with lead and supporting roles as a comic. He achieved success on television starring in the long running sitcom “Make Room for Daddy” then starring in a number of specials while making many guest appearances. Stepping behind the camera in late 1950’s, he formed a partnership which produced many successful television shows. Danny worked for his St Jude Hospital project until the end of his life. While taking part in the hospital’s 29th anniversary, he filmed a television commercial for the facility while signing fundraising copies of his autobiography in the Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion. He pointed to the building’s chapel uttering a wish to be buried there upon his demise. Returning to Los Angeles, he suffered, a massive heart attack, two days later, which claimed his life at age 79. His funeral was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church located in Hollywood, attended by former Presidents Gerald Ford & Ronald Reagan and a huge crowd of Hollywood celebrities. A special message from President George Bush lauding the entertainer was read. His remains were transported to Memphis where he lay in state in the Pavilion, while families stood in line for hours, to pay tribute to this extraordinary compassionate man until he was interred on the grounds in a plot now known as the Danny and Rose Marie Memorial Garden. Legacy…He cornered the market in humanitarian awards receiving hundreds. Some of the most noteworthy…On April 16, 1984, President Ronald Reagan presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal for his work with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Pope Paul VI presented Danny the highest honor that could bestowed up a layman…Knight Commander with Star in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. The American Medical Association bestowed The Layman Award, it’s highest honor to a nonmedical personal. He was the father of actress Marlo Thomas and TV producer Tony Thomas. Received an Emmy Best Actor starring in a Regular Series “Make Room for Daddy” in 1954 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He authored an autobiography, “Make Room for Danny” in 1990. The Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion is the repository for thousands of artifacts from his life. Its presence allows the hospital to further raise funds for the facility by operating an extensive gift shop with an on-line “The Hope Catalog.” Adjacent to the Pavilion is the, Danny and Rose Marie Thomas Memorial Garden which is not only the site of the burial crypt of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas and his wife Rose Marie but a functional park which furnishes a contemplative setting for hospital staff workers and visitors alike to enjoy a peaceful place for relaxation.