The neglected Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery breathes with new life, due to the efforts of entrepreneur Tyler Cassity, 28 year old son of a St. Louis mortuary chain owner, and his investors. Cassity bought it last April for $375,000, and has renamed this final resting place of countless movie stars "Hollywood Forever." It will encourage tourists to visit and spend the day.

The 620-acre property opened in 1901, and is eternal home to Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Charlie Chaplin, Peter Lorre, and Cecil B. DeMille. Then there's Fatty Arbuckle's accuser, Virginia Rappe, and "Alfalfa" of Little Rascals fame. It also is home to the Defenders of Industrial Freedom Monument, and a Scale Replica Atlas Missile.

The cemetery had undergone a steady battering over the years, by earthquake, El Nino, and vandalism. The new owners are engaged in the $7 million renovation project, restoring damaged monuments and crypts, sprucing up the grounds, and making room for an additional 60,000 inhabitants.

The new owners have added fabulous features that every cemetery will soon need to compete. Families can watch videos of the deceased in a kiosk, from low-tech life memories and good-bye messages, to lavish biographies with special effects. Another burial option: Cassity hopes to record DNA analysis of the recently dead on CD-ROMs, which will be stored with locks of hair, to the delight of future scientists and movie fans. (6000 Santa Monica Boulevard)

[02/13/1999]