Make your way down the right side road in northern Los Angeles County, and you just might find a lion. But he’s not in a zoo, or in any kind of wildlife preserve. He’s lovingly interred at Los Angeles Pet Cemetery, a nearly century-old landmark in Calabasas, where some of the city’s most overlooked Hollywood history is preserved today.
Take, for example, the headstone of Tawny the lion. “With malice toward none, he bore the adversities of his life with mankind,” the engraving reads. “Gentle, lifelong protector of his adored tomcat pal, who sleeps beside him here. Beloved, always faithful companion of Mary McMillan who reared them together with loving kindness.”
People might not know his name, but they’ve seen Tawny before, likely in their own homes. He was one of the earliest MGM lions, providing the face of the production studio (but not the roar, which was actually dubbed in from a tiger)…