Inglewood Park Cemetery

Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery
Details
Established	1905
Location	720 East Florence Avenue; Inglewood, California
Country	United States
Type	Non-profit
Size	200 acres (0.81 km2)
Website	http://www.inglewoodparkcemetery.com

Inglewood Park Cemetery, in Inglewood, California, was founded in 1905.^[1]^[2]^[3] A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed there.

History

The proposed establishment of "the largest cemetery in the world" was announced in November 1905, to be "on a high strip of ground two miles southwest of Los Angeles".^[4]

In 1907, a "handsome, two-story, white granite chapel" was completed at a cost of "about $40,000".^[5]

Also in 1907 the management placed an order "with the factory in the East" for a $12,000 funeral car to be used "on the electric line"^[6] that ran on a right-of-way off Redondo Boulevard (today's Florence Avenue) in front of the cemetery.

Between 1928 and 1948 Inglewood Park advertised itself as the "Largest in California," with a mausoleum, cemetery, and columbarium.^[7]^[8]^[9] From 1948 through 1950 it said it had the "Greatest number of interments in the West".^[10]^[11]

Organizers and directors

Early backers of the Inglewood Cemetery Association were Senator Robert N. Bulla, Mark G. Jones, Robert H. Raphael, Tom Hughes, P.W. Powers, Byron Oliver, B.J. or V.J. Rowan, F.K. Eckley, C.B. Hopper, Harry M. Jack, John R. Powers, George Letteau, Jennie Wild, and Will G. Nevin. Others were P.W. Powers and D.S. Patterson.^[4]^[12]

In 1907 the directors were Mark G. Jones, F.K. Eckley, Robt. N. Bulls, John C. Rupp, Robt. H. Raphael, Geo. H. Letteau, and Chas. B. Hopper. The officers were Mark G. Jones, president and treasurer; Chas. B. Hopper, vice-president; F.K. Eckley, secretary; V.J. Rowan, engineer, and Captain L.G. Loomis, superintendent.^[13]

Early burials

One of the earliest notable burials was that of Webster Street, justice of the Supreme Court of Arizona between 1897 and 1900, on September 23, 1908.^[14]

Another was the September 12, 1908, funeral of Los Angeles city Police Chief Walter H. Auble, who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Thousands came from Los Angeles on carriages and aboard special Los Angeles Railway streetcars.^[15]^[16]

Notable interments

(Note: This is a partial list. See also Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery.)

A

Margaret Queen Adams (1874–1974), first woman deputy sheriff in the United States
Jewel Akens (1933–2013), singer
Coit Albertson (1880–1953), actor
Curtis Amy (1929–2002), musician
Joseph H. August (1890–1947), cinematographer
Lloyd Avery II (1969–2005), actor

B

Chet Baker (1929–1988), musician
W. Lester Banks (1911–1986), American civil rights leader
Reginald Barker (1886–1945), director
Earl Battey (1935–2003), baseball player
Beals Becker (1886–1943), baseball player
Ricky Bell (1955–1984), NFL running back
George Bennard (1873–1958), composer
Edgar Bergen (1903–1978), actor and ventriloquist
Wally Berger (1905–1988), baseball player
Paul Bern (1885–1932), director, screenwriter and producer
Richard Berry (1935–1997), singer and songwriter
Lillian Biron (1898–1957), actress
Elmer Booth (1882–1915), actor
Margaret Booth (1898–2002), film editor
Lyman Bostock (1950–1978), baseball player
Fletcher Bowron (1887–1968), Los Angeles mayor and judge
Tom Bradley (1917–1998), Los Angeles mayor
Byron B. Brainard (1894–1940), Los Angeles City Council member
Layne Britton (1907–1993), makeup artist
Gladys Brockwell (1894–1929), actress
Charles Brown (1922–1999), singer
Nacio Herb Brown (1896–1964), composer
Robert L. Burns (1876–1955), Los Angeles City Council member, 1929–45
Jheryl Busby (1949–2008), former CEO of Motown Records

C

Harry Caesar (1928–1994) singer, actor
Bebe Moore Campbell (1951–2006), author
Caesar Cardini (1896–1956), credited as creator of Caesar Salad
Horace G. Cates (1864–1911), Los Angeles County coroner
Ray Charles (1930–2004), musician^[17]
Thornton Chase (1847–1912), first western Baha'i, Annual memorial in September draws large crowds.^[18]
James Cleveland (1931–1991), gospel singer, composer, arranger
Johnnie Cochran (1937–2005), trial lawyer
Anthony Cornero (1899–1955), bootlegger, gambling entrepreneur
Ray "Crash" Corrigan (1902–1976), actor
Willie Covan (1897–1989), dancer, actor^[19]
Al Cowens (1951–2002), baseball player
Pee Wee Crayton (1914–1985), guitarist, blues singer
Sam Crawford (1880–1968), baseball player

D

Julian Dixon (1934–2000), U.S. Congressman
Badja Djola (1948–2005), actor
Robert DoQui (1934–2008), actor
William Duncan (1879–1961), actor

E

Dock Ellis (1945–2008), baseball player
Zari Elmassian Vartian (1906–1990), singer
Victor Hugo Emerson (1866-1926), president of the Emerson Phonograph Company

F

Louise Fazenda (1895–1962), actress
Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996), singer^[20]
Curt Flood (1938–1997), baseball player
Clara Shortridge Foltz (1849–1934), first female lawyer on the West Coast.
Byron Foulger (1899–1970), actor
Wardell Fouse (1960–2003), implicated in the murder of the Notorious B.I.G.
Lowell Fulson (1921–1999), blues musician

G

Hoot Gibson (1892–1962), actor
Jim Gilliam (1928–1978), baseball player
Betty Grable (1916–1973), actress, singer and dancer
Leroy Milton Grider (1854–1919), Los Angeles real estate man
Ferde Grofé (1892–1973), composer

H

Kenneth Hahn (1920–1997), county supervisor and city council member
Jester Hairston (1901–2000), actor, musician, arranger
Lois Hall (1926–2006), actress
Robin Harris (1953–1990), actor and comedian
Helen Humes (1913–1981), singer
Flo Hyman (1954–1986), volleyball player

J

Etta James (1938–2012), singer^[21]
Bud Jamison (1894–1944), actor
James J. Jeffries (1875–1953), world heavyweight boxing champion

K

Robert Kardashian (1944–2003), attorney, businessman
Kirk Kerkorian (1917–2015), businessman
Brady Keys (1936–2017), football player
Cecil R. King (1898–1974), U.S. Congressman
Jerry Knight (1952–1996), musician
Fred Kohler (1888–1938), actor

L

Art Laboe (1925-2022), radio personality
Allan "Rocky" Lane (1909–1973), actor
Walter Lang (1896–1972), film director
Lucille La Verne (1872–1945), actress
Gypsy Rose Lee (1911–1970), actress and burlesque dancer
Lillian Leitzel (1892–1931), acrobat
Evan Lewis (1869–1941), Los Angeles City Council member^[22]
Walter Lindley (1852–1922), Los Angeles physician and educational leader^[23]

M

D'Urville Martin (1939–1984), actor, producer and director
Edith Wynne Matthison (1875-1955), actress
Lee Maye (1934–2002), baseball player
Fred McMullin (1891–1952), baseball player
Irish Meusel (1893–1963), baseball player
Louis Meyer (1904–1995), race car driver
Cleo Moore (1928–1973), actress
Juanita Moore (1914–2014), actress
Darius Morris (1991-2024), basketball player
Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison (1912–1989), actor
Herbert Mundin (1898–1939), actor
Don Myrick (1940–1993), musician

N

Gordon W. Norris (1907–1961), poet laureate of California

O

Fred Offenhauser (1888–1973), automotive inventor
Orval Overall (1881–1947), Major League Baseball pitcher
O.Y.G. Redrum 781 (1972–2021), rapper

P

LaWanda Page (1920–2002), actress and comedian
George H. Peck (1856–1940), real estate broker & developer
Lawrence Phillips (1975–2016), NFL running back
Morton E. Post (1840–1933), businessman and politician
Billy Preston (1946–2006), singer and songwriter
George W. Prince (1854–1939), U.S. Congressman
Brad Pye Jr. (1931–2020), sports journalist and broadcaster

R

Robert Riskin (1897–1955), screenwriter
Sugar Ray Robinson (1921–1989), World Champion boxer
LaTasha "MC Trouble" Rogers (1970–1991), rapper
Cesar Romero (1907–1994), actor

S

Evelyn Selbie (1871–1950), actress
Blanche Sewell (1898–1949), editor
Frank L. Shaw (1877–1958), Los Angeles mayor
Orfa Jean Shontz (1876–1954), the first woman in California to "sit on the bench and administer justice"
Charles A. Siringo (1855–1928), author
Vivian Smallwood (1933-2017), rapper and actress^[24]
Myrtle Stedman (1883–1938), actress
Slim Summerville (1892–1946), actor
Big Syke (1968–2016), rapper
Sylvester (1947–1988), singer^[25]

T

Richard Talmadge (1892–1981), actor and film director^[26]
David Torrence (1864–1951), Scottish-born actor
Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas (1931–1980), actor
Big Mama Thornton (1926–1984), singer and songwriter

V

Joseph W. Vance (1841–1927), military officer

W

T-Bone Walker (1910–1975), musician
Bobby Wallace (1873–1960), baseball Hall of Famer
Lalomie Washburn (1941–2004), singer songwriter
Laura L. Whitlock (1862–1934), mapmaker
Larry Williams (1935–1980), singer and actor
Paul Williams (1894–1980), architect
Murry Wilson (1917–1973), musician, record producer, businessman, and father of Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys
Parke Wilson (1867–1934), baseball player
Arthur Winston (1906–2006), centenarian
John Downey Works (1847–1928), U.S. Senator
Syreeta Wright (1946–2004), singer

Y

Carleton G. Young (1907–1971), actor

In popular culture

The scene in Sunset Limousine where Alan loses his limousine while he and Julie are hiding from mobsters at a Chinese-American funeral ceremony was filmed at this cemetery.