Peg Entwistle

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Peg Entwistle

Peg Entwistle (February 6, 1908 – September 18, 1932) was a Hollywood actress, famous for her suicide.

1 Early life
2 Hollywood career
3 Death
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life

Born Lillian Millicent Entwistle in Port Talbot, on Swansea Bay in Wales, she emigrated with her widowed father to New York City in 1922. After her father was killed in a traffic accident on Park Avenue, she was left destitute and began to suffer from bouts of depression. Despite this, dreams of becoming a famous entertainer kept her determined and striving for success at a very young age. Entwistle had begun to pursue a career in theatre, making her stage debut in Hamlet with the Boston repertory company at age 17. She later obtained co-starring roles in prestigious Broadway productions, such as Getting Married (with Dorothy Gish) and Alice-Sit-By-The-Fire (with Laurette Taylor). However, by the early 1930s, with the onslaught of The Great Depression, a majority of the public could no longer afford the expensive tickets to Broadway shows. Peg's last seven New York plays flopped financially as a result. Taking the failures personally, she began drinking alcohol, which became a frequent habit. With both her parents dead, life had been stressful for the young actress.

[edit] Hollywood career

While Broadway was suffering, the Hollywood motion picture industry was booming financially. With work on the New York stage no longer reliable, Entwistle decided to move to California in hopes of finding work in the movies. She arrived in Los Angeles in April of 1932 and moved into a rooming house for aspiring young actresses called the Hollywood Studio Club. After her money ran out, she went to live at the home of her Uncle Harold on Beachwood Drive. Entwistle's theatre experience helped her land an acting job in a play called The Mad Hopes, starring Billie Burke and featuring Humphrey Bogart. The play only had a short run, but this setback was soon forgotten when movie studio RKO signed Peg to a role in the David O. Selznick production, Thirteen Women. Unfortunately, the film received poor reviews by critics and negative feedback from test screenings. The film's general release was held back by the studio, who decided to cut back the running time by eliminating scenes deemed unnecessary. Because of this, Peg's screen time was greatly reduced. It was during this period that RKO decided not to renew her contract. Still determined to make a name for herself, Peg spent the summer going on numerous casting calls and auditions. Sadly, she wasn't offered any work and began to feel her dreams of becoming a star would never come to fruition. After five months in Hollywood, her career was at a complete standstill. Once hopeful, Peg felt rejected, was left with no self-esteem and very little money. Desperate for any opportunity, she posed topless for a small fee.

[edit] Death

Entwistle's depression had reached its zenith by summer's end. Thirteen Women was released on September 16, 1932; Peg wasn't invited to the premiere. After drinking alcohol that night, she told her uncle she was going to walk to a nearby drugstore. Instead of walking to the drugstore as promised, she made her way up the southern slope of Mount Lee — just down the street from her uncle's home — to the foot of the giant Hollywoodland sign. Originally constructed in 1923 to advertise a real estate development, the sign was made up of 50-foot-high white letters spelling "HOLLYWOODLAND" (the last four letters were removed in 1949).^[1]

When Peg reached the sign, she took off her coat, folded it into a neat bundle, and placed it on the ground next to her purse. She then climbed the maintenance ladder to the top of the letter "H" and jumped to her death.

Her bloody and broken body was discovered in the brush at the base of the hill on September 18, 1932, and pronounced dead. When police examined the girl's belongings, in her purse they found a note that 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, in an ironic twist, 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. [1]

Her funeral was held in Hollywood and the body cremated. The ashes of twenty-four-year-old Peg Entwistle were later sent to Glendale, Ohio for burial next to her father in Oak Hill Cemetery. Her remains were interred on January 5, 1933. ^[2]