The "Hollywood Sign Girl".

Peg Entwistle (February 5, 1908 – September 16, 1931) was a Welsh-born stage actress and briefly a Hollywood film actress, who achieved notoriety following her suicide.

She was born in Port Talbot, Wales in 1908. Then, she spent her early years in London. After Lillian's mother died in 1926, she left England to pursue an acting career in New York City. Peg's father was killed in a car accident. Her two brothers moved away, but Peg stayed in New York to persue her acting skills at the renowned Theatre Guild. She worked on the stage constantly, however she appeared in a span of 8 consecutive Broadway shows, featured opposite such stars as Billie Burke and Humphrey Bogart. Until the Great Depression hit, she was very successful.

Peg married a young actor named Robert Keith, but the marriage only lasted two years and they were divorced in 1930. Hollywood beckoned and Peg moved to the coast, in fact, moving in with her Uncle Harold at 2428 Beachwood Drive in Beachwood Canyon. Just down the hill from the famous "Hollywoodland" sign.

On May 4, 1932, a Los Angeles paper announced that West Coast producers Edward Belasco and Homer Curran brought Entwistle to Los Angeles to co-star with Billie Burke in the Romney Brent play, The Mad Hopes. It was staged solely as a tryout in preparation for a Broadway opening, then opened to rave reviews on May 23, 1932 at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The Belasco had 1,600 seats but the house was standing-room only to the doors. The Mad Hopes was a hit and closed on June 4, 1932 as scheduled. Theatre critic Flo Lawrence commented:

"...Belasco and Curran have staged the new play most effectively and have endowed this Romney Brent opus with every distinction of cast and direction. (producer) Bela Blau ... has developed the comedy to its highest points. Costumes and settings are of delightful quality, and every detail makes the production one entirely fit for its translation to the New York stage. In the cast Peg Entwistle and Humphrey Bogart hold first place in supporting the star (Billie Burke) and both give fine, serious performances. Miss Entwistle as the earnest, young daughter (Geneva Hope) of a vague mother and presents a charming picture of youth..."

She was set to return to New York when the play closed but Radio Pictures (RKO) called her for a screen test. On June 13, 1932, Entwistle signed a contract for a one-picture deal with RKO Studios and reported early in July to shoot her part as "Hazel Cousins" in Thirteen Women alongside Myrna Loy, Ricardo Cortez and Irene Dunne. (This film is noted to be a seminal contributor to the horror genre.)

The film received poor reviews and negative feedback from test screenings. The studio held it back and eliminated scenes deemed unnecessary to reduce running time, cutting back Entwistle's screen time greatly. The film would premiere after Entwistle's death at the Roxy Theater in New York City on October 14, 1932, and was released on November 11, 1932 to poor reviews.

In the brutal Hollywood summer heat of 1932, her once promising career came to a standstill. Within 5 months from moving to california she found her self without friends, money or hope.

On Friday, September 16, 1932, Peg told Uncle Harold that she was going to walk up Beachwood to meet some friends at the local drug store. However, she climbed all the way up the hill (quite a hike from Beachwood Drive streetlevel) to the Hollywood sign. She climbed up the workman's ladder on the back of the letter "H." Entwistle jumped from the "H" of the Hollywood sign (which then read "Hollywoodland"). Her body would not be found in the 100-foot ravine below until two days later.

"I was hiking near the Hollywoodland sign today and near the bottom I found a woman's shoe and jacket. A little further on I noticed a purse. In it was a suicide note. I looked down the mountain and saw a body. I don't want any publicity in this matter, so I wrapped up the jacket, shoes and purse in a bundle and laid them on the steps of the Hollywood Police Station."--- Anonymous female caller to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Acting on an anonymous tip, a detective and two radio car officers found the body of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who was moderately well-dressed. She remained unidentified until her uncle connected the description and the initials "P.E." on the suicide note in the newspapers with his niece's two-day absence. The LA Times published the note in hopes that she would be identified. She was dubbed "The Hollywood Sign Girl." Her Uncle Harold recognized the initials and identified her body in the morgue.

After identifying her body, Harold Entwistle filled in some of the blanks for authorities and the press. Entwistle was upset at not being able to impress the studios, and told her uncle that she was going to walk to a nearby drugstore and then visit friends. Instead, she made her way up the southern slope of Mount Lee, near her uncle's home, to the foot of the Hollywoodland sign. After placing her coat, shoes and purse containing the suicide note at the base of the sign, she made her way up a workman's ladder to the top of the "H". The cause of death was listed by the coroner as "multiple fractures of the pelvis." Peg Entwistle was just 24 years old when she died.

Peg Entwistle's suicide note read:

"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."

Two days later, Entwistle's uncle opened a letter addressed to her from the Beverly Hills Playhouse; it was mailed the day before she jumped. In it was an offer for her to play the lead role in a stage production—in which her character would commit suicide in the final act.

Her funeral was held in Hollywood and the body cremated. Her ashes were later sent to Glendale, Ohio for burial next to her father in Oak Hill Cemetery; her remains were interred on January 5, 1933

People say that Peg still haunts the sign, with her favorite scent, Gardenia.

Resource: wikipedia.org, findadeath.com.

This story always had me interested. I always wondered if there was more to the story, or if she just committed suicide because she wasn't successful. They should write a book about her or maybe even make a movie, I think a lot of people would be interested.