Dearly Departed in Los Angeles
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| Poor, poor Hugh |
If you took a straw poll at the Viator offices, I reckon the Dearly Departed tours in Los Angeles would rank among the most popular we offer, anywhere.
The reason? Partly it’s that fantastic mug shot of Hugh Grant. And partly it’s the concept of the tour itself: a 2-1/2 hour romp across Hollywood in a ‘Tomb Buggy’ tracking down gruesome, ghastly and notorious episodes in Tinsel Town history. From the Manson murders to George Michael’s favorite LA public restroom, from Sunset Boulevard to the last-gasp locations of Frank Sinatra, River Phoenix, Dee Dee Ramone, Bela Lugosi… how cool is that!
So we tracked down the founder and driving force behind the tours, Scott Michaels, and asked him a few questions about Los Angeles, the Golden Era of Hollywood, and some of the funny (as in strange) things he’s encountered over the years.
Viator: What’s the most gruesome episode or event you cover in your tours?
Scott Michaels: Probably the most gruesome event that is covered… well, actually there are three. First is the Black Dahlia, which was the murder of Elizabeth Short is 1947 (a woman severed in half, and carved beyond recognition - we have the crime scene photographs). Second is the Menendez murders, which was two boys killing their parents as they sat watching TV (we park out front the house and play the actual 911 call made by one of the brothers, which is chilling - he was totally acting when he called). But my personal obsession is the Tate - LaBianca murders, orchestrated by Charles Manson in 1969. That case is so bizarre, it’s better than any fiction you’ll ever read.
Viator: Who’s the most famous person you’ve taken on a tour?
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| Scott & his ‘Tomb Buggy’ |
Scott Michaels: I’ve had some fun celebrities on the tour. Leeza Gibbons – who I can now call a pal – has sort of taken me under her wing, and I’m now a part of her weekly syndicated Hollywood Confidential radio show. I’ve taken the Playboy Playmates Kendra, Holly and Bridgette from The Girls Next Door – who were a scream, and just as nice as I had hoped they would be. My absolute favorite celebrity was the woman who played Snow White on the 1989 Oscars, Eileen Bowman. She sang “Proud Mary” with Rob Lowe, and that brought an end to the wonderfully tacky production numbers at the Oscars. The Oscars never got permission to use the Snow White image, and before the show was even finished, lawsuits were filed. Fantastic.
Viator: What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you (presumably, while giving one of your tours)?
Scott Michaels: One consistently odd thing, I find fingernail clippings in my bus a lot.
Viator: If you could offer a similar ‘dearly departed’ tour in any other city in the world, where would it be? Paris? New Orleans?
Scott Michaels: I would love to start a Dearly Departed tour in London. I lived in London for 6 years, and did tons of research for a tour. I even had a tour company prepared to sponsor me, but unfortunately my residency wasn’t established yet, and I had to let it go. It would certainly merit a guidebook – at the very least.
Viator: What is the most unusual ‘celebrity’ item in your collection?
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| Hollywood ain’t what it used to be… |
Scott Michaels: My collection of oddities includes a piece of the Hindenburg, a hunk of John Denver’s airplane, rocks from the fireplace of the Tate/Polanski home, a tile from the pool that Brian Jones of the Rolling Stone’s drowned, upholstery from the car Jayne Mansfield was killed in. But the oddest thing I have is probably Sharon Tate’s autopsy report, signed by the coroner, Dr Noguchi, who actually performed the autopsy 30 years prior. He said it was probably the absolutely the weirdest thing he’d ever been asked to sign.
Viator: What do you like / dislike about Hollywood today compared to the ‘golden era’?
Scott Michaels: What irritates me about Hollywood today, is that no one in Hollywood today knows or cares about Hollywood then. It seems like our heritage is being carted away in dump trucks, one by one. The Ambassador Hotel where RFK was assassinated, but also hosted six Academy Awards ceremonies – gone. The Brown Derby? Gone. Well, the hat still exists, now it’s on a Korean karaoke restaurant. Perino’s restaurant, the Villa Capri, the Trocadero – all gone. Stars today go out of their way to cover their faces when they drive by the tour bus. Like we’re going to turn around and chase them. Get real. I remember when Jimmy Stewart or Gregory Peck would come out and greet tour buses. They knew how to work it. Stars today are just common.
Special thanks to Jenny Crossling. Because of Jenny and her team, we think — no, we know — Viator’s selection of tours and things to do in Los Angeles is unbeatable. Have a look for yourself.
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