Karen Christy, caretaker at St. Peter Roman Catholic Cemetery in Butler Township, shakes snow from flowers on the grave of actor William Eythe. Fifty years after Eythe's death, Christy learned about the actor when she was contacted by a California screenwriter researching Eythe's life and career.

Until recently, Karen Christy shared no connection with Richard Jerome, a Los Angeles writer.

Far from California's fast-paced clamor, Christy's days often are spent in the solitude of St. Peter Roman Catholic Cemetery in Butler Township.

Amid the quiet, Christy has replayed stories in her head she has learned over time as the caretaker there.

"That's why I love my job," Christy said. "Everybody has a story up here."

One such story involves William Eythe, who rests in a nondescript plot at St. Peter's.

With no descendents to visit the grave, Eythe was among the forgotten dead — his life unknown to Christy and others.

But over the phone from the opposite coast, Jerome recounted a colorful tale of Eythe's rise and fall in Hollywood.

Growing up in a Hollywood home, Jerome knew of William Eythe since childhood.The 1940s actor starred in numerous films, and his name came up at family events."I'm third generation show business," Jerome said, identifying notable work of his father, Stuart, and his grandfather, M.K Jerome.A script writer in the 1950s and '60s, Stuart Jerome worked on shows including "The Hitchcock Show," "The Fugitive" and "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan." Songs written by M.K. Jerome appear in movies like "Casablanca," "Christmas in Connecticut" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy.""I was aware of (Eythe) from childhood. I used to sit and watch a lot of old black-and-white movies when I was a kid," he said."Late at night, it was often just with my mother, and she would bring up these names. They'd always have little stories."I just ate all of this up like chocolate candy," he said. "I remember my mother talking about Bill."Under contract with 20th Century Fox, Jerome describes Eythe as a shining star that somehow fell abruptly — a circumstance that prompted Jerome to spend the last two years researching the script he soon will begin to write."Bill was being groomed by 20th Century Fox as a leading man," Jerome said."He was not yet of the caliber of Cary Grant, but in my opinion he could have been."Born in Mars to Carl and Kathryn Eyth, Eythe graduated in 1941 from Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University, before entering drama school.He appeared in a Pitt Playhouse musical "Lend an Ear," adding at that time the letter "e" to his original surname of Eyth.Eythe later produced and starred in "Lend an Ear" on Broadway. The cast included Carol Channing — whom Eythe discovered, according to his obituary, which ran on the Butler Eagle's front page in January 1957.

In 1943, 20th Century Fox signed Eythe to a movie contract after spotting him in a play. He made his screen debut in "The Oxbow Incident," which also starred Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews. The same year, Eythe starred with Jennifer Jones in "The Song of Bernadette," which won an Academy Award.Other titles include "Wing and a Prayer," "The Royal Scandal" and "The House on 92nd Street."But by 1947, Eythe's career had begun to fade. The decline began when Eythe was sent to England for the unsuccessful movie "Meet Me At Dawn."Some reports say the lesser role was prompted by photographs published of Eythe placing a ring on the finger of actor Lon McCallister in a nightclub. Eythe maintained a partnership with McCallister until Eythe's death from hepatitis at age 38.Although Eythe reacted to the downturn by marrying actress Buff Cobb, the couple divorced a short time later.Cobb went on to marry newscaster Mike Wallace.Eythe did some television acting — a meager living during those times — and his decline was evidenced by a drunken driving arrest and an alleged arrest for solicitation in a subway restroom.He eventually traveled the world with McCallister, producing travel footage.

Eythe's sudden rise and fall from stardom was one component that led Jerome to research the script.The longtime devotion between Eythe and McCallister was another, he noted."These two gentlemen were extremely interesting men, in my view, and are forgotten," he said."History, even movie history, can be very fickle. Sometimes people as worthy as anyone else of being remembered are just kind of forgotten names. They were here, and they're gone. And people don't remember them.""At least 75 percent of the reason why I want do this piece about Mr. Eythe, he was a supremely talented man," he said.But political issues also motivate Jerome."There seems to be a very strong parallel between the lives these two gentlemen led between World War II and the post-World War II era and what we see going on now politically," he added.Specifically, today's wartime setting looms in the background of issues with sexual orientation, Jerome noted."In terms of people fighting to have their own lifestyle — same-sex marriage, that kind of thing — here in California that is an enormous political football that is still being kicked around," he said.A curiosity about metaphysics also has led Jerome to the concept of soul mates, a working title used to acknowledge an enduring love between the actors.However worthy of remembrance, Jerome said Eythe's temporary stardom left few resources to help with his research.To understand Eythe and McCallister beyond their presence on film, Jerome pores over biographies of famous friends and seeks out family and close acquaintances.Robert Osborne, a host of Turner Classic Movies, for instance, was reportedly close to McCallister before his death in 2005."We've been e-mailing each other back and forth. He was very close to Lon," Jerome said.

McAllister's brother Lynn has also been a resource, having been tracked down at his garden store through a common acquaintance."I, very shyly, with some trepidation, approached Mr. McCallister," Jerome recalled."He was a little bit startled, but very open to what I was telling him. Lynn knew Bill, it turns out — it's very tough now to find anyone who even knew them."Jerome believes Eythe's ex-wife Cobb also might be alive, but has yet to track her down.Since Eythe had two siblings, Jerome hoped that by contacting Christy, additional family might be found.But Christy knew nothing of Eythe, except that he is buried in a family plot with his parents and several other relatives."There is no family, no flowers — no nothing," she said. "I just maintain it as caretaker."According to Eythe's obituary, his siblings relocated to Maryland. The Butler County Historical Society had only a brief article alerting them to Eythe's existence.So instead of learning more about Eythe, Jerome was able to provide Christy with what would become a cherished story."I just find it very interesting," Christy said, adding she and Jerome shared lengthy phone conversations about Eythe's past."As I told Richard, God always puts people in the right place at the right time. With him doing this story on William and with me being at the cemetery at this time has brought us all together to share this wonderful story ... to bring more things to light that are forgotten."

To commemorate 50 years since Eythe's death on Jan. 26, 1957, Jerome commissioned Christy to place flowers on Eythe's grave, a gesture for which she accepted no pay."He requested that I put some red flowers on. He said that William's favorite color was red," she said.Sue Cadwallader, pastoral associate at St. Peter Roman Catholic Church, joined Christy at the cemetery that morning to share a memorial service for Eythe."She has a certain book she reads from," Christy recounted."We called on our one source, our God, to recognize William — to give thanks for his 38 years he was on this Earth. ... It was very pretty," she said.Once completed, Jerome hopes his work will be performed as a play and eventually as a movie. He is currently marketing a completed screenplay, "Sincerely Mine."

From left, William Eythe, Carol Channing and Lon McCallister ham it up in this photograph taken in the mid-1950s. When his movie career with 20th Century Fox ended, Eythe traveled the world with McAllister shooting travel footage. This photograph is one in a collection compiled by Richard Jerome, a Los Angeles writer who has studied the rise and fall of Eythe's career for a screenplay he plans to write.

This is a publicity photo of actor William Eythe taken in the 1940s. A Mars native, Eythe died at age 38 and is buried in St. Peter Roman Catholic Cemetery in Butler Township.

From left, actors Dana Andrews, William Eythe and Lon McCallister attend a "wrap" party at 20th Century Fox in this photo taken in the 1940s. Eythe, a Mars native, appeared in several films for the studio before his career took a sudden downturn. Hollywood native Richard Jerome has worked to assemble photos and stories of Eythe's life and career for use in a screenplay he plans to write.

This lobby card depicts actor William Eythe in his last film, made by Columbia. In his search for Eythe memorabilia, Hollywood native Richard Jerome came across the small poster at the Hollywood Poster Exchange, a store filled with often unidentified photos and other Hollywood keepsakes.

Actor William Eythe in a publicity still taken in the 1940s. Richard Jerome of Hollywood, who is researching Eythe's career, said though it appeared the actor was being groomed to be a leading man, by 1950 his success had quickly faded.