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Welcome to Spooky L.A., where over the next four days we’ll shine a flashlight on some hair-raising history and haunts across Los Angeles.
To that end, we called in some experts to help us understand the ghoulish history of L.A. For today’s debut, Hadley Meares takes us through Hollywood, where celebrity ghost sightings are both disturbing and good for business.
Marilyn Monroe. Rudolph Valentino. The celebrity ghosts you might see in Hollywood during spooky season
Why are we obsessed with Hollywood ghosts?
It can be hard to part with loved ones in this life, and maybe that’s why we like to believe their spirit is sticking around. That can also ring true with celebrities we’ve connected with.
“I think we kind of create these stories to keep a piece of them to ourselves and feel like we can still have that exciting, personal relationship like when you get an autograph or spot a celebrity in the wild,” Meares said.
The holy grail of ghosts
Meares called one particular spirit the holy Grail of ghosts. Can you guess it?
I’ll give you a hint. Diamonds are this spirit’s best friend.
Yep. Marilyn Monroe.
Her story is a tragic one — dying at the young age of 36 from a fatal overdose inside her Brentwood home on Aug. 5, 1962.
Meares said Monroe is reported to be spotted often throughout L.A, from powder rooms to hotels.
“Marilyn has supposedly been seen sitting wistfully on a bench at the Hippodrome on the Santa Monica Pier. She’s said to be in a full length mirror, checking her face, at the Roosevelt Hotel where she’s also been seen dancing,” Meares said.
Other sightings of Monroe have been reported at the former Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel and in a mirror at the El Capitan Theatre. Meares said her favorite story of Marilyn sighting is at her final resting place.
“Marilyn is seen at her grave at the beautiful Westwood Memorial Cemetery, where they say that her tomb is sometimes surrounded by a delicate pink mist that you can see,” Meares said.
Where Rudolph Valentino’s spirit likes to hang around
Rudolph Valentino is another Hollywood star whose life was cut short at the age of 31. The Italian actor nicknamed “the Latin Lover” died of pleurisy on Aug. 23, 1926.
He’s been spotted at his mansion in Beverly Hills, called the Falcon Lair. The mansion is reportedly also haunted by a later resident, heiress Doris Duke.
“It’s said that socialite Millicent Rogers claimed that she was even chased out of Falcon Lair one night by Valentino’s ghost,” Meares said.
Other places his ghost has reportedly frequented are the former Hollywood Knickerbocker hotel, his beach house on Hollywood Beach, Hotel Alexandra, the bathroom of Musso and Frank Grill, and his old apartment now called Valentino Place in Hollywood. He’s also been seen at Paramount Studios and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where according to Meares, “the lady in black comes to pay her respects to him every year.”
Meares said not only does Valentino appear everywhere in Hollywood, but so does his furry friend.
“His beloved dog Kabar is also said to still be howling for his lost owner,” Meares said, “both at Falcon Lair and at the fascinating Los Angeles Pet Cemetery, which is in Calabasas. And that is where Kabar is actually buried.”
That’s it for today’s top celebrity ghost stories. Check back in tomorrow as we explore the Cecil Hotel in downtown L.A. and the chilling and tragic case of Elisa Lam. You can read more about other top celebrity ghost sightings from Hadley Meares here.
Corrected October 29, 2024 at 10:00 AM PDT
A previous version of this story incorrectly noted Marilyn Monroe’s age at her time of death. LAist regrets the error.