Peg Entwistle: The Welsh Actress Behind Hollywood's Most Enduring Tragedy
The Death Beneath the Hollywoodland Sign Peg Entwistle On the morning of 18 September 1932, the silence of the hills overlooking Los Angeles was shattered by a grim discovery. A hiker traversing the rugged slopes beneath the giant Hollywoodland sign noticed a woman's body lying among the scrub and rocks some one hundred feet below the towering structure. There was no identification. No witnesses. For a time, the young woman remained nameless. Only a handbag found nearby offered a clue. Inside was a brief handwritten note: "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." The initials were all investigators had to work with. As newspapers published the note in the hope of identifying the deceased, a Los Angeles resident came forward. He recognised the initials and the circumstances immediately. The dead woman was his niece, Millicent Lilian Entwistle , known professionally as Pe...