Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, a strip that runs west towards West Hollywood, is rather seedy and grungy, home to drug dealers and prostitutes. There aren’t many attractions in this area of Hollywood. Its only appeal stems from its distinction of being home to Hollywood’s last remaining studio as well as the graveyard of many others that have left long ago.[1]
Hollywood Forever
Hollywood Forever is a cemetery that used to be known as the Hollywood Memorial Park. It is the site of the graves of many dead actors and actresses. There is even a cathedral mausoleum at the cemetery’s southeast corner, which is the final resting place of Rudolph Valentino, the celebrated screen lover who died at the young age of 31 in 1926. There is a tradition that on the anniversary of his death, at least one “Lady in Black” comes to his site to mourn. Other notables include Peter Finch, the actor who died in 1977 before winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Network, Mel Blanc who was the voice behind Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Porky Pig, and Tweetie Pie, and Douglas Fairbanks Sr, the early silent film director and producer whose grave is the most pompous and ostentatious on the grounds, complete with a sculptured pond.[2]
Paramount Studios
Paramount Studios at 5555 Melrose Avenue with its famed Melrose gate entrance – two arches metallically decorated – is no longer open to the public. There are areas that can be trekked around the studio’s sound stages and offices. Paramount Studios is the only remaining major film studio left in Hollywood.[3]
Warner Hollywood Studios
The Warner Hollywood Studios at 1041 Formosa Avenue was built in 1919 and, while still owned by Warner Bros, is not the company’s main studio. It was formerly the studio for the production company, United Artists, run by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks Sr, and Mary Pickford – the same studio that created the star system in the silent film era whereby movie stars were controlled their entire careers by one production company.[4]
References:
Dickey, Jeff. Los Angeles, 3rd Edition. Rough Guides, 2003. ISBN: 1843530589.
[1] Dickey, 102
[2] Id. at 102-03
[3] Id. at 103
[4] Id.
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