Serene Places: Find a Celebrity

10 Apr Serene Places: Find a Celebrity

April is a good time to get outdoors. We give you some suggestions for where to go to unwind, reflect and admire nature.

WESTWOOD VILLAGE MEMORIAL PARK

In the tiny cemetery, hidden between two office buildings on the south side of Wilshire Boulevard, stars like Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin, Natalie Wood, Roy Orbison, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Peter Falk, Farrah Fawcett and Burt Lancaster, lie buried in discreet surroundings. Surprisingly, some graves are unmarked. For instance, Frank Zappa lies underneath a patch of grass that bears no marker and you have to know where to find it – see our website for clues. It’s a poignant place, ideal for contemplation and for looking at inscriptions from the 1900s, weathering in the lush grass. Ironically, the cemetery backs onto the local preschool and the happy sound of children’s voices adds a strangely uplifting experience of death and renewal. Navigate your way around the buried markers, along with the strange assortment of mourners and tourists, to spot names you recognize. Billy Wilder’s inscription, by the way, only makes sense if you’ve seen the movie ‘Some Like It Hot’.

How to find Frank Zappa, (1940-1993)

His grave is unmarked but you can find the spot about eight yards to the west of Roy Orbison’s grave, near a large tree and just to the right of the marked grave of actor Lew Ayres. It’s just a patch of grass but beneath lies one of the most notorious music legends, who crafted 60 albums before he succumbed to prostate cancer.

Frank Zappa lies here.