Tragic Hollywood, Beautiful, Glamorous And Dead by Jackie Ganiy

Author:Jackie Ganiy [Ganiy, Jackie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Literary Figs
Published: 2014-01-20T02:00:00+00:00

Peg Entwistle

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Hollywood Boulevard: "the boulevard of broken dreams". There came to it a golden-haired girl, whose only dream was to be a movie star. But she was just one of hundreds. She was not striking or talented enough to set herself apart from the throng of other hopefuls, who regularly invaded the studios and talent agencies in search of a place in the spotlight. Yet, people still talk about her today. Her name was Peg Entwistle, and she did not live to enjoy her fame, as her only claim to it was in the method of her death.

She was born in Port Talbot, Wales, in 1908. Her parents divorced soon after, and her father was granted custody of Peg and her two younger brothers. The family decided to move to New York in 1913, so that her father, Robert, could pursue a stage career. She became enchanted with show business as she accompanied her father to his plays and watched his performances from the wings. Tragedy struck Peg early. In 1922, her father was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Manhattan. Sent to live with her uncle in Boston, she eventually joined a prestigious repertory company called the Henry Jewett Players. She got the attention of a little girl in the audience while she was performing in Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, impressive enough in the role of Hedvig to inspire young Bette Davis, who cited Entwistle’s performance years later as what inspired her to become an actress.

She joined the New York Theater Guild in 1926, and made her debut on Broadway that same year. She married an older man, Robert Keith, but it lasted only two years. Seems Keith had failed to mention his previous marriage to a crazy woman, and the ongoing custody dispute he was having over his six-year-old son, Brian (as in Brian Keith of Family Affair fame, who would go on to have a daughter who committed suicide, and who would commit suicide himself weeks after her). She would go on to appear in ten Broadway productions in six years. Her future as a respected Broadway actress was assured, and stardom a real possibility, but Peg had another kind of stardom in mind.

While on tour in the play, The Mad Hopes, in Los Angeles, she stayed with her uncle at his Beachwood Drive home in the Hollywood Hills. She was enchanted with the fairytale atmosphere of California, and its fledging entertainment industry. Three days after the play closed, she got a call from RKO Pictures, inviting her to screen test for a supporting role in the film, Thirteen Women, starring Myrna Loy and Irene Dunne. Peg was thrilled.

She got the part, and by all accounts, she did fine. However, after an initial screening, fourteen minutes of the film was cut due to poor audience reception, and most of Peg’s part ended up on the cutting-room floor. It would be her only film role. RKO chose not to offer her a long-term contract. She spent the next six months auditioning, and being rejected, for every part she came across.

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