Hollywood Memorial Park, one of the most famous Cemeteries of the Stars, may have to lock its gates for good if a new owner doesn't work out.

The century old 62-acre cemetery behind Paramount Studios is home to the remains of Cecil B. DeMille, Jayne Mansfield, Mel Blanc and hundreds of other movie legends. Since the Hollywood Cemetery Association filed for bankruptcy nearly two years ago, the cemetery has been run by a court-appointed trustee. It was auctioned last week, and funeral home owner Buck Kamphausen bid $275,000, which was below the bank-required minimum.

The 79,000 resting tenants of the Park are used to the overhead trample of tourist feet, who seek out the Douglas Fairbanks Sr. monument or the crypt of Rudolph Valentino. The cemetery has been battered by tourism wear and tear, vandalism and the 1994 LA earthquake, and would cost millions to fix.

If Kamphausen is declared the new owner, he'll have to make repairs, and figure out a way to make money. One suggestion has been the installation of "video tombstones," -- vandal-proof kiosks, triggered by stepping on a pressure plate over a grave, that show film clips and star bios.

We last visited the cemetery in March, 1997. A few of our little-known favorites:
The ballistic grave marker of Carl Morgan Bigsby -- a replica Atlas missile, launched by the United States on Dec. 18, 1958. The inscription says: 'Retired by God.' Bigsby died in 1959.

The inscription on the Defenders of Industrial Freedom Monument, which honors 20 LA Times employees killed in a labor dispute explosion at the printing plant in 1910. It reads: "Their consecrated dust, moistened by tears of measureless compassion, will nourish the Tree of Liberty; the supreme sacrifice of their useful lives shall ensure as a deathless example to their countrymen; their bodies pulsate no more, but their souls are immortal."

In contrast, cartoon voice wizard Mel Blanc's grave is a simple, gray, granite tombstone, emblazoned with a six-point star and a cheery, "That's all, folks."

[11/16/1997]