Ella Fitzgerald - Inglewood, CA - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Ella Jane Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia, but grew up in New York City. Her childhood was relatively rough: Deserted by her father, losing her mother in an auto accident and her stepfather to a heart attack, young Ella had brushes with the law and experienced stints of homelessness and in reform school. Catching a break at an Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in 1934, the teenaged Ella Fitzgerald decided at the last minute to sing instead of dance and the rest is ‘history.’ She would later recall that she felt at home on stage and wanted to sing in front of people for the rest of her life.

In a performing career that spanned over fifty years, Ella Fitzgerald won 13 Grammy Awards and sold over 40 million albums. She performed with all the big names in jazz and swing throughout the 30s, 40s and 50s: Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman to name a few. Ira Gershwin once said, "I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them." Fitzgerald was also a frequent guest on television variety shows.

Ella Fitzgerald died on June 15, 1996, from a stroke and complications due to diabetes. She was 79.
(Sources: wikipedia.com, biography.com.)

Description: Ella Fitzgerald’s crypt is located in the "Sanctuary of the Bells" section of the Sunset Mission Mausoleum at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California. Date of birth: 04/25/1917 Date of death: 06/15/1996 Area of notoriety: Entertainment Marker Type: Tomb (above ground) Setting: Indoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 7:00 am - 5:00 pm Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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