Thrice Upon a Time in Hollywood

Sometimes living in Hollywood can be fun. These are the days when you can miraculously look past the traffic, gun shots, overzealous parking ticket writers and exorbitant taxes. They are few and far between but I had one this week when I snooped around the filming going on at the old Jay Sebring salon on Fairfax Ave. Quentin Tarantino’s movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has been a major topic of conversation around town. A couple weeks ago he transformed Hollywood Blvd. back to how it looked in 1969 and everyone who saw it fell in love with how it looked. When I heard that Q was now at the actual Jay Sebring salon and had also transformed it back to what it looked like in 1969, well, I couldn’t resist stopping by. Here’s a Facebook live video I made of my visit.

Jay’s salon was the place to get your hair did if you were a happening dude back in the 1960s. His clients included Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra and Jim Morrison before he let himself go. Jim, not Jay. The location is still a salon and it was a serious trip to see it as it appeared back then. I CAN. NOT. WAIT. For this movie. It can't suck. Please don't let is suck. Here’s a picture of me in front of the salon with a replica of Jay's Porsche, trying to not to lose my shit.

We had a book signing this week with author April VeVea for Pufflicity: An Appreciation of Jayne Mansfield. After speaking a little bit about Jayne, April took several questions from the audience and talked about the mysterious shipwreck, the Pink Palace, Mariska’s questionable paternity and Jayne’s legendary frugality. She signed a few extra copies of the book for us so please pick one up the next time you stop by. It’s worth the read!

Hopefully, you’ve purchased your tickets for Friday of the Dearly Departed Weekend. Tickets are selling fast so THANK YOU if you’ve already purchased your tickets. We can’t wait to kick this thing off!

If you would like to go to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery Tourwith Karie Bible, the tickets can be found here.

The Nasty Cocktail Party with Alison Arngrim can be found here.

And now for a big announcement! The theme for Saturday is a tour called Through the Valley of Death. Just over the hill is the San Fernando Valley, where stars go to escape the perils of Hollyweird. As you’ll see, it often doesn’t work. Death, tragedy and scandal follow. Bad for them. Good for us. After the tour we will convene on Buca di Beppo in Encino. This year marks the 20^thanniversary of the Phil and Brynn Hartman murder/suicide and we’ll go to the very location where Brynn got drunk before heading home a block away and killing her husband … and then herself. Are we celebrating this? No, we’re not. But we are so THERE.

At Buca, we’ll dine on EYEtalian food (duh) and listen to speakers Terry Bolo and Retired LA County Coroner Craig Harvey. Many of you already know Terry because she’s the happy face that greets you before you go on the Tragical History Tour on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. She was also an original member of the Groundlings, the now-legendary comedy improve group, when Phil was there too. She actually knew him. Here’s a picture them together on the set of Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Yes, our own Terry was a biker chick in the movie!

After Terry tells you about what Phil was like when he was alive, we’ll listen to our friend Craig Harvey, the retired Chief of Coroner Investigations for the LA County Dept. of Medical Examiner. Chief Harvey is going to explain the scene when Phil was dead. Chief Harvey actually wheeled the Hartmans out of the house. Uh-huh. Here’s the picture.

Then Chief Harvey will talk with us about Marilyn Monroe’s death. He wasn’t the coroner in 1962 when Marilyn died. He is, however, the single most qualified person to talk about what happened. Because Marilyn’s death gets so many inquiries from media, authors, scholars and weirdos, it was his job to personally go through the records to find the answer. That means he consulted the original documents and photographs and didn’t rely on cheesy Reelz Channel or E! Network documentaries.

Afterwards we'll have a candlelight vigil to the Hartman house - only a 5 minute walk. Our friend Psychic Medium Jill Marie Morris will lead us on a stroll to the scene. This isn't an investigation, we're going to pay our respects to the scene and Jill will see if the Hartmans are hanging around.

It’s going to be a long day so dress for comfort.

That’s in October. For this weekend, we also have some great tours lined up. Brian is doing his walking tour and, of course, we’re running the Tragical History Tour. We also have the Helter Skelter Tour and because it’s the 49^thanniversary this week, book now to avoid disappointment. Finally, on Sunday The Doors Tour is running. Lots going on so stop by, take a tour, buy a book and support small business.

Love,

Scott and the Dearly Departed Tours Team

TOURS AND EVENTS

Daily

The Tragical History Tour

http://dearlydepartedtours.com/the-tragical-history-tour/

Most Sundays, check for dates

Helter Skelter

http://dearlydepartedtours.com/helter-skelter-tour/

This tour is on SUNDAY for now.

Friday and Saturday evenings

Ghosts Tour with Brian Donnelly