Outline:
A Life Dedicated to Remembering Hollywood’s Legends
Mark J. Masek, a writer and historian known for his 2001 book Hollywood Remains to Be Seen: A Guide to the Movie Stars’ Final Homes, has passed away at the age of 68. His work offered readers a unique glimpse into the final resting places of some of the most iconic figures in Hollywood history.
Masek died on New Year’s Eve due to an apparent heart attack while at home in Alhambra, California. His girlfriend of 19 years, Jayne Osborne, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. Masek had moved to Southern California from the Chicago area in 1999, but his passion for old movies and history had always been with him.
In a 2011 interview, Masek described how he saw cemeteries as a way to combine his love for film and history. This led him to write his groundbreaking book, which takes readers on walking tours of 14 Los Angeles-area cemeteries. Each chapter focuses on a different site, including:
- Forest Lawn Glendale (home to Michael Jackson and Jimmy Stewart)
- Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills (where Buster Keaton and Freddie Prinze are buried)
- Hollywood Forever Cemetery (resting place of Tyrone Power, Mel Blanc, and Hattie McDaniel)
- Westwood Memorial Park (where Marilyn Monroe and Walter Matthau lie)
- Holy Cross (the final home of Mary Astor and Bing Crosby)
- Hillside Memorial Park (with graves of Jack Benny and Lorne Greene)
- Mount Sinai Memorial Park (including Phil Silvers and Brandon Tartikoff)
- Oakwood Memorial Park (where Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are interred)
- Calvary Cemetery (home to Pola Negri and Ramon Novarro)
- Home of Peace Memorial Park (burial site of Curly Howard and Louis B. Mayer)
- Eden Memorial Park (containing Groucho Marx and Lenny Bruce)
- Inglewood Park Cemetery (where Betty Grable and Cesar Romero rest)
- San Fernando Mission Cemetery (with Walter Brennan)
- Valhalla Memorial Park (where Oliver Hardy is laid to rest)
Among the many gravesites Masek visited, one stood out to him: the tomb of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. at Hollywood Forever. The white mausoleum features Roman pillars and a brass profile of Fairbanks in front of a 120-foot-long reflecting pool. It was the same spot where Charlie Chaplin delivered a eulogy in 1939.
Masek also admired Al Jolson’s monument at Hillside Memorial Park, a domed structure with a life-sized statue of the entertainer atop a cascading waterfall, and Liberace’s tomb at Forest Lawn Hollywood, which includes a musical score carved into white marble.
His work was not about spectacle, but rather about documentation. As Allan R. Ellenberger wrote on The Hollywoodland Revue, “It was about names, locations, dates, stories—quietly ensuring that Hollywood’s dead were not erased simply because their careers had faded.” Masek had a near-cartographic knowledge of who was where and why, making him a respected figure among historians and preservationists.
Born on June 13, 1957, in Joliet, Illinois, Masek had a unique early life. In high school, he and his teammates once played baseball against prisoners at the Joliet Correctional Center, which had housed notorious figures like Baby Face Nelson and James Earl Ray.
After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1979, Masek worked as a local news editor at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights. He later moved to California, working for The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group, and the Los Angeles Times before being laid off in 2008.
His book Hollywood Remains to Be Seen features over 400 Hollywood legends, including Rudolph Valentino, Clark Gable, Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, Elizabeth Taylor, and W.C. Fields. Masek often faced challenges during his research, such as being asked to delete photos of Michael Jackson’s grave after the singer’s death in 2009 or being asked to leave cemeteries by security guards.
When people learned about his work, they typically reacted in one of three ways: some didn’t care, others were “shocked and horrified,” and some were “closet grave hunters” who wanted behind-the-scenes information.
In addition to his book, Masek published several e-books on individual cemeteries, including one on Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, to help visitors navigate these historic sites.
Survivors include his brothers, Rick and Terry. Osborne announced that Masek will be cremated, with his ashes buried next to his parents in Joliet.
In his 2011 interview, Masek reflected on the significance of cemeteries, saying, “Cemeteries are like libraries, and every grave is a story. Some are more interesting than others, but the deceased deserve to be remembered.”