DOCUMENT: Celebrity

George Harrison's Death Certificate

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George Harrison's Death Certificate

Somewhere, George Harrison is probably getting a kick out of the fact that his remains were handled by an outfit calling itself Cremation Specialists of L.A.. On December 5, Harrison's death certificate was filed with the Los Angeles Department of Health Services. The document, a copy of which you'll find at left, formally records the musician's November 29 death. As for where Harrison actually died, that's a mystery. According to most press reports and obituaries, the ex-Beatle passed away in the L.A. home of a friend (who, in some reports, was identified as security consultant Gavin de Becker). In the new issue of Us Weekly, the magazine reports that Harrison died in a rented villa on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City. The death certificate, though, lists "place of death" as a residence at 1971 Coldwater Canyon in Beverly Hills, 90210. But when TSG checked with the L.A. tax assessor's office, we were told the Coldwater Canyon address does not even appear in county records. (1 page)

12/7 UPDATE: As we suspected, the address 1971 Coldwater Canyon does not exist. Street numbers jump from 1967 to 1977, as TSG Los Angeles correspondent Ed Borges discovered this afternoon. It is unclear who reported the phony address to Health Services officials, or whether county officials will probe the bogus filing. Harrison may actually have died in nearby Studio City, where de Becker is connected to a secluded property at 3738 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Built in 1941 and sitting at the end of a long driveway, the deed to the home was transferred in 1995 from de Becker's name to a trust whose conservators include Michael LaFever, the president of de Becker's Los Angeles-based security firm. The property is about three blocks from busy Ventura Boulevard, and less than a mile from de Becker's and LaFever's office.