#apart from 1957 tim is always the one who leaves

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[myhauntedsalem]

Ghosts of Hollywood

Marilyn Monroe The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is said to be the current residence of several ghosts of popular film stars. Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous and funny star of such pictures as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was a frequent guest of the Roosevelt at the height of her popularity. And although she died in her Brentwood home, her image has been seen on several occasions in a full-length mirror that once hung in her poolside suite. The mirror has been relocated to the hotel's lower level by the elevators.

Montgomery Clift Another respected star who died before his time, Montgomery Clift, was a four-time Oscar nominated actor who is best known for his roles in A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity and Judgment at Nuremberg. His ghost has also been seen at the Roosevelt. According to some of the hotel's staff, Clift's spirit haunts room number 928. Clift stayed in that suite in 1953, pacing back and forth, memorizing his lines for From Here to Eternity. Loud, unexplained noises have been heard coming from the empty suite, and its phone is occasionally found mysteriously off the hook.

Perhaps it's fitting that the Hollywood Roosevelt should be the stirring place of celebrity ghosts since it was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In fact, the Blossom Ballroom, where the ceremony was held, has an unexplained cold spot - a circular area measuring 30 inches in diameter that remains about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the room.

Harry Houdini Houdini is best known as a magician and escape artist, of course, but at the height of his fame he was also drawn to Hollywood, where he made a handful of silent films from 1919 to 1923. With such titles as The Man from Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service (which he also directed), the films were not regarded well enough to give him much of a Hollywood career. Houdini's interest in the occult was well known, and although he earned a reputation as a masterful debunker of séances, he earnestly sought contact with those who have passed on to the other side. Shortly before his death, Houdini made a pact with his wife Bess that if he could, he would return and make contact with her from the other side. Perhaps he truly has attempted to return. Some claim to have seen the ghost of the great Houdini walking around in the home he owned on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills. Film historians Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker, in their book Hollywood Haunted, dispute this story, saying that "Houdini most likely never even set foot in the Laurel Canyon mansion he is said to haunt."

Clifton Webb Clifton Webb was a very popular star of the 1940s and '50s, earning two Oscar nominations for his roles in Laura and The Razor's Edge. He may be best known for his portrayal of Mr. Belvedere in a series of films. It's not too often that a ghost haunts the place in which the person is buried, but this seems to be the case for Webb. His ghost has been seen at the Abbey of the Psalms, Hollywood Memorial Cemetery, where his body is interred. But it seems to be a restless spirit, as his ghost has also been encountered at his old home on Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Thelma Todd Thelma Todd was a hot young star in the 1930s. She was featured in a number of hit comedies with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton. But that all ended in 1935 when Todd was found dead in her car, which was parked above the café she owned on the Pacific Coast Highway. Strangely, her death was ruled an accidental suicide, but many suspected murder and a coverup by powerful Hollywood figures. The building that once housed the café is now owed by Paulist Productions, and employees have reportedly witnessed the starlet's ghost descending the stairs.

Thomas Ince Ince is considered one of the visionary pioneers of American movies. He was one of the most respected directors of the silent era, best known, perhaps, for his westerns starring William S. Hart. He partnered with other early Hollywood giants such as D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, and founded Culver Studios, which later became MGM. Ironically, Ince's death overshadowed his film legacy. He died aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924, and although the official record shows the cause of death as heart failure, the hot rumor is that he was shot by Hearst in a fit a jealousy over Hearst's wife, Marion Davies. Ince's ghost - as well as several other ghostly figures - have been seen in the lot that was once Culver Studios. Film crew members have seen the specter of a man matching Ince's description on several occasions; in one instance, when the workers tried to speak to the spirit, it turned and disappeared through a wall.

Ozzie Nelson Ghosts and hauntings are the last thing that come to mind when you think of the perpetually cheerful Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The couple, with their real-life sons Ricky and David, were stars of the long-running sitcom "Ozzie and Harriet," noted for its good-natured, gentle humor. Yet poor Ozzie doesn't seem to be as contented in the afterlife. Family members, it is said, have seen Ozzie's ghost in the family's old Hollywood home, and it always appears to be in a somber mood. Perhaps he's unhappy about how another Ozzy and his family have gained notoriety on TV.

George Reeves From 1953 to 1957, George Reeves was TV's Superman. Reeves had been around Hollywood for a while, playing bit parts in such films as Gone with the Wind and dozens of B-movies, but it was "The Adventures of Superman" on TV that brought him fame. Reeves died of a gunshot at his home in 1959. The official cause of death was suicide, but that conclusion has been hotly disputed, with some believing that Reeves was murdered. Whether it was suicide or murder, Reeves ghost has been seen in his Beverly Hills home. A couple claims to have seen the ghost of Reeves - decked out in his Superman costume - materialize in the bedroom where he died, after which it slowly faded away. Others believe that Reeves succumbed to the "Superman curse," in which those associated with the fictional character over the years allegedly have met with disaster or death. But is there really a curse? 

More Celebrity Ghosts

Rudolph Valentino - This silent film heartthrob has been seen in the bedroom and stables of his old Hollywood home. Jean Harlow - The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her. Mary Pickford - This legend of the silent era - actress, writer and producer - was co-founder of United Artists with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Comic Buddy Rogers, who lived in the house Pickford once owned, saw her ghost appear in a white ruffled dress. Grace Kelly - Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Nicholas Cage - This Oscar-winning actor (Leaving Las Vegas) refused to stay in uncle Francis Ford Coppola's home after seeing a ghost in the attic. (Cage was also cast as Superman in director Tim Burton's film project, which was never made.) Keanu Reeves - The star of The Matrix films and Devil's Advocate was just a kid in New Jersey when he saw a ghost that took the form of a white double-breasted suit come into his room one night. He wasn't imagining it; his nanny saw the phantom, too. Neve Campbell - She's been in more than her share of paranormal-themed movies (The Craft, Scream), but she's had real-life encounters as well. A woman was murdered in the house she now lives in, and friends have seen her ghost walking around. Matthew McConaughey - This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls "Madame Blue," floating around his house. Tim Robbins - Robbins, who was nominated for an Oscar in Mystic River, didn't see ghosts, but strongly felt their presence when he moved into an apartment in 1984. Following his instinct, he moved out the next day. Hugh Grant - British romantic comedy lead Hugh Grant (Love Actually) says he and friends have heard the wailing and screaming of some tormented spirit in his Los Angeles home. He even speculates it might be the ghost of a former resident - Bette Davis. Dan Aykroyd - The Ghostbusters star (and Oscar-nominated for Driving Miss Daisy) has long had a fascination with the paranormal. He believes his home, once owned by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas, is haunted. "A ghost certainly haunts my house," he said. "It once even crawled into bed with me. The ghost also turns on the Stairmaster and moves jewelry across the dresser. I'm sure it's Mama Cass because you get the feeling it's a big ghost." Sting - Rock star Sting (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and his wife Trudie have seen ghosts in their home. "I was absolutely terrified," he said. "I now believe those things are out there, but I have no explanation for them." Jean Claude Van Damme - The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as "Muscles from Brussels," swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth. Richard Dreyfuss - He won an Oscar for The Goodbye Girl, but at one time had a cocaine problem. Visions of a ghost, he said, helped him kick the habit. "I had a car crash in the late 1970s," Dreyfuss said, "when I was really screwed up, and I started seeing these ghostly visions of a little girl every night. I couldn't shake this image. Every day it became clearer and I didn't know who the hell she was. Then I realized that kid was either the child I didn't kill the night I smashed up my car, or it was the daughter that I didn't have yet. I immediately sobered up." Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman - This Hollywood couple was forced to flee their "dream home" in Sneden's Landing, N.Y. when it became all too apparent that it was haunted. They still are reluctant to talk about their frightening encounters. Belinda Carlisle - This pop singer and founding member of The Go-Gos, who appeared in Swing Shift and She's Having a Baby, says she saw a "misty shape" hovering over her as she lay in bed one night. She also says that when she was 17, while nodding off to sleep in a chair in her parents' home, she levitated and had an out-of-body experience. Elke Sommers - This German-born actress, who appeared in the 1966 film The Oscar, claims to have seen the ghost of a middle-aged man in a white shirt in her home in North Beverly Hills. Guests in her home have also seen the specter. So much paranormal activity was reported in the house that the American Society for Psychical Research was brought in, and which verified the unexplained events. The severely haunted house was bought and sold more than 17 times since Sommers vacated it, and many have reported ghostly phenomena. Paul McCartney - Ex-Beatle and Oscar-nominated songwriter ("Live and Let Die") says that he, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sensed the playful spirit of John Lennon when they were recording Lennon's song, "Free As A Bird" in 1995. "There were a lot of strange goings-on in the studio - noises that shouldn't have been there and equipment doing all manner of weird things. There was just an overall feeling that John was around."

[diarrheaofthekeyboard]

#41

9.4.2020 - 9.8.2020

At age 5, sometime in the summer of 1983, I went to my first Mets game. I know they played the Montreal Expos. I’m pretty sure George Bamburger was still the manager. Tom Seaver was on the team. I do not know if he pitched that game. But I know I saw him pitch on tv as a Met that year. 

My early childhood from that point forward was consumed with baseball (and cartoons) until about 1989 when the Mets were bad again. They just got worse until I went to college, but I still watched. I couldn’t watch Mets games in college, so I mostly forgot about baseball. I graduated in 2000 and came home to the Mets and Yankees in the Subway Series. And I was back in it. 

The Mets predictably lost, and it was the worst because the Yankees were dynastic, but something else happened. After raising me as a Mets fan, my father outed himself as a Yankee fan. 

My dad was born in Brooklyn in 1950 and raised in Sheepshead Bay, which is close to Coney Island. Story goes he asked my grandfather to go see the Dodgers and was told “next year”. That was 1957. He never got to see the Dodgers in Brooklyn. They, and the New York Giants, moved to California before the 1958 season. This is pretty fucked up. And though I never asked him while he was alive, it would make no sense for my grandfather to have claimed he didn’t know the Dodgers were leaving. It was the biggest news in Brooklyn.

For 4 years, there was only one New York team. The Yankees. They won the World Series in 1958 and 1961. They lost the World Series in 1960. The Mets first season was 1962 and promptly set the record for most games lost in a season, in the modern era. The Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants in the World Series that year. In 1963 the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but who could root for the Dodgers after they left Brooklyn? That was traitorous. In ‘64 the Yankees lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals. They were terrible after that. 

In 1967, Tom Seaver debuted for the New York Mets. They were still the worst team in baseball. In 1969, led by Seaver, the Mets were champions. My dad, by this time in college, became a fan. 

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in tracing his sports allegiances, it’s that he’s a bandwagoner. We never watched hockey, but for some reason had 4 copies of an Islanders record from the early 80s. We never really watched football, but he did like to watch the Cowboys. Why wasn’t he a Giants fan? Or a Jets fan? It never really made sense. 

The entire reason we went to that game in 1983 was my dad got tickets from work. The owner of the company he worked for had box seats about 10 rows behind the third base dugout. We would go once or twice a year and my dad would complain about traffic. We went to Game 1 of the 1986 World Series. I still have my ticket. It was a big moment for me, having just turned all of 9 years old. It’s still a big moment for me. We sat 6 rows from the back of the stadium and couldn’t see anything. But we were there. 

I never had reason to believe my dad was anything other than a Mets fan. And then, there I am, freaking out in 2000 as Benny Agbayani hands the ball to a fan in the stands because he thought there were three outs, and my dad is outing himself further as a Yankee fan with every moment. 

I don’t remember when this took place, but I know it happened. I was so angry I was raised a Mets fan. But it went something like this: 

Why would you do this to your child? You know how bad they are. You read the paper. You never bothered to tell me the Yankees won the World Series in 1978. I could have gone through life as a carefree Yankee fan, not ever having to know the intricacies of the game, and never beating myself up in the years they weren’t competitive because they’re the fucking Yankees! They always come back. 

At that point, I couldn’t give up the Mets. For the damage being invested in their losing had done to me, and for what it would continue to do to me. For 20 years until I left New York, I probably watched 150 games a year, whether on tv or at Shea. I didn’t just double down. It became all consuming. And gut wrenching. Hey! You had a shit day at work! Let’s agonize over this garbage team and argue with the tv announcers every day. As I bounced from apartment to apartment, job to job, there would always be the constant, soothing misery of the Mets.  

The 2000 baseball season had been my introduction to Tom Seaver the announcer. Keith Hernandez too. I actually got to see him play. He was the quintessential first baseman. Now I got to listen to them regularly. Along with Ralph Kiner, Gary Thorne, and Howie Rose, they were fantastic. They talked about the game like a coach should talk about the game. Every game, regardless of how bad the team was, became a clinic in “How to Baseball”. I loved it. 

In 2006, the Mets got their own broadcasting network and consolidated the announcing team. Ralph Kiner’s health had declined over the years and he would only return on home Sunday games. Fran Healy and Tim McCarver were finally, mercifully gone. Seaver left too. He had gone into winemaking in ‘05 and wanted to pursue it full time. Taking over play-by-play was radio announcer Gary Cohen. He had been Bob Murphy’s understudy and was a familiar pick. Keith Hernandez stayed and fellow 80s Met Ron Darling was added as well. They’re still in the booth today, and they’re fantastic. 

Seaver would show up from time to time. There was never a down, dull moment with him. You’d get an adrenaline rush just listening to him. 

I’m going to say something controversial. I hated Shea Stadium. It was a nasty, ugly place. But there’s one thing about it that CitiField just can’t replace. The entire stadium was built from concrete blocks and it was very closed in. Each entrance to the seating area from the concourse was like its own little tunnel into another world. You come out of the darkness and into the light of the greenest field you’ve ever seen. I got goosebumps and would nearly be on the verge of tears, every time I walked through, from that first game in 1983, until they tore the place down at the end of the 2008 season. 

I did make sure to be there at the last game. It was terrible. The Mets needed to beat the Marlins to get into the Wild Card and it didn’t happen. Then we waited seemingly forever for the post-game ceremony to begin, absolutely fuming that we had been duped by this shit team again. Finally, things got started. Mets greats were announced. And Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza closed the centerfield gate together, formally closing the book on Shea. It was a good moment even though the season ended terribly. 

We moved to California two years ago. This was my opportunity to finally get rid of the Mets. I was determined to do it. I started watching A’s and Giants games. I even started watching Dodger games. At the start of the season, I was set to ride the A’s and Dodgers all the way to a California World Series. Then COVID hit. The season was cancelled. I lost my job. School was cancelled. Bad news increased exponentially. And when the baseball season finally started in July, my wife said she wanted to watch the Mets. She wasn’t going to give me a choice either. 

We met in 2006. She had moved to NYC the previous year and kinda bandwagoned her way into Yankee fandom. Because why not. She was really a football fan anyway. One of her previous boyfriends was apparently a huge Cubs fan. She says every time they lost he’d be upset for days. Which, historically, is a tough place to be as a Cubs fan. As we dated and got closer she saw just how many games I would watch on a yearly basis. It’s a lot. 

She got used to me pacing around, guitar in hand, yelling at the TV. She studied for the bar exam through this. One time, I forget what was going on, she’s reading flashcards and I had taken issue with something Gary Cohen said. And I hear quietly, “don’t argue with Gary!” I can still hear the inflection in her voice in my head. I turned around and started telling her why I disagreed with him and her only response was “did I say that out loud?” Gary, Keith, and Ron were hugely important to not only her tolerance of my baseball tv domination, but also her appreciation of the game. She only knew Ralph Kiner as this cute old man. And every so often, Seaver would come back and she’d see me well up with visceral feelings. 

I cried when Ralph Kiner died. Around 2014/2015 I wrote a blog titled “The Common Sense Mets Fan”. At the time, I was convinced the Sandy Alderson administration would right the team and keep the Wilpons at bay. I was wrong. Anyway, here’s what I wrote: 

On the last day of the season, as usual, Gary Cohen said goodbye to Ralph Kiner. But there was something different about it this time. There was fear in Gary’s face, as though he knew this was his last opportunity to sign off with Ralph. I had seen hints of it in years past, but never like this. Sadly, Ralph passed today, I hope peacefully.

As a Mets fan, this is like losing a grandfather or great uncle. Ralph had always been there. From his stories about Elizabeth Taylor to his willingness to argue advanced metrics and hitting style with Keith Hernandez, he was ever present in the Mets broadcast booth. I’ll never be able to hear the game again the same way. Thank you, Ralph.

At the time, I said to my wife, “the next time I cry about the Mets, it’ll be when Tom Seaver dies.” This was before their 2015 run. Before the Wilmer Flores incident. Before I was sitting on my couch with a 1 year old, watching them in a World Series, as I did my best impression of Randy Quaid from Major League. I refused to allow myself to enjoy the success of the team because I knew they would lose. It was just a matter of when. And of course, they did lose to the Kansas City Royals. But they got a lot further than I thought they would. 

When MLB decided to move forward with a truncated 2020 season, I was reluctant to watch. It’s not safe for anyone involved and seems to be all about corporate greed. But of course, like moths to a flame, we watched. And as I mentioned, my wife said, “we’re watching the Mets.” I didn’t want to. But she was right. In a year like we’ve never seen before, Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez did something, and are doing something, nobody else is. They gave us levity and calm. Led by Gary, they are unafraid to address the news of the day while knowing the escape they provide. The BLM t-shirt moment was unparalleled. And unfortunately, they’d have another day to provide calm the next week. 

As you well know by now, George Thomas Seaver died last week. He had contracted lyme disease years ago, while working in the vineyards. For some people, lyme goes undiagnosed for years while doctors treat the symptoms without putting it all together. This seems to have been what happened to Tom. It progressed with complications and he developed Lewy Body dementia. His family announced his retirement from public life and the Mets announced they would erect a statue to him outside of CitiField. They changed the address of the stadium to 41 Seaver Way. But in true Wilpon Mets fashion, still no statue. 

Finally, last week, Tom died due to complications from COVID. I was sitting on the couch, watching some random baseball game and reading Twitter. I saw the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement on Twitter, exclaimed “oh no!”, and went upstairs to be alone for a minute. My wife was on the phone. She ran upstairs to see me sitting with my head in my hands and asked what happened. I told her and then told her how stupid I felt for letting this get to me. And she said, “yeah, but you said after Ralph died this would happen”. 

Our son came upstairs to see what he was missing. I told him. He said “who’s that?” And we had a long talk I think bored him. And it’s then it hit me what had happened. As I’ve detailed in the past 4 pages of text, Tom Seaver meant a lot to me, even though in my experience as a Mets fan, he was really just a peripheral character. I saw him on the field a couple of times. He was talked about. He was an announcer for a few years, and he’s mostly been out of the spotlight for the past 15 years. Here I was, having a visceral, uncontrollable reaction to a childhood figure I never met. How the fuck were people who actually knew him going to keep it together?

They couldn’t do it. Gary and Ron did their best. Apparently, Keith’s mom also had dementia, and he lost it. There was a lot of silence during the game. A lot of big sighs from Keith. A lot of on air hurting. It was gut wrenching. I saw an Ed Kranepool quote that said, “this was a terrible ending to a horseshit year.” And it’s only September! 

At this point, nearly a week later, it’s difficult to remember where I saw it. But here it is. The reason I’ve spent all this time spilling my guts about a guy I never met. Tom Seaver was a beacon. He wasn’t just someone who had a talent and pursued it. He was constantly trying to reinvent himself and pursue that passion, whether he was good at it or not. But even moreso, he was a positive influence on everyone around him. I’ve never heard a story about Seaver fighting with anyone. He wanted to be Rembrandt with a baseball. And he wanted to lift people up around him. 

I feel isolated and alone. There’s not much I feel like I can control. I can get out my thoughts, I can be a good husband and a good father. I can explore my music. And I can use the latter to pull myself out of the former. That’s what Tom would tell me to do. 

[weshallc]

Nonnatun Card Exchange (FF3).

This story was written for Gillian, hope you don’t mind me sharing. This is also dedicated to @eatapinkwafer because it’s her favourite.

Christmas 1957- Nonnatus House

Patrick Turner glanced over his shoulder once again. He looked longingly beyond the dining room door. He knew that staring repeatedly in the direction of the Nonnatus telephone, was not going to make it ring, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

He turned back to the table and suddenly felt ashamed. He was positive everyone knew what he was hoping for. Timothy sat to his left, he certainly knew, he could see it in the boy’s eyes. He had grown up so much, in such a relativly short time. Wise beyond his years. Honed through the illness and eventual loss of his mother. Followed by almost a year of what-grief, struggle, survival?

Patrick tried to shake himself from his melancholy and self destructive thoughts. He was so proud of Marianne’s son, sat in his best tie and blazer. He was animatedly talking to Sister Evangelina. He was glad Sister Julienne had sat Timothy between himself and the bustling nun. She was never short of conversation and had a soft spot for his son, as she also once had for the boy’s mother.

Opposite the doctor sat three of the young nurses,he worked with on a daily basis. Nurse Franklin was dressed a little bit like she was having Christmas dinner at the Ritz, but he though she carried it off well.Nurse Lee a little less flashy, he could see Marianne in something like that. He knew the more diminutive Nurse Miller would also be wearing a new dress. Marianne always insisted a woman needed a new dress for Christmas Day-apart from last year-last Christmas she asked for a new nightdress. 

Absentmindedly he glanced again in the direction of the still frustratingly silent telephone. What was wrong with him? He had accepted this kind invitation for Timothy’s sake. Granny Parker always spent Christmas with Timothy’s cousins in Liverpool and he hadn’t wanted her to change her plans, there had been too much change. He had to snap out of this wave of self pity. Stop wishing for some tragedy at the worst, slight irritation at best. To befall on some innocent Poplar family, just to free him from this odious obligation. Leaving Tim in good, safe hands and him almost guilt free,perhaps?

“Would you care for some more stuffing, Doctor?” The sudden question directed to him in a warm Scottish lilt, shook him out of his malaise.

“No,no thank you Sister, I have ample.”

“Mrs B has dared to be a tad adventurous this year and made 2 types of stuffing. I must say Dr Turner, I prefer the traditional sage and onion.”

“ I wasn’t aware Sister, until today that there was more than one type of stuffing.” He interjected, trying to crack a weak joke.

The poor girl, what had she done to be sat next to such a miserable, boring old sod at Christmas. Patrick chastised himself internally.

He looked around the table, the nurses sat together and whispered and chatted. Although Trixie couldn’t be accused of whispering at present. Sister Evangelina sat next to Timothy,the pair gently triying to heal each other’s wounds. Sister Julienne at the head of the table as her position allowed, watching over her family, with a careful eye on Sister Monica Joan at the other end. Poor kind hearted, devoted Sister Bernadette had got the fuzzy end of the lollipop, when it came to the seating plan and was stuck next to him.

“More wine Dr, I must say PC and Mrs Noakes have been very generous in supplying us with drinks, before they decided to spend Christmas with Constable Noakes’s mother.”

“Erm, not much more for me Sister, I know Dr Enys is on call. Which is very kind of him, in the circumstances.” They both glance at Timothy. 

The boy takes a good slurp of his Dandelion and Burdock, another treat from the Noakes’s. Sister Bernadette started to wonder if the Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne empire had been built on off-licenses

Patrick continues.” He is a fine young GP, but I did say I would be available, if you know…he gets snowed under, or may need my guidance in a complicated maternity case.I gave him this number and told him not to hesitate to call…”

He was interrupted, “I see, Dr.”

Patrick looked at those piercing blue eyes. Oh yes, even as a very happily married man and devoted husband, he noticed the blue eyes. Even when she was a 22 year old postulate and he an enthusiastic new father and war veteran,he noticed the blue eyes.Those blue eyes saw right through him at that moment.Those blue eyes knew he would rather be tending to a bad case of haemorrhoids than pulling a Christmas cracker, containing a very bad joke, with an increasingly giggly Trixie.

Sister Bernadette glanced behind her once again, looking longingly beyond the dining room door. She knew that staring repeatedly in the direction of the Nonnatus telephone, was not going to make it ring, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

The Nonnatuns took turns on Christmas Day to be on call. Sister Julienne always attended the first call. Sister Evangelina the next, Sister Bernadette followed and quite often that order would repeat itself throughout the day. The Sisters understood that Christmas may have a different interpretation for their young colleagues and they would want to mark it in a different way. It had been Sister Bernadette a few years younger than the others, that had suggested that they took the strain over Christmas and New Year. To serve Him and to have the privilege of delivering a Christmas or New Year baby. Also young enough and generous enough to realize her secular colleagues would greatly appreciate any time off during the holidays.

At this moment Sister Bernadette wasn’t contemplating such noble thoughts. Basically she just wanted to get the Hell out of there. Alone in the work environment between the forceps and cursing mothers, she could ask him how Timothy was doing? How he was coping? Here it had to be so polite, so appropriate, she could see he was struggling for breath, for cover, for safety. 

All she could do in this situation was talk about stuffing. She needed that phone to ring, this was stifling.

Please let the next call be a woman in labour, a very long simple, safe labour, but long.Get me out of here please! Let no harm come to another.This is too painful and there is so little I can offer in way comfort.

Relief finally! Just as the plum pudding and brandy sauce was being served-again thanks to Chummy.

Dring,dring,dring! Sister Bernadette and Dr Turner nearly knocked each other over in their urgency to answer the blasted thing. However while the pair of them were untangling chair legs and actually getting themselves more entwined. Sister Julienne beat them to it. 

Patrick took a deep breathe. Nothing too bad, too cruel on Christmas Day,but something, maybe a lonely old pensioner, just needs some company. 

Sister Bernadette took a deep breath. Nothing too bad, a multiple birth, twins, that would take time and be joyous.

Sister Julienne answered, “ Mother Jesu Emanuel, Merry Christmas.” 

Dr Turner and Sister Bernadette returned to their seats and looked their plum pudding square in the face. Silently and slightly sullenly the pair focused on their desert and rather rich sauce.

Suddenly they both dropped their spoons, in response to a rather loud noise. No this wasn’t the telephone, but rather a call of a different nature. With its very own calling card, a rather pungent odour. Someone was suffering from a bout of flatulence.

Dr Turner immediately swivelled in his chair and glared at his son. Timothy who was obviously well aware of why his father was glaring at him, was shaking his head furiously and mouthing,“Not Me,” at his Dad.

Dr Turner flicked his eyes from his wide eyed son to the rest of the dining party. They incredibly continued chatting as normal and quite loudly, especially Trixie. He didn’t mind,It was nice to see the young nurse enjoying herself and letting her hair down, she was a grafter, she deserved it. 

But the smell! Well they were nurses after all, probably immune.

He was just about to admonish Timothy again, when he felt a tug on his sleeve. What was she going to say? Not only had she had to endure Christmas dinner with the dullest man on Earth, unfortunately they sat only inches apart. She must have just had the same experience as him. His mind was racing, now what must she think?

He turned his head slowly in response to the sleeve tug. The first thing he noticed, was the pale almost opaque skin of Sister Bernadette was pink, very pink indeed. She had a rosy glow across her cheeks. Her eyes, those blue eyes, were throwing off a light show only he could see. When he was able to tear his eyes away from those northern lights, he noticed she was biting her bottom lip and seemed to be shivering. Suddenly she was able to release her bottom lip for a moment and mouth to him, “ Not Timothy.”

She cast a glance down the table past Timothy. Patrick’s eyes followed and so did his son’s and the colour returned to Tim’s cheeks. Relieved he was off the hook and also because, he wouldn’t have to be the one to drop his table companion in it.

Patrick now aware that he and his family had not disgraced themselves,looked back at Sister Bernadette. Who now seemed to be steadying herself,with her left hand firmly attached to the seat of her chair. Still pink, still quivering.

She was in hysterics, silent, hidden hysterics. Trying for the life of her to not show it.

He could only be about 9 inches away from her. For the first time since Patrick Turner had walked through those convent doors that morning, a genuine ghost of a smile crossed his face. He looked at her, really looked at her, maybe for the first time. She was pretty. Well yes, he knew that, but at this moment,she was simply radiant.

She was sat only a few inches away shuddering with joy, trying to suppress an almighty laugh. In almost ten years of working with her, she had always been so proper, always been so professional, always been so self controlled. Right now Sister Bernadette’s control was slipping. 

This was much more enticing than 2 types of stuffing.She was that close. He didn’t sit him there-that was Sister Julienne’s doing-he didn’t even want to be there. Did he?

 “ You know if you hold onto that chair much harder, you are going to break it.” He was close enough,just for only her to hear the soft whisper in her ear.

The rose pink turned to scarlet, not just across her cheeks but also down her neck.The shivering turned to a gentle rocking. He knew he should stop, of course he knew….

“If you bite that lip any harder, you might need me to take a look at that.” He didn’t quite get the reaction he was looking for. Her head turned to face him, chin-up and she stared straight into his eyes-blue into green. 

“Best behaviour please, Doctor.” She managed to squeak through gritted teeth. It was at that point Sister Evangelina’s battle with the sprouts came to its climax. 

Dr Turner and Sister Bernadette were somehow in suspended animation. The game had suddenly changed, they both knew the one to take their eyes away from the other, would be the first one to break into fits of laughter.

Sister Bernadette found herself grasping the chair harder and Dr Turner found he was doing the same thing. Meanwhile Timothy was making the adults to his right, look like primary school children. Hardly batting an eye or losing track in his conversation with his table mate. While she remained as unnerved as ever.

Suddenly the stalemate was broken. Trixie trying to relate a story to a less than attentive Jenny, resorted in wild hand gestures and in doing so knocked over her wine glass. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, it was only half full.

For the first time the table hushed and focused on one person, well almost everyone that is. Dr Turner and Sister Bernadette eyes flicked to Trixie and then back at each other. Not wanting the now mortally embarrassed nurse, to think they were laughing at her, they hung on to their self control.

The tables focus soon moved to another, when Sister Monica Joan,suddenly exclaimed out of nowhere.

“Not only have I been subjected to a stench that would only be outdone by Vesuvius in eruption. Now, that inebriated young woman has just shed her wine all over the mince pies!”

The awkward silence that followed was broken by a sudden loud girlish giggle, that had lost any hope of censure and a deep masculine laugh, that had been begging for air,for too long. 

An eyebrow or two were raised in the direction of the ridiculous hilarity, but it was fleeting. The release of the built up tension in the pair seemed to influence everyone. Permission had been given for everyone to forgive, relax, smile and carry on and to clear up the mess. Timothy took on the responsibility of rescuing the mince pies. Relieved that a reason to be excused from the table, had finally presented itself.

What no-one else did see, was that on Sister Monica Joan’s outburst, Sister Bernadette’s resistance finally broke. She lost all control and could no longer contain the mirth mounting up within herself. Feeling unnerved and unbalanced, she felt unstable in her chair and grabbed the nearest thing available to steady herself. It wasn’t until she required her left hand to help her remove her glasses and dry her tear stained eyes. That she became aware, that what she was using to steady herself, was in fact the doctor’s leg. Just above the knee.

 The one thing she was never able to comprehend, not then, not later that same night, not even in the sanatorium was…Why before removing her hand from the doctor’s leg? Did she first look left, to see if Timothy had noticed and then look right, to see if Sister Julienne had noticed. It was only when, she was finally certain that neither had noticed, did she then and only then, remove her hand from its inappropriate mooring.

As people stood to clear the table.There was one person Sister Bernadette was definitely not going to look at. Even though she knew he was looking at her. Sister Bernadette had been secarching all night for something to quell her school girl giggles and now she had found it. Grabbing the doctor’s knee in the possible full view of his son and her superior certainly did the trick. She had found her cure. Sister Bernadette’s back stiffened, her demeanour changed. She rose steadily from her chair.

“Excuse me, Dr Turner,” she said without a hint of a smile, eyes completely focused on his shoulder.

“Of course,“ he replied with just a hint of amusement, which she chose to ignore. 

She knew he was watching her walk through to the kitchen, but she wouldn’t look back.She would never catch herself looking back for him. 

She remembered this silent promise,10 months later on a misty road in the Essex countryside.

[myhauntedsalem]

Ghosts of Hollywood

Even after death, some Hollywood celebrities can’t stop putting in appearances

Marilyn Monroe

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is said to be the current residence of several ghosts of popular film stars. Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous and funny star of such pictures as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was a frequent guest of the Roosevelt at the height of her popularity. And although she died in her Brentwood home, her image has been seen on several occasions in a full-length mirror that once hung in her poolside suite. The mirror has been relocated to the hotel’s lower level by the elevators.

Montgomery Clift

Another respected star who died before his time, Montgomery Clift, was a four-time Oscar nominated actor who is best known for his roles in A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity and Judgment at Nuremberg. His ghost has also been seen at the Roosevelt. According to some of the hotel’s staff, Clift’s spirit haunts room number 928. Clift stayed in that suite in 1953, pacing back and forth, memorizing his lines for From Here to Eternity. Loud, unexplained noises have been heard coming from the empty suite, and its phone is occasionally found mysteriously off the hook.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the Hollywood Roosevelt should be the stirring place of celebrity ghosts since it was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In fact, the Blossom Ballroom, where the ceremony was held, has an unexplained cold spot – a circular area measuring 30 inches in diameter that remains about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the room.

Harry Houdini

Houdini is best known as a magician and escape artist, of course, but at the height of his fame he was also drawn to Hollywood, where he made a handful of silent films from 1919 to 1923. With such titles as The Man from Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service (which he also directed), the films were not regarded well enough to give him much of a Hollywood career. Houdini’s interest in the occult was well known, and although he earned a reputation as a masterful debunker of séances, he earnestly sought contact with those who have passed on to the other side. Shortly before his death, Houdini made a pact with his wife Bess that if he could, he would return and make contact with her from the other side. Perhaps he truly has attempted to return. Some claim to have seen the ghost of the great Houdini walking around in the home he owned on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills. Film historians Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker, in their book Hollywood Haunted, dispute this story, saying that “Houdini most likely never even set foot in the Laurel Canyon mansion he is said to haunt.”

Clifton Webb

Clifton Webb was a very popular star of the 1940s and ’50s, earning two Oscar nominations for his roles in Laura and The Razor’s Edge. He may be best known for his portrayal of Mr. Belvedere in a series of films. It’s not too often that a ghost haunts the place in which the person is buried, but this seems to be the case for Webb. His ghost has been seen at the Abbey of the Psalms, Hollywood Memorial Cemetery, where his body is interred. But it seems to be a restless spirit, as his ghost has also been encountered at his old home on Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd was a hot young star in the 1930s. She was featured in a number of hit comedies with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton. But that all ended in 1935 when Todd was found dead in her car, which was parked above the café she owned on the Pacific Coast Highway. Strangely, her death was ruled an accidental suicide, but many suspected murder and a coverup by powerful Hollywood figures. The building that once housed the café is now owed by Paulist Productions, and employees have reportedly witnessed the starlet’s ghost descending the stairs.

Thomas Ince

Ince is considered one of the visionary pioneers of American movies. He was one of the most respected directors of the silent era, best known, perhaps, for his westerns starring William S. Hart. He partnered with other early Hollywood giants such as D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, and founded Culver Studios, which later became MGM. Ironically, Ince’s death overshadowed his film legacy. He died aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht in 1924, and although the official record shows the cause of death as heart failure, the hot rumor is that he was shot by Hearst in a fit a jealousy over Hearst’s wife, Marion Davies. Ince’s ghost – as well as several other ghostly figures – have been seen in the lot that was once Culver Studios. Film crew members have seen the specter of a man matching Ince’s description on several occasions; in one instance, when the workers tried to speak to the spirit, it turned and disappeared through a wall.

Ozzie Nelson

Ghosts and hauntings are the last thing that come to mind when you think of the perpetually cheerful Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The couple, with their real-life sons Ricky and David, were stars of the long-running sitcom “Ozzie and Harriet,” noted for its good-natured, gentle humor. Yet poor Ozzie doesn’t seem to be as contented in the afterlife. Family members, it is said, have seen Ozzie’s ghost in the family’s old Hollywood home, and it always appears to be in a somber mood. Perhaps he’s unhappy about how another Ozzy and his family have gained notoriety on TV.

George Reeves

From 1953 to 1957, George Reeves was TV’s Superman. Reeves had been around Hollywood for a while, playing bit parts in such films as Gone with the Wind and dozens of B-movies, but it was “The Adventures of Superman” on TV that brought him fame. Reeves died of a gunshot at his home in 1959. The official cause of death was suicide, but that conclusion has been hotly disputed, with some believing that Reeves was murdered. Whether it was suicide or murder, Reeves ghost has been seen in his Beverly Hills home. A couple claims to have seen the ghost of Reeves – decked out in his Superman costume – materialize in the bedroom where he died, after which it slowly faded away. Others believe that Reeves succumbed to the “Superman curse,” in which those associated with the fictional character over the years allegedly have met with disaster or death. But is there really a curse? Read “The Truth About the Superman Curse” by Superman expert Brian McKernan.

More Celebrity Ghosts

Jean Harlow – The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her.

Mary Pickford – This legend of the silent era – actress, writer and producer – was co-founder of United Artists with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Comic Buddy Rogers, who lived in the house Pickford once owned, saw her ghost appear in a white ruffled dress.

Grace Kelly – Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Nicholas Cage – This Oscar-winning actor (Leaving Las Vegas) refused to stay in uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s home after seeing a ghost in the attic. (Cage was also cast as Superman in director Tim Burton’s film project, which was never made.)

Keanu Reeves – The star of The Matrix films and Devil’s Advocate was just a kid in New Jersey when he saw a ghost that took the form of a white double-breasted suit come into his room one night. He wasn’t imagining it; his nanny saw the phantom, too.

Neve Campbell – She’s been in more than her share of paranormal-themed movies (The Craft, Scream), but she’s had real-life encounters as well. A woman was murdered in the house she now lives in, and friends have seen her ghost walking around.

Matthew McConaughey – This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls “Madame Blue,” floating around his house.

Tim Robbins – Robbins, who was nominated for an Oscar in Mystic River, didn’t see ghosts, but strongly felt their presence when he moved into an apartment in 1984. Following his instinct, he moved out the next day.

Hugh Grant – British romantic comedy lead Hugh Grant (Love Actually) says he and friends have heard the wailing and screaming of some tormented spirit in his Los Angeles home. He even speculates it might be the ghost of a former resident – Bette Davis.

Dan Aykroyd – The Ghostbusters star (and Oscar-nominated for Driving Miss Daisy) has long had a fascination with the paranormal. He believes his home, once owned by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas, is haunted. “A ghost certainly haunts my house,” he said. “It once even crawled into bed with me. The ghost also turns on the Stairmaster and moves jewelry across the dresser. I’m sure it’s Mama Cass because you get the feeling it’s a big ghost.”

Sting – Rock star Sting (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and his wife Trudie have seen ghosts in their home. “I was absolutely terrified,” he said. “I now believe those things are out there, but I have no explanation for them.”

Jean Claude Van Damme – The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as “Muscles from Brussels,” swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth.

Richard Dreyfuss – He won an Oscar for The Goodbye Girl, but at one time had a cocaine problem. Visions of a ghost, he said, helped him kick the habit. “I had a car crash in the late 1970s,” Dreyfuss said, “when I was really screwed up, and I started seeing these ghostly visions of a little girl every night. I couldn’t shake this image. Every day it became clearer and I didn’t know who the hell she was. Then I realized that kid was either the child I didn’t kill the night I smashed up my car, or it was the daughter that I didn’t have yet. I immediately sobered up.”

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman – This Hollywood couple was forced to flee their “dream home” in Sneden’s Landing, N.Y. when it became all too apparent that it was haunted. They still are reluctant to talk about their frightening encounters.

Belinda Carlisle – This pop singer and founding member of The Go-Gos, who appeared in Swing Shift and She’s Having a Baby, says she saw a “misty shape” hovering over her as she lay in bed one night. She also says that when she was 17, while nodding off to sleep in a chair in her parents’ home, she levitated and had an out-of-body experience.

Elke Sommers – This German-born actress, who appeared in the 1966 film The Oscar, claims to have seen the ghost of a middle-aged man in a white shirt in her home in North Beverly Hills. Guests in her home have also seen the specter. So much paranormal activity was reported in the house that the American Society for Psychical Research was brought in, and which verified the unexplained events. The severely haunted house was bought and sold more than 17 times since Sommers vacated it, and many have reported ghostly phenomena.

Paul McCartney – Ex-Beatle and Oscar-nominated songwriter (“Live and Let Die”) says that he, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sensed the playful spirit of John Lennon when they were recording Lennon’s song, “Free As A Bird” in 1995. “There were a lot of strange goings-on in the studio – noises that shouldn’t have been there and equipment doing all manner of weird things. There was just an overall feeling that John was around.”

[myhauntedsalem]

Ghosts of Hollywood

Even after death, some Hollywood celebrities can’t stop putting in appearances

Marilyn Monroe

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is said to be the current residence of several ghosts of popular film stars. Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous and funny star of such pictures as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was a frequent guest of the Roosevelt at the height of her popularity. And although she died in her Brentwood home, her image has been seen on several occasions in a full-length mirror that once hung in her poolside suite. The mirror has been relocated to the hotel’s lower level by the elevators.

Montgomery Clift

Another respected star who died before his time, Montgomery Clift, was a four-time Oscar nominated actor who is best known for his roles in A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity and Judgment at Nuremberg. His ghost has also been seen at the Roosevelt. According to some of the hotel’s staff, Clift’s spirit haunts room number 928. Clift stayed in that suite in 1953, pacing back and forth, memorizing his lines for From Here to Eternity. Loud, unexplained noises have been heard coming from the empty suite, and its phone is occasionally found mysteriously off the hook.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the Hollywood Roosevelt should be the stirring place of celebrity ghosts since it was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In fact, the Blossom Ballroom, where the ceremony was held, has an unexplained cold spot – a circular area measuring 30 inches in diameter that remains about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the room.

Harry Houdini

Houdini is best known as a magician and escape artist, of course, but at the height of his fame he was also drawn to Hollywood, where he made a handful of silent films from 1919 to 1923. With such titles as The Man from Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service (which he also directed), the films were not regarded well enough to give him much of a Hollywood career. Houdini’s interest in the occult was well known, and although he earned a reputation as a masterful debunker of séances, he earnestly sought contact with those who have passed on to the other side. Shortly before his death, Houdini made a pact with his wife Bess that if he could, he would return and make contact with her from the other side. Perhaps he truly has attempted to return. Some claim to have seen the ghost of the great Houdini walking around in the home he owned on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills. Film historians Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker, in their book Hollywood Haunted, dispute this story, saying that “Houdini most likely never even set foot in the Laurel Canyon mansion he is said to haunt.”

Clifton Webb

Clifton Webb was a very popular star of the 1940s and ’50s, earning two Oscar nominations for his roles in Laura and The Razor’s Edge. He may be best known for his portrayal of Mr. Belvedere in a series of films. It’s not too often that a ghost haunts the place in which the person is buried, but this seems to be the case for Webb. His ghost has been seen at the Abbey of the Psalms, Hollywood Memorial Cemetery, where his body is interred. But it seems to be a restless spirit, as his ghost has also been encountered at his old home on Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd was a hot young star in the 1930s. She was featured in a number of hit comedies with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton. But that all ended in 1935 when Todd was found dead in her car, which was parked above the café she owned on the Pacific Coast Highway. Strangely, her death was ruled an accidental suicide, but many suspected murder and a coverup by powerful Hollywood figures. The building that once housed the café is now owed by Paulist Productions, and employees have reportedly witnessed the starlet’s ghost descending the stairs.

Thomas Ince

Ince is considered one of the visionary pioneers of American movies. He was one of the most respected directors of the silent era, best known, perhaps, for his westerns starring William S. Hart. He partnered with other early Hollywood giants such as D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, and founded Culver Studios, which later became MGM. Ironically, Ince’s death overshadowed his film legacy. He died aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht in 1924, and although the official record shows the cause of death as heart failure, the hot rumor is that he was shot by Hearst in a fit a jealousy over Hearst’s wife, Marion Davies. Ince’s ghost – as well as several other ghostly figures – have been seen in the lot that was once Culver Studios. Film crew members have seen the specter of a man matching Ince’s description on several occasions; in one instance, when the workers tried to speak to the spirit, it turned and disappeared through a wall.

Ozzie Nelson

Ghosts and hauntings are the last thing that come to mind when you think of the perpetually cheerful Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The couple, with their real-life sons Ricky and David, were stars of the long-running sitcom “Ozzie and Harriet,” noted for its good-natured, gentle humor. Yet poor Ozzie doesn’t seem to be as contented in the afterlife. Family members, it is said, have seen Ozzie’s ghost in the family’s old Hollywood home, and it always appears to be in a somber mood. Perhaps he’s unhappy about how another Ozzy and his family have gained notoriety on TV.

George Reeves

From 1953 to 1957, George Reeves was TV’s Superman. Reeves had been around Hollywood for a while, playing bit parts in such films as Gone with the Wind and dozens of B-movies, but it was “The Adventures of Superman” on TV that brought him fame. Reeves died of a gunshot at his home in 1959. The official cause of death was suicide, but that conclusion has been hotly disputed, with some believing that Reeves was murdered. Whether it was suicide or murder, Reeves ghost has been seen in his Beverly Hills home. A couple claims to have seen the ghost of Reeves – decked out in his Superman costume – materialize in the bedroom where he died, after which it slowly faded away.

Others believe that Reeves succumbed to the “Superman curse,” in which those associated with the fictional character over the years allegedly have met with disaster or death. But is there really a curse? Read “The Truth About the Superman Curse” by Superman expert Brian McKernan.

More Celebrity Ghosts

Rudolph Valentino – This silent film heartthrob has been seen in the bedroom and stables of his old Hollywood home. Jean Harlow – The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her.

Mary Pickford – This legend of the silent era – actress, writer and producer – was co-founder of United Artists with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Comic Buddy Rogers, who lived in the house Pickford once owned, saw her ghost appear in a white ruffled dress.

Grace Kelly – Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Nicholas Cage – This Oscar-winning actor (Leaving Las Vegas) refused to stay in uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s home after seeing a ghost in the attic. (Cage was also cast as Superman in director Tim Burton’s film project, which was never made.)

Keanu Reeves – The star of The Matrix films and Devil’s Advocate was just a kid in New Jersey when he saw a ghost that took the form of a white double-breasted suit come into his room one night. He wasn’t imagining it; his nanny saw the phantom, too.

Neve Campbell – She’s been in more than her share of paranormal-themed movies (The Craft, Scream), but she’s had real-life encounters as well. A woman was murdered in the house she now lives in, and friends have seen her ghost walking around.

Matthew McConaughey – This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls “Madame Blue,” floating around his house.

Tim Robbins – Robbins, who was nominated for an Oscar in Mystic River, didn’t see ghosts, but strongly felt their presence when he moved into an apartment in 1984. Following his instinct, he moved out the next day.

Hugh Grant – British romantic comedy lead Hugh Grant (Love Actually) says he and friends have heard the wailing and screaming of some tormented spirit in his Los Angeles home. He even speculates it might be the ghost of a former resident – Bette Davis.

Dan Aykroyd – The Ghostbusters star (and Oscar-nominated for Driving Miss Daisy) has long had a fascination with the paranormal. He believes his home, once owned by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas, is haunted. “A ghost certainly haunts my house,” he said. “It once even crawled into bed with me. The ghost also turns on the Stairmaster and moves jewelry across the dresser. I’m sure it’s Mama Cass because you get the feeling it’s a big ghost.”

Sting – Rock star Sting (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and his wife Trudie have seen ghosts in their home. “I was absolutely terrified,” he said. “I now believe those things are out there, but I have no explanation for them.”

Jean Claude Van Damme – The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as “Muscles from Brussels,” swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth.

Richard Dreyfuss – He won an Oscar for The Goodbye Girl, but at one time had a cocaine problem. Visions of a ghost, he said, helped him kick the habit. “I had a car crash in the late 1970s,” Dreyfuss said, “when I was really screwed up, and I started seeing these ghostly visions of a little girl every night. I couldn’t shake this image. Every day it became clearer and I didn’t know who the hell she was. Then I realized that kid was either the child I didn’t kill the night I smashed up my car, or it was the daughter that I didn’t have yet. I immediately sobered up.”

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman – This Hollywood couple was forced to flee their “dream home” in Sneden’s Landing, N.Y. when it became all too apparent that it was haunted. They still are reluctant to talk about their frightening encounters.

Belinda Carlisle – This pop singer and founding member of The Go-Gos, who appeared in Swing Shift and She’s Having a Baby, says she saw a “misty shape” hovering over her as she lay in bed one night. She also says that when she was 17, while nodding off to sleep in a chair in her parents’ home, she levitated and had an out-of-body experience.

Elke Sommers – This German-born actress, who appeared in the 1966 film The Oscar, claims to have seen the ghost of a middle-aged man in a white shirt in her home in North Beverly Hills. Guests in her home have also seen the specter. So much paranormal activity was reported in the house that the American Society for Psychical Research was brought in, and which verified the unexplained events. The severely haunted house was bought and sold more than 17 times since Sommers vacated it, and many have reported ghostly phenomena.

Paul McCartney – Ex-Beatle and Oscar-nominated songwriter (“Live and Let Die”) says that he, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sensed the playful spirit of John Lennon when they were recording Lennon’s song, “Free As A Bird” in 1995. “There were a lot of strange goings-on in the studio – noises that shouldn’t have been there and equipment doing all manner of weird things. There was just an overall feeling that John was around.”

[myhauntedsalem]

Ghosts of Hollywood

Even after death, some Hollywood celebrities can’t stop putting in appearances

Marilyn Monroe

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is said to be the current residence of several ghosts of popular film stars. Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous and funny star of such pictures as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was a frequent guest of the Roosevelt at the height of her popularity. And although she died in her Brentwood home, her image has been seen on several occasions in a full-length mirror that once hung in her poolside suite. The mirror has been relocated to the hotel’s lower level by the elevators.

Montgomery Clift

Another respected star who died before his time, Montgomery Clift, was a four-time Oscar nominated actor who is best known for his roles in A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity and Judgment at Nuremberg. His ghost has also been seen at the Roosevelt. According to some of the hotel’s staff, Clift’s spirit haunts room number 928. Clift stayed in that suite in 1953, pacing back and forth, memorizing his lines for From Here to Eternity. Loud, unexplained noises have been heard coming from the empty suite, and its phone is occasionally found mysteriously off the hook.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the Hollywood Roosevelt should be the stirring place of celebrity ghosts since it was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In fact, the Blossom Ballroom, where the ceremony was held, has an unexplained cold spot – a circular area measuring 30 inches in diameter that remains about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the room.

Harry Houdini

Houdini is best known as a magician and escape artist, of course, but at the height of his fame he was also drawn to Hollywood, where he made a handful of silent films from 1919 to 1923. With such titles as The Man from Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service (which he also directed), the films were not regarded well enough to give him much of a Hollywood career. Houdini’s interest in the occult was well known, and although he earned a reputation as a masterful debunker of séances, he earnestly sought contact with those who have passed on to the other side. Shortly before his death, Houdini made a pact with his wife Bess that if he could, he would return and make contact with her from the other side. Perhaps he truly has attempted to return. Some claim to have seen the ghost of the great Houdini walking around in the home he owned on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills. Film historians Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker, in their book Hollywood Haunted, dispute this story, saying that “Houdini most likely never even set foot in the Laurel Canyon mansion he is said to haunt.”

Clifton Webb

Clifton Webb was a very popular star of the 1940s and ’50s, earning two Oscar nominations for his roles in Laura and The Razor’s Edge. He may be best known for his portrayal of Mr. Belvedere in a series of films. It’s not too often that a ghost haunts the place in which the person is buried, but this seems to be the case for Webb. His ghost has been seen at the Abbey of the Psalms, Hollywood Memorial Cemetery, where his body is interred. But it seems to be a restless spirit, as his ghost has also been encountered at his old home on Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd was a hot young star in the 1930s. She was featured in a number of hit comedies with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton. But that all ended in 1935 when Todd was found dead in her car, which was parked above the café she owned on the Pacific Coast Highway. Strangely, her death was ruled an accidental suicide, but many suspected murder and a coverup by powerful Hollywood figures. The building that once housed the café is now owed by Paulist Productions, and employees have reportedly witnessed the starlet’s ghost descending the stairs.

Thomas Ince

Ince is considered one of the visionary pioneers of American movies. He was one of the most respected directors of the silent era, best known, perhaps, for his westerns starring William S. Hart. He partnered with other early Hollywood giants such as D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, and founded Culver Studios, which later became MGM. Ironically, Ince’s death overshadowed his film legacy. He died aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht in 1924, and although the official record shows the cause of death as heart failure, the hot rumor is that he was shot by Hearst in a fit a jealousy over Hearst’s wife, Marion Davies. Ince’s ghost – as well as several other ghostly figures – have been seen in the lot that was once Culver Studios. Film crew members have seen the specter of a man matching Ince’s description on several occasions; in one instance, when the workers tried to speak to the spirit, it turned and disappeared through a wall.

Ozzie Nelson

Ghosts and hauntings are the last thing that come to mind when you think of the perpetually cheerful Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The couple, with their real-life sons Ricky and David, were stars of the long-running sitcom “Ozzie and Harriet,” noted for its good-natured, gentle humor. Yet poor Ozzie doesn’t seem to be as contented in the afterlife. Family members, it is said, have seen Ozzie’s ghost in the family’s old Hollywood home, and it always appears to be in a somber mood. Perhaps he’s unhappy about how another Ozzy and his family have gained notoriety on TV.

George Reeves

From 1953 to 1957, George Reeves was TV’s Superman. Reeves had been around Hollywood for a while, playing bit parts in such films as Gone with the Wind and dozens of B-movies, but it was “The Adventures of Superman” on TV that brought him fame. Reeves died of a gunshot at his home in 1959. The official cause of death was suicide, but that conclusion has been hotly disputed, with some believing that Reeves was murdered. Whether it was suicide or murder, Reeves ghost has been seen in his Beverly Hills home. A couple claims to have seen the ghost of Reeves – decked out in his Superman costume – materialize in the bedroom where he died, after which it slowly faded away.

Others believe that Reeves succumbed to the “Superman curse,” in which those associated with the fictional character over the years allegedly have met with disaster or death. But is there really a curse? Read “The Truth About the Superman Curse” by Superman expert Brian McKernan.

More Celebrity Ghosts

Rudolph Valentino – This silent film heartthrob has been seen in the bedroom and stables of his old Hollywood home.

Jean Harlow – The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her.

Mary Pickford – This legend of the silent era – actress, writer and producer – was co-founder of United Artists with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Comic Buddy Rogers, who lived in the house Pickford once owned, saw her ghost appear in a white ruffled dress.

Grace Kelly – Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Nicholas Cage – This Oscar-winning actor (Leaving Las Vegas) refused to stay in uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s home after seeing a ghost in the attic. (Cage was also cast as Superman in director Tim Burton’s film project, which was never made.)

Keanu Reeves – The star of The Matrix films and Devil’s Advocate was just a kid in New Jersey when he saw a ghost that took the form of a white double-breasted suit come into his room one night. He wasn’t imagining it; his nanny saw the phantom, too.

Neve Campbell – She’s been in more than her share of paranormal-themed movies (The Craft, Scream), but she’s had real-life encounters as well. A woman was murdered in the house she now lives in, and friends have seen her ghost walking around.

Matthew McConaughey – This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls “Madame Blue,” floating around his house. Tim Robbins – Robbins, who was nominated for an Oscar in Mystic River, didn’t see ghosts, but strongly felt their presence when he moved into an apartment in 1984. Following his instinct, he moved out the next day.

Hugh Grant – British romantic comedy lead Hugh Grant (Love Actually) says he and friends have heard the wailing and screaming of some tormented spirit in his Los Angeles home. He even speculates it might be the ghost of a former resident – Bette Davis.

Dan Aykroyd – The Ghostbusters star (and Oscar-nominated for Driving Miss Daisy) has long had a fascination with the paranormal. He believes his home, once owned by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas, is haunted. “A ghost certainly haunts my house,” he said. “It once even crawled into bed with me. The ghost also turns on the Stairmaster and moves jewelry across the dresser. I’m sure it’s Mama Cass because you get the feeling it’s a big ghost.”

Sting – Rock star Sting (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and his wife Trudie have seen ghosts in their home. “I was absolutely terrified,” he said. “I now believe those things are out there, but I have no explanation for them.”

Jean Claude Van Damme – The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as “Muscles from Brussels,” swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth.

Richard Dreyfuss – He won an Oscar for The Goodbye Girl, but at one time had a cocaine problem. Visions of a ghost, he said, helped him kick the habit. “I had a car crash in the late 1970s,” Dreyfuss said, “when I was really screwed up, and I started seeing these ghostly visions of a little girl every night. I couldn’t shake this image. Every day it became clearer and I didn’t know who the hell she was. Then I realized that kid was either the child I didn’t kill the night I smashed up my car, or it was the daughter that I didn’t have yet. I immediately sobered up.”

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman – This Hollywood couple was forced to flee their “dream home” in Sneden’s Landing, N.Y. when it became all too apparent that it was haunted. They still are reluctant to talk about their frightening encounters.

Belinda Carlisle – This pop singer and founding member of The Go-Gos, who appeared in Swing Shift and She’s Having a Baby, says she saw a “misty shape” hovering over her as she lay in bed one night. She also says that when she was 17, while nodding off to sleep in a chair in her parents’ home, she levitated and had an out-of-body experience.

Elke Sommers – This German-born actress, who appeared in the 1966 film The Oscar, claims to have seen the ghost of a middle-aged man in a white shirt in her home in North Beverly Hills. Guests in her home have also seen the specter. So much paranormal activity was reported in the house that the American Society for Psychical Research was brought in, and which verified the unexplained events. The severely haunted house was bought and sold more than 17 times since Sommers vacated it, and many have reported ghostly phenomena.

Paul McCartney – Ex-Beatle and Oscar-nominated songwriter (“Live and Let Die”) says that he, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sensed the playful spirit of John Lennon when they were recording Lennon’s song, “Free As A Bird” in 1995. “There were a lot of strange goings-on in the studio – noises that shouldn’t have been there and equipment doing all manner of weird things. There was just an overall feeling that John was around.”