Looming over the hills of Los Angeles, the nine white letters spelling out “HOLLYWOOD” is one of America’s most recognizable cultural landmarks. Erected in 1923 on Mount Lee, the sign originally spelled “HOLLYWOODLAND” – the latter part would eventually be removed in 1949 – to serve as an advertisement for a real estate development nearby. And as American cinema entered its Golden Age, the sign became a beacon of inspiration for aspiring talents around the country looking for their big break.

Before achieving its potent symbolism known today, however, the Hollywood sign carried a dark secret. Like so many actors at the time, 24-year-old stage actress Peg Entwistle came to Tinseltown hoping for a chance at stardom. But on the night of September 16, 1932, Entwistle left her uncle’s home, climbed to the top of the letter “H” and jumped to her death. Her ghost has never found peace since then, with reported sightings around the premises according to several accounts.

Photo: Nathan DeFiesta/Unsplash

Millicent Lilian “Peg” Entwistle was born on February 5, 1908 in Wales. She spent her early life in London before emigrating to the US in 1912 with her father, Robert, following her parents’ divorce. Her family settled in New York, and Robert, a theater stage manager, remarried afterwards and had two sons. Unfortunately, Robert died after a hit-and-run incident in 1922. Peg and her two younger half-brothers were then taken in by their uncle Harold in Ohio.

Despite having a tragic childhood, it was her father’s death that pushed Peg to pursue a career as a theater actress at 17 years old. After appearing in minor theater roles, she was eventually accepted into the prestigious New York Theater Guild in 1926. She soon starred in several Broadway productions as a member of the guild, with her first credited role being The Man from Toronto. Bette Davis even credited Peg’s performance in The Wild Duck as her inspiration for becoming an actress, telling her mother, “I want to be exactly like Peg Entwistle.”

In 1927, Entwistle married fellow theater actor Robert Keith. But the marriage didn’t last long, sadly, and she filed for divorce a couple of years later. Unbeknownst to her, Keith already had two kids from a previous marriage that he failed to disclose.

She continued to act in theater productions, and her Theater Guild tour eventually made its way to Los Angeles. Theater plays were starting to dwindle due to the fast and steady success of motion pictures, so Entwistle decided to pursue a film career instead, moving in with another uncle of hers, Charles. But with Hollywood entering its Golden Age, plus the countless beauties pursuing to be the next big thing during this time, she struggled to stand out and land roles.

Entwistle finally played a small supporting role in a big film by the summer of 1932, starring as Hazel Cousins in Thirteen Women from RKO Pictures, one of Hollywood’s Big Five studios. Much of her performance was cut from the final film, however, reducing her appearance to a mere 15 seconds of screen time, and she was let go from the RKO contract. The movie premiered a month after her death, and received little critical and commercial success.

With no other project offers coming her way, her future in Hollywood looked grim. So on the night of September 16, 1932, she left her uncle’s home in Beachwood Drive, telling him she was going to keep a “rendezvous with a friend.” And that was the last time he saw her.

According to news reports, her body was found the next day by an unidentified female hiking near the Hollywood sign. She found a shoe, jacket, and a purse scattered around the grounds. In her curiosity, she then looked down the ravine, saw Entwistle’s body, and immediately called the police.

“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,” she told them on the phone. She continued, “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.”

Inside the purse was a suicide 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.

Her uncle later identified her remains, and the death was ruled as a clear suicide.

In the years after her death, Peg Entwistle became something of a legendary Hollywood ghost story, where it’s believed that her spirit still wanders the area in melancholy. One of the earliest stories first started in the 1940’s when the letter “H” of the sign mysteriously toppled over. Since then, multiple accounts of ghost sightings have been documented from different people. Griffith Park rangers over the years have also reported seeing a blonde woman dressed in 1930’s clothing walking around and then vanishing when approached. In an another account as recent as 2014, Megan Santos was jogging on Griffith Trails when she was overcome by a “weird feeling” and the strong scent of gardenias, which was reportedly Peg Entwistle’s favorite perfume scent. Several other accounts verified smelling gardenias in the area as well.

Her tragic death has been referenced all over pop culture since. The 2009 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief made the “H” of the Hollywood sign the entrance to Hades’ Underworld. Another instance is the Netflix series Hollywood, released in 2020, that also includes a plot point about Entwistle’s death.