Forest Lawn Cypress
The men and women are interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, Orange County, California.
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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter moved with her family to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother, Richard Carpenter, decided to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle of the bands at the Hollywood Bowl in 1966, the group won first place and landed a contract with RCA Records. However, RCA did not see a future in jazz tuba, and the contract was short-lived.
Karen and Richard formed another band, Spectrum, with four other fellow students from California State University at Long Beach that played several gigs before disbanding. In 1969, Karen and Richard made several demo music tapes and shopped them around to different record companies; they were eventually offered a contract with A&M Records. Their first hit was a reworking of The Beatles hit "Ticket to Ride", followed by a re-recorded version of Burt Bacharach's "Close to You", which sold a million copies.
Soon Richard and Karen became one of the most successful groups of the early 1970s, with Karen on the drums and lead vocals and Richard on the piano with backup vocals. They won three Grammy Awards, embarked on a world tour, and landed their own TV variety series in 1971, titled Make Your Own Kind of Music! (1971).
In 1975 the story came out when The Carpenters were forced to cancel a European tour because the gaunt Karen was too weak to perform. Nobody knew that Karen was at the time suffering from anorexia nervosa, a mental illness characterized by obsessive dieting to a point of starvation. In 1976 she moved out of her parents' house to a condo of her own.
While her brother Richard was recovering from his Quaalude addiction, Karen decided to record a solo album in New York City in 1979 with producer Phil Ramone. Encouraged by the positive reaction to it in New York, Karen was eager to show it to Richard and the record company in California, who were nonplussed. The album was shelved.
In 1980, she married real estate developer Thomas J. Burris. However, the unhappy marriage really only lasted a year before they separated. (Karen was to sign the divorce papers the day she died).
Shortly afterward, she and brother Richard were back in the recording studio, where they recorded their hit single "Touch Me When We're Dancing". However, Karen was unable to shake her depression as well as her eating disorder, and after realizing she needed help, she spent most of 1982 in New York City undergoing treatment. By 1983, Karen was starting to take control of her life and planning to return to the recording studio and to make public appearances again. In February of 1983, she went to her parents' house to sort through some old clothes she kept there when she collapsed in a walk-in closet from cardiac arrest. She was only 32. Doctors revealed that her long battle with anorexia nervosa had stressed her heart to the breaking point.Plot: Ascension Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Compassion
Original burial site.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Eddie Cochran was born as Ray Edward Cochran on October 3, 1938 in Albert Lea, Minnesota. When Eddie was 14, his parents moved to Bell Gardens, California where he began playing the guitar. In 1954, Eddie joined a local band with songwriter Hank Cochran where Eddie performed as the second vocalist. The group became known as "The Cochran Brothers" even though Eddie and Hank were not related. The Cochran Brothers were, more or less, a country-western act until Elvis Presley began overshadowing their acts in 1955. Shortly thereafter, the duo broke up with Eddie hurtling towards a career in rock and roll and Hank moving to Nashville where he became a successful songwriter. In 1956, Eddie hooked up with Jerry Capehart, an old friend who was also a songwriter. The two landed a recording contract with Crest Records, a small label in Hollywood, California.
Si Warmoker, an executive at Liberty Records, heard Eddie's singing and thought he could make Eddie into Liberty's answer to Elvis. To help launch Eddie's career, Liberty Records arranged for him to have a cameo in the movie The Girl Can't Help It (1956) which starred Jayne Mansfield. Eddie, in his cameo role as himself, sang the song "Twenty Flight Rock". Eddie also appeared as himself in the grade-B movie Untamed Youth (1957). Eddie's first single "Sittin' in the Balconcy" became one of the top 20 on the music charts. It was almost a year later that Eddie had another hit record titled "Summertime Blues" in 1958. "Summertime Blues" scored top with the teenage listeners and Eddie became one of Liberty's biggest successes. With this song, Eddie was established as an important influence on music in the late 1950s.
In 1959, Eddie met songwriter Sharon Sheeley, whom he asked to write a song with him and their collaboration produced the single "Somethin' Else", which Liberty released in September 1959. In early 1960, Eddie toured England for several weeks. Sharon joined Eddie on his tour which concluded with a concert in Bristol. The day after the concert, Eddie, Sharon and singer Gene Vincent were scheduled to return to the United States on an early morning flight. During the ride to Heathrow Airport, the Ford consul taxi they were riding in blew a tire and skidded into a lamp post off the road. Sharon was badly injured, Vincent suffered a broken leg and other broken ribs, while Eddie suffered severe head injuries and died several hours later at a local hospital on the afternoon of April 17, 1960 at age 21.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Danny Flores was a talented saxophonist and singer who was also proficient on keyboards; in December 1957, he headed the Flores Trio, consisting also of Gene Alden on drums and Buddy Bruce on guitar; they participated in a recording session at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood for Gene Autry's Challenge Records where Flores's song "Tequila", originally a stage vamp by the Flores Trio, was recorded; it was released as a "B" side by Challenge Records the following January, with credit being given to "Chuck Rio" as Flores was under contract elsewhere. The song rocketed to the top of the charts by the middle of March. Flores adopted "Chuck Rio" as a stage name, subsequently heading a group called "Chuck Rio & the Originals". Although he was able to profit from the European royalties from the song, he sold the American rights to the song for a "pittance."- Angel Florez was born on 13 August 1963. He was an actor, known for The Magical World of Disney (1954) and The New Mickey Mouse Club (1977). He died on 25 August 1995.Plot: Everlasting Hope, Plot 329, 5 markers down from the steps, first row along the small wall.
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Philip Ford was born on 16 October 1900 in Portland, Maine, USA. He was a director and assistant director, known for Web of Danger (1947), Prisoners in Petticoats (1950) and Valley of the Zombies (1946). He was married to Jane Eliza Harrison, Viola Catherine Waller and Lucia Diprete. He died on 12 January 1976 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.Plot: Garden of Protection, Lawn 1B, Lot 5190- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
George Grandee was born on 20 May 1900 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. He was an actor, known for Swing It Professor (1937), Rainbow Over Broadway (1933) and Dance, Girl, Dance (1933). He died on 1 August 1985 in Long Beach, California, USA.Plot: Sheltering Trees, Lot 5730, Space 4- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
H.B. Halicki was born on 18 October 1940 in Dunkirk, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), Deadline Auto Theft (1983) and The Junkman (1982). He was married to Denice Shakarian Halicki. He died on 20 August 1989 in Tonawanda, New York, USA.Plot: Eternal Peace, Block 4046, Space 1- 'King Kong' Kashey was born on 28 November 1903 in Homs, Syria. He was an actor, known for Don't Go Near the Water (1957). He died on 24 September 1965 in Lynwood, California, USA.Plot: Garden of Protection, Lot 2A, Block 8274
- My-ca Dinh Le was born on 8 January 1975 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He died on 23 July 1982 in Indian Dunes, California, USA.Plot: Churchyard, Lot 1839, Space 1
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Studio publicity incorrectly puts his birthplace at Mission, Texas. Ken was a trick rider with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and later with Ringling Brothers and was also a champion rodeo rider. His movie debut, The Man Who Won (1923), was the first of many for this early cowboy movie superstar. He was famous for the stunts he could enact with his horse Tarzan. Maynard was the first singing cowboy in the movies. During the 1930s, he dropped out of movies and went back to rodeo work. He did a few more low-budget films in the early 1940s, and then retired for good except for bit parts. His last years were miserable; poor and unremembered, he lived alone in a trailer, an alcoholic who at his death was a victim of serious malnutrition.Plot: Churchyard section, Lot 2840, Space 1- Juanita Millender-McDonald was born on 7 September 1938 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. She died on 22 April 2007 in Carson, California, USA.Plot: Ascension Gardens
- Quinn was born in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to the United States with his mother and two sisters in 1988. His first role was as a pool shark in the Richard Marx video Satisfied. He later landed a major role in the John Travolta film Shout (1991), where he shared a screen kiss with Gwyneth Paltrow. He went on to have roles in a number of other movies and television series. His most notable roles were as Becky's husband, Mark, on Roseanne (1988) and half-demon Doyle on the WB's Angel (1999). He died of a heroin overdose in 2002.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Sharon Sheeley holds the distinction of being one of the first and most successful female songwriters to hit the rock'n'roll scene during its burgeoning years in the late 50's. Sharon was born into an Irish family on April 4, 1940 in Los Angeles, California. Sheeley attended Harbor High School in Newport Beach, California and briefly worked as a teen model before becoming a songwriter. She was still a teenager when she penned "Poor Little Fool", which was a #1 smash for Ricky Nelson in 1958. This, in turn, made Sheeley the youngest woman to have ever written a major hit song at that time. Moreover, Sharon was the girlfriend of rockabilly singer Eddie Cochran, whom she was first introduced to by Don Everly of The Everly Brothers. She co-wrote Cochran's 1959 Top 30 hit "Somethin' Else". Other songs Sheeley either wrote or co-wrote for Cochran are "Love Again", "Think of Me", "Cherished Memories" and "Lonely". Among the songs she wrote for other artists are "Hurry Up" for Ritchie Valens and "Runnin' on Back" for Del Shannon. In 1960, Sharon and fellow rockabilly singer Gene Vincent survived the unfortunate automobile accident in England which killed Cochran. After returning to the United States, Sheeley formed a partnership with singer/songwriter Jackie DeShannon; the distaff duo collaborated on such songs as the Brenda Lee hits "Dum Dum" and "Heart in Hand", Irma Thomas's "Breakaway", 'the Fleetwoods'' "(He's) The Great Imposter", "The Kalin Twins"' "Trouble", DeShannon's "You Won't Forget Me" and "Can't Help Forgiving You", "Each Time", and "Till You Say You'll Be Mine" for The Searchers. In 1961, Sharon married Los Angeles disc jockey and Shindig! (1964) TV series emcee Jimmy O'Neill; the couple divorced five years later, but remained friends. She was also a mentor to singer P.J. Proby. Sheeley largely retired from the music business in the mid 60's. Sharon Sheeley died at age 62 from complications following a cerebral hemorrhage on May 17, 2002 in Los Angeles, California.Cenotaph near Eddie Cochran.- Harold 'Bouncy' Wertz was born on 3 August 1927 in Denison, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Pooch (1932), Hook and Ladder (1932) and Choo-Choo! (1932). He was married to Kathleen McCracken. He died on 21 November 1999 in San Diego, California, USA.Plot: Garden of Protection, Block 7295, space 1
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Drummer, singer, songwriter and guitarist Sandy West was born as Sandy Pesavento on July 10, 1959 in Long Beach, California and was raised in Huntington Beach. The most athletic of seven sisters, Sandy was an avid surfer and water skier. West began playing the violin as a kid, but soon switched to drums at age nine after her grandfather bought her a drum kit. She started performing in public at age thirteen as the sole female member of a local band. At age sixteen Sandy co-founded the seminal all-female rock group the Runaways in 1975. She was an important member of the band for four years and wrote all her own drum parts. While the Runaways failed to achieve much commercial success in America, they were a huge smash in Japan, where they performed in arenas to sold out crowds and released a live album that went gold. Alas, the Runaways broke up in 1979. West formed her own group the Sandy West Band and released the solo album "The Beat is Back." Unable to support herself as a musician, Sandy worked mainly in construction as well as a small amount of time as both a bartender and a veterinary assistant in order to keep herself afloat. However, she did continue to perform live in concert with former the Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie on several occasions throughout the years. Moreover, West was widely acknowledged as an exceptionally fine and proficient drummer who influenced many women rock musicians to start playing the drums. She's featured as an interview subject in the 2004 documentary "Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways." Sandy was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005. Sandy West died at the tragically young age of 47 on October 21, 2006.- Ollie Brown was born on 11 February 1944 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. He was married to Sandra Fuller. He died on 16 April 2015 in Buena Park, California, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Jack Sheldon was the son of Jen Loven (1909-1989), who taught many of the Hollywood entertainment elite and their children to swim at her famous Jen Loven Swim School in Hollywood. Jack was known mostly for his sidekick status on the The Merv Griffin Show (1962) in the 1970s.
He had two sons, Kevin and John, and two daughters, Julie and Jesse Sheldon. John, a musician, plays drums, and attended military college prep school at the prestigious Army & Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California. He acted with his father in the Disney comedy Freaky Friday (1976), as one of the trouble-making kids who loved to harass Jodie Foster. He played in jazz clubs, most often at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, sometimes joined by George Segal.