Death, we could all sure live without it!  It may seem a grim and depressing topic to most, yet it is the ultimate reminder of the precious gift that is life.  It indeed induces the  fondest of remembrances, so often made manifest in elaborate monuments placed to mark the final resting places of our dearly departed.

I have commented in an earlier blog entry about a website called Find A Grave. That website has two sections of entries, the famous and the non-famous.  Both sections contain burial information and photographs of headstones, markers, and monuments, yet while one might only peruse the non-famous section in attempting to find an ancestor or for leads in historical research, one may more frequently be inclined to spend time looking through the famous burials data to learn interesting and perhaps even entertaining tidbits about favorite celebrities, historical figures, or even villains.

Find A Grave is but one of many websites featuring interesting data on the famous and the infamous.  Here is a selection of other fascinating websites which detail interesting facts and pictures of interments of celebrities.

The Political Graveyard

Got a question like "Who was that politician killed riding a streetcar?" Sure ya' do! Everybody wonders about politicians getting gored by bulls, shot by jealous lovers, pummeled by one opponent or another.... Oh, wait, those are people wanting to watch those events. Oh, well, never mind that part. Anyhow, if you want to know about circumstances of a politician's birth, life, death, and disposal, uh, well, I mean, interment, then this here be the place, I'm tellin' ya'!

The best way to use this site is with the alphabetical list (provided you already have a name to research to begin with). Otherwise, you can look through the categories listed toward the bottom of the home page to identify politicos who did or had done to them any number of things, many of which categories led to their demise.

If you have questions about the site itself, like who started it, how and why it was started, and "Who else helped out?," there's a "Questions and Answers" page, which by the way, lists Yours Truly in partial answer to question number 27.  (Yep, it's a nifty site and I spend a lot of time there!)

Beneath Los Angeles: The Famous, the Infamous, and the Just Plain Dead

The site is divided into three sections (as indicated by the title).

In looking over the site, one notes interesting facts such as that Irene Ryan ("Granny" on "The t.v. show "The Beverly Hillbillies") is interred in the same mausoleum crypt with Anna Thompson, a star of silent-films. Ryan and Thompson were sisters, though the site does not make note of the fact. Mostly this site shows headstones, crypts, and graves, without much in the way of biography.

Findadeath.com

This is a site concerned with the deaths (and lives) of the rich, the not-so-rich, the famous, and the not-so-famous. Though somewhat irreverent, its biographies are quite intensive and interesting. Have a comment or something informational to add? The site even has a message board.

Seeing Stars in Hollywood

Seeing Stars in Hollywood can be styled a "complete guide to Hollywood." This is a very in-depth site. Not only does it have a section "Where the Stars Are Buried," it has sections such as "Hollywood Museums," "where the Stars Shop," "Hollywood Movie Palaces," "Where the Stars Live," and much more.

DEATH 2UR

This site is very interesting, though its home page is rather "busy" and thus somewhat off-putting initially!  The best way to view the site is probably to go to the site map and go to the list of burials. But by doing so, you may miss some really nifty information, like what burials are in a particular region of the country.  Nearly each of the sections on the home page is a link to articles and pics for celebrity burials of a particular region/tour.  (Whether these are actual tours or "tours" is figuratively used is something not really made clear.) You just have to see the page on Victor Mature! (I'd always assumed he was possibly of Italian heritage and likely of eastern seaboard birth, possibly Nyoo Yoiwk Citee, but he was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and is interred there in St. Michael Cemetery.) The monument is fantastic! (What is the symbolism of the coins?)

Famous Graves

A section of an interesting site that contains other interesting photos and information. Under "L," I found a memorial to victims of the October 1, 1910, bombing of the L. A. Times---16 of the 20 victims, apparently buried at the site of the memorial.

Grave Hunter

Interesting biographies. (Example: "At the age of 13, Ozzie Nelson, became the youngest person to become an Eagle Scout. The requirements for Eagle Scout make it impossible for anyone to beat his record.") Grave site and marker pics are scant and not always readable. Though it has much of interest, the site seems an abandoned effort.

(Photos: Views of "Hollywood Forever Cemetery." Photobucket.com)