LOCATED AFTER THE BOOK WAS FINISHED.

Following are a few more notables that passed through the gates of Hollywood Forever Cemetery.   Unfortunately, I was not aware of these people before the book was printed but, they will be in a revised edition which is set to come out in 2011.

Willa Holt Wakefield (b. 1870 Cuthbert, GA; d. June 3, 1946 Los Angeles, CA) Wakefield was the sister of Frank Holt who was one time Mayor of Montezuma, Georgia as well as vice president of the Citizen's National Bank.  Wakefield was noted as a very popular international singer and entertainer of her time who began singing and reciting as a child and was taught the works of the English poets.  She later worked as a school teacher before turning to the vaudeville stage in New York in 1903.  She soon became one of the highest salaried entertainers of her time, making $3000 per week.  Wakefield performed for several society functions and in 1910 she introduced the song 'Some of These Days,' on the vaudeville stage.  In 1913 she made her last tour of vaudeville and divorced her first husband in 1915.  Later that same year she married reknown scultor Arnold Foerster, they divorced in 1936.  Wakefield held the distinction of being the first woman to broadcast over radio stations from New York to London. 

Howard “Howie” Steindler (b. 1905; d. March 9, 1977 Encino, CA) A beloved figure in the world of boxing, Steindler was the proprietor of the Main Street Gym in downtown Los Angeles for thirty years.  The Gym was the training ground for Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jack Dempsey and others.  Steindler was the inspiration for the character ‘Mickey’ that Burgess Meredith played in the “Rocky” films.  On the evening of March 9, witnesses saw a car parked in front of Steindler’s Cadillac Seville, a low-rider style car with its lights off.  A large man approached Steindler’s car, forced him into the back seat, severly beat him and then smothered him.  The other suspect got into the Cadillac and took off, eventually abandoning the vehicle and Steindler on the shoulder of the Ventura Freeway.  Witnesses described the suspects as Black males in their mid-twenties to early-thirties.  The murder has not been solved.  Steindler was also robbed of gold ring with a half-carat diamond on it, cash and other jewelry.

Everett Edwin McLaughlin (b. 1891; d. 1952) McLaughlin’s mother was a librarian in Culver City, California and she and her husband were also musicians and performed at dances in various cities in Southern California.  When McLaughlin was sixteen years old he got a job in a music store, cleaning, repairing and shipping horns to the service men and in 1915 he performed with a band on the Santa Monica Pier.  Throughout the coming years he played in several bands including the legendary Paul Whiteman but when Whiteman took his band to the East coast, McLaughlin stayed in Los Angeles. McLaughlin also played with the Max Fisher band at Santa Barbara’s Biltmore Hotel. He continued repairing woodwind instruments up until the time of his death.

Everett George McLaughlin (b. August 20, 1919, d. July 15, 2002 Los Angeles, CA) Son of Everett Edwina nd Theresa Elizabeth McLaughling, he was also known as “Little Mac,” he got his start at the age of seven, he soon mastered the Alto Saxophone and later the Tenor Sax and soon became quite proficient on all woodwind instruments.  McLaughlin joined the Marine Corps band in San Diego and served in WWII.  After the war he played and sang with bandleader Jimmy Dorsey.  He also played with Harry James, Bob Crosby, Ray Conniff, Bud Shank and several other bands of the era.  In addition he played in bands for various televison shows: “The Bob Hope Show,” The Phil Harris Show” and “Fibber McGee and Molly.”

Elizabeth Theresa (Young) McLaughlin (b. 1895 Philadelphia, PA; d. 1970 – Los Angeles, CA) Former Ziegfeld Follies dancer, McLaughlin’s brothers Johnny and Eddie Young were also dancers and stage performers.  Following her marriage to Everett Edwin McLaughin, she retired from show business to become a housewife and to raise the couple’s five children.

John Garrett McHugh (b. March 11, 1895 Portsmouth, VA; d. May 5, 1924 Burbank, CA) McHugh attend the Culver Military School in Indiana and went on to Princeton Univerity.  With the outbreak of WWI, he enlisted in the air service and was one of the first to sail to France in May lf 1917.  He was made a First Lieutenant and later Commander.  McHugh was one of three editors of "The Wing Slip," an official publication of the air service.  Returning to the U.S. in 1919, McHugh worked with the "Evening News" of Newark, New Jersey and the "Ledger-Dispatch" of Norfolk, Virginia.  McHugh moved to Van Nuys, California and took a very enthusiastic interest in all community matters.  He was in the process of helping to build poultry buildings at the home of a WWI veteran when his life was cut short.  McHugh was returning from an early morning wedding in Pasadena when he was involved in auto accident in heavy fog.  He was rushed to the hospital and died on the operating table from his injuries.

Paul Marco (b. June 10, 1925 Los Angeles, CA; d. May 14, 2006 Los Angeles, CA) The son of Italian immigrants, Marco was the youngest of thirteen children.  At one time he was a member of the "Meglin Kiddies," a group of youngsters that sometimes included Jane Withers, Judy Garland and Shirley Temple.  A graduate of Hollywood High School, he started his career with a small uncredited role in the 1944 film 'Sweet and Low Down' with Benny Goodman and Linda Darnell.  In the 1950's, Marco and Griswell formed the Marwell Productions Company and produced the televisions series "Griswell Predicts."  He soon joined the Ed Wood repertory company and later when Wood's films started leaning toward pornography, Marco left the group but remained friends with Wood.  Marco later worked as a property master for Paramount, working on soap operas.  When Ed Wood's work was rediscovered in the 1980s, Marco found himself in the limelight appearing on such shows as 'Oprah,' 'Entertainment Tonight,' 'CNN' and others.  He was awared the Golden Scroll for Outstanding Achievement from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films and the Jeanie Emerald Angel Award for his contributions to the entertainment industry.  In later years, Marco appeared at trade shows and conventions signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.  The day before his death, Marco completed an interview at his home for an upcoming book and was looking forward to shooting scenes for a television show that coming weekend.  Marco appeared in nine films.

Al Jolson (Asa Yoelson b. May 26, 1886 Srednik, Russia; d. October 23, 1950 San Francisco, CA – Beth Olam Section of cemetery, removed September 1951 and relocated to Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, CA) Known throughout the industry as “The World’s Greatest Entertainer” for over forty years, Jolson made movie history when he appeared in the first ‘talkie,’ 1927’s “The Jazz Singer.” Jolson’s father was a cantor and his mother died when Jolson was eight years old.  Around this time he found his outlet in theatre and would appear with his brother Harry, singing for troops that were headed to the Spanish American War.  He appeared in vaudeville and finally hit it big in San Francisco and was signed with Lew Dockstaders’ Minstrels.  In 1912 he appeared at the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway and son earned the title “The King of the Winter Garden.”  “The Jazz Singer” brought him instant film stardom however his film appearances were never as good as his stage appearances.  During WWII he entertained troops in Spain and Africa and while traveling, contract malaria and pneumonia.  He continued entertaining and appearing in movies and was named ‘The Most Popular Male Vocalist’ by ‘Variety’ in 1948 – beating out Sinatra and Perry Como.  In 1950 Jolson, against his doctor’s orders, Jolson went to Korea to entertain the troops and there his health started to decline.  Shortly after returning to the U.S., Jolson passed away following a massive heart attack. Jolson’s funeral was attended by nearly 20,000 people.  Married four times, he was married to actress Ruby Keeler from 1928 to 1939.  A number of Jolson’s recording appeared in several films throughout the years, songs such as: ‘Avalon,’ ‘Swanee,’ ‘Me and My Shadow,’ ‘Mammy,’ ‘Toot Toot, Tootsie Goodbye,’ ‘California, Here I Come,’ ‘Me and My Shadow’ and ‘Blue Skies’ among several others.  Actor in 15 films.

ELLIOTT, Cass (Ellen Naomi Cohen b. September 19, 1941 Baltimore, MD; d. July 29, 1974 London, England, removed and cremated remains are buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles) American singer best remembered as one of ‘The Mamas & Papas’ singing group of the late 1960s.  While still in school Elliott acted in ‘The Boyfriend,’ later moving to New York and appearing in ‘The Music Man.’  She also worked as a hat check girl in Greenwich Village, returning to the Washington area and pursuing a singing career at the American University.  In 1963 she was singing as part of a group known as ‘The Big 3’ with Tim Rose and Him Hendricks.  In 1965 Elliott joined the group ‘The Journeymen’ with Michelle and John Phillips, the trio later befriended Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski,  both victims of the Charles Manson Sharon Tate murders.  ‘The Mamas and Papas’ went on to become very popular with such hits as ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me,’ ‘Monday, Monday’ and ‘California Dreamin’.’  In 1968 after the break-up of the group, Elliott went solo and played in Vegas for $40,000 per week and was a regular on talk shows and television variety shows of that time, appearing on the shows of:  Johnny Carson, Carol Burnett, Mike Douglas, Dean Martin, Julie Andrews, Andy Williams, Tom Jones, Danny Kaye and several others.  In 1974 she performed two sold-out concerts at the London Palladium and received standing ovations for both.  Elliott telephoned Michelle Phillips and told her the great news, went to bed and died in her sleep of a heart attack. 

Paula DeCardo (b. 1916 Illinois; d. 1942) Daughter of noted dancing team Paul and Perla DeCardo, she was the premiere ballerina for the Los Angeles and the San Francisco Grand Opera Associations.  In 1934 following her first film, "College Rhythm," DeCardo traveled to Paris to study dance with the masters and later returned to Hollywood where she appeared in thirty four films.