Halloween Is a Graveyard Smash for 300 Visitors

There were no monsters, ghosts or goblins Sunday afternoon at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

But there were plenty of tombstones--monumental, well-crafted tombstones that looked like small cathedrals and capitol-like sculptures.

And underneath them were the intriguing and sometimes tragic stories of the famous, powerful and rich who helped shape Tinseltown.

About 300 Angelenos decided to spend a warm Halloween afternoon learning about the last days of these personalities, including one who died over a gambling dispute, the father of a star who invented what looked like a dialysis machine but allegedly increased breast size and the story of the first actress to have her name appear in a movie credit.

“I love cemeteries. I love Hollywood history,” said Patricia Kavanagh of Pasadena. “I used to walk here on my own and admire the tombstones, but I wanted to hear the story behind them.”

Every year more and more people are charmed with the Hollywood Cemetery Tour, said members of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, which sponsored the 15th annual event.

“People are dying to get in here,” said Mitzi March Mogul, the society’s president.

“We have everything from punk rockers to the retired,” agreed Frank Cooper, the organization’s vice president.

Those on the first tour of about 20 people, which departed at noon, followed guide Alan Barasorda to the first burial site, marked by a plaque a little bigger than a license plate with the name Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer.

The crowd recognized the name as one of the actors in “The Little Rascals.” They remembered his freckles and the one hair always sticking out.

“Even though he went on to other shows as a teenager, he was always remembered as Alfalfa,” Barasorda said.

He lived from Aug. 7, 1927, to Jan. 21, 1959. Some on the tour giggled when they recognized a figure on the plate of a dog with spots.

Switzer was a big gambler, Barasorda said. Once, he was down on his luck, bet his last dollar and put his dog up as collateral. But when the dog ran away, the two gamblers began to argue. The 31-year-old Switzer was stabbed to death, Barasorda said.

Barasorda pointed to another plaque with the name C. Fred Switzer, Alfalfa’s father.

Some of those on the tour wondered about a picture of what looked like a dialysis machine.

“He was an inventor. He never invented anything particularly important, but he was proud of that one,” Barasorda said.

“Anybody know what that is?” Barasorda asked.

No one had a clue.

“A breast enlarger,” Barasorda announced.

“Can you explain how that works?” asked Gerry Tomsic of Los Feliz.

“No idea,” Barasorda replied.

Members of the Art Deco society said this was the typical reaction--surprise and amusement. And it fits well with the group’s hope of getting the public interested in history through fun and entertaining events, Mogul said.

Cooper, the group’s vice president, has always been a “cemetery aficionado,” he said. While studying anthropology in the 1980s at USC, he decided to focus on cemetery architecture. The shape of tombstones tell a lot about a place’s history, he said.

He chose to research the Hollywood Cemetery, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. He found that some of the oldest tombstones were built using geometric designs. Some of the most recent ones have a photograph of the deceased.

“A cemetery is a great repository of history of Hollywood and pop culture,” Cooper said.

He wanted to share what he knew with others so he talked the Art Deco society into starting the tours. The tours have been taking place ever since, he said.

Those who took part Sunday said the tour was far better than any treats collected Halloween night.

“It’s a great place to commune with the dead and Hollywood,” said Douglas McWhirter, a 35-year-old Beachwood Canyon resident.

Some minutes later, after admiring other tombstones and listening to other stories, the crowd reached a spot on a dark corner.

The name Florence Lawrence, 1850-1930, and the phrase “The First Movie Star” was on the plaque.

Barasorda said producers of the early 1900s did not want to include the name of celebrities in the roll of credits so familiar in movies now.

“They feared that actors and actresses would become famous and would demand more money for films,” he said.

But one producer decided to promote his actress to put his movies on the map, Barasorda said. So he began including the name of his actress in movie credits. Soon, she became the first movie star, he said.

Events like these are the only chances many dead and forgotten celebrities have to shine again, Mogul said.

“Some celebrities are forgotten in a dark corner,” she said. “In Hollywood, a celebrity is as grand as his last picture.”