Who’s Actually Buried at Hollywood Forever, and How to See Their Memorials

You hear the same two questions at the front gate: where do I find Valentino, and is Judy Garland really here now. The short answers are left at the Cathedral Mausoleum and yes, since 2017. Give yourself time. The grounds at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd sit next to Paramount’s backlot, and the cemetery keeps regular visitor hours — 8:30 am–5:00 pm daily, with 8:30 am–5:30 pm in summer; most interior spaces keep shorter windows.

If you’re aiming for indoor crypts, check the clocks first. The Cathedral Mausoleum — where you’ll find Rudolph Valentino and the Judy Garland Pavilion — is open 10:00 am–2:00 pm daily. Other mausoleums are open 9:00 am–4:00 pm. Beth Olam, the Jewish cemetery within the grounds, is open 9:00 am–4:00 pm on Sunday and weekdays, and is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. All of that makes timing your route the first real decision of the day.

Names people actually come to see (and exactly where)

You could wander the lawns and spot familiar surnames by sheer luck, but the efficient method is to pick up the small printed map in the flower shop. If you want a little more structure, the shop also sells a walking-guide booklet; the small map is $6, which is cheaper than circling the lake twice and giving up.

Start with Valentino. He’s inside the Cathedral Mausoleum, the cool marble corridor that also hosts an annual memorial on August 23. That service begins at a very particular time — 12:10 pm — a tradition that now draws fans into a room that looks like it could be a film location, because it has been. If you arrive after the mausoleum closes at 2 pm you can still see the exterior; plan ahead if you want to stand at the crypt itself.

A short walk away is the Judy Garland Pavilion, added when her remains were moved to Los Angeles in 2017. The room was designed with space for family members, which is the unsentimental reason the relocation happened at all. If you’re traveling with older movie fans who came for Oz and epics, steer them next to the grand memorial across the water: the Fairbanks monument. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Jr. are entombed at the end of a long reflecting pool on the Fairbanks Lawn, which doubles as the site for the cemetery’s outdoor film series and concerts.

In the same historic section you can pay respects to Cecil B. DeMille in the Cathedral Mausoleum, and, outside, to the two most-asked-about epitaphs: Mel Blanc with “That’s all folks” carved at his grave, and Mickey Rooney, whose 2014 burial returned a golden-age star to a very old Hollywood address. Many visitors assume Marilyn Monroe is here as well. She isn’t; that’s Westwood. Valentino is the eternal heartthrob at this cemetery, which is why the line forms for his corridor first when the doors open.

Modern names pull their own steady crowds. Walk the loop around the lake and you’ll find the Garden of Legends, where Chris Cornell is buried. It’s one of the few places where fans still leave guitars on occasion, so security keeps an eye on traffic there out of respect for families visiting nearby plots. Nearby stands the unmistakable statue of Johnny Ramone, the eight-foot bronze of him mid-downstroke. That monument marks a cenotaph — a memorial with no remains beneath — while his bandmate Dee Dee Ramone is actually interred on the grounds close to the lake. If you’re wondering about the young sculpted figure in profile a few lanes away, that’s Anton Yelchin’s memorial.

How to plan a visit without wasting steps

The visitor pattern that works is simple: exteriors first, interior crypts during the middle of your day, then back outside until closing. It lines up with the hours, and it means you won’t arrive at 3 pm to a locked mausoleum door. If you prefer a guided circuit, the longtime cemetery tour by Karie Bible runs a focused two-and-a-half hours that covers the famous residents and the founders of the district. As of this year the daytime tour is $35 and her limited night tour is $50. She takes reservations, but you can also pay cash at check-in for day tours if there’s room.

Self-guided works fine too if you’re efficient. The flower shop map is compact, and security staff at the entrance will direct you where to park on the roads inside the grounds. One small but useful detail for repeat visitors: the cemetery’s landscaping and decor are actively maintained. Decorations get cleared on a schedule — typically every Thursday — and there’s a fairly strict list of what can’t go on a grave any day of the week, including glass containers, open flames, loose stones or shells, solar lights, and any bench or chair that wasn’t installed by the cemetery. If you’re bringing flowers, keep the vessels simple and stable. If a funeral is in progress, don’t try to “quietly slip by” for a photo. You’ll be turned around.

Indoors, noise carries. The Cathedral Mausoleum corridor has polished stone, and sound bounces. So does the scent of flowers. If you want a few quiet minutes at Valentino or Garland, arrive right when the mausoleum opens at 10 am. It’s the only window that reliably reads as reflective rather than crowded on weekends.

Events that change the vibe (and what they cost)

On summer nights the quiet cemetery becomes a film lawn. Cinespia’s screenings set up on the Fairbanks Lawn and project onto the white marble wall of the Cathedral Mausoleum. The published general admission price for the cemetery series hovers around $29.99 per person, and parking is sold separately in tiers that typically range about $24–$36. The promoter’s own rules apply inside the gates during these shows, including a quirk that can surprise first-timers: if a screening is sold out and you bought an on-site parking pass, every person in the car still needs their own general admission ticket to enter.

The other recurring draw is the cemetery’s Día de los Muertos celebration, which runs as three separately ticketed blocks on one day each fall. In 2025 the event offered entries from 1:00–3:30 pm, 4:30–9:00 pm, and 9:30 pm–1:30 am. The middle and late entries screened Disney-Pixar’s Coco as part of the programming. Tickets are required for ages 5 and up, and you exit at the end of your time slot so the next wave can come in. If you want the most breathable crowds, the first window reads more like a daytime art walk; the late slot feels like a costumed parade with music.

The grounds also host memorials and concerts in the Masonic Lodge near the main entrance. For scale, city planning documents put the lodge’s capacity at about 436 people, a comfortable size for intimate shows. By contrast, outdoor concerts and the movie nights on the Fairbanks Lawn draw between roughly 1,000 and 3,500 people, depending on the title. The Día de los Muertos festival can see up to 35,000 attendees across its 12-hour span. If you’ve only seen the cemetery in the afternoon, it can be a shock the first time you see the line wrap past the lake at dusk.

One last calendar note that matters for history fans: the Valentino memorial service every August 23 starts at a fixed 12:10 pm inside the Cathedral Mausoleum. It has run for decades, and it remains the easiest way to experience that room with a crowd that is actually there to listen.

Who is honored here, and who isn’t

Here’s the quick-precision version that keeps expectations clean before you step in: Judy Garland is interred here, inside the pavilion that bears her name in the Cathedral Mausoleum. Rudolph Valentino is entombed in that same building. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Jr. share the grand memorial and reflecting pool at the end of the lawn that now hosts films. Cecil B. DeMille is in the Cathedral Mausoleum. Mel Blanc rests on the grounds with the “That’s all folks” epitaph you already know. Mickey Rooney was buried here in 2014. Among the modern names, Chris Cornell is in the Garden of Legends near the lake, Dee Dee Ramone is buried not far away, and the large statue of Johnny Ramone is a cenotaph, a memorial without remains. Anton Yelchin’s memorial is also here.

Two clarifications people tend to appreciate in passing. Hattie McDaniel is honored on a lakefront cenotaph here; her remains are at Angelus-Rosedale, a separate cemetery. And if you’re trying to fold this stop into a larger celebrity-graves circuit, know that stars often confused with this place — Marilyn Monroe, for example — are at Westwood Village Memorial Park, not on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood.

Self-guided, guided, or event night: what fits your goal

If your aim is to put real places to the old studio names you know, you can do that in ninety unrushed minutes with the map, and you won’t spend a cent beyond $6 for the printed guide if you want it. If you’d rather hear the connective tissue and anecdotes told in a straight line, the long-running tour run by Karie Bible is efficient for a first visit. It typically runs two and a half hours, tickets are $35 for daytime and $50 for the limited night version, and it starts close to the front gate so you’re not puzzling out where to meet. If you’re here for the communal experience rather than the markers, film nights are your best bet. General admission sits around $29.99, with paid parking on top, and the atmosphere feels like a neighborhood picnic that happens to be pointed at a mausoleum wall.

Key things to know before you go

• The Cathedral Mausoleum hours are tighter than the grounds. Plan Valentino and the Judy Garland Pavilion between 10:00 am–2:00 pm.
• The printed map in the flower shop is $6. It saves you time, especially around the lake and the Garden of Legends.
• Cinespia general admission at the cemetery sits near $29.99. Parking is an extra purchase and usually runs about $24–$36.
• Día de los Muertos sells timed-entry tickets and has three blocks in a single day. Recent slots ran 1:00–3:30 pm, 4:30–9:00 pm, and 9:30 pm–1:30 am, with ages 5+ ticketed.
• The Masonic Lodge is intimate by design at around 436 capacity. The Fairbanks Lawn events run much larger, roughly 1,000–3,500 people depending on the program.
• Decoration policy is active. Crews clear items weekly (typically Thursday) and disallow glass, open flames, loose stones or shells, solar lights, and non-installed benches or chairs.
• What confuses visitors: Johnny Ramone’s statue is a cenotaph; Dee Dee Ramone is actually buried here. Hattie McDaniel has a cenotaph; her remains rest elsewhere.

Reader Q&A

Can I actually see Judy Garland’s crypt when I visit?

Yes. She is interred in the Judy Garland Pavilion inside the Cathedral Mausoleum. That building is open 10:00 am–2:00 pm daily, so time your visit during that window if you want to stand at the crypt rather than just view the exterior later in the day.

Is Johnny Ramone buried at Hollywood Forever?

The large Johnny Ramone statue by the lake is a cenotaph, a memorial without remains. His bandmate Dee Dee Ramone is buried nearby. If you’re aiming for the area, it’s along the loop by the lake and close to other modern memorials like Chris Cornell’s in the Garden of Legends.

Are there guided tours, or should I just buy the map?

Both options work. A small printed map in the flower shop is $6 and is enough for a self-guided pass. If you want a structured route and stories tied to specific sites, the long-running walking tour typically runs two and a half hours and costs $35 for daytime dates or $50 for the limited night version.

How different is a Cinespia screening from a daytime visit?

Very. Cinespia is a permitted event on the Fairbanks Lawn with its own gate times and rules. General admission is around $29.99 per person, with parking sold separately. The rest of the cemetery is not open for wandering during the screening, so plan a separate daytime visit if you want to see mausoleums and outdoor markers.

To choose between a map, a tour, or an event night, decide if your goal is the markers or the atmosphere. If it’s the former, go early, hit the indoor crypts before 2 pm, then walk the lake. If it’s the latter, pick a Cinespia title, budget for parking, and bring a blanket.

Published: September 4, 2026