Billie Dove

Actor: Billie Dove

Born: May 14, 1903 in New York, New York
Died: Dec 31, 1997 in Woodland Hills, California
Occupation: Actor
Active: '20s
Major Genres: Drama, Romance
Career Highlights: The Black Pirate, Kid Boots, Blondie of the Follies
First Major Screen Credit: At the Stage Door (1921)

Biography

Before she passed away in 1997, former actress and dancer Billie Dove believed that she was one of the last surviving Ziegfeld girls. During her heyday in the late '20s, Dove was certainly considered Florenz Ziegfeld's most beautiful girl. At her apex as a star of stage and screen, Dove was hailed the "American Beauty." In 1927, the moniker became the title of one of her many films. The dark-eyed, wavy-haired lovely was born Lillian Bohny in New York City. Dove entered show business at age 15 after spending a year as an artist's model. Her next job was in Ziegfeld's chorus line. The great producer recognized her potential and so began paying her special attention on-stage, providing her with the most elaborate gowns and posing her separately whenever possible. Though only 16, Dove was no dummy and demanded that since she was "special," she certainly deserved a higher paycheck. Few women would have had the pluck to confront the formidable Ziegfeld and he was impressed enough to give her a generous 50 dollars per week (a small fortune back then). She made her film debut in Get Rich Quick Wallingford (1921). Audiences responded well, and she would appear in 43 movies over the next decade. Highlights include her portrayal of the distressed princess Isobel in Douglas Fairbank's "comeback" film The Black Pirate (1927). Dove left movies in 1932 to marry cattle baron Robert Kenaston. In the late '20s, her love life was a hot topic in the scandal sheets for according to Dove's daughter Gail Adelson, Howard Hughes paid Dove's first husband, actor/director Irvin Willat , 35,000 dollars to divorce her. Dove and Hughes then allegedly embarked upon a four-year relationship. It is unfortunate that most of Dove's films were destroyed in a studio fire. Dove briefly returned to Hollywood in 1962 to play a role in Diamond Head. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Search unanswered questions...

Browse: Unanswered questions | Most-recent questions | Reference library

Filmography: Billie Dove

Top

The Black Pirate

Buy this Movie

Wikipedia: Billie Dove

Top

Billie Dove
Billie Dove in football garb on the cover of "The Flapper" magazine in 1922
Born	Lillian Bohny May 14, 1903(1903-05-14) New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	December 31, 1997 (aged 94) Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Other name(s)	Lillian Bohny
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1918–1932; 1962
Spouse(s)	Irvin Willat (1923–1929) Robert Kenaston (1933–1970, 2 children) John Miller (1973–?)
Domestic partner(s)	Howard Hughes (early 1930s)

Billie Dove (May 14, 1903^[1]^[2] – December 31, 1997) was an American actress.

1 Early life and career
2 Other
3 Early retirement
4 Last years/death
5 References
6 External links

Early life and career

She was born as Bertha Bohny in New York City to Charles and Bertha Bohny who were Swiss immigrants. As a teen, she worked as a model to help support her family and was hired at the age of 15 by Florenz Ziegfeld to appear in his Ziegfeld Follies Revue. She legally changed her name to Lillian Bohny in the early 1920s. and migrated to Hollywood, where she began appearing in silent 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), as Rodeo West in The Painted Angel (1929), and was dubbed The American Beauty (1927), the title of one of her films.

She married the director of her seventh film, Irvin Willat, in 1923. The two divorced in 1929. Dove had a huge legion of male fans, one of her most persistent being Howard Hughes. 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).

Other

She was also a pilot, poet, and painter.^[3]

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 adopted daughter. She later had a brief third marriage to architect John Miller, which ended in divorce.

Last years/death

Aside from a brief cameo in Diamond Head (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 Hospital in Woodland Hills, California where she died of pneumonia in 1997, aged 94.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6351 Hollywood Blvd.

References

^ Drew, William M. "Billie Dove - Silent Star of May 1997." The Lady in the Main Title: On the Twenties and Thirties. Vestal Press. 1997.
^ Wagner, Bruce. "Annals of Hollywood". "Moving Pictures", The New Yorker. July 20, 1998, p. 54
^ Obituary, New York Times, January 6, 1998.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Billie Dove

Billie Dove at the Internet Movie Database
Billie Dove at Find a Grave
Photographs and bibliography
Billie Dove at goldensilents.com

Persondata
NAME	Dove, Billie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American actress
DATE OF BIRTH	May 14, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH	New York City, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH	December 31, 1997
PLACE OF DEATH	Woodland Hills, California, U.S.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Donate to Wikimedia

Learn More

	The Lady Who Dared (1931 Crime Film)
	The Age for Love (1931 Comedy Film)
	The Stolen Bride (1927 Romance Film)

	Why are billy goats called Billy? Read answer...
	How do you train a dove? Read answer...
	Were is billy talent from? Read answer...

Help us answer these

	What about the billys?
	What does dove have in it to kill germs?
	Is dove is herbivore?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

		Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Billie Dove". Read more