Background
Singh was accepted to college but by that time, his father had developed chronic asthma from working in sawmills and was unable to work.
Singh was accepted to college but by that time, his father had developed chronic asthma from working in sawmills and was unable to work.
Singh attended Quadra Elementary where classmates nicknamed him "Spoony". He later graduated from Victoria High School.
Singh was one of four children born in small farming village in Jalandhar, British Punjab. His family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 1924, eventually settling in Victoria, British Columbia. To support his family, Singh went to work at a shingle mill.
He eventually earned enough money to open a sawmill in Esquimalt and a logging camp near Portuguese Alberni.
He then opened an amusement park he called "Spoony"s" in Victoria. The park featured a restaurant, go-carts powered by motors used from chainsaws and trampolines.
In 1964, Singh was approached by investors who were interested in opening wax museum in the United States. He went on a two-week scouting trip to Los Angeles where he toured famous attractions on Hollywood Boulevard devoted to celebrities.
After realizing that he had not seen any actual celebrities at these attractions save for their foot and handprints at Grauman"s Chinese Theatre, Singh decided to create a place where fans could see them.
Singh later said, "..I thought, let"s bring the stars back to Hollywood Boulevard. Let"s allow people to get close and look into the eyes of their favorite entertainers." Singh"s answer was the Hollywood Wax Museum, a museum which features wax replicas of celebrities and historical figures. He bought an empty brassiere factory and luggage shop located at 6767 Hollywood Boulevard and, on February 25, 1965, opened the museum to the public.
On its opening day, a line of visitors a half a mile long waited to get in.
The museum"s success has lasted over the years and has since had millions of visitors. Singh became known for the inventive ways he promoted the museum including having an actor dressed as Charlie Chaplin greet visitors and skateboarders dressed in gorilla suits that he paid to skate in front of the museum.
In one instance, Singh hired people to jump out from behind the wax figures to scare patrons. (This practice was later stopped for fear of lawsuits).
Singh, who used his middle name (which means "lion") as his surname for professional purposes, became something of a celebrity in the local Hollywood community.
In 1979, Singh expanded his business after opening the Thousand Oaks Self Storage (now known as the Hollywood Storage Center). Singh retired in 1990 but continued to oversee his businesses which is now run by his family. On 18 October 2006, Singh died of congestive heart failure at his home in Malibu, California at the age of 83.
His funeral was held on 24 October at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills where he was buried.
In 1965, Singh appeared on an episode of the game show What"s My Lincolnshire. The panel failed to guess his profession.