Steve Goldstein knows where all the famous bodies are buried.
By day, he’s a businessman who owns a payroll service. But in his off hours, he’s one of Hollywood’s best-known grave hunters. Author of “LA’s Graveside Companion: Where the V.I.P.s R.I.P” and creator of the website http://www.beneathlosangeles.com, Goldstein knows all the stories behind the stars and their final resting places.
So with Halloween approaching, what better way to spend All Hallows Eve than to visit the cemeteries to pay your respects to cinema’s legends? Recently, Goldstein led me in a personal tour of two of the most star-studded cemeteries: Hollywood Forever and Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park and Mortuary.
Sitting outside the Cathedral Mausoleum at Hollywood Forever, Goldstein explains that growing up in Boston as a history buff he loved roaming the cemeteries and reading gravestones from the 17th and 18th centuries.
That fascination moved with him when he moved to L.A. 36 years ago and began visiting local cemeteries. “I came across Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino here,” he says. “Then I went to Westwood one day looking for Marilyn Monroe. Over time you see that Natalie Wood and Dean Martin are there.”
Full story: Classic Hollywood: Cemeteries of the stars – latimes.com