It's likely you've never heard of Peg Entwistle, an omission that sums up her life and death all too well.
Entwistle was an actress who found a bit of success on Broadway in the 1920s and early 1930s, but when the Great Depression came along, her career stopped.
Hollywood was the next stop for many frustrated stage performers, so off to California she went. Jobs were scarce, but she landed a role in a play called The Mad Hopes (costarring Billie Burke -- the wife of impresario Florenz Ziegfeld -- and a young Humphrey Bogart) and got noticed by a scout for RKO Pictures, who then signed her for a film called Thirteen Women.
Unfortunately, Entwistle's role was all but eliminated, and her contract wasn't picked up. 75 years ago tonight, a despondent Peg Entwistle made her way to the "Hollywoodland" sign overlooking Los Angeles, climbed to the crossbar of the "H," and threw herself into eternity.
In the years since, she has come to personify those who came to
Hollywood looking for fame, only to find despair. Her death gave her a kind of
immortality, and it is said that those who find themselves near
the Hollywood sign in the dark of night may still see a sad young woman in a 1930s dress who
vanishes into thin air when approached.
Suggested Sites...
- Wikipedia: Peg Entwistle - brief biography of a brief life.
- The Hollywood Sign - official site of the icon.
- Haunted Hollywood - Peg Entwistle's ghost isn't the only one in Tinseltown.
- Present at the Creation: The Hollywood Sign - NPR audio story on how a real estate ad became a landmark.
- 14 Chilling Hollywood Deaths - some solved, some not.
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