Front Row Dress Circle

The two have gone together, sadly, since the small backwater orange-growing town became the movie capitol of the world. The list of stars who topped themselves is a long one and, for those of you who are interested, here’s a sample of some of them…

Olive Thomas: 1894-1920

Olive was married to Jack Pickford brother of America’s Sweetheart Mary Pickford. However both Olive and Jack were both cocaine addicts. Olive was a young actress well loved by audiences of the silent film era and once married to Jack travelled extensively together. In Paris, staying at the The Ritz, she took a fatal overdose of mercury chloride which had been prescribed to treat Jack’s syphilis. Jack claimed it was an accidental overdose but many claimed she had been depressed and had in fact killed herself intentionally.

Lupe Velez: 1908-1944

Known as The Mexican Spitfire she enjoyed a tempestuous lovelife with her husbands including Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller. She had an affair with Gary Cooper however this ended as he refused to marry her. In 1944 Lupe was involved with German actor Harald Ramand (also known as Harald Maresch) when she discovered she was pregnant. Harald refused to marry her leaving her distraught; she swallowed a massive amount of pills in an attempt to end it all. But sadly it did not go according to plan. She regained consiousness and stumbled to the toilet to throw up when she fell and hit her head on the bowl and ended up with her head caught in the toilet bowl where she drowned. She was discovered, dead, in this tragic manner at the age of 34.

George Sanders: 1908-1972

The handsome and suave English actor was married three times: 1) Madga Gabor 2)Benita Hume 3)Zsa Zsa Gabor, sister of Magda. He was famed for his beautiful rich voice and his ability to play the high-class cad in his films. He also provided the voice for the villain Shere Khan in the animated film The Jungle Book in 1967. Given to depression throughout his life he once remarked to actor David Niven in 1937 that he intended to kill himself before he grew too old. In 1972, in a hotel in Barcelona Spain, he did just that, with five empty nembutal bottles found by his side and this note: “Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored . I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.”

Jean Seberg: 1938-1979

The hauntingly beautiful actress of the 50’s and 60’s led a troubled life, particularly where relationships were concerned. She starred in the title role of Saint Joan and rose to prominence in the arty new wave films of French director Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless). She committed suicide in Paris in 1979, her body was discovered eleven days later in the back of her car in the 16 arrondissement after she had imbibed a massive combination of drugs and alcohol.

But this actress set a precedent in 1932 for ‘going out in true Hollywood style’…

Peg Entwistle: 1908-1932

Peg Entwistle achieved the legend and fame in her death in a way that she never would have as a struggling actress trying to crack the bigtime in 1930’s Hollywood. She became despondant and depressed at being unsuccessful at becoming the huge star she desperately dreamed of being - one of the many thousands who travelled to Hollywood from all over America in the hope of being A Star. On September 18th, 1932 at the age of just 24 she got into her car and drove to the top of Mount Lee, the slope overlooking Hollywood and which held the giant sign, which back then read, Hollywoodland.

She used a workmans ladder to climb to the top of the letter H and leapt to her death 100ft below in the ravine. It was found she did not die immediately, but slowly over two days from multiple fractures to her pelvis. Peg set a precedent; she represented the loss and failure of the hopes and dreams of all those young hopefuls who arrived in the town each week to become a star. Following in her steps, other young hopefuls who despaired of never making it killed themselves in the same manner as Peg Entwistle - from the top of the Hollywood sign. The letters, land, were removed in 1949 and the sign has stood as Hollywood to this day.

RIP to all these people.

Above: Peg Entwistle and the Hollywood sign.

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