Everyone knows about L.A.'s two grand cemeteries: Hollywood Forever, with its over-the-top tombstones, and Forest Lawn, a sort of theme park to death so gloriously over the top it inspired no less than Evelyn Waugh. But you won't find Marilyn Monroe in either of these — or Truman Capote, or Natalie Wood. The A-list party, it turns out, is in Westwood. Tucked mere feet from the office towers of Wilshire, in just an acre or so hidden off to the side from Glendon Avenue, is Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, a well-kept patch of dirt (and famous ashes) that couldn't seem more low-key. Indeed, on all but the biggest anniversaries of the biggest stars' deaths, you'll have the place to yourself as you contemplate mortality and the fleeting nature of stardom. There are a shocking number of big names in a very small space here, from Roy Orbison to Jack Lemmon. Farrah Fawcett is a recent joiner, and Hugh Hefner is well on his way. Don't forget to stop by to pay respects to Billy Wilder. “I'm a writer,” his gravestone tells us, only to echo the joke at the end of his greatest film, “but then nobody's perfect.” 1218 Glendon Ave., Wstwd. (310) 474-1579, pbwvmemorialpark.com/dm20/en_US/locations/04/0420/index.page.
—Sarah Fenske

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