If you have a morbid curiosity like me, taking a tour of some of Hollywood’s most tragic places while riding around in a Cadillac hearse or some other funeral cars sounds exciting. Luckily, one person in Hollywood has created such a tour.
The Greg Smith Graveline Tours in Hollywood has been satisfying the thirst for death-related knowledge for more than 20 years. What started as a two hour tour in one of several funeral cars during the eighties has blossomed into a three hour, 100-stop tour in a large van, which he calls the “Tomb Buggy.”
The tour, which is now known as the Dearly Departed Tour, takes curious visitors to famous places like the spot where River Phoenix died and the places where Frank Sinatra, Rebecca Shaeffer and Mae West took their last breaths as well. In addition to that, the tour goes through the infamous spots where the Manson murders took place and other morbid Hollywood death-related places.
In addition to the macabre, the Dearly Departed Tour also drives by a number of stars’ homes and other infamous sites, including the place where Hugh Grant tried to pick up a hooker.
The fact that the tour has become so popular that funeral cars can no longer hold all of the people who want to experience it says something about our fascination with death. Either way, it sounds like a fascinating three hours that I’m definitely going to check out the next time I’m in Hollywood!
