Hollywood's Unhappiest Endings: Legends Never Die Updated

by Les MacDonald

  When They All Laughed had wrapped in July the pair took a trip to London to be alone together for a much needed break. When they returned to California Dorothy moved into Bogdanovich's house. Unknown to the couple was the fact that Paul Snider had hired a private investigator to follow Dorothy. Snider became enraged when informed that his wife had returned to LA without even bothering to call him. During the early part of August Dorothy had to be in Houston, Texas as part of yet another Playboy promotion. She called Snider one night who was elated to get the call. Even though Dorothy said that she still wanted her freedom (she had sent him separation papers in June) Snider figured that if he could just see her he could still set things right and win her back. They made plans to have lunch on August 8. When Dorothy got to Snider's that day he was waiting with roses and champagne. Dorothy felt uncomfortable and they went to a restaurant. When they returned she confessed her love for Bogdanovich and a nasty argument ensued. Snider and his private investigator had dug up a lot of dirt on the director and his affairs with his leading ladies and now he told Dorothy everything that he knew. When she did not react Snider must have known it was all over. He cried as Dorothy let herself out. The next day, August 9, would not prove to be much better. When Snider called the Playboy mansion to get clearance to attend the party that night he was told that he had been barred from the mansion on orders from Hugh Hefner himself. Snider must have felt his world crumbling. In a space of a couple of days he had lost his wife and his all important access to the world of Playboy. Why were they doing this to him? Hadn't he been the one who had discovered Dorothy? He would show them! Snider had been after his private investigator to get him a gun ostensibly for his own protection. Snider had told him that both Hefner and Bogdanovich wanted him out of the way. He could not buy one in a gun shop as he was not an American citizen but his friend helped him find one in the personal ads. A very angry Paul Snider was now in possession of a shotgun.

  To go along with Dorothy's rejection and the Playboy snub Paul had arranged a barbecue and invited some VIP's but hardly anyone showed up. Dorothy was doing a shoot for Playboy in the Mojave Desert and had promised to call Paul on the night of his barbecue but she did not. When she called the next night Snider let her have it. Dorothy had never heard him so livid and was worried that he might hurt himself. To calm him down she agreed to visit him once she was finished in the desert. Dorothy kept the meeting secret so that no one would worry and on Friday, August 14 she drove to the home she had once lived in with Snider. No one can possibly know what words were spoken or what the exact sequence of events were that day but within a couple of hours both Dorothy and Snider were dead. Snider had designed his own bondage machine and on this day he used it to beat, brutally rape and sodomize his wife. He then shot her in the face and had sex with the corpse before turning the gun on himself. The young and beautiful Dorothy Stratten - who had never wanted to pose nude or enter the world of Playboy - who really wanted nothing more than to love and be loved in return was gone at the age of twenty.

  Playboy and Hefner had been leaving messages for Dorothy all day. By evening when Bogdanovich had not heard from her he became worried. At 11:45pm when his phone rang he thought for sure it was Dorothy calling him to say that she had been delayed in the desert. Instead it was Hugh Hefner calling with the terrible news that Dorothy was dead. Bogdanovich predictably collapsed. The movie They All Laughed was not released until almost a year after Dorothy's tragic death. While the movie and Dorothy herself received some good notices, it received only a lukewarm response at the box office. The director bought back the film from Time-Life for the sum of 2.8M and redistributed it himself. The commercial failure bankrupted him. Two movies were made about the playmate. In 1981 a made for television movie aired on NBC with Jamie Lee Curtis playing Dorothy. In 1983 Bob Fosse directed Star 80 which got it's name from the personalized plates on the Mercedes that Dorothy had given to Snider. In 1984 Peter Bogdanovich wrote The Killing of the Unicorn, a chronicle of the events leading up to the murder. In it he placed much of the blame for what went wrong in the final days of Dorothy's life on Hugh Hefner. Singer Bryan Adams, himself also from Canada's west coast, penned two songs about Dorothy. Cover Girl became a hit for Prism in 1980 and The Best Was Yet To Come appeared on his own 1983 album Cuts Like A Knife.

  Peter Bogdanovich went on to direct Cher in the 1985 hit Mask but his flops would by far outnumber his hits. In a bizarre twist he married Dorothy's younger sister Louise in 1988. He was forty-nine and she was twenty. They divorced in 2001. Paul Snider's family fought hard for whatever they could get. His father ended up with the Star 80 Mercedes.

  Dorothy Stratten is buried in the Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles just a few yards away from a playmate from another era, Marilyn Monroe.

  Peg Entwistle (1908-1932)

  The Hollywood Sign Girl

  Lillian Millicent Entwistle or "Peg" as she came to be known by was born in Wales on February 6, 1908. Her mother died while Peg was very young and, in 1922, she moved across the ocean to New York City with her father. Tragedy would strike again when Peg's father was killed in an auto accident.

  Peg left New York for Boston and picked up some valuable acting experience as part of an acting troupe. This helped her land a few minor roles on Broadway. She appeared in plays such as Getting Married with Dorothy Gish and Alice Sit by the Fire with Laurette Taylor. In 1927 Peg met and married struggling actor Robert Keith and became stepmom to his young son Brian. The union was not a happy one with Peg (not exactly wealthy herself) paying her husband's alimony just to keep him out of jail. They would divorce in 1930. Things were looking up, not only for Peg but for most of America. Broadway plays were drawing large audiences. Hollywood was flourishing as the silent film industry gave way to "talkies." Many Americans were driving automobiles and enjoying unparalleled prosperity. However the good times were not to last. The decade known as the Roaring Twenties, the decade of prosperity and excess, would come to a screeching halt when the stock market crashed on October 2, 1929. The decade that came to be known as the Dirty Thirties would follow and usher in the period in history that would be known as the Great Depression.

  Many people lost everything they had when the market crashed. It was all that many could do just to put food on the table. Just about the last thing on people's minds was scraping up enough money to go out to a Broadway play. Despite all of this Peg still won some roles. She acted in seven more plays. All were commercial flops with the blame being put on the economic woes of the time. With the roles on Broadway drying up and with her marriage behind her there was not much reason to remain in New York. Peg decided to head west and give Hollywood a try. She moved into the Hollywood Studio Club which was a place for young actresses to stay while they looked for work. With her money quickly running out she decided to move in with her Uncle Harold on Beachwood Drive.

  Peg continued to look for work and secured a role in a new play but it only lasted a few weeks. The Mad Hopes was mostly notable for starring a pre-fame Humphrey Bogart. At least the role paved the way for Peg to be signed by RKO Pictures to appear in the new film Thirteen Women. Even though the film had star power (Irene Dunne and Myrna Loy), and was being produced by Hollywood mogul David O. Selznick, it still turned out to be a flop. When the film did poorly in test markets the studio cut fourteen minutes of the original seventy-three minutes out of the film. Unfortunately many of Peg's scenes ended up on the cutting room floor drastically reducing her screen time. With the failure of Thirteen Women and the Great Depression nipping at the studios heels, RKO did not renew Peg's contract. Peg began to drink more and slipped into a deep depression. She posed topless to support herself. When Thirteen Women was released on September 16, 1932 Peg was not even invited to the premiere. She spent that evening drinking and then told her uncle that she was going to walk down to the drugstore. Peg then walked past the drugstore to the end of Beachwood Drive and then climbed all the way up the hill to the Hollywood sign which, in 1932, was
the Hollywoodland sign. There was a construction workers ladder leaning up against the back of the H. Peg took off her coat and folded it neatly leaving it along with her purse on the ground at the bottom of the H. Peg then climbed the ladder to the top of the H and jumped. She was not found until two days later when the LAPD received an anonymous call. The caller told the police that he had been hiking near the sign when he saw a shoe. When he looked further down the hill he saw the body. He went on to say that he did not want any publicity so he wrapped up the coat, purse and shoes and left them on the steps of the Hollywood Police Station. Peg had left a note in her purse that 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. P.E." The note was printed in the Los Angeles Times with the hope that someone might recognize the note. Peg's Uncle Harold recognized the initials and identified Peg.

  Since Peg's suicide many people hiking near the Hollywood sign have reportedly seen an attractive blonde dressed in 1930's era clothing. She always seems very sad and simply vanishes when anyone gets close. Others have said that there is a strong scent of gardenias. Gardenia perfume was known to be Peg's favorite. Coincidence? In an ironic twist a letter was received by Peg's Uncle Harold offering her a role in a new play. The Beverly Hills Playhouse wanted Peg to star in a play about a woman who was driven to commit suicide. The letter was delivered one day after Peg's death.

  Peg's ex husband Robert Keith went on to become a successful character actor in the 1940's and 50's. The six year old son that Peg was stepmom to for several years was Brian Keith who starred in the television series Family Affair from 1966-71 and in Hardcastle and McCormick from 1983-86. In 1997, while in failing health and mourning the suicide of his own daughter ten days, earlier Brian Keith shot himself.

  Peg Entwistle was only twenty-four years old when she took her own life. She was cremated and her ashes are buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Glendale, Ohio.

  Dominique Dunne (1959-1982)

  The Poltergeist Curse

  Dominique was born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth. Her parents were the well known and respected authors Dominick Dunne and Ellen Griffin Dunne. She was also the niece of John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion. After her parents divorced in 1975 Dominique traveled to New York and then to Colorado where she studied acting at the University of Colorado. She left the school early and landed her first role in a made for television movie after just three weeks in Hollywood. She continued to land roles on the small screen appearing in such shows from that era as Chips and St. Elsewhere. The young actress was ecstatic when she landed the role of Dana Freeling in the movie Poltergeist. The movie proved to be a big hit and Dominique received more offers. Television beckoned once again and she would get more work in shows such as Lou Grant, Hart to Hart and Fame.

  While her career was flourishing, the young Dominique was attempting to put her personal life in order. Just prior to filming Poltergeist she had met John Thomas Sweeney who was the chef at the trendy La Eatery Mas Maison. Within a few weeks Dominique had moved in with him. The relationship was troubled right from the beginning. Sweeney was from a small town in Pennsylvania and came from what now would be known as a dysfunctional family. Sweeney, although himself a successful chef, was ashamed of his roots and despised Dominique's more worldly friends. He quickly became jealous of her male friends and fellow actors. As is often the case, jealousy turned to rage and the rage quickly escalated into abuse. One day, in August 1982, Sweeney grabbed Dominique by the hair and pounded her head into the floor. She escaped to her mother's house and, when Sweeney followed, he was ordered out by Dominique's mother who threatened to call the police. Despite all of this she forgave Sweeney and moved back in with him within a couple of days. A month later the cycle continued with Dominique suffering another beating at the hands of her boyfriend. The next day she was shooting an episode of Hill Street Blues, television's top rated police show of the 1980's. Ironically she played a victim of abuse and the story goes that Dominique needed no makeup at all because her face was already puffed up and badly bruised.

  Dominique finally gave Sweeney the boot for good and changed the locks to her house. She was now living in fear of Sweeney when, on October 30, she invited fellow actor David Packer to her home to rehearse scenes for V, a miniseries that both were to be appearing in. Sweeney showed up and Packer asked Dominique if he should leave. Dominique asked him to stay and went outside to speak with Sweeney. When she refused to take him back Sweeney once again attacked. He grabbed Dominique by the neck and dragged her behind the house. When Packer heard the screams he ran outside and saw Sweeney leaning over Dominique who lay motionless on the ground. Packer called the police who arrived in minutes. Dominique was rushed to Cedars Sinai Hospital where the doctors tried to revive her without success. She was put on life support but her heart stopped four days later when her parents decided to let her go.

  John Thomas Sweeney was charged with murder. The judge would not allow the testimony of Sweeney's previous girlfriend who had also suffered abuse at his hands. The judge claimed that her testimony would be prejudicial to the defendant. Sweeney's lawyers made it sound like it was all Dominique's fault for not taking Sweeney back yet again. He was convicted of "unintentional manslaughter" and received a sentence of six years. For the murder of Dominique Dunne, John Thomas Sweeney served a grand total of three years and eight months. When released he found his way back to Los Angeles and, almost immediately, found work again as a chef at another popular nightspot. Dominique's mother passed out handbills to all of the patrons that read "the hands that prepared your meal tonight also strangled Dominique Dunne." Sweeney was immediately fired and left the city. He moved to the Pacific Northwest and changed his name to John Maura. The last word was that he was working as an executive chef in Seattle.

  Dominique Dunne was only twenty-two years old when she died. She is buried at the Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

  Heather O'Rourke (1975-1988)

  The Poltergeist Curse

  The discovery of Heather O'Rourke is the stuff of Hollywood legend. Her older sister Tammy had a small part as a dancer in MGM's remake of Pennies From Heaven which starred Steve Martin. The two sisters and their mother were having lunch in the MGM Commissary when a man approached Heather and asked her if she had any acting experience. Five year old Heather replied that she was not supposed to talk to strangers. The stranger turned out to be none other than Steven Spielberg who was looking for a young girl to play a part in an upcoming production to be known as Poltergeist. The very next day Heather was in Spielberg's office auditioning for the role of Carol Anne Freeling. However, during the first audition while reading scary scenes, Heather started laughing at a stuffed animal that Spielberg had given her. The director must have sensed something because he asked Heather to come back the next day. This time Heather aced the screaming scenes and got the part.

  Heather was fabulous in the role and was undoubtedly one of the reasons why the movie was a runaway hit. Poltergeist spawned two sequels and Heather's role would be the main focus of both. Heather's line "They're heeere!" became the first films tagline and is widely thought of as one of cinemas most recognized lines of all time.

  After the first movie Heather would turn to the small screen for a recurring role in the hit Happy Days. She played the daughter of one of Fonzie's girlfriends. During the filming of the second movie in the trilogy strange occurrences began to take place on the set. The story persists even today that real human skeletons were used during the filming. It is a fact that actor Will Sampson performed an exorcism of sorts to keep evil spirits away from the set. JoBeth Williams, who played the mother, reported that pictures on the wall that she had straightened every morning, would once again be hanging askew when she returned at night.

  It was during the late stages of filming the third movie that Heather began having stomach problems and was diagnosed as having the flu. During subsequent visits to the Kaiser F
oundation Hospital, Heather's mother would keep hearing the same thing. Now, during filming Poltergeist III, the doctors diagnosed Heather as having Crohn's Disease which is a chronic intestinal inflammation. Though ill, Heather soldiered on and completed the filming in late 1987.

  On January 31, 1988 Heather woke up vomiting and was ill all day. The next morning she couldn't keep anything down at breakfast and her mom noticed that her hands were swollen and blue. Paramedics arrived and Heather went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance. She was revived and taken by helicopter to the Children's Hospital in San Diego. For the first time doctors suspected a major bowel obstruction and began surgery right away. They removed the blockage but the damage had already been done. Heather died on the operating table. One of Hollywood's bright lights was gone at the age of twelve. Heather's mom filed a lawsuit against Heather's previous health caregivers claiming that if she had been diagnosed properly earlier that she could have been saved. There seems to be little doubt that this was true. The lawsuit was settled out of court with Heather's mother receiving an undisclosed amount in damages.

  Despite her television and movie fame Heather said that she was the proudest of being elected president of her fifth grade class. She is buried at the Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Her plaque reads...