The death of writer and editor, Mark Masek, announced on social media in the quiet aftermath of New Year’s Eve, closes a chapter in Hollywood history that few outside a devoted circle ever fully understood—but many relied upon. Masek was not a celebrity in the conventional sense, yet for decades he served as one of the most trusted custodians of Hollywood’s afterlife, a writer and historian whose work preserved the final resting places of film and television figures who might otherwise have slipped into anonymity.
Masek is best known as the author of Hollywood Remains to Be Seen, and his website of the same name. It is a guide that became essential reading for anyone serious about cemetery history, classic Hollywood, or the strange poetry of fame after death. Long before “celebrity grave culture” became a niche fascination online, Masek approached the subject with rigor, humility, and deep respect. His work was never about spectacle. It was about documentation—names, locations, dates, stories—quietly ensuring that Hollywood’s dead were not erased simply because their careers had faded.
No place held his expertise in higher regard than Hollywood Forever and other Southern California graveyards, where he had a near-cartographic sense of who was where and why. To historians, preservationists and aficionados, Masek was viewed as an expert—a person who not only knew the facts but the patterns: which stars got honor, which shame, which oblivion, and what that says about what the industry held dear. He had a way of writing that made cemetery history legible without being dumbed down.
What was remarkable about Masek was his voice. He neither sensationalized nor moralized death. He wrote simply and sparsely, giving the facts -- and the silences between the facts -- the space to speak. In so doing, he gave dignity back to lives reduced to trivia or rumor. For his readers, the effect was often the deeper one that Hollywood history doesn't end with the last film credit but is continued in marble and bronze and grass.
At the time of this writing, formal obituaries were still forthcoming, but the response from those who knew him or relied on his work was immediate and heartfelt. Colleagues and readers in the fields of history, writing, and preservation shared a sense of what had been lost. It was not simply that a skilled and knowledgeable researcher was gone; it was that a careful, steady, and generous presence was removed from a field where such dependability is the product of dogged memory. Masek belonged to a generation of historians who predated the need to amplify credibility through social media platforms, when both the buildup of credibility and the incentives for accuracy were both different.
Mark Masek bequeaths no box-office legacy and no tributes at awards ceremonies. But he leaves something far more lasting: a record. Because of his work, countless figures from Hollywood’s past remain named, located, and remembered. In an industry based on illusion and reinvention, he chose permanence. On a personal note, he was always generous with his support—particularly of my own work in cemetery history, a subject we shared and cared deeply about—and that quiet encouragement is something I will miss.
Because of his commitment to remembrance, and his willingness to advocate for others who share it, Hollywood’s past rests a little more securely today than it otherwise would.
If there is a fitting epitaph for Mark Masek, it is this: he made sure the dead were not forgotten—and in doing so, earned his place among them in the history he loved.
If Mark Masek’s work or friendship touched you, I invite readers to share their memories or reflections in the comments, so his legacy can continue through those who remember him.
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Allan, such an amazing piece of work this is that captures our dear friend so concisely and eloquently. Thank you.
I’m just shock. I’ve know Mark since the 90’s. Hollywood Underground dinners, grave hunting, funerals and gathering. God Bless him he will be missed.
Thank you Kim—He touched so many lives through those shared experiences, and it’s clear how deeply he will be missed.
He was a funny, smart, and kind man. I just can’t believe he is gone. Sending my thoughts, prayers, and love to his family and friends.
Allie, thank you for sharing this—your words capture him beautifully.
Did not know him, know his brother well. Just wanted to note that your description and eulogy is a tremendous and thorough love letter to a fallen colleague. God bless you.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this—it truly means a great deal. Please pass my condolences and warm thoughts to his brother.