Trying not to get hit by cars driving into the shabby discount parking lot, I stepped on the star with the name “Lauren Bacall.” I was just off Hollywood Boulevard where movie actors and actresses, film producers, musicians and other famous folks have earned a place…on a dirty Los Angeles sidewalk.
Take heart. It’s not her only resting place. Bacall is buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
To put the engraved figure in perspective, it might be good to note that she was named the Motion Picture Institute’s 20th Greatest Female Star of classic Hollywood cinema. Her film credits are long. She was married to Humphrey Bogart. She was a noted liberal Democrat during the McCarthy era.
My thirty-something daughter didn’t recognize the actress’ name as we dodged cars turning into the parking lot. For the life of me, I tried to bring up images of “Key Largo” to no avail.
Like many other stars, Bacall found her home in Hollywood. That may be as dangerous a place from an eternal perspective as the city’s Westmont neighborhood is from an earthly vantage point.
Yet, on any given day, thousands of tourists are pointing their smart phones and cameras down at the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard. By the looks of that, it appears everyone would love to join them.
It seems like such an unfair exchange. You give your life to voice and acting lessons, sacrifice so much for rehearsals and travel and the next generation can’t pronounce your name and people in cars drive over you every minute of the day looking for something that they will soon forget.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: A true home is where you are known; where the owner of the house lists you as His star and where you play to an audience of one.
The streets of the city were made of pure gold, clear as crystal…What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?..Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love…
Revelation 21:21 CEV, Matthew 16:26 NIV, Mark 9:7 NIV,