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I'm not sure where this one should be posted so here goes:

George Arliss Grave Restoration Project

A personal project of mine for many years was to restore the forlorn grave site of George Arliss located outside of London. Now, thanks to some help from my friends, this project is almost a reality. Here are Before and After Photos of the headstone. We have added important lettering so visitors will know exactly who Mr. A was and what he accomplished during his time on earth:

Wow!

The "before" just needed some cleaning up. It looks a bit like a street sign with the black lettering. And any graphic designer will tell you that violating the margins like that one line does makes text blocks look terrible.

bigshot wrote:The "before" just needed some cleaning up. It looks a bit like a street sign with the black lettering. And any graphic designer will tell you that violating the margins like that one line does makes text blocks look terrible.

The stonemasons used the same lettering as the original. The new line was requested by an Arliss relative who gave permission on the family's behalf for any work to be done. And thanks for your ray of sunshine.

Is that a totally new headstone? Does the original still exist?

bigshot wrote:Is that a totally new headstone? Does the original still exist?

No, it's the same headstone seen in the BEFORE photo and the raised lettering is exactly the same. If it looks like a street sign now, then it did in 1946 too.

Bob - You did a wonderful thing!! Thanks from an appreciative Arliss fan.

A superb gesture, Bob, beautifully done.

Somewhere, my former President (of the Episcopal Actors' Guild) smiles.

Well done, Bob.

-Craig

That memorial stone looks wonderful! What a great thing to do for George's memory. BRAVO

As a person who has searched more cemeteries than he cares to think about (in person, I mean, not online); I applaud your efforts and the results.

Adding a photo of the new version to Findagrave would be nice too!
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... id=6817438" target="_blank

Rick

Rick Lanham wrote:As a person who has searched more cemeteries than he cares to think about (in person, I mean, not online); I applaud your efforts and the results.

Adding a photo of the new version to Findagrave would be nice too!
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... id=6817438" target="_blank" target="_blank

Rick

Rick, I will be updating Findagrave when the headstone has been installed at the grave and the landscaping has been completed, probably within the next few weeks.

Bob

bobfells wrote: Rick, I will be updating Findagrave when the headstone has been installed at the grave and the landscaping has been completed, probably within the next few weeks.

Bob

Great! A fine way to honor him.

Rick

Bob, a wonderful labor of love you did for George and Florence.

Perhaps their fellow thespian Margaret Wycherly is not too far away. She played the mom in two great movies , Tobacco Road(1941) and White Heat(1949). Her grave looks like it needs a scavenger map to find.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... d=13867698" target="_blank

sepiatone wrote:Bob, a wonderful labor of love you did for George and Florence.

Perhaps their fellow thespian Margaret Wycherly is not too far away. She played the mom in two great movies , Tobacco Road(1941) and White Heat(1949). Her grave looks like it needs a scavenger map to find.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... d=13867698" target="_blank" target="_blank

There are many grave sites of the stars of Old Hollywood that could use some TLC and that needs some fans who are activists. The most dramatic example I've heard of involves Ann Sheridan's cremated remains. She still has many fans out there but her remains were unclaimed for decades (she even had a husband) until just a few years ago a fan heard about this and got the needed permission to claim the remains then arranged for a proper interment. It took almost 50 years.

bobfells wrote:

sepiatone wrote:Bob, a wonderful labor of love you did for George and Florence.

Perhaps their fellow thespian Margaret Wycherly is not too far away. She played the mom in two great movies , Tobacco Road(1941) and White Heat(1949). Her grave looks like it needs a scavenger map to find.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... d=13867698" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

There are many grave sites of the stars of Old Hollywood that could use some TLC and that needs some fans who are activists. The most dramatic example I've heard of involves Ann Sheridan's cremated remains. She still has many fans out there but her remains were unclaimed for decades (she even had a husband) until just a few years ago a fan heard about this and got the needed permission to claim the remains then arranged for a proper interment. It took almost 50 years.

In addition to Ann Sheridan, I read somewhere something similar about Veronica Lake. Just sad.

We did it! The restoration work at the grave site is now complete:

https://arlissarchives.com/2016/07/01/g ... -restored/" target="_blank

Fabulous, Bob! Congrats!

Bob, the "before" and "after" pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Arliss's gravesite brought tears to the eyes of this longtime Arliss admirer, going back to when I saw DISRAELI, ALEXANDER HAMILTON, and VOLTAIRE for the first time in 1971.

Many thanks to you and everybody involved! Somewhere Mr. A is smiling . . .

What a wonderful effort!