Just past the back lot of Paramount Studios, behind a low stone wall on Santa Monica Boulevard, sits one of the most cinematic cemeteries in the world. Hollywood Forever Cemetery has been receiving Los Angeles’s dead since 1899. Walking its sixty-two acres today feels less like visiting a graveyard and more like touring a living museum. Reflecting ponds catch the afternoon light, palm trees line the main paths, and peacocks wander the grounds as though they’re extras waiting for their next scene.
This self-guided tour covers the cemetery’s biggest names, along with a few stories you probably haven’t heard before. Plan for two to three hours if you want to see everything, though a quicker pass works fine if you’re short on time.
The Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles
Rudolph Valentino, the Cemetery’s First Star
Head to the Cathedral Mausoleum first, where Rudolph Valentino has rested since 1926. The silent film star’s crypt still draws steady visitors nearly a century after his death.
His sudden passing at age thirty-one sparked one of the earliest waves of mass celebrity mourning in American history. Fans still leave flowers outside his crypt every August, on the anniversary of his death.
Judy Garland’s Long Way Home
A short walk away, inside the Abbey of the Psalms, you’ll find Judy Garland. She died in 1969 and was originally buried in New York. However, her family moved her remains here in 2017, nearly five decades later. That’s because her children wanted her resting among the Hollywood community that shaped her career from childhood onward. Few other graves on this tour carry quite that sense of a journey finally completed.
A Monument to an Old Injustice
Nearby, look for a pink marble cenotaph dedicated to Hattie McDaniel, the first Black performer to win an Academy Award, for her role in Gone with the Wind. McDaniel wanted to be buried at what was then called Hollywood Memorial Park. But the cemetery’s segregation policies in the 1950s blocked that wish entirely.
Her family buried her at Rosedale Cemetery instead, several miles away. In 1999, Hollywood Forever finally built this memorial to honor her. It corrects, at least symbolically, an injustice from its own past.
Toto’s Bittersweet Tribute
Take a short detour toward the western side of the Cathedral Mausoleum. There, you’ll find a small bronze statue honoring Terry, the Cairn Terrier who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz.
Construction crews paved over Terry’s actual grave decades ago while building the Ventura Freeway through her trainer’s property in the San Fernando Valley. Fans raised the money for this memorial in 2011. It’s a small, touching stop after walking past so many human legends.
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Mickey Rooney Crypt (credit: Randy Yagi)
Character Actors and Comic Voices
This section of the cemetery holds an unusually deep bench of golden-age talent. Mickey Rooney, one of MGM’s biggest child stars, rests in a crypt outside the Cathedral Mausoleum.. Mel Blanc, the voice behind Bugs Bunny and dozens of other cartoon characters, lies nearby. In addition, you’ll also find Peter Lorre, the character actor known for his unmistakable voice in films like Casablanca. Director John Huston, who made The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen, rests here too. Bandleader Woody Herman rounds out this group, in a sarcophagus between the Cathedral Mausoleum and the Fairbanks Lawn.
Would You Believe He’s Buried Here?
Don Adams, best known as the bumbling Agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s television classic Get Smart, has one of the most distinctive grave markers in the cemetery. A white marble angel stands over his plot, and a bronze placard shows him holding his famous spy shoe phone. It’s the kind of detail that makes you stop, smile, and stay a few minutes longer than planned. By the way, Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for the role and later became the voice of Inspector Gadget, earning him fans across multiple generations.
The Cenotaph of a Blonde Bombshell
Near the lake’s edge, you’ll spot a cenotaph for Jayne Mansfield. The actress died in a 1967 car accident and is actually buried in her home state of Pennsylvania. Fans raised money for this memorial decades later, much like they did for Toto. Between Mansfield and Hattie McDaniel, this cemetery has an odd specialty in tributes for people who aren’t technically buried here.
A Garden of Legends, Close to the Lake
Anne Heche, who died in 2022 following a fiery car crash in Los Angeles, rests in the Cathedral Mausoleum Extension, close to Mickey Rooney’s crypt. Her sons chose the spot specifically for its serene setting and its proximity to so many of her Hollywood peers.
Elsewhere on the grounds, Burt Reynolds rests in the Garden of Legends section following his death in 2018.
Directors, Silent Stars, and Hollywood Royalty
One of the most striking stops on the entire property is the Douglas Fairbanks reflecting pool, just west of the Cathedral Mausoleum. The long marble tomb sits at the water’s edge, surrounded by manicured hedges. Both Douglas Fairbanks Sr., known as the King of Hollywood during the silent era, and his son Douglas Fairbanks Jr., rest inside together. It’s one of the grandest memorials in the cemetery, and easy to find even without a map.
Nearby, you’ll find Cecil B. DeMille, the director who helped define epic Hollywood filmmaking with The Ten Commandments and Samson and Delilah. His tomb is anything but subtle. Two large matching stone sarcophagi sit side by side, where DeMille rests alongside his wife Constance and their family. Stand at his grave and look south, and the Paramount Studios water tower comes into view, the very lot where so much of his career unfolded.
Tyrone Power, one of Hollywood’s biggest matinee idols of the 1940s, rests in this same area. He died suddenly at just forty-four while filming a sword fight scene in Spain. His death shocked the industry, and his grave still draws steady visitors today.
Punk and Alternative Rock, Memorialized
Walk toward the back of the property to find the Ramones connection. Dee Dee Ramone, the band’s bassist, rests here under a marker shaped like his own gravestone tattoo design. Johnny Ramone’s memorial sits close by, complete with an eight-foot bronze statue of him mid-riff. He isn’t technically buried inside the statue yet, though. His widow currently holds his ashes, and the two plan to be inurned together once she passes. While his music isn’t punk, Chris Cornell, the Soundgarden frontman, is just steps away. His grave draws steady visitors from the rock community, many of whom leave guitar picks alongside the flowers.
Hollywood’s Most Recent Arrivals
Hollywood Forever keeps adding names, even in just the past few years. Paul Reubens, known to generations as Pee-wee Herman, rested here after his death in 2023, having reportedly visited the cemetery for years, drawn by its peacocks and allure. Stella Stevens, best remembered for The Nutty Professor and The Poseidon Adventure, joined the Cathedral Mausoleum that same year. Director David Lynch, who died in January 2025, now rests among the legends who once inspired his own surreal work. Loni Anderson, beloved as the sharp and glamorous Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati, was laid to rest in the Gower Court Mausoleum in August 2025, just two days shy of her eightieth birthday. Neil Sedaka, who wrote or co-wrote more than five hundred songs over six decades, died in February 2026 and was buried in the adjoining Beth Olam Cemetery, the historic Jewish burial ground that shares Hollywood Forever’s grounds.
The Peacocks of Hollywood Forever
You’ll hear them before you see them. A sharp, almost theatrical cry echoes across the grounds, and then one appears, stepping out from behind a headstone as if it rehearsed the entrance.
Hollywood Forever is home to roughly fifty-three peacocks and peahens, and their presence here is no accident. The land beneath the cemetery’s lake and reflecting pools was originally natural wetland, making it a hospitable habitat for birds long before any celebrities arrived. An employee introduced a few pairs of peacocks over a decade ago, and the flock has grown steadily ever since.
Cemetery president Tyler Cassity has described the animals as an antidote to death, something alive and full of movement in a place defined by loss. It’s hard to argue with that reasoning when a peacock spreads its feathers twenty feet from Rudolph Valentino’s crypt.
On weekdays, the birds roam freely across the lawns. On weekends, they’re housed in pens on the north side of the grounds for their own safety during larger events. Plan a weekday visit if you want the full experience. During late summer molting season, the males shed their colorful tail feathers across the grounds. If you find one lying in the grass, you’re welcome to take it home as a souvenir.
Before You Go
Hours and Parking
Hollywood Forever operates from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, with slightly shorter hours on weekends. Plan your visit accordingly, since the gates close promptly. Admission and parking are both free, with a lot available just past the main entrance on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Etiquette to Keep in Mind
This remains an active burial ground. Keep your voice down, stay off private family plots, and avoid anything that feels disruptive. Funerals and family visits happen here regularly, even alongside the steady flow of tourists. Photography is generally welcome throughout the grounds, though it pays to be discreet near anyone who appears to be grieving.
What to Bring
Hollywood Forever’s grounds stretch farther than they first appear from the entrance. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water if you’re visiting during warmer months. The six-dollar map from the flower shop will save you more walking than you’d expect, especially since many of the best stories here sit well off the main paths.
Worth the Detour
Hollywood Forever rewards visitors who slow down and read every marker. From silent-era royalty to last year’s losses, the cemetery functions as a living timeline for the industry that built this city.
If you want to keep the day going, Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park sits about eight miles west. It offers a completely different kind of cemetery experience: intimate, easy to miss, and just as packed with famous names.
Related: Westwood Village Memorial Park Celebrity Graves: A Self-Guided Tour
About The Author
Randy Yagi is an award-winning writer who served as the National Travel Writer for CBS from 2012 to 2019. More than 900 of his stories still appear in syndication across 23 CBS websites, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. During his peak years with CBS, Randy had a reported digital audience reach of 489 million and 5.5 million monthly visitors. Additionally, his stories have appeared in the Daily Meal, CBS News, CBS Radio, Engadget, NBC.com, NJ.com, MSN.com and Radio.com. He earned a Media Fellowship from Stanford University and is a Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW) member.
