1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:08,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren Vogelbon. 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Here in Glendale, California's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, there are 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: plaques scattered throughout that detail its creator's vision. When doctor 4 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 1: Hubert Eaton took over the three hundred acres FO one 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy hectors in nineteen seventeen, he installed a 6 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: massive stone tablet engraved with what he called the Builder's 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 1: Dream and the Builder's creed. It speaks of a quote, 8 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: a great park devoid of misshapen monuments and other signs 9 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: of earthly death, but filled with towering trees, sweeping lawns, 10 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:52,279 Speaker 1: splashing fountains, beautiful statuary, and memorial architecture. The plaques are 11 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: all signed the builder. Before the article of this episode 12 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: is based on how Stuffworks. Spoke with James Fishburne, PhD, 13 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: Director of the Forest Lawn Museum. He said, that's how 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: we refer to Eton the builder. It's very grand. You 15 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: get that grand sense when you visit. There are rolling hills, 16 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: studding landscapes, mountain views, and you can see the ocean 17 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: in the distance. And then the art collection is also 18 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: very grand. Forest Lawn is a cemetery, but it's not 19 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: like any burial place before it. While more than three 20 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: hundred thousand people are buried there, including some of America's 21 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: most famous names, it also boasts gardens, churches, a huge mausoleum, 22 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: and an art museum. It's lively enough that over sixty 23 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: thousand people have actually gotten married there. Fishburne said it 24 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: was designed quote so it didn't feel like a place 25 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: of death and decay, but rather a celebration of life, 26 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: a place you would want to visit today. There are 27 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: six Forest Lawn Memorial Park locations in southern California, but 28 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: the original is in Glendale. From the beginning, the art 29 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: has been a major draw a. Fishburne said, one of 30 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: the early ideas was to sort of recreate what the 31 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: Grand Tour used to be. If you were very wealthy, 32 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: you could go to Europe and travel all over and 33 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: view amazing cathedrals and sculptures and paintings. To bring that 34 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: to Southern California in a time when international travel was 35 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: prohibitively expensive and time consuming, and when there were relatively 36 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: few publicly accessible art collections in Southern California. The museum 37 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: houses original art and replicas of famous works, including one 38 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: of the largest replica collections of Michelangelo. There's even a 39 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: reproduction of his famous statue of David that stands seventeen 40 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: feet tall that's about five point two meters, which is 41 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: the same grand size as the original. They built an 42 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: entire building to house another piece in their collection. The 43 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 1: largest painting in the West during the United States, Jonstka's 44 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: The Crucifixion, which is one hundred and ninety five feet 45 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: wide and forty five feet tall. That's about sixty by 46 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: fourteen meters. That's more than twice as wide as an 47 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: Imax movie screen and nearly as tall. European cemeteries evolved 48 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,119 Speaker 1: over the centuries alongside different periods of art and religion 49 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: and thought about death. In the United States, the largest 50 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: cemeteries on the East Coast were established in the early 51 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds and thus were tied to the conventions of 52 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: those times. But when Forest Lawn began on the outskirts 53 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: of the growing city of Los Angeles, Eton and the 54 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: founders could rethink those conventions and they got the timing 55 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: just right to be a new cultural center. Fishburne said, 56 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: when Forest Lawn was established over a century ago, it 57 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: was immediately between two population centers. It's located between Pasadena, 58 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: which was already booming in the early twentieth century, and 59 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: downtown Los Angeles. A few years after we opened, the 60 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: Los Angeles Aqueduct was constructed, and there was just a 61 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: population boom. At the same time, the film industry was 62 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: exploding in southern California and movie stars needed a final 63 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: resting place. Forest Lawn is the burial place of celebrities 64 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: like Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Nat King, Cole Clark Gable, 65 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: Michael Jackson, Will Rogers, and Elizabeth Taylor, just to name 66 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: a few. But don't expect to see a list of 67 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: who's who, or rather who's where a Forest Lawn employees. No, 68 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: people come to see the famous graves, but they won't 69 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: help you find them. Fishburne said, we try to respect 70 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,839 Speaker 1: the privacy of the families that we serve, so we 71 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: don't do celebrity grave tours. We don't advertise X, Y 72 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: and Z are buried here. Many of the final resting 73 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: places of celebrities are openly accessible to the public and 74 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: people are welcome to come visit them. Others are in 75 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: locked gardens or in private areas. A Walt Disney is 76 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: also buried in Forest Lawn, but that's not the only 77 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: connection between him and this memorial park. A. Forest Lawn's 78 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: tutor inspired architectural style extends through its many burial sections, 79 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: which have names like Eventide, Graceland, Inspiration Slope, Sweet Memories, 80 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: Whispering Pines, and Dawn of Tomorrow. There's also a heart 81 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: shaped area called Babyland for infant burials and Slumberland for 82 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: children and adolescents. It's reminiscent in many ways of the 83 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: different areas and esthetics of Disney's nearby amusement park. Fishburne said, 84 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: Eton and Disney ran in some of the same circles, 85 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: and Forest Lawn and Disneyland share the zeitgeist of the 86 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: early and mid twentieth century, the sort of storybook style 87 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: that you see in a lot of early Disney movies 88 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: and in Disneyland. Forest Lawn is sometimes called the Disneyland 89 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: of Saries, but Fishburne sets the record straight quote forest 90 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: Lawn was founded first. We like to joke that actually 91 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: Disneyland is the amusement park of Forest Lawn's. Ultimately, as 92 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: with all cemeteries, it's a place as much if not 93 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: more for the living than for the dead. Fishburne said, 94 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: when you visit on the day of a family member's funeral, 95 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,279 Speaker 1: that's obviously going to be a very intense and very 96 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: sad moment. But we want you to be able to 97 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: come back time and again, bring friends and family and 98 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: celebrate that person, and celebrate Southern California and celebrate life. 99 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article inside LA's Forest 100 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: Lawn where the biggest celebrities rest in Peace on how 101 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: stuffworks dot Com, written by Kate Morgan. Brainstuff is production 102 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 1: of Byheartradio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and 103 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler klang A. For more podcast It's 104 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 105 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:05,679 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.