Peg Entwistle was an ambitious actress who committed suicide by jumping off the Hollywood sign
She was born Millicent Lillian Entwistle on February 5, 1908 in Port Talbot, Wales. After her parents divorced her father, Robert Entwistle, was given full custody. They moved to New York in 1913 and Robert started working as a stage actor. He remarried in 1914 and had two sons. Tragically Peg's stepmother died from meningitis in in 1921. Just a year later her father was killed in a car accident. Fourteen year old Peg and her half-brothers were taken in by their Uncle, a theater manager in Los Angeles. From a young age she dreamed about becoming an actress. She studied acting at Henry Jewett's Repertory School in Boston. Peg made her Broadway debut in a 1925 production of Hamlet starring Ethel Barrymore. The talented blonde was invited to join the New York Theatre Guild. She appeared in a series of plays including The Man From Toronto, The Wild Duck, and Tommy. Her performances got rave reviews and her future seemed bright. After a four day courtship she married actor Robert Keith in April of 1927. She was shocked when she learned he had been married before and had a young son. A few months after the wedding she underwent an abortion.
She was born Millicent Lillian Entwistle on February 5, 1908 in Port Talbot, Wales. After her parents divorced her father, Robert Entwistle, was given full custody. They moved to New York in 1913 and Robert started working as a stage actor. He remarried in 1914 and had two sons. Tragically Peg's stepmother died from meningitis in in 1921. Just a year later her father was killed in a car accident. Fourteen year old Peg and her half-brothers were taken in by their Uncle, a theater manager in Los Angeles. From a young age she dreamed about becoming an actress. She studied acting at Henry Jewett's Repertory School in Boston. Peg made her Broadway debut in a 1925 production of Hamlet starring Ethel Barrymore. The talented blonde was invited to join the New York Theatre Guild. She appeared in a series of plays including The Man From Toronto, The Wild Duck, and Tommy. Her performances got rave reviews and her future seemed bright. After a four day courtship she married actor Robert Keith in April of 1927. She was shocked when she learned he had been married before and had a young son. A few months after the wedding she underwent an abortion.
Unfortunately Robert was an alcoholic and became abusive. She divorced him in 1929. Peg was cast in 1931 production of Little Women. It was a flop and the closed after only seventeen performances. She went to Los Angeles in 1932 to appear in the play The Mad Hopes. Then she landed a a supporting role in the horror film Thirteen Women starring Myrna Loy. It was the only movie she ever made. She made a screen test for Bill Of Divorcement but Katharine Hepburn got the part. Unable to get any other acting work she became very depressed. She wanted to return to New York but didn't have any money. On September 16, 1932 she climbed onto the "H" of the famous Hollywood sign and committed suicide by jumping off. She was only twenty-four years old. Peg left a note in her purse that said "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.". A few days after she died a letter from RKO studios arrived at her house offering her another film. She was cremated and buried in an unmarked grave in Oak Hill Cemetery in Springdale, Ohio. Her death would make her more famous than she had ever been in life. The press nicknamed her "The Hollywood Sign Girl". There are even rumors that her ghost still haunts the sign.
