Christopher Dennis, AKA Hollywood Boulevard Superman, will be laid to rest with a funeral service at the Old North Church on Saturday, December 7th at 12pm, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive. A benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous, came forward with a generous gift to fulfill Dennis’s final wishes, and Chris will be buried in his costume. The service is open to the public.
“Chris and I spoke of his final wishes, as many friends do. He had expressed it was his wish to be buried, in his costume. His wife, Bonnie Finkenthal Dennis, and I hoped to be able to do so, but the cost was prohibitive for us, even with the crowdfunding campaign but we worked hard to make that happen and kept on hoping for a miracle,” said director Vlad Kozlov.
“I was surprised, shocked, and delighted for Chris when an anonymous benefactor came forward to cover the majority of the funeral costs, and that, combined with the crowdfunding campaign donations, will enable Christopher to get the sendoff he hoped to have, and he will be buried in his Superman costume,” added Kozlov.
Friends and family had originally launched a crowdfunding campaign two weeks ago to raise funds for a funeral service. Now, with the vast majority of the costs being covered, the crowdfunding campaign goal has been reduced to reflect only the funds needed for a few miscellaneous funeral expenses such as flowers, posters, food and etc.
Christopher Dennis tragically passed away on November 2, 2019, at the age of 52. Chris had been homeless, off and on, for three years prior to his passing, sometimes sleeping in shelters. Family, friends, and fans who had helped him find lodgings over the years helped to raise funds to give him a final resting place where he can be at peace for eternity.
The GoFundMe page was created on behalf of Christopher’s widow, Bonnie Finkenthal Dennis, by Vladislav Kozlov, his long-time friend, and director, who produced two short films starring Christopher, as himself, and film legend Franco Nero, called “The Kid” (2015), and “The Duel” (2019). Vlad has been filming with Christopher for a hybrid (narrative/documentary) feature about Christopher’s life, called “American Superman” since 2013 until his death.
The news coverage of Chris’s untimely passing and reporting on his life and the mark he made in Hollywood have been a beautiful tribute to Christopher Dennis and his memory. The crowdfunding campaign was launched to help Hollywood Superman find his final rest in the Hollywood land to which he truly belongs.
June 10, 1991, was the date Chris first stepped foot on the boulevard as Hollywood Superman, according to his Instagram profile. Chris gave smiles to the millions of tourists from all over the world for over 25 years of his Hollywood Boulevard residency and there are countless thousands of photographs of Chris with visitors to Hollywood Boulevard online and in photo albums around the world.
Hollywood Superman, along with the world-famous Hollywood sign, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, have been part of the Hollywood experience for millions of U.S. and international tourists in Hollywood for decades. Sadly, Hollywood Superman has taken his final bow on the boulevard.
People are invited to post their photos and videos and share good memories of Christopher and tag him on social media.
Christopher Lloyd Dennis
Christopher Lloyd Dennis AKA Hollywood Boulevard Superman was born on June 16, 1967. When he was 6, he was put into an orphanage by his father. Chris spent his childhood in shelters and group homes. At the age of 18, Chris came to Hollywood to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. When he was waiting tables, numerous people told him that he resembled Christopher Reeve who famously portrayed Superman. Chris decided to dress as Superman and go out on Hollywood Boulevard in the hopes of being noticed by studio producers. Eventually, Chris started coming to the strip every day since he found out that he was a huge hit with the tourists who wanted to take a picture with him as Hollywood Superman.This is how he became the first costume character on Hollywood Boulevard. Chris went on giving smiles to the millions of tourists from all over the world for over 25 years. He appeared on numerous episodes of Jimmy Kimmel show, was featured in the documentary “Confessions of a Superhero” and appeared in Jared Leto’s 30 Seconds to Mars music video “City of Angeles.”
Christopher married Bonnie, a fellow Superman fan, in 2006. They separated in 2011. In 2013 Chris began collaborating with a Los Angeles based director Vlad Kozlov on different indie projects and Chris starred as himself in Kozlov’s short motion picture “The Kid” also starring the famous star Franco Nero.
Chris and Vlad became close friends and they decided to make a movie about his life adventures. Vlad started documenting the story of the real-life Hollywood Superman, trying to discover his past and his inner self, for the film which they decided to call “American Superman.”
In 2016 Chris became homeless due to a chain of unfortunate events and was fighting to get off the streets. In 2017 two fundraisers were started to help Chris get out of the streets, but by that time he was beyond accepting help due to severe depression and substance abuse. Chris spent another two years in different shelters trying to eventually get into subsidized housing.
Sadly, on November 2nd, 2019 Christopher Dennis tragically passed away in Van Nuys, just 10 miles away from Hollywood Blvd. He will be remembered by those who loved him, and the countless people he met on Hollywood Blvd.
