Dissecting Playboy Mansion Ghost Stories
The Letts Family
The Letts family owned the house from 1927-1960. Arthur Letts, Jr. was born in 1891 and died in Los Angeles in 1959. According to his death certificate, he was 68 years old and died of heart disease at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.[2] He was married three times and had two children whom he adopted in 1926 with his first wife.[3]
Mrs. Letts #1: Arthur married his first wife, Bessie Emmeline Baker in 1914 in Los Angeles.[4] A photo of Bessie Baker was printed in the paper with their wedding announcement.
Bessie (Baker) Letts Hann died at the age of 78 in Los Angeles on 6 February 1971.[8] She would not have lived at the mansion at the time of her death. In order to check if any mothers-in-law died at the mansion I checked on Bessie's mother, Clara L. (Gable) Baker. She died at the age of 74 of heart disease at 500 Mapleton Drive in Los Angeles on 17 September 1942.[9] Bessie’s husband, Francis Hann, was the informant on the death certificate and they were living at 806 N. Whittier Drive in Beverly Hills.
Bessie and her mother are ruled out as the ones who died at the mansion.
Mrs. Letts #2: Arthur married his second wife, Mrs. Kathleen Bard (Heywood) Van Cott in the New York City area on 31 December 1930.[10] She was known by her middle name, Bard Letts. The only photo I could find of Mrs. Letts #2 was in the article stating they met in Nevada while awaiting divorces. [11]
Photo of Arthur Letts, Jr. and Bard (Heywood) VanCott:[12]
The marriage would not last long. Two and a half years later, Arthur went to Reno again in June 1933 to obtain a divorce citing desertion against Bard H. Letts.[13] Arthur stayed in the mansion after the divorce. Bard Heywood Letts never remarried and died at the age of 90 in Orange County, California on 3 July 1987.[14] Her mother, Kathleen (Pitt) Miles Heywood VanHook died in Chapala, San Sebastian del Oeste, Jalisco, Mexico on 3 January 1962.[15] Bard was named in the death registration for her mother.
Neither Bard nor her mother died at the mansion.
Mrs. Letts #3: Arthur wasted no time marrying his third wife. Mrs. Margot G. (Colin) Van Blarcom was quite a beauty! A 1931 newspaper featured a photo of her which ended up in many papers across the U.S. (the photo is below).[16]
Arthur was 42 and Mrs. Margot C. Van Blarcom was 26 when they filed an intention to wed in Los Angeles in July 1933.[17] The paper stated that she was from Vienna and a New York socialite, but both seem somewhat of a fabrication. She was born Margot Gertrude Luisa Cohn, born in Berlin on 1 October 1903 to parents Adolph A. Cohn and Clara Luisa Hedwig Traeger.[18] She naturalized in 1929 and her paperwork lists her birthplace as Schoneberg, Germany, a suburb of Berlin.[19] There was an incident in 1929 when a $10,000 brooch she owned went missing at a séance.[20] (Photo of Margot Colin from the article)
She claimed she was married to a Parisian banker but in fact, her husband was Herbert Van Blarcom, a lightweight prizefighter whose ring name was Johnny Burt. They wed in 1928 and were married only a few months when she disappeared and left their home at 315 West 94th St., to moved to a $20,000 per year apartment on the Upper East Side. Margot went the by name Margot Colin, likely a derivative of her actual maiden name Cohn and started associating with the well-known socialites of New York like the Barrymores, the Zieglers and the Barlows.[21] Herbert had no idea where his wife went and thought she had gone back to her job as a typist and then he saw the newspaper article about the missing brooch. Another article stated that Herbert hired a private investigator to figure out how Margot suddenly had all this money.[22] He had her followed and found a man in her apartment at midnight. She obtained a divorce from Van Blarcom and immediately married Arthur Letts, Jr. in Los Angeles on 10 July 1933. She was about to board a ship back to Europe and Arthur flew to New York and begged her to come to Los Angeles with him where they married at the mansion.[23]
Margot Letts – 1934[24]
The 1940 and 1950 census records enumerate Arthur and Margot in the household along with five servants.[25] No other family members are in the house at the time.
After Arthur Letts, Jr. died in 1959, she remained in the house for only a couple of years. Margot and the Letts children got into a court battle on the ownership of the estate. They claimed that Arthur’s will was changed within 30 days of his death and that will left her everything and them nothing.[26] The court found in Margot’s favor that she could stay in the house which at the time was valued at $350,000.[27] Margot moved to 200 Loring Ave in Beverly Hills in January 1961.[28] She married for a third time in Los Angeles on 23 Oct 1966 to Walter Emmerling.[29] She died at the age of 66 on 22 September 1970 in Los Angeles at U.C.L.A. Medical center.[30] She was not living at the mansion at the time of her death. The funeral records states that her remains were cremated and her ashes were scattered. Her obituary ran in the L.A. Times on Sunday, 27 September 1970: "Margot C. Emmerling: Beloved wife of Walter Emmerling. Loving step-mother of Carol E. Sawyer, Charlotte E. Lewell, and Warren E. Emmerling. Sister of Hildergard Weise, and Herta Groth. Private Services were held at Pierce Bros Beverly Hills. Contributions may be sent to the Christian Science Broadview Santorium, 4570 Griffin Ave. L.A."[31] Margot's jewelry and personal belongs where auctioned off in 1971.[32]
I could not find evidence that Margot’s mother ever lived in the United States. She could have but there is no newspaper article of anyone falling to their death on the property and given the social status of the family news of that nature would have likely make the newspapers.
Other candidates that might have died at the property
Parents of Arthur Letts, Jr.
Arthur’s father, Arthur Letts, Sr., died of pneumonia in 1923 at his own home at 4931 Franklin Ave. in Los Angeles.[33]The property is no longer there. Arthur’s mother, Florence Martha (Phillips) Letts Quinn, died 10 March 1944 at 141 Carolwood Drive in Los Angeles of heart-related illness.[34] She did not die at the mansion.
In 1961 the estate was bought by Louis D. and Anne (Ording) Statham. It was called Statham House during this time period. There were many lavish events held at the estate that well covered by the newspapers. While living at the estate, Anne Ording Statham died at the UCLA Medical Center in 1965 after a brief illness.[35] Louis remained there for about six years after his wife’s death and sold the estate in 1971. Louis died in Lone Pine, California in 1983.[36] Neither died at the estate.
In 1971 Playboy bought the mansion for $1.1 million.[37] It was called Playboy Mansion West in the early years. This would be Hugh Hefner’s primary residence after leaving Chicago. I couldn’t find anyone who died at the mansion. I thought Dorothy Stratten was killed there but after looking at the incident it appears she was killed at an apartment in L.A. and not the mansion.[38]
The mansion was sold to Daren Metropoulous in 2016 for $100 million with the understanding Mr. Hefner could remain in the house until his death which occurred on 27 September 2017.
Although I don't doubt the paranormal experiences at the mansion that some of the women experienced (I'm a big fan a paranormal investigations), there is no documentary evidence that anyone fell to their death at the mansion and definitely no Mrs. Letts that died at the mansion. The only person that seems to have died at the mansion is Mr. Hugh Hefner.
So who's haunting the mansion? Maybe it is Margot after all...... And perhaps Heff will haunt the mansion going forward.
[1] Girls Next Level Podcast by Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt https://open.spotify.com/show/4JstWABabZk3fLty7Rhmyt
[2] Los Angeles County Death Certificates, California State Archives, Arthur Letts (1959), no. 13701.
[3] “Now They’re David and Diane Letts,” Los Angeles Evening Post, 28 July 1926, p. 1, col. 1.
[4] Letts, Jr., to be Wed,” Los Angeles Evening Express, 24 Feb 1914, p. 2
[5] 1930 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles, enumeration district (ED) 19-76, sheet no. 24A, dwelling 320, family 323, Arthur Letts; NARA microfilm T626, roll 935.
[6] “Suits Filed” and “Decrees Granted,” Reno Gazette-Journal, 22 Oct. 1930, p. 2, co. 6.
[7] Los Angeles County, California, Marriage Records, Francis Hann to Bessie B. Letts, bk. 1001, p. 191, 1931.
[8] “Deaths, Bessie E.B. Hann” Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 1971, p. 45.
[9] Los Angeles, California death record, Clara L. Baker, no. 13069 (1942).
[10] “Divorced Pair to Marry,” The Sunday Star (Washington, DC), 4 Jan. 1931, p. 26, col. 1. “Letts, L.A. Merchant Prince, Wed in East,” The San Francisco Examiner, 3 Jan. 1931, p. 5, col. 5.
[11] “Nevada Romancers,” Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News, 5 Jan. 1931, p. 16, col. 5. “Lawyer’s Wife Wins Divorce,” Reno Gazette-Journal, 6 Oct. 1930, p. 10, col. 1.
[12] Ibid.
[13] “L.A. Magnate Gets Second Reno Decree,” Nevada State Journal, 25 June 1933, p. 8, col. 8.
[14] “Death Notices, Bard Heywood Letts” Los Angeles Times, 8 July 1987, p. 72.
[15] Mexico, Jalisco, Death Registration, Kathleen Pitt VanHook, 1962.
[16] “Sol’s Target,” Corsicana Daily Sun (Corsicana, Texas), 25 March 1931, p. 15, col. 5.
[17] “Plans Third Marriage,” Evening Star, 4 July 1933, p. 4, col. 8.
[18] Berlin, Germany, Civil Registration, Births 1874-1908, Geburtenregister der Berliner Standesämter (Bestände P Rep. 100 bis P Rep. 840) 1874–1908, Margot Cohn, 1903.
[19] New York City, Southern District, U.S. Petition for Citizenship no. 171056, Margot Colin Van Blarcom, 1929, National Archives, Record Group no. RG21, Washington, DC.
[20] “$10,000 Lost in Séance – Rothstein Ghost Accused,” Daily News (New York, NY), 5 March 1929, p. 196.
[21] “Park Ave. Belle Boxer’s Wife, ‘Ghost’ of Rothstein Revealed,” Daily News (New York, NY), 7 Dec. 1930, p. 326.
[22] “Banker’s Wife,’ Feted by Society, Revealed as Boxer’s Lost Spouse,” San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Dec. 1930, p. 62.
[23] “Capitalist, Viennese Beauty Are Married,” The San Bernardino County Sun, 9 July 1933, p. 4, col. 1.
[24] “Matron Makes Early Strides,” The Los Angeles Times, 13 July 1934, p. 24, col. 6.
[25] 1940 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles, enumeration district (ED) 60, sheet no. 43A, house no. 10236, household 1042, Arthur Letts, Jr.; NARA microfilm T627, roll 1633. 1950 U.S. census, Los Angeles County, California, population schedule, Los Angeles, population schedule, Needham, enumeration district (ED) 66-816, sheet no. 26, house 10236, dwelling 331, Arthur Letts; NARA microfilm 29, roll 5055.
[26] “Adopted Twins’ Suit Over Letts’ Estate Voided,” Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, 14 April 1960, p. 2, col. 7.
[27] “Widow Gets Allowance Increased,” Los Angeles Mirror, 21 March 1960, p. 6, col. 5.
[28] “Sales Volume Tops $275,000),” The Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 1961, p. 93, col. 4.
[29] California Marriage index, cert no. 118310, (1966) Emmerling to Colin.
[30] California death index, Margot Emmerling, Sep. 1970. Pierce Brothers Funeral Records, Margot Emerging, no. 122-11;
[31] “Deaths, Personal Announcements,” Emmerling, Margot Los Angeles Times, 27 Sept 1970, p. 61, col. 13.
[33] California death record, no. 4440, Arthur Letts, (1923). https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9SV-STT4
[34] California death record, no. 4569, Florence Martha Quinn, (1944). https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9SV-2RVX
[35] “Rites Set for Mrs. Statham,” Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, 19 Feb 1965, p. 15, col. 1.
[36] “Louis Statham,” The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah), 7 Feb. 1983, p. 4, col. 2.
[37] “A New ‘Great Gatsby’,” The Tampa Tribune, 27 June 1971, p. 154.
[38] Lauren Effron, “The horrific murder of a Playboy Playmate of the verge of Hollywood stardom,” ABC News, 17 Oct. 2019.
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