Anton Szandor LaVey Obituary 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
-- Anton LaVey, who founded the Church of Satan in 1966 and played the devil in the movie
``Rosemary's Baby,'' has died at the age 67.
Relatives said LaVey died of pulmonary edema on Oct. 29 at St. Mary's Hospital.
``Mysteriously, the death certificate states that LaVey died on Halloween morning October 31,'' said family spokesman Lee Houskeeper.
LaVey was cremated on Tuesday after a Satanic funeral at Woodlawn Memorial Chapel in Colma.
Security concerns led his daughter, Church of Satan High Priestess Karla LaVey, to demand ``absolute secrecy from all who knew of LaVey's death and Satanic funeral,'' Houskeeper said.
LaVey had a varied career before founding his church. He had been a circus lion tamer, an organist, photographer and psychic investigator.
He first gained notoriety in 1967 when he performed his first Satanic wedding. He went on to write a Satanic Bible and four other books. He also acted as a consultant on several movies.
His final book, Satan Speaks, is scheduled for release in the spring of 1998.
There are over a million copies of his books and each has been translated into nearly every major language, according to Houskeeper.
LaVey, dubbed ``The Black Pope'' by some, leaves his daughter and longtime companion Blanche Barton and a 4-year-old son, Xerxes LaVey."