Sale Offers New Life for Cemetery of the Stars

Close to being pronounced dead itself, the world-famous Hollywood Memorial Park was revived from bankruptcy Wednesday by a woman who hopes to restore the final resting place of movie stars to its former splendor.

A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the 98-year-old cemetery to Hollywood mortuary operator Eileen Callanan for $375,000.

That price is far below the about $3 million that some have said the Santa Monica Boulevard facility is worth.

It is also far less than the $2.6 million that one cemetery creditor is owed, and below the $500,000 minimum bid sought for the property a month ago in a bankruptcy auction.

A Northern California buyer offered $275,000 for the memorial park Nov. 12. But the sale unraveled as details were being worked out and the buyer discovered hidden costs.

The cemetery, distinguished by ponds and reflective pools, ornate statues and expensive private crypts, is in need of perhaps $1 million in repairs--in part because of damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The park’s previous owner, the Hollywood Cemetery Assn., declared bankruptcy April 1 amid allegations of fiscal improprieties.

Wednesday’s purchase plan is contingent on Callanan’s review of the cemetery grounds and its books. The sale will be finalized in mid-January, bankruptcy Judge Thomas B. Donovan was assured by a parade of lawyers and the memorial park’s court-appointed trustee.

Donovan scheduled a Dec. 29 hearing to determine whether Callanan is satisfied with the property and with office records that detail such things as the number of remaining plots that can be sold and the endowment fund. If she is, the sale will conclude and authorities will terminate cemetery abandonment proceedings.

Glynda Gomez, an assistant attorney general representing the state Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees cemeteries, predicted that the deal will go through.

“We don’t believe there will be any problems with this sale,” she assured Donovan.

Across from Paramount Studios, the 620-acre cemetery is the final resting place for Cecil B. DeMille, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin and hundreds of other Hollywood luminaries.

Wednesday’s action lays to rest--at least for now--fears by relatives of others buried there that the memorial park might end up padlocked and permanently closed.

“We’re happy with the sale to Callanan. We’ll be happier when the word ‘abandonment’ is taken out of this,” said Louise Haines, whose husband is among the 80,000 interred there.

Lawyers and the trustee, who spent 18 months trying to bring the cemetery out of bankruptcy, listened somberly as Haines described a visit last weekend to the mausoleum where her husband lies.

She said a rainstorm had created “a waterfall” that poured in on Bernard Haines’ crypt.

“What a terrible thing to see. It broke my heart,” she said, adding that she has purchased a spot next to her husband for herself. “What about me? I’m 80 years old. Am I going to be locked out of my grave?”

Veteran movie actor Paul Valentine told the courtroom that the cemetery is “a public shrine” to past stars and movie moguls that deserves financial support from the current Hollywood crowd.

Callanan indicated that such outside help could be important to the ultimate survival of the memorial park. Her 85-year-old family-owned mortuary has never operated a cemetery before.

Hollywood Memorial “has been neglected. It’s time for the city to move forward and say it cares . . . to help restore it,” she said outside the downtown Edward R. Roybal Federal Building.

“There’s never going to be another Hollywood cemetery. This whole thing shouldn’t have happened.”

Added her husband, Thomas McDonald: “People interred there played a very important role in bringing Los Angeles to where it is today, and they deserve better.”

A few steps away, Valentine nodded in agreement.

“I’m hopeful this takes care of it,” said the actor, whose films have included “Pennies From Heaven” and “Against All Odds.”

“But like they say, you can’t be sure of anything except death and taxes.”

And not necessarily in that order.