Haunted Hollywood

By Author: Kenneth J. McCormick
Total Articles: 16
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Haunted Hollywood
By Kenneth J. McCormick
Webmaster
Http://Aboutfacts.net

When you talk about haunting, if you do, then you have to include Hollywood stars. It seems that more dead stars are suspected of haunting places than people from any other walk of life. Many of these so-called ghosts, are said to be haunting busy places, such as hotels. I thought it might be fun to look into this a little more. Lets start with one of my all time favorite stars, Marilyn Monroe


The Roosevelt Hotel is located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California. It is said that Marilyn has been seen quite a few times inside of a mirror there. The mirror is a full-length mirror that is located next to the elevators on the lower level, but the funny thing about this is that this mirror used to be in the room that Marilyn frequented. The room was poolside and was Suite 1200. Could the beautiful ghost of Marilyn be uneasy? One never knows, after all, there are many theories that state that Marilyn was murdered, is she trying to tell us something?


The Knickerbocker Hotel was built right ...
... in the heart of Hollywood. It wasn't a hotel when it opened, it was a luxury apartment building. In later years it became a famous hotel where the Hollywood stars would hang out. Its bar, the Renaissance Revival bar, was very popular with actors and actresses. Some actors lived at the hotel on a permanent basis. One famous actor was William Frawley. You may remember him from the "I Love Lucy" tv show, he was Fred Mertz. He died in the hotel in 1966 of a sudden heart attack. Marilyn Monroe spent her honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio there. D.W. Griffith, the movie pioneer died sitting right under the huge crystal chandelier in the lobby.


When Harry Houdini was dying he told his wife that he would do everything he could to contact her from the beyond. Every year since his death on Halloween night until 1936 séances were conducted. The first one was held on the roof of the Knickerbocker hotel. His wife Bess Houdini, and some magicians and friends were present. They tried to contact Harry for over an hour and finally gave up, but as they did, out of nowhere, violent lightning and thunder began to boom and light up the sky scaring all the participants. Was this Harry Houdini letting everyone know he heard them? The Hotel is now a senior citizen home.


They say that Rudolph Valentino, the famous silent movie star, is the most traveled Hollywood ghost, showing up in many different places. There have been reports of the ghost of Valentino being seen in the company of the ghost of Marilyn Monroe. Is that rascal, who was a tremendous womanizer in real life, now one in the spiritual world? Well at least he has good taste. A woman said she encountered the ghost of Valentino while she was walking along a deserted beach. She went on to say further that he was wearing the same flowing robes that he wore in some of his movies. It is also said the Valentino's ghost can be seen at night walking through Hollywood Forever Cemetery, his final resting place. I can't help but remark that the cemetery seems NOT to be his FINAL RESTING place because he doesn't seem to be getting much rest according to many reports.


There is a restaurant named Sweet Lady Jane's in Los Angeles. Many patrons of this establishment have reported seeing the ghost of Orson Wells sitting at a table. Further more, he was wearing a black cape. Some say that sometimes you can smell the smoke from the particular brand of cigar that Wells smoked and even smell the brandy he enjoyed here. When he is spotted, he seems to be sitting at his favorite table.


Some say that Ozzie Nelson is still living in the home that he had when he died. I guess living is the wrong term to use in this case, maybe occupying is better. Ozzie was the first half of Ozzie and Harriet, one of America's favorite couples. Their show ran for years on tv. After Ozzie died, Harriet sold the house and immediately the new owners discovered that there were some very strange things going on there. Lights were turning themselves on and off, door opened and closed on their own, water faucets turned on and off without the help of any human hand and they constantly heard foot steps going up and down on the staircase.


The strange story of Frances Farmer has to be told in any Hollywood haunting article. Frances Farmer became a huge name in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. By the time she was 27 she had made 18 films, stared in 3 Broadway plays and appeared in 32 major radio shows. At the top of her professional career she began to have problems in her personal life. She began to drink and take drugs for weight control. This caused her to act erratically on the set and she soon became a problem. She got into a fight in the Knickerbocker hotel and the police dragged her, half naked, through the lobby and she was later sent to the screen actor's sanitarium. She was given insulin treatments and they put her into shock. This went on for 7 years. She escaped once but was caught. It is said that the hospital staff was brutal to the patients. She was finally given a lobotomy and released. She was no longer the same person; the hospital stay and treatment had destroyed Frances Farmer. She died at 57 years old and was alone and broke. Many people say they have seen the ghost of Frances Farmer walking the halls of the Knickerbocker hotel and they feel that it will never be able to rest.


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About the author:

Ken is the webmaster of Http://aboutfacts.netThis is a free magazine on the internet that contains many interesting stories. These stories are often accompanied by photos, video or audio. The site is suitable for the entire family.