Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary — Attraction in Los Angeles

Earlier this year we buried my mother at this memorial as she wanted to be closed to Home. Given that we liked the specific grave location so much, we paid a premium to get two double stacked spots right next to each other, one for my mom and the other for my dad in the future. We're going to keep two spots empty as we don't want to put them on top of each other.

The grounds are small and beautiful. Karen Carpenter, my mom's favorite singer was buried here, and so we made sure my mom was buried very close to her.

After my mom was buried, we noticed the grass on top of my mom's grave was dead for two months (See the image). How this was missed for two months after daily maintenance is beyond me... I finally had to point this out to management for them to fix. This was very upsetting. We've been monitoring the grave site ourselves regularly to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Moreover, I submitted the final designs on the headstone on Jun 5th and didn't hear anything back for more than four months! I even saw other new grave sites with headstones before us and our headstones are much more standard than theirs. I had to again follow up on it which they replied back, but then I contacted again and no reply. Honestly, we just don't feel like they care about us. This isn't like buying a car. We lost a loved family member during an already depressing year. We'd expect at least a bit more attention and sensitivity to us.

I'm not sure why we're getting singled out for poor service, but it's clear Pierce Brothers doesn't track things very well in our experience and although the employees there are nice, they're neither proactive...

Cemeteries (deceased celebrities) are not the usual kind of thing that people come to Los Angeles to see. Many travel from around the world to catch their favorite celebrity shopping or dining at a restaurant. I've seen my share of them at the most unusual times and locations. Darryl Hanna sat next to me at a special screening of Disney's "Fantasia" a number of years ago. I literally bumped into Eric Idle when I was leaving a Pier 1 Imports in the Valley a number of years back, and Will Sasso while he was shopping at the Hollywood Pier 1 Imports. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, I ran into Jay Leno with his wife Mavis at a Century City mall after seeing a movie there.

That being said, in addition to the "normal" every day people, there are a number of big celebrities who are intermed here. Some of the big names here are Hugh Hefner, Marilyn Monroe, Don Knotts, Dean Martin, Eva Gabor, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemon, Farrah Fawcett, Merv Griffin, Carol O'Connor and movie mogul Darryl Zanuck and his wife Virginia.

There is an interesting variety and display of headstones and burial sites. Some of them are very intricate (Don Knotts for example), others have signatures, photos of the deceased on the headstones or intricate engravings or images. There are mausoleums, fountain displays, engraved benches, plaques on the columns of areas with other headstones.

You definitely feel the greatness of the entertainment industry here. It is a very peaceful place with lush lawns and flowers. It will make you think about how you want your burial site to be presented for loved ones.

Worth the time to see it. Open daily from...

There is so much history in these 2.5 acres of land nestled in between the hi-rises that are in Westwood. Only a few blocks from UCLA this little park to the stars thrives.

If you are coming up Glendon its to the right before you get to WILSHIRE BLVD. Don't get it confused with the big pink parking lot. It will seem as though you are going into a little alley way type road, you will then see the a discreet sign that say PIERCE BROTHERS WESTWOOD VILLAGE MEMORIAL CENTER make a sharp right and you will enter the gates go the Memorial Park, if you would like to start by going to Marilyn Monroes grave then keep going around the oak tree until you are a third of the way around the park. It is one of the most shiniest on the all so you cant miss it. It is said that someone hand cleans that dialy. Which reminds me, that although they open pretty early try getting there around 10:00 when the groundsmen have already done their daily watering.

An interesting story about the man who is buried above Marilyn Monre, his name is Richard Poncher, he bought the plot from Joe DiMaggio after he divorced Marilyn. Richard Poncher wasn't necessarily a Marilyn fan but it is said that eventually who grew to have an affinity for Marilyn so he requested of his wife that he be buried face side down, facing Marilyn, that way he would always be on top of her.

If you continue down to the end of towards the benches on the west side, you will find TRUMAN CAPOTE and JOANNE CARSON, they wanted to be buried together and here they are next to each other like true friends.

I hope you come on down and check out this place,...