Hollyweird: Peg Entwistle

No look at the weird goings-on of Hollywood would be complete without looking at the death of the wannabe starlet Peg Entwistle, who earned her place in the annals of movie trivia the hard way.

Originally from Port Talbot, Wales, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress left Britain in 1926 to seek fame and fortune on Broadway. And soon, bolstered by early successes on the stage, where she starred in eight consecutive Broadway shows, the ambitious young actress set her sights on the silver screen and set off to seek stardom in Hollywood.

Arriving in April 1932, she set up shop in her Uncle Harold's small house, only a stone's throw from the famous Hollywood sign. Yet, in spite of her stage successes, she struggled to find work. Her only movie, Thirteen Women, was panned by the critics and then butchered in the cutting room, and was released only after her death.

So, on the evening of 18 September, despondent about her lacklustre acting career, Peg left her uncle's house and hiked up a nearby track to the Hollywood sign. After scaling a workman's ladder she threw herself from the top of the letter H and plummeted to her death. Her body was not discovered until two days later.

A suicide note was found. It 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." Her uncle had to wait several days before her body was identified – he'd made the connection with Peg when the note, signed "P.E", made the headlines.

A letter posted the day before her death then arrived at her uncle's house. It was from a major theatre offering her the lead role in a play – about a woman driven to suicide.