The famous Hollywood sign is all over the internet but other than being known as a cultural icon, it actually holds a very dark story where a young starlet plunged to her death at the age of 24.
The sign was initially built as a direct consequence of the city’s growing population. It serves as a billboard for Hollywoodland, an exclusive real estate development that was just developed at that time by Harry Chandler. During the time, Chandler was a real estate mogul and also the publisher of The Los Angeles Times. He invested 21 thousand dollars in the sign to advertise his many lands and intended to keep the sign up for only a year but decades passed where the sign is still up to these days.
Millicent Lilian Entwistle is a young actress who immigrated from Wales to the United States with her father in 1913. Her parents had divorced and in the states, her father remarried and had two sons with her stepmother. She basically grew up in theater as her father is a stage manager and also an actor. Inspired to start her acting career, she renamed herself ‘Peg’. In 1921, her stepmother passed away, and a year after, her father was fatally injured in a hit-and-run accident.
As a result of the heartbreaking mishap, Peg Entwistle and her younger brother moved to Los Angeles to stay with her uncle Charles. At only 17 years old, she already appeared in numerous Broadway productions and was recruited by the New York Theatre Guild a year later. She was then married to another actor, Robert Keith who was a decade older than her. Her marriage was brief but the drama that came with it sent Peg Entwistle’s both personal and professional life down the hill. Her mental health and whole career were deeply affected because of her former husband.
Once again, she went back to Los Angeles to stay with her uncle and signed a contract with a studio, Radio Pictures. Although she managed to land a role in Thirteen Women, it is sadly the one and only Hollywood film that she would appear in. In the movie, her screen time was approximately 16 minutes but due to the post-production test, most of her scenes were cut and her screen time lessens to only 4 minutes. It was already tough for her during the time and she soon found out that her contract with the studio was not being renewed.
After series of misfortunes, she seemed to give up on her dreams. On 18 September 1932, a woman’s shoe, purse, and jacket were found by another woman who was hiking below the Hollywoodland sign. When she looked around, she saw a woman’s body lying about a hundred feet down the mountain. Polices were called and Peg Entwistle’s uncle was brought to identify her body.
In the purse, a suicide note was found that reads,
“I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E.”
Peg Entwistle’s uncle said that she went out on the night of September 16 to see her friends. Instead of doing so, she made her way up the hill where she climbed up the letter “H” where the young starlet who was once filled with hope jumped to her death.
Sources: Youtube BuzzFeed Unsolved Network, Town And Country