The Most Feared Man in Hollywood*

Steven T. Hulberg
1955 - 2022



Steven is seen with his wife Leslie in Los Angeles, 1991.

After 26 years in the Funeral Industry, Larry Flynt's publication, Film Threat Magazine, bestowed on Steven T. Hulberg the title "Most Feared Man in Hollywood" due to his many celebrity funerals.

Among those celebrities that Steven has worked on were child actress Heather O'Rourke (Carol Anne in Stephan Spielberg's "Poltergeist") , Rock Singer-" Solid Gold" TV host Andy Gibb, Radio and TV personality Lorne Greene "Bonanza," Singer and TV Hostess Dina Shore, former NCAA and NBA Hall Of Famer "Pistol" Pete Maravitch and porno legend John Holmes, just to name a few.

Steven has received blessing from many world religious leaders including His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, His Holiness Sri Sri Sri Sivabalayogi, both from India, and a private audience with Saint John Paul II.

"In 1985 Steve was right when he said
the gurus in the Krishna movement were corrupt."
- Nori Muster, friend of the family

"He's a monster!"
- Leslie Hulberg, wife





Steve Hulberg facts:
Names: William John Vines (birth name); Steven Hulberg (name given upon adoption as a baby); Shivananda (from Swami Rama, Himalayan Institute, Minneapolis); Maha Shivananda (from A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada - not formally initiated); Yagnapati (from Shiva Bala Yogi); Sthavira-bhakti Dasa Vanacari HDG (from Rohini Kumar Swami aka Bhaktivaidurya Madhava Swami - he was a Hansadutta disciple).
DNA ancestry: Italian, Spanish, French, German/Danish, Irish.
Six children; eleven grandchildren (one deceased); two g-grandchildren so far.





[Editor's note: The following is a 1996 article published in Film Threat magazine, a Larry Flynt publication. Enjoy!]

Hollywood R.I.P.
In Tinseltown, only one thing is certain—that you'll end up six feet under.

Mortician to the Stars

"I am Herman Monster," boasts self-proclaimed "Embalmer to the Stars" Steve Holberg, who stands nearly seven feet tall and looks like he stepped off the set of Phantasm II. A fourth-generation mortician from Missouri, Holberg, who made the move to Hollywood eight years ago, has handled such famous stiffs as Heather O'Rourke (of Poltergeist fame), the Bee Gee's Andy Gibb ("You didn't see that funeral on TV—that's the way Barry wanted it") and porn star (not to mention phallic wonder) John Holmes. When questioned if he added any special touches to Holmes, Holberg sternly answered, "No. It was a direct cremation with only his wife and I present."

I was curious as to what perks there are to a job like this. Holberg asserts, "Just helping people. You also get to find out who the best florists are in town. And you get to drive a fancy-looking Cadillac station wagon through a lot of stoplights."

Taking up Holberg's invitation to visit his castle, I arrived at the Pasadena Funeral Home and expected to enter a horror movie. Instead, I got a personal and enlightening tour of his lair, complete with a room full of casket models, the embalming laboratory (which smelled a little too much like high school biology class), a parlor room still in its original 1920s décor and even a vacant room for his pals to practice their heavy metal music. (After all, who in the hall are they going to disturb?) Oh, and what kind of music does a guy like Steve listen to? That's right, you guessed it—the Dead Kennedys and the Grateful Dead.

- Jamie Painter

Steve Hulberg

Caption: "The most feared man in Hollywood is Steve Holberg, Embalmer to the Stars." (Note how good Steve looks in a suit, especially next to a prominently pictured embalming table.)


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