Celebrity Paranormal

Dan Ackroyd could well have been inspired to create the Ghostbusters movie after living in a haunted house. 7708 Woodrow Wilson Drive was said to be very haunted. The Ackroyd family had to put up with doors locking by themselves, lights going on and off by their own accord, and of course, the usual bumps in the night.

Dan is acknowledged as having one of the finest libraries on the paranormal, and so was not too concerned about the poltergeist activity. However, it did get a bit costly having to replace light bulbs and other damage due to the phenomena.

Dan really seems to like his haunted houses and where he lives now he claims to have slept with the spirit of a man who had died in the bedroom back in the 60’s. It is also the former home of Mama Cass Elliot who is also reputed to haunt here.

Nicolas Cage had the fright of his life when he moved into the attic of the home of his uncle, Francis Ford Cappola. One night he saw a figure that he thought was a relative but when he spoke to it there was no reply. As the shape moved closer to him Nic screamed and threw a pillow at what he thought was a woman with big hair. The shadowy figure disappeared and it is doubtful that Nic will want to spend any more time up in that attic. 

Belinda Carlisle had a rather hair-raising experience at her London home where she saw a large figure hovering over her as she lay in bed. She couldn’t move and felt that the entity was holding her. It then disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. 

Judy Carne had an experience when, as a publicity stunt, it was decided to hold a seance in the Theatre Royal at Bath before the opening production of Blithe Spirit. In the presence of two newspaper reporters, the hired medium began to receive messages from beyond the grave. The spirit of an 18th century actress related a story of forlorn love, falling in love with another man, he and her husband fought a duel in which her lover was killed. Finding it unbearable, she hung herself in her dressing room. Judy tried to ask if she was still unhappy. The question seems to have been answered as the table they were sat at began to shake and Judy heard someone weeping. Judy often returned to theatre to try and contact the spirit again but without success.

It is possibly the ghost of the woman who haunts the theatre and buildings either side. She has also been seen in a box watching a variety of plays, once being spotted when the curtain went up on a production starring Anna Neagle. She is also often accompanied by the scent of jasmine. 

Richard Dreyfuss may have been spooked but is grateful to the spirit of a young girl who helped him off skid row.

In the 1970’s Richard was involved in a car accident and shortly after began seeing the ghostly figure of a young girl. He had no idea who she was but it made him quit the cocaine habit he was being drawn into. 

Glen Ford lived in a haunted house where he and his wife often heard the sounds of a party, laughter, and the chink of glasses.  

Anthony Head may not be a familiar name but this actor, for those who do not watch Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, has been a star of the show.
 
Anthony states that his 19th century house, situated in Bristol, is he haunt of a young girl. Visitors claim to have seen her and when first moving into the property required some work to be done. Builders found their progress hampered which Anthony puts down to paranormal activity.  

Englebert Humperdink claimed to see the ghost of Jayne Mansfield on numerous occasions on buying her home. The Pink Palace was a classic masterpiece which Englebert recently had to sell. Unfortunately this was sold to a developer with no leanings towards Jayne and the house is to be demolished. 

When Jack Lemmon was appearing in a production at the Haymarket Theatre in London he became convinced that his dressing room was haunted when he witnessed the door opening and slamming shut several times. 

When Matthew McConaughey bought a three-bedroom house he got a little more than expected in the form of a resident ghost, Matthew is cool about it, naming the female spirit ‘Madam Blue’. 

Madonna lived in the home once owned by gangland figure Bugsy Seigel. Castillo del Lago was also where he met his demise in a classic drive-by shooting. No one managed to tame the restless sprit, but Madonna remained the longest, though she is said to have never really liked the atmosphere of the mansion. When there was a stalker with a gun she promptly put the property up for sale and moved out. 

Kim Novak had an experience of the paranormal while filming on location at Chilham Castle in Kent. Relaxing in her room, playing records, she began to dance when she suddenly felt something grab her by the waist, lifting her from her feet she was placed heavily against a wall. Feeling quite frightened, she left the room in search of her friends.

Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, united in marriage, combined their names to give their home the title of Pickfair. Here, the couple claimed to have seen a woman walking upstairs. For some reason she was carrying sheet music.

Miranda Pleasence, the daughter of the late actor Donald Pleasence will no doubt never forget her experience at Port Quinn, Cornwall. In 2001 she and an other actress/presenter, Emily Comston, were filming a Blair Witch type project, but the spirits must have had other ideas.

At first the two women, who were alone in a barn, thought it was members of the crew playing tricks on them. They could apparently hear whispering before the air turned freezing cold. It eventually got too much and they ran screaming from the barn, which is reputed to be haunted.

Vincent Price, star of many a horror movie, related an experience that was more like a message from the angels.

Travelling by aeroplane from Hollywood to New York on the 15th of November 1958, he happened to look up from the book he was reading, and there, in brilliant lettering across the sky, he read, "TYRONE POWER IS DEAD". It came as a shock to see something like that. The illusion lasted only a few seconds but he soon realised that no one else had seen the large letters. He even began to doubt that he had seen it himself. However, when the plane landed he was given the sad news that his close friend Tyrone Power had died suddenly a couple of hours earlier. 

Keanu Reeves had a childhood experience that is still as vivid today in the form of an invisible entity, that is it was invisible except for the white suit which was quite clear to see. Keanu wasn’t alone in this experience as his sister and nanny also saw the figure. 

In 1984 Tim Robbins and his two cats moved into an apartment in Los Angeles that was a converted church. Having barely unpacked with things still in boxes, Tim returned home one night to see figures in the room. He and his terrified cats moved out the next day. 

Perhaps the most widely known story is that of Telly Savalas who related the tale a few times in televised interviews. He was befriended by a ghost long before becoming the lollipop sucking cop Kojak.

It was late when he began his drive home from a friends house at Long Island to his own home in New York. He was also out of gas, but the lights from an all night cafe lit up the darkness. He managed to pull in, and having a coffee, asked the way to the nearest garage. He was told to take a path through the wood at the back of the cafe until he reached the freeway. Just about to set off on the daunting walk, a voice called out, asking if he wanted a lift. It was gratefully received and Telly got into the Cadilac of this Good Samaritan.

It wasn't until he got to the gas station that he realised his wallet was missing and the man kindly gave him some money with Telly insisting on having his name and phone number. Harry Agannis wrote his name on a scrap of paper and Telly thanked him for all he had done.

When it came to contacting the man he spoke to his wife who told him the sad news that he had died. Telling her what had happened and how her husband had helped him, she said that was impossible as his death was not recent. He had been dead three years. The star was shocked, and then intrigued. He described the car which she agreed was the same as her husband's. The clothes, which she said he was buried in. Then there was the voice which was unusually high pitched. That could have accounted for the fact that Harry Agannis had taken his own life, shooting himself in the throat. Telly eventually met the widow and showed her the piece of paper on which the man had written. She was more than sure that it was her husband's handwriting. It was certainly an experience that Telly Savalas never forgot, and earned him a new friend in Mrs Agannis.

In 2002 Claudia Schiffer and husband Matthew Vaughn purchased a new home for themselves, located in Suffolk, England.

This prompted a ghost club to write and inform the newly-weds that the property also came with its own ghostly goings on, including a curse that would be released if two portraits were ever to be removed. 

Peter Sellers was convinced that he had a spirit guide in the form of the great comic Dan Leno. 

The Newcastle born singer, Sting, has grown up with ghosts claiming that his childhood home was the haunt of Roman soldiers. When he bought an old historic house in North London he found that was also haunted and called in a ghost hunter that seemed to appease the restless spirits. 

Sharon Tate saw something that could have been a vision of the future, but it is doubtful that she would have been able to change the events of her terrible death.

While house sitting for a friend, she was woken to see the ghost of Paul Bern (see Jean Harlow). There was blood coming from a hole in his head, the bullet wound which killed him. He was banging and thudding around while cursing and swearing. Sharon had to get out and making her way downstairs saw something even more gruesome, two people, their hands bound with nylon and their throats cut. She found some Vodka and after downing half a bottle passed out, but it was an experience she could never forget.

Ironically, this is how she and a friend was found only a few blocks from the house where she had experienced all this. Murdered at her own home while giving a party when James Manson and his followers broke into the premises.

In 1998 Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke decided to buy a house in a very respectable New York location. Upon moving they were so terrified by the hauntings that took place that they promptly moved back to their city apartment.

Charlene Tilton lived with her mother and grandfather, that was until she was 6-years-old when he died. Shortly afterwards strange things happened in the Hollywood flat. A frightened Charlene was calmed by her mother saying it was the spirit of her grandfather. She never saw him, but there was something there, and not only that, when she moved home, it followed. If the spirit was her grandfather, Charlene now believes he is at peace. 

Oliver Tobias has had several experiences involving the paranormal. In interviews he always seems a stable and intelligent person, I cannot doubt his experiences which can be found at this Feature Page on Oliver's home website.

Amy Winehouse may have got more than expected when in one of her regular sessions with a clairvoyant Michael Jackson came through within days of his death. Amy claimed she heard the King of Pop tell her to clean up her act after years of rehab.

And Claudia Schiffer is not the only one to have her own haunted house. Kate Winslet bought a haunted holiday home situated in Cornwall in 2001.