Hollywood Forever Cemetery

One of L.A.'s oldest cemeteries, dating to 1899, and the final resting place of Rudolph Valentino, Judy Garland, Mel Blanc, Johnny Ramone, and Burt Reynolds. It hosts film screenings and the largest annual Dia de Muertos celebration in North America.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery, established in 1899 as Hollywood Memorial Park, is the final resting place of some of cinema's biggest legends. Nestled against Paramount Studios, this 62-acre necropolis holds the remains of Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Judy Garland, Cecil B. DeMille, and even Toto from The Wizard of Oz. The cemetery's proximity to Paramount--built on 40 acres that originally belonged to the cemetery--has created a unique corridor where the dead and the living have never been far apart.

The most famous ghost is silent film heartthrob Rudolph Valentino, who died suddenly in 1926 at age 31 from peritonitis. His spirit has been seen not only at his crypt (Number 1205 in the Cathedral Mausoleum) but wandering onto the adjacent Paramount Studios lot. A security guard once reported seeing a man of about 30 walking the studio grounds after hours. When told the studio was closed, the man tipped his hat and walked through a wall--directly toward the cemetery. The mysterious "Lady in Black" has been visiting Valentino's grave for decades, placing flowers at his crypt, and many believe her ghostly visits continue even now.

Virginia Rappe, the silent film actress whose death in 1921 sparked the infamous Fatty Arbuckle scandal, is buried here beside her fiance Henry Lehrman. The 25-year-old actress died under mysterious circumstances after attending Arbuckle's party at San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel. Though Arbuckle was eventually acquitted after three trials, Rappe's promising career ended in tragedy. Visitors have reported the sound of a woman sobbing near her gravesite--believed to be Virginia, still mourning.

Clifton Webb, star of the "Mr. Belvedere" films, haunts the Abbey of the Psalms mausoleum where he was interred in 1966. The sophisticated actor, known for his acid wit in life, continues to make his presence known in death. Visitors and staff have reported sudden drops in temperature, footsteps with no source, and fleeting glimpses of his elegant figure.

The cemetery embraces its Hollywood legacy, hosting outdoor movie screenings on summer nights where the living gather to watch films among the famous dead. But as the credits roll and the crowds depart, those who linger may find themselves not quite alone among the marble monuments.