La Verne’s Legacy: Fan Works to Gain Funds for Her Headstone

The effort to continue the legacy of a turn of the century star and a Disney icon.

The name Lucille La Verne might not be the most recognizable to the average Disney fan, her voice truly unforgettable. She was one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation, gracing the American stage and pioneering both silent film and talkies. She is best known for being the voice behind the Evil Queen/Witch in Walt Disney’s first feature-length 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

When Lucille died in 1945 at the age of 72, she was buried in an unmarked grave at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. Jessica Wahl of the Instagram account silenceisplatinum has made it her mission to raise funds so La Verne’s legacy can continue to be celebrated.

With the help of her research partner Samantha Ellis, the pair found La Verne’s next of kin and informed them of their plans to purchase her a headstone 75 years after her death.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to earn the $1,500 it costs to purchase and place a headstone in Inglewood Park Cemetary.

This isn’t Wahl’s first time raising funds for the headstones of silent film stars. She originally created her account to educate people about silent film stars in 2015. In 2016, she began posting about the unmarked graves of stars. It wasn’t long before a reader emailed her and told her that he had found the next of kin of an actress and that he wanted to get her a headstone. Since then, Wahl has organized six fundraisers to buy headstones for silent film stars. She has high hopes to continue the fundraisers well past La Verne. She has a list of over 80 stars whose bodies rest in unmarked graves.

“I believe that everyone deserves to be remembered,” Wahl wrote. “Especially these pioneers of early Hollywood. It was their work that created the Hollywood we know today... I actually heard a quote recently that summed up the headstone work perfectly…”

“There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.”— David Eagleman

Wahl continued, “And it is that third death that we are trying to hold off. We want these names still said even 100 years after their deaths.”

If you would like to keep up with Wahl’s fundraisers and learn more about silent film stars almost forgotten by history, follow silenceisplatinum on Instagram.

To contribute to Lucille La Verne’s headstone visit her GoFundMe page.

Elizabeth Pfeiffer is the senior editor of Boardwalk Times.

Update 8/25/20 at 5:17p.m. La Verne’s headstone fundraiser has accomplished its goal of earning $1500. The Queen will finally have a headstone 75 years after her death.