Resting peace in Nevada

As home to a number of well-known entertainers and sports figures, it should probably come as no surprise that through the years Nevada has also been the final resting place for a number of celebrities.

In fact, a web site, findagrave.com, lists some 79 “somewhat famous” individuals who have been laid to rest in the Silver State.

The list ranges from easily recognizable names like actor Tony Curtis, who died in 2010 and is buried in Henderson’s Palm Memorial Park, to once famous but now nearly forgotten folks such as notorious baseball pitcher Robert “Bo” Belinsky.

The latter was a promising fire-baller, who threw a no-hit game his rookie year in 1962, but ultimately became more famous for his womanizing and drinking than for his pitching (his career record was 28-51 when he retired after 8 years).

Belinsky, who died in 2001, is interred in Davis Memorial Park in Las Vegas.

Other deceased celebrities (many of whom have become more obscure with the passage of time) that are buried in Nevada include:

• Actress Reno Browne (born Josephine Ruth Clarke in Reno in 1921), who in the late 1940s was a successful western movie actress, is buried in Reno. Brown, who also performed under the name Reno Blair, was married for a time to cowboy actor Lash LaRue and appeared in 14 western films in the 1940s and 50s. She apparently broke into movies as an extra in several films shot in the Reno area, then moved to Hollywood and worked as a trick rider and stuntwoman. In the late 1940s, she was the star of a short-lived radio program, “Reno Rides the Range,” and, in the early 1950s, had her own comic book (it lasted 3 issues). She retired to Reno, where she died in 1991.

• Tennis star Ricardo “Pancho” Gonzales (1928-1995), who is also buried at Palm Memorial Park. Gonzales won consecutive U.S. Championships in 1947-48 and was one of the most dominant men’s tennis players during the 1950s and early 60s. For many years, he worked as a tennis coach at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

• Actor and director Jules Irving (1924-1979), who directed one of the first major TV mini-series, “Rich Man, Poor Man,” is buried in the Masonic Memorial Gardens in Reno. Irving was co-founder and co-director of the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop and later artistic director of the Lincoln Center’s Repertory Theater and experimental forum.

• Boxer Charles “Sonny” Liston (1932-1970), who was World Heavyweight Champion from 1962 to 1964, is interred at Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas (planes taking off and landing at McCarran Airport fly overhead). Liston, who had a professional boxing record of 50-4, lost his crown to Cassius Clay (Muhammed Ali).

• Pop singer Guy Mitchell (1927-1999), whose real name was Albert Cernak), had 40 hit records in the 1950s, including million sellers like “My Heart Cries for You,” “The Roving Kind” and “Heartaches by the Number.” His career tapered off in the 1960s with the rise of rock-n-roll but he continued to perform around the world and in Las Vegas. Mitchell died of complications during surgery in 1999 and was cremated at the Palm Mortuary in downtown Las Vegas.

• “Colonel” Tom Parker (1909-1997), Elvis’ controversial manager and promoter, is buried at Palm Memorial Park in Las Vegas. Parker moved to Las Vegas in the early 1970s, living for many years in a suite of rooms at the Las Vegas Hilton. In 1985, he moved into Country Club Towers and continued to work as an entertainment consultant for the Hilton until his death.

• Comedian and actor Redd Foxx (1922-1991), whose real name was John Elroy Sanford, starred in the 1970s hit TV show, “Sanford and Son.” Foxx was also laid to rest at Palm Memorial in Las Vegas. In the 1950s and 60s, Foxx became a successful but controversial comedian, who tested the limits when it came to off-color content. From the 1970s to the 1990s, he appeared in Las Vegas showrooms as well as several TV programs and films and died while rehearsing for a new show.

• Western performer Cuba Island Crutchfield (1891-1969), who toured around the world with Buffalo Bill Cody’s western shows in the early 20th century, is buried in Lone Mountain Cemetery in Carson City. Crutchfield was recognized as one of the world’s greatest trick ropers—his trademark routine was to spin a 100-foot lasso around the entire cast of the western show—and appeared alongside Annie Oakley, Harry Houdini and Will Rogers. The latter, in fact, was said to be a distant cousin. Crutchfield moved to Reno in 1927 and retired to a life of ranching.

Rich Moreno covers the places and people that make Nevada special.