When Rosedale Cemetery opened its gates in 1884, it was the first cemetery in Los Angeles where people of all races and creeds could be interred. (Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles also claims to be the first nondenominational cemetery in the city and accepted persons who because of race couldn't be buried in other cemeteries. But this sometimes meant burial in potter's field.)
No one better personifies the significance of that than actress Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952), the African American actress who portrayed Mammy in “Gone With the Wind” (1939) and became the first African American to win an Academy Award.
Despite her talent and success, segregation prevented her from attending the movie’s Atlanta premiere and forced McDaniel and her husband to sit alone at a back table at the Academy Awards ceremony.
She appeared in nearly 100 films, was the first Black woman to sing on American radio in 1931 and the first to star in her own radio and TV series, “Beulah” (1947-1952). In 1945, she helped organize a class-action lawsuit against housing discrimination in her West Adams neighborhood. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court and overturned race based restrictions on owning property.
Ironically, race restrictions kept Ms. McDaniel out of Hollywood Forever, where she wanted to be buried. (The cemetery has since erected a cenotaph in her honor in 1999.)
When Ms. McDaniel was buried at Rosedale, 125 limousines and an estimated 3,000 mourners accompanied her to the gravesite.
Rosedale Cemetery History
An avenue of regal palms lead the way into Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery.
When the 65-acre cemetery opened, Los Angeles was home to a mere 28,000 people. Today nearly that many (26,970) are interred at Rosedale.
The cemetery made history from the first. Not only was it open to all races and creeds, it was the first lawn cemetery in Los Angeles.
In 1887, the second crematory in the United States — the first west of the Rocky Mountains — opened at Rosedale. A second, the domed Chapel of the Pines Crematory, is now located next to the cemetery at 1605 Catalina St.
When Rosedale Cemetery was bought by the Angelus Funeral Home, 3875 Crenshaw Blvd., it was renamed Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery.
Notable Angelus-Rosedale Residents
In addition to pioneers of California and the West, Angelus-Rosedale is the final resting place for LA mayors and civic leaders, politicians, veterans going back to the Civil War, and entertainers. An extensive list is available on the cemetery’s website.
Graves are located in sections that are sometimes indicated by letters and sometimes by numbers. For convenience in touring this cemetery, follow the map.
Two eye-catching tombs here are the rough faced stone Shatto crypt and the black slate pyramid crypt of Lewis E. and Emma A. Grimsby.
Section D
A. Dooley Wilson (1886-1953) made an indelible impact as Sam, the piano player at Rick’s Bar in Casablanca, who crooned, “A kiss is just a kiss . . .” to Ingrid Bergman in “Casablanca” (1943). (Wilson was actually a drummer, so his piano work in “Casablanca” had to be dubbed.) After a Texas childhood spent performing in minstrel shows, Wilson toured Europe with his own jazz band in the 1920s. He acted in Federal Theatre Project plays before going to Broadway in 1940 as a member of the cast of “Cabin in the Sky.” He performed in more than a dozen films in the last decade of his life, mostly in uncredited supporting parts. He was a regular on Hattie McDaniel’s TV series, “Beulah.” His grave is north of the road that branches left from the entrance. Just before the road curves to the north (right), in front of a tall upright stone marked “Lim,” is Wilson’s ground level marker.
Hattie McDaniel (1895-1952) played Mammy in “Gone with the Wind” (1939) and became the first black person to win an Academy Award. Her grave is located directly across the road from the office on a point of land between two roads. Lot 24.
Section F-G
Louise Preslar Peete (1880-1947) was a short, plump woman with southern charm and a sociopathic personality bent on murder and robbery. She was married four times to men who committed suicide when she flaunted her infidelities and criminal activities. She was acquitted of killing a rich man she claimed was trying to rape her in Texas. She moved to L.A. And seduced her way into the heart and home of millionaire businessman Jacob Denton. Soon after she moved in she shot him, buried him in the basement and took over his financial and business affairs claiming he had been “called away.” Months later, his body was discovered and she was tried and sentence to life imprisonment. When a sympathetic couple helped win her release after 18 years in prison, giving her a home and a job, she killed the wife and committed the husband to a mental ward. She took over their property and possessions and lied about their absences. When she was caught and convicted, she became one of only four women to be executed in San Quentin’s gas chamber. Section G, Lot 19A, Space 6S.
Section H
Maria Rasputin (Matryona Grigorievna Rasputin) (1889-1977) reportedly was the favorite daughter of Russia’s notorious “mad monk” Grigori Rasputin. She and her sister Varvara identified the boots pulled out of the river as their father’s after his murder. After being pushed into a marriage with Boris Soloviev, Rasputin’s heir apparent, she escaped Russia, living in Romania and later Paris. She worked as a cabaret dancer, governess, circus lion tamer and wrote three memoirs. She settled in the United States in 1937 and became a citizen in 1945. During World War II, she worked as a riveter and continued to work in defense plants until 1955 when she was forced to retire. Section H, Lot 189, Grave 1N.
Section I
Eliza Poor Donner Houghton (1843-1922). Her father, George, led the ill-fated Donner party that became trapped in the Sierra Nevadas in the winter of 1846-1847. Her mother, Tamzene, refused to leave him when the third relief party left with Eliza and her two sisters. When the relief party returned for the fourth time, Tamzene’s body could not be found, giving rise to speculation that she may have been cannibalized. Eliza married California Congressman Sherman Otis Houghton of San Jose. They later moved to Los Angeles. She worked with historian C.F. McGlashan on his book History of the Donner Party (1879), and on her own memoir, (1911). She was involved in building the Pioneer Monument at Donner Lake. She is buried on the western side of Section I (Lot 62, Grave 25 W) under the name S.O. Houghton.
Section J
Phineas Banning (1830-1885) was a financier known as the “father of the Port of Los Angeles.” He was a founder of the city of Wilmington, operated a stage coach line between San Pedro and Wilmington and layer between Banning, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz. He served as a California state senator during the 1870s.
Caroline S. Severance (1820-1914) fought to abolish slavery and to win the vote for women. After moving to Los Angeles from Boston, she was active in founding the Los Angeles Women’s Club, helped establish the Orphan’s Home Society in 1883, supported the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, helped found UCLA and helped start the city’s public library system. In 1911, in honor of her work for women’s suffrage, she became the first woman to register to vote in California at age 91.
David Burbank (1821-1895) was a New Hampshire dentist before he came to Southern California. He bought 4,600 acres of the Rancho La Providencia and more than 4,000 acres of Rancho San Rafael, which he combined to form a large, successful sheep ranch. He sold his holdings in 1886 to the Providencia Land, Water and Development Co. for about $240,000. The community developed on that land was named Burbank in his honor.\
Section L
Harry Kellar (1849-1922) was a member of the Royal Dynasty of Magic, a line of magicians who claim the title of “America’s Premier Magician” with the preceding magician passing the mantle to his chosen successor. (The tradition continues today.) He and Harry Houdini became friends as Houdini interviewed Kellar for a chronicle of the history of magic. He talked Kellar out of retirement to do a benefit to help the families of the men who were lost when a German U-boat sank the transport Antilles. His red headstone, engraved “Beloved Dean of Magic,” is under a small tree near the road to the right of the mausoleum in Section L.
Jesse Benton Fremont (1824-1902) was the daughter of Missouri Sen. Thomas Hart Benton and the wife of explorer John C. Fremont. The marriage led to a temporary estrangement with her parents. Jesse followed her husband from post to post as he gained fame as “The Pathfinder to the West” with scout Kit Carson. When Fremont decided to run for president in 1856, she became the first candidate’s wife to play an active role in the campaign. Fremont lost the election and the couple settled in San Francisco until the start of the Civil War. In 1861, they moved to St. Louis and John was appointed commander of the Western Region, a position he was removed from when he overstepped his authority and issued a proclamation freeing Missouri slaves. She began writing stories about Fremont’s and Carson’s adventures in the 1870s to help increase the family income. John Fremont served as California governor, declared bankruptcy in 1873, and resigned his commission from the Army in 1890 under threat of removal. He died in New York. Jesse Fremont remained in Los Angeles and is buried next to a small mausoleum across the road from the main mausoleum.
Section N
George R. Shatto (1850-1883) bought Catalina Island for $200,000 in 1887 and identified where the main city should be. His sister-in-law, Etta Whitney, named it “Avalon.” He built an 80-room hotel there and began ferrying tourists to the island. The costs proved overwhelming and just five years into the venture he lost the island to creditors. Section N.
Frank L. Chance (1876-1924) was a Hall of Fame major league baseball player. He was the third man in the famous “Tinker to Evers to Chance” infield trio cited in newspaper columnist Franklin Pierce Adams 1910 poem “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.” As player-manager of the Chicago Cubs from 1905 to 1912, he guided the team to four National League championships and two World Series wins (1907 and 1908). The Cubs has a record-setting 116 regular season wins in 1906 and a five year record of 530 victories from 1906 to 1910. Conflicts with Cubs’ owner Charles Murphy led to Chance moving to manage the New York Yankees from 1913-14. He briefly retired and then returned to manage the Boston Red Sox in 1923.
Section Q
Louise Glaum Harris (1894-1970) started her career in film playing comic ingenues. In 1916, she was cast as a debauched saloon girl in William S. Hart’s western “Hell’s Hinges” and as the devilish Milady de Winter in “The Three Musketeers” (1916), winning critical praise. She started taking on steamy vamp roles, rivaling actress Theda Bara for several years. But as tastes changed and Louise gained weight, she was too typecast to find work. She retired from film in 1925 and married. Lot 197
Inside the circle road bounded by Sections M, N, 6 and Q
William T. Glassell (1831-1879) was Gen. George S. Patton’s great uncle and the commander of the first Confederate submarine. On Oct. 5, 1863, it rammed the frigate New Ironsides in the Charleston Harbor. The blast knocked the submarine’s crew overboard and they were captured (including Glassell). It took more than a year to repair the frigate. After the Civil War, he moved to Los Angeles to join his brother Andrew in business. He received a large parcel of family land in 1869, which he laid out as the city of Orange, CA.
Owen McAleer (1858-1944) served as mayor of Los Angeles from 1904 to 1906. A Canadian who moved to Los Angele in 1888, he built the first steam boiler in the city. While a city councilman, he helped plan the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Owens Valley River project to bring water to Los Angeles. He is credited with creating the first city playground on Violet Street.
Section 7
Ivie Anderson (1905-1949), a jazz singer and actress, performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 1931 to 1942. She recorded hits that included “Delta Bound,” “Stormy Weather,” “Ebony Rhapsody” and others. She made her film debut singing in “A Bundle of Blues” (1933) and appeared in “A Day at the Races” (1937), “Jump for Joy” (1941) and “Stormy Weather” (1943). Chronic asthma forced her to retire. Section 7, Lot 5A, Grave Z NE
Mausoleum
Everett Sloane (1909-1965) turned to acting after losing his Wall Street job in the 1929 stock market crash. Nine years later, he joined Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre and made his screen debut in “Citizen Kane” (1941) as Kane’s faithful flunky Bernstein. He had roles in “The Lady from Shanghai” (1948), “Patterns” (1956), “Lust for Life” (1956), and “Marjorie Morningstar” (1958). He was a master at both menacing and comic roles. He was a regular on radio as well. In the 1960 movie, “Home from the Hill,” Sloane played a half-blind person who commits suicide. Five years later, after learning that his own sight was failing, he took a fatal dose of sleeping pills. Mausoleum, front north wall, Niche 122 (just inside the entrance on the left wall).
Tod Browning (1880-1962),a director and screenwriter, created morbid melodramas beginning in 1925, earning him the title of “master of the macabre.” He worked with actor Lon Chaney, Sr., on 10 films together before Chaney died in 1930. His best-known film is “Dracula” (1931), which starred Bela Lugosi. His next film, “Freaks” (1932), was so disturbing it was banned in England for 30 years and derailed Browning’s career. The film involved a love triangle and murder plot involving a wealthy dwarf, a gold-digging aerialist and a strong man. His remains are interred with those of his wife, Alice, and her family in the mausoleum. (At the entrance, take the left hand corridor. About halfway down the east wall is the niche.)
George E. Goodfellow, MD (1855-1910), the “gunfighters’ surgeon,” hung his shingle over the Crystal Palace Saloon in Tombstone, Ariz. He treated the victims of the 1881 OK Corral shooting, was the first doctor to successfully operate on gunshot wounds to the gut and performed one of the first surgeries to treat bladder problems due to an enlarged prostate gland in 1891. He traveled with the U.S. Army to find Apache chief Geronimo; led an earthquake rescue team in 1887 to Sonora, Mexico; and was a volunteer in the Cuban campaign of the Spanish-American War. A nervous disorder ended his medical career. He moved to Los Angeles to be near his daughter and friend Wyatt Earp. His remains are in an unmarked tomb in the mausoleum.
Other notables buried here include:
John Reynolds Gardiner (1944-2006) was an aerospace engineer whose 1980 children’s book, Stone Fox, sold more than 3 million copies and was made into an NBC television movie. Despite having parents who were teachers, Gardiner struggled with reading, spelling and grammar. His lively imagination kept him working at writing. His brother Kenneth encouraged him to enroll in a television writing class that ignited his writing career. He wrote two other novels, Top Secret (1985) and General Butterfingers (1986).
Nellie Lutcher (1912-2007) was a rhythm blues and jazz singer and pianist. Her recordings in the 1940 and ‘50s were top sellers. In her obituary, Peter Vacher of The Guardian wrote that her “splashy, jazz-inflected piano, rhythmic drive, and playful, husky vocals appealed across the racial divide.” Her career took off when Dave Dexter, a Capitol Records scout, heard a recording of her at a March of Dimes talent show at Hollywood High School. Her first release for Capitol, “Hurry on Down,” became a US Top 20 hit in 1947.
Andy Razaf (1895-1973) a composer and lyricist, Razaf’s many hits included “Ain’t Misbehavin,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “In the Mood,” “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” and “12th Street Rag.” He began writing songs for nightclub reviews in the 1910s and later for the U.S. Treasury War Bond Drives. He became a newspaper columnist in the 1950s. In 1972, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The Details
Location: Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, 1831 W. Washington Blvd.,Los Angeles, CA 90007
Telephone: (323) 734-3155.
Hours: Office is only open Mondays through Fridays.
Interments: Nearly 26,970 people.
Special events: The West Adams Heritage Association holds a Living History Tour every year, usually on the last Saturday of September. The tour brings historic people buried in the cemetery to life with costumed actors telling about the individual’s life and times.
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