 (born May 14, 1903 ; died December
31, 1997)
She was born Bertha Bohny in New York City to 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 migrated to Hollywood in 1922 and began appearing
in films. Her great beauty and easily recognizable name helped her
become one of the most popular actresses of the 1920s. She was soon
dubbed The American Beauty which was also the title of one of her
films.
She was often involved with her male counterparts during filming,
and married the director of her second film, Irvin Willat, in 1923.
The two separated and eventually divorced in 1929. Dove had a huge
legion of male fans and one of her most persistent was 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). |
