During their recent trip to downtown Los Angeles, OCE members Ash and Cipher spent a little extra time lurking around the hallways and rooms of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Originally opened in 1927, the building has a long association with the show business industry. Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were two of the partners in the hotel's construction. Numerous stars lodged there and the hotel even hosted the Academy Awards starting in 1929 and continuing for several years thereafter. The Spanish style hotel went into decline during the 1960s but was extensively remodeled in the mid-1980s. After the remodel, however, guests and staff at the hotel began to report a variety of strange phenomenon... exactly what Ash and Cipher were looking for. Here's their report...



MONGOMERY CLIFT AND ROOM 928
Clift stayed in the hotel in 1952 during the last phases of filming FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. Prior to his untimely death, Clift was hailed as being one of the best actors of his era, often mentioned in the same breath as Marlon Brando. In fact, both actors hailed from Omaha, Nebraska, and were referred to as “the stardust twins” due to their similar acting methods and meteoric rise to fame. Also like Brando, Clift was a disturbed individual who frequently turned to drugs or alcohol to help silence his various demons. One of Clift's major trials was dealing with his homosexuality in an ear, town and industry that was not accepting of gays. Curiously, unlike many of his contemporaries (including Brando), Clift was relatively open about his preference for men. In his own limited way, Clift almost seemed to be an early gay rights advocate, something that more conservative actors like John Wayne snubbed him over. This constant struggle to be himself in a town that thrived on illusion contributed to an almost constant state of depression which show business insiders would euphemistically describe as a “brooding character.” On May 12, 1956, Clift smashed his car into a tree while driving home from a party thrown by his close friend Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor is credited with saving his life that night, but the wreck permanently disfigured Clift and he slipped further into his addictive and destructive lifestyle. He died in 1966 at the age of 45 from complications related to his drug abuse. Show business insiders called those last ten years of his tragic life “the longest suicide in Hollywood history.”


Cipher on Room 928: “We couldn't get into the room because it was occupied during our visit there, but Ash and I rode the elevator up and eavesdropped outside the door. The legend is that you can either hear Clift reciting his movie lines or playing his trumpet. The staff at the hotel were very nice about talking to us about the hauntings. They seemed to have the most information about Room 928. One of the assistant managers told us that Clift was practicing the trumpet for his role in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. [Webmaster's note: Clift's role in the movie was that of Pvt. Robert E. Lee 'Prew' Prewitt, a brooding and ill-fated character who is killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Reportedly, Clift was practicing the trumpet for this role as he was required to play it on screen. We have not been able to confirm this, however.] He didn't hear anything of course, except that someone had the TV on. One of the employees in the hotel told us Clift died in that room but we later found out that that wasn't true.” [Webmaster's note: Clift died in New York City.]

Famous “professional psychic” Peter James stayed in room 928 in 1992. He reported encountering the apparition of a man late at night whom he identified as Clift. According to James, the ghost appeared in an arm chair on the other side of the room, sat still and quiet for a long time until getting up and walking into the bathroom where he disappeared. The ghost is also said to have been encountered wandering the hallway outside room 928.


Probability of this Haunting: Good. According to all the sources our OCE webmasters consulted, Clift did spend an extended amount of time in Room 928 and his troubled, anguished personality is great fodder for a haunting. It should be noted that if Clift is lurking around Room 928, this is probably a true haunting phenomenon. No one, not even the declamatory Peter James, has claimed to have communicated with the ghost, indicating that the sightings may be no more than psychic memories of Clift's strong personality imprinted upon the environment.

MARILYN'S MIRROR
The Hollywood Roosevelt also boasts a close association with Hollywood's premiere blond bombshell, Marilyn Monroe, although that association may have been a fleeting one. Early in her career, Monroe stayed at the hotel while filming a commercial near the swimming pool. (Some sources said the commercial was for toothpaste and others claimed it was for suntan lotion.) You can still find the photos of her poolside, lounging on the diving board in a bathing suit. The hotel removed the diving board years ago, but they retained the full-length mirror that hung in Marilyn's room at the time and relocated it to the mezzanine level in front of the gift shop. It's displayed adjacent to a framed relief of the actress's famous mug. Hotel legend states that glimpses of Marilyn's spirit can be caught in the mirror's surface.


Cipher's reaction: “The mirror story seemed a little bogus to me, kind of like an “Abraham Lincoln slept here” story. The one time when we know Monroe was in the hotel she was a wannabe hocking toothpaste. So what? I didn't see her ghost in the mirror and I stood there looking for it for like five minutes. I did, however, notice this image of a really great looking guy staring back at me. Dark hair, looked like a movie star but I'm not sure. Does that count?”


Probability of This Haunting: Poor. Although the ghost in the mirror story makes for great Hollywood legend, it is probably a contrived story meant to boost the hotel's association with this famous show business icon. There's no logical reason to believe that Monroe's ghost is haunting this mirror or any other part of the hotel. Legends about Monroe haunting the bungalow where she died at 12305 Fifth Helena in Brentwood are much more likely due to her close association with that place.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES FROM THE HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL:
Actor Harry Lee committed suicide here on December 8, 1932 when he leaped from the fire escape and crashed onto the roof of the third story wing. The OCE webmasters were not able to find much information about Mr. Lee, his career or the circumstances of his tragic death... other than the latter happened at the Roosevelt as described.

The ghost of legendary actress Carole Lombard is said to inhabit the penthouse suite where she once stayed with husband Clark Gable. Again, there are few details on this alleged haunting, although the continuation of its legend may have more to do with promoting legend than the documentation of paranormal phenomenon. Lombard is also said to haunt her former home at 1712 Stanley Boulevard, Los Angeles.

If you have any additional information about the hauntings in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, please email the OCE webmasters. We'd love to hear about it! Learn more about the team's paranormal investigations in Los Angeles by visiting the Outcast Earth website.

GHOSTS ON THE BALLROOM FLOOR
As the team learned from visiting Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, ghosts love ballroom dancing. Legends of waltzing ghosts appear worldwide and seem particularly popular in hotels, so it's not surprising that the Hollywood Roosevelt has its own rich lore about frolicking spirits. This may be one of the better documented hauntings in the hotel, as the webmasters were able to find citations on it in numerous sources. Unlike the hotel's other ghostly phenomenon, however, no particular personality has been attached to these spirits. Most reports simply describe them as a lone man and woman engaged in a intimate turn around the dance floor.


Ash's Reaction: “There wasn't much to the ballroom. It was just a big empty space so it was pretty boring to look at. Cipher and I walked around it and went up to the balcony, too. I didn't really feel or see anything unusual there. I didn't sense any ghosts there.”


Probability of this Haunting: Good. The dancing ghosts and tales of disembodied voices, music and commotion may also indicate a haunting. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel did host a lot of parties and important functions (including the first few Academy Awards), so it is possible that some of the residual energy of those events and the people who attended them still lingers there.


[Originally transmitted on May 6, 2007.]