Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries is the largest Jewish cemetery organization in California. The cemeteries are the final resting place for many Jews in the entertainment industry.
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, owned by Sinai Temple of Los Angeles, refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The original cemetery property is located at 5950 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. The cemetery was originally established in 1953 by the neighboring Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery. In 1959, it became an exclusively Jewish cemetery, and in 1967 it was acquired by Sinai Temple, the oldest and largest Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles, which dedicated its mortuary and cemetery resources to all members of the Jewish community in and around the city. Numerous stars and celebrities from the entertainment industry are interred in the park which is located down the street from Warner Bros studios.
Throughout the different sections of Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills, one encounters various forms of artwork including mosaics, sculpture, fountains and carvings. The most noticeable is the Heritage Mosaic, which, at 45 feet × 30 feet, depicts a panorama of the Jewish experience in America and is made up of more than 2.5 million pieces of hand-cut Venetian glass. The park also features a memorial monument dedicated to the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust by renowned Jewish artist, Bernard Zakheim. The six three-dimensional figures, all rendered in burnt and tortured wood, represent six heroic Jewish figures. Rising from the stones of the memorial is a flame that symbolizes the eternal spirit of the six million and the rebirth of Israel from the ashes of the Holocaust.
In 1997, faced with dwindling space at the original Hollywood Hills location and recognizing the need for Jewish burial properties for future generations, Mount Sinai Memorial Parks expanded by opening a second memorial park at 6150 Mount Sinai Drive in Simi Valley. Mount Sinai Simi Valley sits on 150 acres of land in the Santa Susana Pass which ensures that there will be available burial space to accommodate the needs for the Los Angeles Jewish community for the next 250 years. A notable section within Mount Sinai Simi Valley is the Caves of Abraham, which is a series of graves that though they appear to be built above ground are actually built directly in to the hillside. The section received the approval from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for meeting standards of acceptability according to Jewish practice and it is the only place outside of Israel where a person can receive a genuine cave burial.
Irwin Allen (1916–1991), director, producer, writerArt Aragon (1927–2008), boxerDanny Arnold (1925–1995), film actor/editor/writerEleanor Audley (1905–1991), actress, voice-over artistFrances Bay (1919–2011), actressHerschel Bernardi (1923–1986), actorSara Berner (1912–1969), actress, voice-over artistZina Bethune (1945–2012), actressGeorgia Brown (1933–1992), actress and singerEdward Buzzell (1895–1985), directorCharlie Cantor (1898–1966), American radio and television actorSid Caesar (1922–2014), American actor and comedian (cremated, remains not yet interred)Virginia Christine (1920–1996), actress, voice artistLee J. Cobb (1911–1976), actorRuth Cohen (1930–2008), actress (Seinfeld)Stanley Cortez (1908–1997), cinematographerHarry Crane (1914–1999), American comedy writerWarren Cowan (1921–2008), publicistMack David (1912–1993), composer"Mama" Cass Elliot (1941–1974), singerZiggy Elman (1911–1968), big-band musician and composerFritz Feld (1900–1993), actorNorman Fell (1924–1998), actorTotie Fields (1930–1978), comedianHelen Forrest (1917–1999), singerBonnie Franklin (1944–2013), actressKarl Freund (1890–1969), cinematographerBruce Geller (1930–1978), producerSolomon Wolf Golomb (1932–2016), mathematicianMichael Gordon (1909–1993), stage actor, stage and film director, maternal grandfather of Joseph Gordon-LevittSol Gorss (born Saul Gorss) (1908–1966), actorBilly Halop (1920–1976), actorLarry Harmon (1925–2008), actor and comedian (aka Bozo the Clown)Nat Hiken (1914–1968), award-winning writer, director, producerGregg Hoffman (1963–2005), producerPeter Hurkos (1911–1988), psychicEddie Kane (1889–1969), actorLeonard Katzman (1927–1996), film and TV writer, producer, and directorSuzanne Krull (1966–2013), actressJohn Larch (1914–2005), actorSydney Lassick (1922–2003), actorPinky Lee (1907–1993), actor and comedianRobert Q. Lewis (1920–1991), television personality, actor, and game show hostBruce Malmuth (1934–2005), directorRoss Martin (1920–1981), actorSid Melton (1917–2011), actorLaurence Merrick (1926–1977), director and authorIrving Mills (1894–1985), composerMarvin Minoff (1931–2009), film and television producer, executive producer of The Nixon InterviewsBill Novey (1948–1991), Special Effects Master/Head of Special Effects at Walt Disney Imagineering/co-founder of Art & Technology, Inc.Daniel Pearl (1963–2002), journalistLefty Phillips (1919–1972), baseball coach and managerTed Post (1918–2013), film directorMartin Ragaway (1923–1989), motion picture and television writerEstelle Reiner (1914–2008), actress and singerMark Robson (1913–1978), directorShorty Rogers (1924–1994), jazz musicianDavid Rose (1910–1990), composerMilton Rosen (1922–2000), prolific composerSteven Rothenberg (1958–2009), film studio executive (Lions Gate, Artisan Entertainment)Mo Rothman (1919–2011), studio executive who persuaded Charlie Chaplin to return to the United States in 1972.Tibor Rubin (1929–2015), Medal of Honor recipientWalter Scharf (1910–2003), composerAl Sherman (1897–1973), songwriterPhil Silvers (1911–1985), actor and comedianSidney Skolsky (1905–1983), Hollywood reporterHillel Slovak (1962–1988), guitarist for Red Hot Chili PeppersHoward Smit (1911–2009), film make-up artist who led efforts to establish the Academy Award for Best MakeupWendie Jo Sperber (1958–2005), actressMilton Sperling (1912–1988), American film producer and screenwriterFlorence Stanley (1924–2003), actressHarold J. Stone (1913–2005), actorIwao Takamoto (1925–2007), animatorBrandon Tartikoff (1949–1997), television executive, former president of NBCIrving Taylor (1914–1983), songwriterMel Taylor (1933–1996), musicianDick Tufeld (1926–2012), actor, announcer, narratorBobby Van (1928–1980), actor and dancerJoseph Wapner (1919–2017), judge, television personality. The first judge to preside over The People's CourtJesse White (1917–1997), actorHarry Wilson (1897–1978), actorHoward Zieff (1927–2009), director, advertising photographer