BILLIE DOVE, THE AMERICAN BEAUTY AND CINEMATIC GODDESS
© Joyce E. Eberly
Born Lillian Bohny in New York City on 14 May 1902, she was the daughter of middle-class Swiss immigrants. Early in life, she decided to become a film actress and worked as an extra in the film studios at Fort Lee, New Jersey. According to an autobiographical article she wrote for the May 1928 issue of "Screen Secrets," her career began in high school when she took part in amateur theatricals.
However, it was her appearance onstage as a Ziegfeld Girl in the 1919 Follies that first brought her fame. She personified Irving Berlin's song, "A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody."
By 1922, she was under contract to Metro where she began appearing in female leads. Her first role was with Constance Talmadge in "Polly of the Follies." This was followed by appearances in Lois Weber's films, "The Marriage Clause" (Universal, 1926) and "The Sensation Seekers" (Universal, 1927). A starring role with Douglas Fairbanks in "The Black Pirate" (United Artists, 1926) led to a contract with First National Pictures. As Fairbanks was to say, "I was as smitten as any male of my age would be. She was not only lovely to look at but perfectly charming to work with. However, there was an added obstacle to my expressing myself. The director, Irvin Willat, was her husband."
During this period, she appeared in several films directed by Alexander Korda, one of which was "Yellow Lily." Of the many films she made, this one has been preserved by the National Film Archive in London, but it has not been released to the public.
As her career progressed, Billie and Willat drifted apart. By now, she was widely acclaimed as "the Dove," the most beautiful woman in the world, with "legions of male admirers." As might be expected, she caught the eye of Howard Hughes, who was just starting to produce films. Soon a romance developed, which became the talk of Hollywood. For reasons neither would ever disclose, the romance did not culminate in marriage, but Hughes for many years considered himself to have been the love of her life.
When "talkies" came into being, Dove made the transition easily and appeared in eleven films. Rumors circulated that she did not have the voice for the new medium, but in actuality, "her voice had a silken quality and recorded well." From 1928 to 1932 she proved her versatility as an actress by playing a variety of roles.
Go To Page: 1 2
