Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and
Speaker 1: there's Chuck and guests. Who's here. It's j E. R.
Speaker 1: I Jerry, our producer, and this is short stuff. I'm
Speaker 1: glad you spelled that because no one ever spells it right.
Speaker 1: I My brain wanted so bad to go to j
Speaker 1: E l l Oh. Yeah, and I had to stop myself.
Speaker 1: I think if you go back and listen, there's a
Speaker 1: half of a pause there, and that's me stopping myself
Speaker 1: from spelling jello instead. I'll bet you did. We know
Speaker 1: each other so well? Can we talk about Forest Lawn Cemetery? Oh? Well, well,
Speaker 1: you've probably never been there. I have not, have you?
Speaker 1: I have? Uh? I used to live not too far
Speaker 1: from there in Eagle Rock. Uh. It is a it's
Speaker 1: called Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, kind of situated
Speaker 1: between Pasadena and downtown l A. Which ended up being
Speaker 1: a good thing back when it was first. What would
Speaker 1: you do install it? Yeah? They installed the cemetery. I
Speaker 1: guess you build things. And he established? Yeah, established, that's
Speaker 1: the word. But it was established by Dr Hubert Eaton
Speaker 1: about three acres worth in nineteen seventeen. Big thanks to
Speaker 1: Kate Morrigan of how stuff works with this one. But
Speaker 1: Hubert Eaton had it was a bit of a visionary
Speaker 1: and that he was just sort of known as and
Speaker 1: is still known as the Builder, this very revered figure
Speaker 1: for doing something quite different with his cemetery. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: was like one part Gomez Adams in one part Walt Disney.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm gonna that's what I'm gonna put him mask.
Speaker 1: But there's a plaque there called um with the title
Speaker 1: the Builder's Dream and the Builder's Creed Creed, and he
Speaker 1: says that um, he this is supposed to be a
Speaker 1: great park, devoid of misshape and monuments and other signs
Speaker 1: of earthly death, but filled with towering trees, sweeping lawns,
Speaker 1: splashing fountains, beautiful statutory and memorial architecture. And it's signed
Speaker 1: the Builder and apparently still today that's what they referred
Speaker 1: to Dr Eaton as at the cemetery. But he achieved
Speaker 1: his vision. Um. This was all established at a time, Chuck.
Speaker 1: When you know, people have been making cemeteries in the
Speaker 1: United States for hundreds of years by this time, and
Speaker 1: there was like a certain way that you made them,
Speaker 1: and Dr Hubert Eaton happened to be at this place
Speaker 1: in southern California at a time where it was starting
Speaker 1: to come alive, and it was a place where you
Speaker 1: could reinvent yourself. And he used that opportunity to reinvent
Speaker 1: cemeteries with Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Yeah, and it was
Speaker 1: a time in southern California and Los Angeles where, uh,
Speaker 1: well a couple of things on that he he wanted
Speaker 1: it to be a place where people could go and
Speaker 1: see art and feel like they've sort of had a cultural,
Speaker 1: uh culturally enriching experience because at the time, you know,
Speaker 1: doing what they called the Grand Tour. If you had
Speaker 1: a lot of money and a lot of time, you
Speaker 1: could fly to Europe and see all the art of
Speaker 1: the world. But for people that didn't have a lot
Speaker 1: of time and money, and this was again nineteen seventeen,
Speaker 1: he wanted to give people a little bit of taste
Speaker 1: of that in southern Cali and the place where he
Speaker 1: ended up getting this land, like I said, between Pasadena
Speaker 1: and downtown. It was um not a booming metropolis at
Speaker 1: the time, but it ended up being in a very
Speaker 1: great spot in Glendale because you know, it's l a
Speaker 1: in the Southland. A lot of people ended up living
Speaker 1: right there. Yeah. So um, yeah, and he really nailed.
Speaker 1: But he was trying to do, which was make a
Speaker 1: place where you you didn't come to more and death,
Speaker 1: you came to celebrate life. Yeah, you wanted to attract
Speaker 1: people that come and and you know, be among the
Speaker 1: graves and this memorial. But but be thinking about how
Speaker 1: great it is to be alive, and what better way
Speaker 1: to do that than with replicas of Michelangelo's art. That's right? Uh,
Speaker 1: should we take a break and come back and talk
Speaker 1: a little bit more about the art and such? Yes,
Speaker 1: all right, so you mentioned replicas of Michelangelo. There were
Speaker 1: are certainly replicas of art there. There's also a lot
Speaker 1: of original art. There's a full on museum. Um. The
Speaker 1: largest religious painting in the United States and the largest
Speaker 1: painting in the Western United States period. It's called the
Speaker 1: Crucifixion from jan Stika. Yeah. He was a Polish artist
Speaker 1: and get this, He created this painting, got it over
Speaker 1: to the US for some exposition or another, and um,
Speaker 1: it was too big, they did. They didn't have a
Speaker 1: place to put it, and he didn't have the money
Speaker 1: to chip it back home. So he had to leave
Speaker 1: it behind in the United States, went back and died
Speaker 1: in poland never saw his painting again. Yeah. A hundred
Speaker 1: and wide by tall, and it's you know, it very
Speaker 1: simply depicts the I guess the pre crucifixion when it
Speaker 1: looks like Jesus's cross is still on the ground, the
Speaker 1: other ones are in the ground and things are just
Speaker 1: getting started. Yeah, it's a huge like landscape, like there's
Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff going on. Yeah, but Forrest Lawn
Speaker 1: acquired it and gave it the proper respect. It actually
Speaker 1: built a building around it too. How is it specifically
Speaker 1: so you gotta do No, one's gotta aloft that big?
Speaker 1: Definitely not. That's a giant painting. I saw a picture
Speaker 1: of it and there's a couple of people standing in
Speaker 1: front of it and they just look like ants. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's very large. Um. I guess we should talk
Speaker 1: a little bit because it is l A and there
Speaker 1: are some very famous Angelina is buried there. Um. And
Speaker 1: I would like to follow this up with the Hollywood
Speaker 1: Forever Cemetery. It's it's another sort of their l A
Speaker 1: has two great cemeteries, and that's the other one. But
Speaker 1: they do fun stuff like movie Nights. Yeah, I saw
Speaker 1: that in um Beneath the Silver Lake. Oh, I think
Speaker 1: I saw that that's featured in Beneath the Silver Lake?
Speaker 1: Was that what was going? I'm pretty sure the one
Speaker 1: with Andrew Garfield. Yeah, Underneath the Silver Lake? I think
Speaker 1: on top of Silver Lake. A few of the notable
Speaker 1: people buried there are no less than Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Cable, sure,
Speaker 1: who else? How about Bogey and Bacall both hit me
Speaker 1: with another? How about that old sweet crooner Nat King Cole?
Speaker 1: Oh you got any other crooners up your sleeve? I
Speaker 1: wouldn't crude. Michael Jackson is there? I think he croon?
Speaker 1: Did he crun? Yeah? I want to rock with you.
Speaker 1: I'll buy that. But here's the deal. Apparently, if you
Speaker 1: go to Forest Lawn, uh and I have been there,
Speaker 1: but I didn't spend a lot of time there. I
Speaker 1: think I was. I think I was on a job
Speaker 1: shooting a stupid TV commercial or something. But you have
Speaker 1: to and of course these days with the Internet, Internet
Speaker 1: you can find out where everyone is buried. But it's
Speaker 1: not one of those places that where you show up
Speaker 1: and do a ghost tour or they say here's your
Speaker 1: brochure where you can go see all the famous folks
Speaker 1: that are buried here. Which is that's good, that's tasteful,
Speaker 1: like there, that's not the point of it. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: Creed So I mentioned how Hubert Eaten was half Walt Disney,
Speaker 1: and he's very frequently compared to Walt Disney because of
Speaker 1: some of the design of Forest Lawn. UM. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of tutor Um architecture. UM. There's little difference burial
Speaker 1: sections that have their own name and kind of like
Speaker 1: vibe going on Inspiration Slope, Whispering Pines, Dawn of Tomorrow Um.
Speaker 1: There's one called baby Land for infant burials, there's one
Speaker 1: called Slumberland for children, and oh my gosh. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: then I guess the rest of it is just called
Speaker 1: You shouldn't feel as bad about these graves. Yeah, these
Speaker 1: ones are fine. We have a cemetery very close to
Speaker 1: our house that we walked through a lot on our walks,
Speaker 1: and I love just sort of reading the headstones as
Speaker 1: I walk by, and uh, you know, you'll come across
Speaker 1: a grave that's two ft long and you're just like,
Speaker 1: oh god, you can't even look like it'll just say infant.
Speaker 1: Sometimes not even a name. Yeah, I mean this one
Speaker 1: had a name, but I don't know. It's always interesting
Speaker 1: the women always outlived the men. It seems like, uh,
Speaker 1: quite a few like World War two veterans out there.
Speaker 1: But it's uh. I enjoy cemeteries and but I've never liked,
Speaker 1: you know, romped and partied in cemeteries like some people
Speaker 1: do in college, you know, can't always like to read
Speaker 1: the headstones and get a little bit of a story.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I saw some writers say I don't remember who
Speaker 1: it was, but they advised if you want to come
Speaker 1: up with names, go to a cemetery, because you'll end
Speaker 1: up coming up with like Kirkwood mcgilla cutty if you
Speaker 1: just try to use your imagination. But if you go
Speaker 1: to a cemetery, you're gonna find like actual people's names
Speaker 1: that you can use, you know. Yeah, especially these days
Speaker 1: when everyone's like I want my baby. This sounds like
Speaker 1: they're from the eighteen tens. It's so weird. Uh. So
Speaker 1: eaton going back to the Disney thing. Uh, Walt Disney
Speaker 1: is buried there in fact, and you mentioned all of
Speaker 1: the sort of similarities with Disney, and they are there
Speaker 1: are people out there that said it's like the Disney
Speaker 1: World or Disneyland of cemeteries, and Forest Lawn is very
Speaker 1: quick to point out, no, no, no, we were here first,
Speaker 1: and we like to say that Disneyland is the amusement
Speaker 1: park of the Forest Lawns. It's they turned it on
Speaker 1: its head. Um. There's something one more thing about Michelangelo's work.
Speaker 1: There was like, I think a seventeen foot reproduction of David,
Speaker 1: a very famous statue. Uh. And it has actually toppled
Speaker 1: several times over the years, and they've had to remake
Speaker 1: it every time. Most recently it toppled under its own
Speaker 1: weight and I'm not sure if they've replaced it yet
Speaker 1: or not. To someone standing there and then just a
Speaker 1: giant three ft penis comes at them. Yeah, clocked him,
Speaker 1: knocked him right out. Uh. And it made like this
Speaker 1: a sound that went dong. Alright, I think we've desecrated
Speaker 1: this episode. Wait, hold on, there's one more thing. Ronald
Speaker 1: Reagan married his first wife, Jane Wyman, at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Speaker 1: It's true. People do get married there. There's a like
Speaker 1: a legit church. Yeah, sixty thousand people have been married there,
Speaker 1: one fifth of the number of people who are interred
Speaker 1: there have been married there. I got married there. Did
Speaker 1: you really know? You didn't? I get married at by
Speaker 1: the poolhouse of my brother's neighborhood. That's what I thought. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: you almost got me there. For a second though, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start telling people that, Okay, why not? You
Speaker 1: got anything else? I got nothing else? All right? Everybody's
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