Eileen Brennan

 

"Actors are crazy or we wouldn't be doing this."

Eileen Brennan was born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen in Los Angeles, California on September 3, 1932.  She was the daughter of Regina Menehan, a former silent film actress.  

After graduating high school, Brennan moved to Washington, DC, where she attended Georgetown University.  She later attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City (see Trivia below).

Early stage roles included that of Annie Sullivan in a 1961 off-Broadway production of The Miracle Worker.  She also originated the role of Irene Molloy in the original 1964 Broadway production of Hello, Dolly!.  Hollywood was beginning to notice, and she made her feature film debut three years later in the Bud Yorkin comedy Divorce American Style.

In 1980, Brennan was cast in the role for which she is most famously associated, that of Captain Doreen Lewis in the Goldie Hawn film Private Benjamin.  She was nominated for an Oscar award that year for Best Supporting Actress.  In 1981, she resumed the role on the ABC sit-com adaptation of the film, for which she would ironically win an Emmy award (see Trivia below).  Then in 1985, she appeared in the cult-favorite comedy Clue, taking on then iconic role of Mrs. Peacock.

By 2013, Brennan has been diagnosed with bladder cancer, which ultimately took her life on July 28th.  She was 80 years old.  She was laid to rest with her family at Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town, West Virginia.  As of 2024, her grave remained unmarked, but is in the lower right-hand corner of the photo below.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• When Eileen adopted her stage name, she changed the spelling of her last name from "Brennen" to "Brennan."
  
  
• Brennan was a finalist for the role of Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, the role that famously went to Mary Tyler Moore.
  
  
• Early in her career, Brennan shared an apartment in New York City with future Golden Girls star Rue McClanahan.
  
  
• In 1981, Brennan reprised her role of Captain Lewis in the ABC sit-com adaptation of Private Benjamin.  One year into production, she was involved in a serious car accident in Venice Beach, which resulted in her leaving the show.  She was replaced on the series by former Alice veteran Polly Holliday, but the ratings would never be the same.  The series was canceled after two seasons.
  
  
• Shortly before she passed, YouTuber Larry Hoffman caught up with Brennan at her Toluca Lake home.  The result was this truly awkward interview.  Here's another one in which she discusses selling her Emmy Award when she ran out of money.  These are just sad.
  
  
• Based on the board game of the same name, Clue was released as a novelty film with three different endings.  To quote the commercial, "whodunnit depends on where you see it."  This blogger vividly remembers seeing "Ending A," which appears as the final solution in the home video and streaming editions of the film.

Jack Kent Cooke

 

"I don't intend to die."

Jack Kent Cooke was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on October 25, 1912. His family later relocated to Toronto, where Cooke attended Malvern Collegiate Institute.  He had an eye for business from an early age, and by 14, he was already selling encyclopedia door to door.

When he was in his early 20s, Cooke became a runner on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange, which served to enhance his business acumen.  He then went to work for Colgate-Palmolive, where he met his future business partner Roy Thomson.  The two would later co-own a series of radio stations and newspapers in Quebec and Ontario.

With his eye on the sports world, Cooke came to America in 1950, later becoming a legal American citizen.  Ten years later, he acquired 25 percent interest in the Washington Redskins, a football franchise he would become associated with for the rest of his life.  By 1985, he was sole owner of the team.  During his tenure, they'd win the Super Bowl an impressive three times.  During this time, Cooke also owned the Los Angeles Lakers (basketball) and the Los Angeles Kings (hockey).

Jack Kent Cooke died of congestive heart failure on April 6, 1997.  He was 84 years old.  He was laid to rest at Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery in Uppperville, Virginia, about an hour outside of Washington, DC.  The service was attended by more than 400 local dignitaries and sports figures.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Jack Kent Cooke, take a voyage to Amazon.  Its all in books.
  
  
• Upon his death, the Redskins franchise was sold to businessman Daniel Snyder.  Under his ownership, the team would experience three decades of loss.  Despite years of Cooke saying otherwise, Schneider ultimately changed their name to the Washington Commanders in 2022.
  
  
• Cooke was married an astounding five times to four women, remarrying wife #4 Marlene Ramallo Chalmers.  It was a scandalous marriage that brought headlines of infidelity on a near daily basis, as the younger Mrs. Cooke was known to have a host a male paramours at the ready.  Despite this, Cooke remained married to her until his death.
  
  
• The majority of Cooke's estate, valued at $825 million, helped establish the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, an organization that offers scholarships to help the young reach their maximum potential.  He left both Ramallo and wife #2 out of his will, but the former successfully sued the estate for a reported $20 million.
  
  
• Cooke's first divorce was presided over by a then unknown judge by the name of Joseph Wapner.  Years later, he would become a household name as star of The People's Court, and his grave would be profiled by this blog.

Elly May!

 

"This has been a Filmways presentation!"

Donna Douglas was born Doris Ione Smith in Pride, Louisiana on September 26, 1932.  She was the youngest of Emmett and Elma's two children and had show business aspirations from an early age.  In 1957, she was named both Miss Baton Rouge and Miss New Orleans.

She moved to New York to pursue an acting career and soon found work as a model in a series of toothpaste advertisements.  That led to her being cast in small roles on both The Perry Como Show and The Steve Allen Show in small, recurring roles.  These and other parts earned her a role in the Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine feature Career (1959).  The following year, she'd make a memorable appearance in the classic Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholder.

In 1962, Donna was cast in the role for which she is most famously identified, that of Elly May Clampett on the CBS sit-com The Beverly Hillbillies.  The series ran for nine seasons and made household names of Donna and her co-stars.

When the series was canceled in 1971, Donna remained active in Hollywood, while pursuing other career opportunities as well (see Trivia below).  She would also continue to make public appearances as Elly May, raising money on telethons, serving as grand marshal in parades, or signing autographs at celebrity conventions.

In 2005, Donna returned to her hometown in East Baton Rouge, where she would spend her final years.  By 2014, she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which ultimately took her life on January 1, 2015.  She was 82 years old.

Donna is buried at Bluff Creek Community Cemetery in Bluff Creek, Louisiana.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• Donna had a second career as a gospel singer and released several such albums, the first being Donna Douglas Sings Gospel, released in 1982.  Take a listen on YouTube, then pick up a copy on Amazon.
  
  
• Donna was also a published author, releasing two children's books and a cookbook, the latter of which contains recipes from some of her show business friends, including Buddy Ebsen, Debbie Reynolds, Gavin MacLeod and more.  You can pick up a copy of Southern Favorites with a Taste of Hollywood on Amazon.
  
  
• When production on the series concluded in 1971, Donna earned her real-estate license in Beverly Hills.  She didn't stay in the profession for long however, as she remained active in Hollywood.
  
  
• In 1993, Donna reunited with her Beverly Hillbillies co-stars Buddy Ebsen and Max Baer for an episode of The Jerry Springer Show, at a time when the talk show was still relatively legit.  Curious?  Check it out on YouTube.
  
  
• In 2011, Donna successfully sued Mattel Toys claiming they had appropriated her name and likeness for a Barbie doll without her approval.  You can buy one on Amazon.
  
  
• The grave of Donna's co-star Nancy Kulp, who played Miss Jane Hathaway on the series, has also been profiled by this blog.  Click here for the September 2023 report.

The Pyramid Tomb of Nicolas Cage

 

It isn't often that this blog gets to report on someone who's still among the living.  Last year, we showed you the Connecticut grave of actress Stephanie Zimbalist, alive and kicking at 68.  Another Hollywood notable to have already procured their final resting place is actor Nicolas Cage, owner of a unique pyramid tomb in New Orleans, Louisiana.

He was born Nicolas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, California on January 7, 1964.  If that name sounds familiar, its because he is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, director of such Hollywood classics as The Godfather and the over-appreciated The Godfather, Part 2. 

By the time he was a teenager, he was already asking his famous uncle to give him a screen test, hoping to show off his acting chops.  Then in an effort to avoid the appearance of nepotism, he changed his name to Nicolas Cage, his surname in tribute to the Marvel Comics character Luke Cage.  He has since starred in such blockbusters as National Treasure (2004), Con Air (1997), and Face/Off (1997). 

From a young age, he would visit his famous family at their property in New Orleans' famed French Quarter.  Cage grew to appreciate the gentile, southern town, which he would later call his home.  After achieving great success in Hollywood, he bought a number of properties in the area, including the LaLaurie Mansion, purported to be the most haunted house in all America.

Having developed deep ties to the Big Easy, Cage opted to make it his final resting place.  In 2010, he purchased space in the famed St. Louis Cemetery #1, just outside the French Quarter, much to the chagrin of local residents.  Hoping to be eternally housed next to the city's famed Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, Cage knocked down pre-existing graves that had long since fallen into disrepair.  Ironically, he would choose the perpetual care option for his tomb, guaranteeing that it will always be maintained following his death.

Rest in peace.  Eventually.

Trivia

• St. Louis Cemetery #1 is the only graveyard that this blogger has ever had to pay to get into.  Tours are by appointment only.  Interested?  Visit the official tour site.  Be sure to ask for Zelda.  She is a fantastic tour guide who answered all of our questions.
  
  
• The Latin inscription "Omnia Ab Uno" translates to "everything from one."
  
  
• Other famous internments include civil rights activist Homer Plessy and chess master Paul Morphy.  Musician Dr. John is purported to be there as well, but his final resting place cannot be confirmed.
  
  
• In recent years, Cage has run afoul of the IRS, who've ceased most of his properties.  Under Louisiana law however, his final resting place cannot be claimed.

2024 Year in Review!

 

2024 will soon come to a close.  As has become tradition here, it's time to look back on all the fresh dirt that this blogger explored over the last year.  I wasn't sure of the exact numbers myself, but suffice it to say, I was very surprised.

In 2024, this blogger visited 72 graves in 12 states and Washington, DC.  This brings the total to date to 639 famous graves in 32 states and DC.  Next year, we go for 700.

Many of this year's notable graves have already been chronicled here, including Cokie Roberts, Pearl S. Buck, and Philip McKeon.  We've also highlighted some of the more unusual graves we discovered this year, including Stephanie Zimbalist, who is still very much alive, and Ed Headrick, who now exists as a frisbee.

Before we end the year, here's a quick look at some of the other graves we found, who may be blogged in the near future.

Allen Ludden
Game Show Host/Betty White's Husband
Graceland Cemetery
Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Trivia: The location of Betty's ashes remains a mystery.  Urban legend has it that they were secretly buried or scattered here.

Bob Evans
Restauranteur
Mound Hill Cemetery
Gallipolis, Ohio
Trivia: The headstone is shaped like one of his restaurants.

Chris Farley
Actor/Alleged Comedian
Resurrection Cemetery
Madison, Wisconsin
Trivia: Farley died of a drug overdose while entertaining a hooker.  She took photos of his dead body and sold them to the National Enquirer.

Frank Lloyd Wright
Architect
Unity Chapel Cemetery
Wyoming, Wisconsin

Trivia: Like Judy Garland and Anton Yelchin, Wright has two graves.  In 1985, his remains were exhumed from this location and cremated.  Some were re-interred here, while others were buried with his wife in Arizona.  Additionally, this location is but a few miles from one of America's greatest roadside attractions, House on the Rock, which was created by rival architect Alex Jordan, Jr.  Allegedly, Wright told Jordan that he would never amount to anything.  In response, Jordan created the attraction to prove him wrong.  Today, it attracts more than 500,000 visitors every year.

Mark Gruenwald
Comic Book Artist
Ripley's Believe it or Not!
Williamsburg, Virginia
Trivia: Gruenwald was a comic book artist who lived for his work.  Upon his death, his body was cremated, and his ashes were used in the production of the comic book seen below.  

Not pictured: Aaron Burr, Jr., Alan Freed, Anna Anderson, Anne Baxter, Audrey Roth, Barbara Baxley, Bernard Henry Kroger, Charles Atlas, Charles Coburn, Charles Colson, Charles Durbing, Charles Hinton, Jr., Cokie Roberts, David Frisch, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Ed Headrick, Efrem Zimbalist, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Eileen Brennan, Eugene Stoner, Frederick Branch, Geraldine Ferraro, Henry John Heinz, Henry John Heinz II, Henry John Heinz III, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, James Gamble, Joe Lieberman, Joe Pepitone, John Cephas, JFK, John Gotti, John Philip Sousa, Johnny Appleseed, Joseph Cotten, Kunta Kinte, Leo the MGM Lion, Leon Uris, the John List Family, Louis Lowery, Lucky Luciano, Marilyn Marie Johnson Eastman, Mario Cuomo, Martha Moxley, Martin Balsam, Mary "Kitty" Menendez, Mary Travers, Nancy Kulp, Nancy Parsons, Patricia Cotton, Pearl S. Buck, Peter Kurten, Philip McKeon, Prescott Bush, Robert Williams Daniel, Robert Novak, Scott Hall, Stephanie Zimbalist, Tom Thumb, Victor Borge, Walter Matt Jefferies, William Higgins, and William Procter.

Happy holidays!  This blog will return in January 2025.

The DC Madam

 

"I am not going back to prison.  I will commit suicide first."

If you lived in the Washington, DC area in the early 2000s, you're likely to remember Deborah Jeane Palfrey, affectionately dubbed the DC Madam by the local media. In 2008, she was found guilty of money laundering and racketeering after a four-year hands-on investigation into her escort agency, Pamela Martin and Associates (PM&A), whose clients included national politicians and local celebrities.

She was born in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania on March 18, 1956.  When she was a teenager, her family moved to Orlando, Florida, where she later attended Rollins College, earning her degree in criminal justice.  No, really.  After graduation, she moved to San Diego, taking a job as a paralegal.

It was through her clients in America's Finest City that Palfrey first became involved in the escort business.  She felt that she could run such a service much more efficiently than any of her legal clients had done, so she began recruiting her all-star team.  Her first arrest came in 1990, when she was charged with pimping, pandering, and extortion.  She fled to Montana but was brought back for trial and was ultimately convicted in 1992.  She would spend the next 18 months in prison. Following her release, Palfrey opened PM&A in Washington, DC.

Upon her conviction in 2008, Palfrey was informed that she could spend the next 55 years in prison.  Two weeks later, on May 1, she was found dead at her mother's mobile home in Tarpon Springs, Florida.  Fearing a return to prison, Palfrey had ultimately decided to take her own life.  Her body was found hanging in a tool shed behind her mother's home.  Following an autopsy, her death was ruled a suicide.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey was laid to rest in the family plot at Cycadia Cemetery in Tarpon Springs.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• A year after her death, Palfrey's lawyer Montgomery Blair Sibley, who was disbarred following the trial, released his tell-all book on the case.  You can pick up a copy of Why Just Her: The Judicial Lynching of the DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, from Amazon.
  
  
• ABC News went through Palfrey's phone records, which contained the names of nearly 15,000 clients.  Ultimately, they decided not to release any of those names, stating that none of them were "sufficiently newsworthy."  Phew!
  
  
• In 2007, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana acknowledged that he had been one of Palfrey's clients.  With his depressed wife standing by his side, Vitter called a press conference, wherein he admitted "his failings," but ultimately refused to step down.  You can check it out on YouTube.
  
  
• Palfrey's younger sister, Roberta Lynn, will one day join her in this dual plot.
  
  
• Following her death, Palfrey's conviction was vacated by the court.

That Guy - Star Wars, Flash Gordon, Superman 4.......

 

"In a sense, my career's been downhill ever since.  Fans still come to greet me at the stage door with action figures of my character and embarrassing photographs for me to sign."

William Hootkins is not exactly a household name.  When I visited his grave in Dallas a few years back, I knew him as Porkins, one of the many rebel pilots who did not survive the original Star Wars. 

I was in the cemetery paying my respects to some more notable internments, when I saw his listing on Find a Grave, and thought, what the heck.  It turns out this guy has been in a ton of my favorite movies and I never made the connection.  But first, a little back story.

He was born in Dallas on July 5, 1948.  He attended private school, where he first became interested in acting.  Upon graduation, he enrolled in Princeton University, where he initially majored in astrophysics before transferring to oriental studies, all the while participating in the school's theatrical productions. Upon graduation, he followed his friend John Lithgow's advice and moved to England, where he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. 

It was there in 1976 that he was cast as Porkins, a small role that would ultimately define his career.  He'd continue working in England for the next twenty years, appearing in some of the biggest films of the day.  In 1980, he appeared as Munson, lab assistant to the eccentric Dr. Hanz Zarkov in Dino De Laurentis's Flash Gordon.  The following year, he appeared as Major Eaton in Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark.  In 1987, he appeared in the critically panned Superman 4: The Quest for Peace, playing Harry Howler, an American arms tycoon.  Finally, in 1989, he played the corrupt Lieutenant Eckhardt in Tim Burton's Batman.

Hootkins in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman 4: The Quest for Peace, and Batman.

By 2005, Hootkins had relocated to California, where he was being treated for pancreatic cancer.  He ultimately died on October 23rd.  He was just 57 years old.

William Hootkins was laid to rest at Sparkman/Hillcrest Memorial Park in Dallas.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• As a teenager, Hootkins was in the same drama group as future box office star Tommy Lee Jones, whom he was felt was far more handsome than himself.  He once famously stated "I supported from then on."
  
  
• When he was just 15 years old, Hootkins was interviewed by the FBI following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  His teacher at the time, Ruth Paine, was a Russian national and friend to Oswald's wife Marina.  It was later discovered that unbeknownst to the family, Oswald had stored his rifle in Paine's garage, the same one he'd later use to kill the president.
  
  
• Other notable Sparkman internments include Mickey Mantle, Ross Perot, Tom Landry and Mary Kay Ash.
  
  
• When Lieutenant Eckhardt goes to kill Jack Napier at Axis Chemicals in the first few minutes of Batman, Hootkins appears with a scruffy beard.  Moments later, when Napier shoots him, he appears completely clean shaven.