Los Angeles. Following the steps of Michael Jackson

September 2010

Be sure, next year too, on the 29th of August, the day when Michael Jackson was born,  the  fans   of   the   legendary  singer   and   musician  will  gather   together   again throughout the world to dance his famous zombie dance and to do his moonwalk. I must admit I also happen to be one of them. But now briefly about how I looked for the mausoleum of the king of pop in a suburb of the Greater Los Angeles Area.

Майкл Джексон

photo - fanpop.com

To Reach the Star

I lived then in America where I worked in a diner of San-Jose, the self-declared capital of Silicon Valley. I was coming home in a usual evening when a passer-by with whom we incidentally exchanged glances made me halt and have a look at him going away. Michael Jackson? Well, he died a year ago... But how similar he looks to him!

I did not know I was his fan. Usually I listen to some songs on the radio and do not think much about who is the singer. But when I heard from mass media that Michael had given up the ghost, I along with many other people started reading about his life. I also found several records of different years. It turned out that a good half of his songs were familiar to me and, moreover, I really enjoyed them. So I decided to visit Michael's places. All the more so since some occasions turned up...

In the city of Angels, especially in downtown and Beverly Hills, wherever you look you see Jackson: there was a house where their family moved to in 1970 from Indiana, there was Michael's school; there were recording studios nearby like A&M and Westlake Recording Studios where world-famous hits "We are the world", "Bad" and "Thriller" were recorded. The scene in a cinema theatre for the music video of the latter song was filmed in Palace, a Broadway theatre, and actors dressed as zombies, danced in the backyard of Bishop's College School.

I dedicated one of the evenings to explore Hollywood boulevard. Had it not been paved with tiles featuring the names of show business stars, it would not have been much more attractive than any other street of an ubiquitous American town. This very boulevard is usually covered with the red carpet before the Oscar Awards Show in Kodak Theatre. It is beautiful on TV only.

I strolled randomly along the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Initially, the Jackson 5 star occurred – it was a family band of the Jacksons in which Michael started his musical career. Then I found his personal star that he deserved for his solo performances. It was easy to get confused because there were two Michael Jacksons on the walk. The second star belongs to a radio commentator who is still alive. By mistake, his star was inundated with flowers after the death of the same name singer.

Russian names also occurred. Along with Walt Disney, Marilyn Monroe and Steven Spielberg, Americans memorialised actress Alla Nazimova from Yalta, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, composer and pianist Igor Stravinsky, former actor of Moscow Art Theatre Akim Tamirov and opera singer Feodor Chaliapin. There was some Olga Petrova but later I found out that it had been a stage name of an English actress.

Nice to Meet You, Michael!

After all, the main purpose was to find the last refuge of Michael Jackson. On June 25, 2009, he died of a heart attack as a result of a medicine overdose. Where and when he had been buried had been known only to his closest relatives and friends for a long time. That halo of secrecy bred rumours that he was alive altogether and "left for an uninhabited island"... And even one year later the "all-knowing" Internet could not yield holistic information.

So I had to figure it out on site. An exhibition devoted to the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street was held in the central library. I dropped in. A girl in the visit centre told me which bus I should have taken.

Forest Lawn Memorial Park is situated in Glendale, a city that lies to the North from Los Angeles. That is a rather fancy place: a fountain, Gothic style chapels, many statues that are copies of great pieces of art. But where was the gravesite I came here for? I asked one security guard, then asked another... I could ask Michelangelo replicas with the same result. They replied that they were not saying that because the necropolis was private, "hot shots" and so on. But I could tell by their looks they knew. At least, I was on the right track. Finally, one local woman gave me directions.

Jackson's sarcophagus is contained in the Holy Terrace. Famous American film stars of the 1930-40s Jean Harlow, Humphrey Bogart and Clarke Gable also rest in the same part of the mausoleum. They must be a good company.

The king of pop has a separate entry. The doors were locked but it was possible to see the interior in the light of 12 dim lamps through the doorway glass: an arched hallway as in a catholic temple, at the back end of which there was a white stone lit by a beam of light penetrating through mosaic windows. There were flowers and postcards on the steps of the mausoleum. I also wanted to leave something there – I rummaged in my pockets and took out a handful of Russian candies. Nice to meet you, Michael!