Westwood Memorial Park

Last June, I accepted a new position at UCLA that required me to move my office off campus. Now I am situated at the cross streets of Wilshire and Westwood, one of the busiest and loudest intersections in LA. I was really bummed about leaving the peacefulness of UCLA'a campus where I would spend many lunches relaxing on the serene grounds and wondered how I would find one hour of quiet in a bunch of high rises.

After talking to people about my new digs, some native LA folk would say,"oh you must go to Westwood Memorial Park and see Marilyn Monroe's grave, it's a beautiful and quiet place in the middle of the city." Being the granddaughter of a funeral home director I actually found seeing Marilyn's grave fascinating but I thought they were referring to the Veterans Cemetary which is a few blocks down from my office and it really confused me. Sure, Marilyn was a pin up on many soldiers walls and made some military tours to see the boys but that hardly meant she deserved a plot in the veterans cemetery, right?

I remained confused until one day a person who has long lived in Westwood corrected my assumption. She said this memorial park was little, hidden and contained the remains of Marilyn and many more Hollywood stars. She said it was one of LA's best kept secrets. Now I was interested. I must find this place.

After doing some research on Google I clocked out at noon and went searching for this hidden gem. How could this park be in a sea of high rises? Eventually I wandered down Glendale Ave looked to the left through two large buildings and saw many tall palm trees and knew something had to be hidden back there. I walked between the buildings and found the entrance to the Westwood Memorial Park. I immediately saw that this place was indeed small, peaceful, filled with trees and had gravestones scattered about the lawn. I also saw that other business people found solace from work in the park, many were reading under the shade trees in their suits and heels. Yay! I found it! But my quest was not complete, I must find Marilyn Monroe.

Conveniently someone had already researched the park for me and provided a map of where the stars are buried including Dean Martin, Natalie Wood and Jack Lemmon. Here is a link to the map: http://www.seeing-stars.com/Maps/PierceBrosMap.shtml

When I found her grave I was actually quite surprised. As glamorous as Marilyn Monroe was her grave is plain and simple, in fact she has been laid to rest in a mausoleum crypt. It simply states her name, year of birth and death. No flowers adorn her site but her crypt is slightly darker in color than the rest because of the many people who have touched or even kissed the crypt with red lips paying tribute to this captivating woman.

I walked out of the park feeling very satisfied at my find and many times I do find peace during a busy workday at this memorial park. Walking there I usually see a star tours bus driving through Westwood to show tourists famous sights of the Hollywood golden days that have long left Westwood Village. The bus always passes right by the tall buildings that hide this memorial park that contains more old Hollywood Glamour than they will ever see in a 2-hour tour but I am ok with that, this is my proof that I am not a tourist in LA anymore. Because this memorial park is a secret gem in LA, a place where long lines, cameras and entry fees do not exist but you are surrounded by the most famous of them all.