Billie Dove was born
Lillian Bohny on May 14, 1903 in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
to parents Charles and Bertha Bohny, both Swiss immigrants. As a teen, she worked as a
modelthumb|200px|Alesya Nazarova modeling a dress by [[bebe stores|bebe]]A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed for the purpose of displaying and promoting fashion clothing or other products and for advertising or promotional purposes or who poses for works of art.Modeling...
to help support her family and was hired at the age of 15 by
Florenz ZiegfeldFlorenz "Flo" Ziegfeld, Jr. was an American Broadway impresario. He is best known for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl".-Early life and career:Ziegfeld was born in Chicago to German...
to appear in his
Ziegfeld Follies RevueThe Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
. She migrated to Hollywood in the early 1920s and began appearing in films. She soon became one of the most popular actresses of the 1920s appearing in Douglas Fairbanks' smash hit two-tone technicolor film
The Black Pirate (1926) and was dubbed
The American Beauty (1927), the title of one of her films.
She married the director of her seventh film,
Irvin WillatIrvin Willat was an American film director of the silent film era. He directed 39 films between 1917 and 1937.He was born in Stamford, Connecticut and died in Santa Monica, California.-Selected filmography:...
, in 1923.
Early life and career
Billie Dove was born
Lillian Bohny on May 14, 1903 in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
to parents Charles and Bertha Bohny, both Swiss immigrants. As a teen, she worked as a
modelthumb|200px|Alesya Nazarova modeling a dress by [[bebe stores|bebe]]A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed for the purpose of displaying and promoting fashion clothing or other products and for advertising or promotional purposes or who poses for works of art.Modeling...
to help support her family and was hired at the age of 15 by
Florenz ZiegfeldFlorenz "Flo" Ziegfeld, Jr. was an American Broadway impresario. He is best known for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl".-Early life and career:Ziegfeld was born in Chicago to German...
to appear in his
Ziegfeld Follies RevueThe Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
. She migrated to Hollywood in the early 1920s and began appearing in films. She soon became one of the most popular actresses of the 1920s appearing in Douglas Fairbanks' smash hit two-tone technicolor film
The Black Pirate (1926) and was dubbed
The American Beauty (1927), the title of one of her films.
She married the director of her seventh film,
Irvin WillatIrvin Willat was an American film director of the silent film era. He directed 39 films between 1917 and 1937.He was born in Stamford, Connecticut and died in Santa Monica, California.-Selected filmography:...
, in 1923. The two divorced in 1929. Dove had a huge legion of male fans, one of her most persistent being
Howard HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer, film director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world. He gained fame in the late 1920s as a maverick film producer, making big budget and often controversial films like Hell's Angels,...
. She shared a three-year romance with Hughes and was engaged to marry him, but she ended the relationship without ever giving cause. Hughes cast her as a comedian in his film
Cock of the Air (1932). She also appeared in his movie
The Age for Love (1931).
She was also a pilot, poet, and painter.
Early retirement
Following her last film,
Blondie of the Follies (1932), Dove retired from the screen to be with her family, although she was at the time still popular. She next married oil executive Robert Kenaston in 1933, a marriage that lasted for 37 years until Kenaston's death in 1973. They had two children — one son and one
adoptedAdoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another who is not kin and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
daughter. She later had a brief third marriage to architect John Miller, which ended in divorce.
Aside from a brief cameo in
Diamond HeadDiamond Head is a movie starring Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, George Chakiris, and James Darren, directed by Guy Green, and released by Columbia Pictures. The original music score was composed by John Williams, Hugo Winterhalter composed the theme, and Darren sang the title song...
(1962), Dove never returned to the movies. She spent her retirement years in Rancho Mirage before moving into the
Motion Picture & Television Country House and HospitalThe Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
in Woodland Hills, California where she died of
pneumoniaPneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung. Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid ....
in 1997, aged 94.
She has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment museum...
located at 6351 Hollywood Blvd.
External links