Forest Lawn Guards Singer's Privacy in Death
By Sue Manning
Associated Press
Friday, September 4, 2009
GLENDALE, Calif. -- Michael Jackson's life played out on a world stage, headlines screaming his every move, frenzy following his footsteps.
His death, memorial and investigation amplified the delirium and prolonged the anguish of family and fans. On Thursday, he was to be interred at Forest Lawn Glendale in a hidden monument in a mausoleum made of marble and mortar.
No marquees, no spotlights, no paparazzi. And yet, there were stars.
As Michael Jackson's family arrived more than an hour late for the pop singer's funeral, celebrities such as 77-year-old Elizabeth Taylor endured the hot summer night.
Temperatures hovered at 90 just before sunset, with some mourners fanning themselves with programs for the service. Other mourners included ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, baseball star Barry Bonds, actors Macaulay Culkin and Mila Kunis, choreographer Kenny Ortega and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
A police escort ushered a motorcade of 31 cars from the Jacksons' Encino compound to Forest Lawn Glendale. Jackson's parents, Joe and Katherine, and the singer's children, 12-year-old Prince Michael, 10-year-old Paris Michael and 7-year-old Prince Michael II, known as Blanket, were in the front rows for the service.
Jackson will be enveloped by the grandeur of the grounds, the majesty of the buildings and the significance of history.
In the Great Mausoleum, he joins such Hollywood legends of yesteryear as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, W.C. Fields and Red Skelton, as well as "The Last Supper Window," a life-size stained-glass re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, and "Moses," a reproduction of Michelangelo's sculpture for the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome.
On a hilltop nearby, in a building the size of a sports arena, hang two of the world's largest paintings, "The Crucifixion" and "The Resurrection." Like so many of the people in it, the park has also become fabled. Founded in 1906 by a group of businessmen on 55 hillside acres in the town of Tropico (later Glendale), there was no forest and no lawn, just a traditional dusty graveyard with granite tombstones and elaborate messages.
By the time Hubert Eaton arrived in 1912 at the age of 31, according to Forest Lawn literature, he had graduated from college in Missouri, punched cattle in Montana and lost a small fortune on a silver mine in Nevada. He took the job as sales manager at the cemetery so he could repay his mine backers.
He persuaded people to buy plots before they died. After just a year, he had increased sales 250 percent. After three years, his sales had multiplied so much, he was able to buy a stake in the company and was named general manager.
Despite resistance from his board of directors, monument-makers, the community and customers, Eaton eliminated tombstones so grass could be planted and lawns mowed; he renounced the name "cemetery," changing it to "memorial park"; he started collecting world-class art or detailed reproductions; and he added mausoleums, acres, trees, a florist, a gift shop and chapels that are used for funerals and weddings.
In 1933, Eaton was the first to combine a mortuary with a cemetery, overcoming opposition from morticians, casket-makers and the state. Today, the park covers 300 acres and employs 150 people.
The park was divided into fancifully named sections such as Slumberland, Babyland, Graceland and Inspiration Slope. You can find places for immortality, affection, tranquillity, mercy, harmony, fidelity and devotion.
A patriotic theme was incorporated in the early 1950s with the Court of Freedom, the Freedom Mausoleum and sections with such names as Liberty and Victory.
William Martin, who has been communications manager at Forest Lawn Glendale for nearly four years, dodges most questions, including names of famous inhabitants, how many people are interred there or how much room is left. He is even tighter-lipped about Jackson.
When asked if there had been increased interest in Forest Lawn since the Jackson family announced its plans, he said, "The public interest has been raised. That's putting it mildly."
Ron Hast, executive editor and publisher of Mortuary Management With Funeral Monitor, who was one of Marilyn Monroe's pallbearers in 1962, said the park is a good fit for Jackson, because of staff expertise with handling celebrity security.
Scott Michaels, owner of Dearly Departed Tours in Los Angeles, believes Forest Lawn Glendale has a double standard when it comes to celebrities. "They protect their celebrities vehemently, but they brag about them," he said.
"Not too long ago, they had an exhibit in their museum about celebrities buried in their cemetery," Michaels said. "These people wanted to be famous when they were alive. Fame didn't end with their deaths. We still watch their movies. It's frustrating for some not to be able to pay their respects."
More than 70,000 people have been married at Forest Lawn parks. Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman, and Regis Philbin and his wife, Joy, were married at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather at Glendale.
Cemetery Web sites and blogs have been buzzing since Jackson's family announced the Forest Lawn plan. Hits to Lisa Burk's blog at http://www.gravehunting.com have gone through the roof, she said. She said if the Jackson family wants privacy, it can be found at the mausoleum. "It's impossible to get in there. It was before, and it will be worse now."
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