Haunted Hollywood: Part 5

[Guest]

Mood Music

Jayne Mansfield's involvement with the occult and its shocking
aftermath is one of Tinseltown's most sensationalistic legends. Mansfield
had always had an interest in the occult, and this fascination intensified
in 1966, when she met late Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey.
Mansfield was in the midst of several personal problems, and perhaps she
thought that the satanic church would be able to help. In addition to a
bitter custody struggle for her children with her third husband Matt Cimber,
Mansfield was being swindled and blackmailed by her abusive lawyer, Sam
Brody. According to some, it was her relationship with Brody that was to
become her downfall.
When Mansfield joined the Church of Satan in 1966, Brody loudly
protested and made a nuisance out of himself to both his client and to
LaVey. Brody had a habit of interrupting services and touching items used in
satanic rituals. According to LaVey, Brody got so out-of-hand that the
police were summoned to handle him on several occasions.
After a threatening phone call made to him by Brody, LaVey decided that
he'd had enough and placed a curse on him, telling the lawyer that he only
had a year to live. LaVey did not, however, place it on Mansfield herself,
even going so far as to say that she was a member of the Church of Satan in
good standing at the time of her death. Nevertheless, shortly after the
curse was cast, both Mansfield and Brody were involved in a serious car
accident that totaled their vehicle and nearly claimed their lives. About a
month later, Mansfield and her five-year-old son Zoltan were visiting
Thousand Oaks' Jungleland when an unprovoked lion jumped and mauled the
child. Zoltan survived, and Mansfield later credited his recovery to a
theatrical ritual performed by LaVey atop Mt. Tamalpais. Nevertheless,
Mansfield was hit by a streak of misfortune, including allegations of child
abuse by her daughter, Jayne Marie.
The curse took its final toll on the night of June 29, 1967. While
traveling to New Orleans via U.S. Highway 90, Brody's sedan collided with a
parked truck. Despite reports to the contrary, Mansfield was not decapitated
in the crash - witnesses to the accident actually saw a wig, not her head.
Nonetheless, both Mansfield and Brody were killed instantly.
Since then, strange occurrences have happened at Mansfield's Bel Air
home, the Pink Palace. Built during the 1920's, Mansfield had the structure
painted pink, her trademark color. For many years after her death, the pink
paint was problematic for owners who wanted the house a different color; no
matter how many times it was repainted with a sealer, the Pink Palace would
always revert back to it's gaudy, pink hue.
Eventually, one of the subsequent owners was successful in repainting
the house.
But the weird phenomenon did not stop there. A certificate declaring
Mansfield a priestess in the Church of Satan mysteriously appeared on her
bedroom wall. Some of the tenants of the Pink Palace met untimely deaths,
including sixties singing star "Mama" Cass Elliot. In addition, owners and
guests have felt the presence of the dead star on the property. Objects
within the house have been known to move by themselves, and a painter
working in Mansfield's former room heard unearthly moaning and felt
something touch his shoulder. Witnesses have reported seeing the ghost of
Mansfield, clad in a bikini, relaxing near her heart-shaped pool. Singer
Engelbert Humperdinck, the house's current owner, once saw Mansfield's
apparition descending the staircase.

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Peace,

Captain Kundalini
Captain Kundalini