In the 1960’s actress Elke Sommer was the quintessential Hollywood sex symbol. She starred in dozens of films with some of Hollywood’s elite actors like ‘A Shot in the Dark’ with Peter Sellers, ‘The Wrecking Crew’ with Dean Martin, and ‘The Prize’ with Paul Newman to name a few. She was also a very popular pin-up girl and even posed for Playboy Magazine in 1964 and 1967. Sommer was known for her good looks and her great acting. But she was also well known for living in one of Hollywood’s most haunted houses.

       In 1964 Sommer and her new husband, writer Joe Hyams, moved into their dream home at 2633 Benedict Canyon in North Beverly Hills, California. Their home quickly became a hot spot for dinner parties and gatherings for the newlyweds and their famous friends. But occasionally guests would see a strange man in a white shirt and black suit walking through the house and would ask Sommer about him. She wouldn’t know what they were talking about but as the sightings grew so did the paranormal activity. The couple would often be woken up by noises coming from the downstairs dining room. The sounds of dinner parties would emanate throughout the house; people talking, silverware clattering, and even champagne glasses clinking during toasts. Whenever Sommer would head down to investigate she would find the room empty. As time went on the poltergeist activities elevated. More and more sounds could be heard through the home and objects began moving. Sommer and Hyams would mark spots on the floor with tape to indicate where furniture was placed. The next morning they would find the items moved from the markings and placed across the room.

       Sommer wasn’t a believer in ghosts but she decided to seek help with her situation. She contacted experienced investigators from the American Society of Psychical Research and from the UCLA parapsychologist department. One noted investigator was Thelma Moss. Upon entering the home she was immediately drawn to the downstairs dining room and specifically to the northwest corner of the room. Moss indicated that this was the spot that the paranormal activity was emanating from. Other investigators and mediums also were led to the same conclusion on separate visits. On one occasion Hyams had a friend of his, Life Magazine photographer Allan Grant, take some photos of him standing in the corner of the dining room. When the film was developed the few photos taken of that corner showed a thick fog on the film that couldn’t be explained. Other photos of the house taken on the same roll of film developed just fine. But the ones of that mysterious northwest corner were quite strange.

       Eventually Sommer and Hyams concluded that the poltergeist was too much for them to handle and decided to move out. On the day before they were to move out, Sommer came into the house and challenged the ghost. “If you don’t want us to leave you better give us a sign” she said out loud to the mysterious man. Early the next morning at around 4:30am Sommer and Hyams were awakened by a loud shrilling scream coming from the dining room. Sommer leapt from the bed and opened the bedroom door to find smoke and fire filling the house. The two quickly escaped through the bedroom window and jumped off the roof to safety.

       During an investigation the fire department could not determine how the fire began but they could verify that the fire started in the northwest corner of the downstairs dining room. Sommer and Hyams never entered the home again. Over time the home has gone through seventeen different owners from scientists to Hollywood celebrities all of whom have reported paranormal activities that eventually caused them to move. Despite all the research conducted by investigators, no conclusion could be made over who the mysterious man in the black suit was or why he continues to haunt the Hollywood home.

- Tom Stewart