Not long ago, I blogged about the Roosevelt Hollywood, a hotel reportedly haunted by the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Cliff among others. But, the Roosevelt Hollywood isn’t the only haunted hotel in town.
The Knickerbocker Hotel was built in 1925 as a luxury apartment building. It later became a hotel, with its Renaissance Revival Bar a favorite among the Hollywood crowd.
Over the years, the Knickerbocker saw its share of fame, but also its share of scandal. Famed director D.W. Griffith died of a stroke in the hotel in 1948. Once a Hollywood big wig, Griffith had been all but deserted by his peers when he died under the $120,000 chandelier in the lobby of the hotel.
But, Griffith wasn’t the only famous celeb to die at the Knickerbocker. William Frawley, Fred from “I Love Lucy,” died of a heart attack on the sidewalk while walking into the Knickerbocker.
Equally as tragic was actress Frances Farmer’s story. She had an electrifying but brief career in Hollywood due to drug and alcohol addiction as well as mental illness. She was arrested for engaging in a fight at the Knickerbocker and had to be dragged from her room. Two days later, she was sent to a sanitarium where she spent the next seven years undergoing barbaric psychiatric treatment including a lobotomy. As a result, she suffered brain damage. At the age of 57, she died penniless and alone.
Costume designer Irene Gibbons wasn’t as well known, but she outfitted the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, and Judy Garland. She was also madly in love with Gary Cooper. She never recovered from his death in 1961. She checked into the Knickerbocker in 1962, slit her wrists, then jumped from the 14th floor.
Marilyn Monroe and baseball great Joe Dimaggio honeymooned at the Knickerbocker and William Falkner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mae West, Lana Turner, Cecil B. DeMille, Frank Sinatra, and Laurel and Hardy were frequent guests. The Knickerbocker was also the site of the annual Houdini séance, held each Halloween for 10 years after his death.
Over the years, people have reported seeing ghosts in the hotel bar. The ghost of Rudolph Valentino, another frequent visitor, and Marilyn Monroe have also been seen there.