Laurel and Hardywood – June 30, 2014

Hello Fellow Sons:

Hard to believe it has been a whole year since Laurel and Hardywood! But it has. I thought since I sent out a preview of each day of the upcoming convention exactly one year before the convention itself, it would be fun to send a review of each day of the convention exactly one year after that date. We can take a little trip down memory lane together, or in this case Hollywood Blvd. I got to tell you it feels much better a year after the convention doing this than a year before sending the preview!

So here we go.

Pre-convention conventioneers who signed up for the Habeas Corpus Tour loaded in coach buses and drove over the hill to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills to pay our respects to Laurel and Hardy related film stars: Alf Goudling (director of the Chumps at Oxford), actresses June Lang, Iris Adrian and Jean Parker, actor Reginald Gardiner and composer T. Marvin Hatley. Other stars included Bette Davis, Morey Amsterdam, Liberace, Charles Laughton, George Raft, Freddie Prinze and Coach John Wooden.

The group then drove back over the hill and down Santa Monica Blvd. to Hollywood Forever Cemetery (formerly Hollywood Memorial). We were met there by famed tour guide Karie Bible and Theodore from the cemetery to take a walking tour of this historical cemetery. The Laurel and Hardy related folks included: Darla and Alfalfa, Walter Long, Charles Middleton, Gertrude Astor, director Harry Leachman, Eddie Dunn, Bobby Dunn, Harry Bernard Otto Fries and Edith Fellows. Other stars included former WOW Tent member Kathleen Freeman, the Talmadge Sisters, Douglas Faribanks, Jr. & Sr., Rudolph Valentino, Tyrone Power, Cecil B. DeMille, Don Adams, Mickey Rooney, and Peter Finch among many others. (And cenotaph for Hattie McDaniel and Toto were also on the tour.)

The group broke for lunch at the famous Farmers’ Market in Hollywood. Then it was on to Culver City’s Holy Cross Cemetery where Laurel and Hardy alumni Edgar Kennedy, Della Lind, George Marshall, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby and ZaSu Pitts were pointed out. Other celebrities graves included: Fred MacMurray and June Haver, Joan Davis, John Candy, Bela Lugosi, Charles Correll, Fibber McGee and Molly, Rita Hayworth, Sharon Tate and Charles Boyer were also visited.

It was then back to the host hotel, Lowes Hollywood Hotel for a rest and free time to explore Hollywood and have dinner! The fun was only beginning to start…

At Hollywood Forever Marcia Opal and Richard Bann pose in front of Bobby Dunn’s marker. The grave stone for Bobby Dunn was placed in the last few years as he was buried in an unmarked grave after passing away at the Motion Picture Home.

Sons pay their respects to T. Marvin Hatley composer of the KuKu Song

Tour guide Karie Bible displays a picture of Mrs. Louise Emmons of Our Gang fame as her marker was recently placed by a small group of fans after being unmarked for almost 80 years.

Sons pose with Hal Roach stock member Harry Bernard’s marker. The grave stone for Harry Bernard was placed in the last few years as he was buried in an unmarked grave after passing away at the Motion Picture Home.