Peg Entwistle - the ghost of the Hollywood sign (6 photos)
Peg Entwistle (5 February 1908 - 16 September 1932) - real name Millicent Lilian Entwistle was born in the Welsh city of Port Talbot on February 5, 1908, and spent the first eight years of her life in London. In 1916, Peg and her father Robert Entwistle went to the United States, where he was the manager of Broadway producer Charles Frohman.
After her father's death in a car accident in 1922, Peg went to live with her uncle Charles Entwistle, who was the manager of actor Walter Hampden. In 1925, she lived in Boston, where she was a student at Henry Jewett's drama school.
Peg later played the role of Hedwig in The Wild Duck, which Bette Davis admired, later indicating in her memoirs that at that time she wanted to be like Peg Entwistle. Soon after, Peg was accepted into the troupe of the New York Theater Guild. In June 1926, she made her Broadway debut in the play The Man from Toronto, where she played the role of Martha. Over the next six years, Peg appeared in ten Broadway productions.
In April 1927, Peg married actor Robert Keith. Since May 1932, Entwistle played at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles in the play "Crazy Expectations." After the show closed in June of that year, Peg decided to return to New York, but the film company Radio Pictures (RKO) offered her a contract. Entwistle agreed to star in the film Thirteen Women, where she played the role of Hazel. The film received poor reviews during its test screening, after which the film studio decided to edit the film, significantly cutting Entwistle's screen time.
Upon learning of this, on September 16, 1932, Peg Entwistle committed suicide by jumping from the "H" of the Hollywood sign. Her body was discovered two days after her death.
In her suicide note, Peg wrote: “I'm afraid, I'm a coward. I regret everything. If I had done this earlier, I could have saved a lot of pain."
Her body was found by a tourist wandering around the sign, and she reported the terrible discovery to the police. Telocemated and buried near his father's grave in Glendale, Ohio.
A week after Peg Entwistle's suicide, in a deadly irony, she received a letter from one of the theaters with an offer to play the main role in their new play, in the final act of which the heroine commits suicide!
They say the ghost of Peg Entwistle haunts Hollywood at night. For years, the apparition of a blonde woman in 1930s clothing has been repeatedly seen by tourists climbing the hill or walking through Griffith Park at night. When they tried to approach her, the woman disappeared, but the strong smell of gardenia remained in the air - the smell of Peg Entwistle's favorite perfume, which constantly accompanied her during her life.
Perhaps the poor soul is still wandering in search of the recognition that she couldn't achieve in life, but instead became an eternal symbol of a broken Hollywood dream.
