Your Retro Guy: Billie Dove

Billie Dove – Dubbed the American Beauty

In her silent heyday, this ravishing and highly photogenic star, known for her voluptuous femininity on the silent screen, rivaled that of Mary Pickford, Marion Davies and Clara Bow in popularity. She retired after only a few years into the talking picture era, however, and is not as well-remembered in today's film circles as the aforementioned.

Billie Dove was born Lillian Bohny on May 14, 1903 (several sources list 1900), to Swiss parents Charles and Bertha Bohny who emigrated to New York City before she was born. Educated in private schools in Manhattan, she was already singled out as quite a beauty by her early teens. By 15 and 16 she was helping to support the family by working as both a photographer's and artist's model. It is said that the renowned poster painter/illustrator James Montgomery Flagg sketched her during this period. Although she could neither sing nor dance all that well, this stunning beauty was subsequently hired by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. to appear in his famous Follies.

A burgeoning affair between Dove and Ziegfeld prompted Ziegfeld's wife Billie Burke [she played the good witch in the Wizard of Oz] to arrange work for the young starlet in Hollywood films. She made her feature debut in George M. Cohan's Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1921), based on the 1910 Broadway play; the cameras instantly fell in love with the beautiful newcomer. She was immediately put into a starring role in only her second picture, the backstage romantic drama At the Stage Door (1921), the story of a chorus girl and her sister (also a chorine) who compete for the affections of a wealthy patron. From there Billie went on to appear opposite some of Hollywood's most popular leading men--from glossy, dramatic stars such as John Gilbert and Warner Baxter to sturdy cowboy idols Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson-

Top stardom came while she was swept up in the arms of the dashing Fairbanks as the starry-eyed princess who is rescued by The Black Pirate (1926) in the classic silent adventure. Billie was the first actress to receive a color screen test via this pirate yarn. Lovingly dubbed "The American Beauty" after appearing in the movie of the same title, The American Beauty (1927)--in which she played a social-climbing hat check girl--her acting talent was considered modest.

Divorced from Willat in 1929, Billie was still at the peak of her popularity with the advent of sound. The multi-millionaire eccentric and (at that time) budding producer Howard Hughes became an obsessed admirer, which resulted in an all-consuming three-year affair. Hughes, who tried to take over and control her career, actually proposed to the star and they were briefly engaged. She abruptly ended the relationship, however, when she was unable to handle his quirkiness and long, unexplained absences.

In Blondie of the Follies (1932), the Marion Davies starrer, Dove was dismayed when her third-billed role was "trimmed" and "reshaped" at the urging of Davies' highly influential paramour William Randolph Hearst (who happened to own Cosmopolitan Productions, which made the picture). This was to be her last film; she retired from the screen shortly thereafter. By 1933 she had remarried and focused on having a family

My wife phoned me, panting and breathless.

"Where are you?" she moaned.

"I'm at the pub." I replied.

She said, "I think the baby's coming!"

I said, "Well, he won't get in. He's underage."

Our Retro Guy Sweet Tart of the Week!

Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American model. Her 30 years of success at modeling made her an international celebrity that has led to roles in television and film, and to work as a spokesperson. In 1995, Forbes magazine named her the highest paid model on the planet. Cindy is one of the original five "Supermodels". She was named No. 3 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90s and was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health. Crawford is known for her trademark mole just above her lip, and has appeared on hundreds of magazine covers throughout her career. She still looks great!

Things you’ll find useful [share with your mates]

Seventy percent of women rate clean-shaven men as sexy…

· Shaving in the shower [which I do] wastes an average of 10-30 gallons of water.

· Shaving daily with a wet razor exfoliates the beard area of the face, loosening and removing the top layer skin cells, which is believed to help the skin retain its vitality and youthful appearance [probably why I look so young]!

· According to archeologists, men shaved their faces as far back as the Stone Age-20,000 years ago. Prehistoric men used clam shells, shark teeth, flint and knives.

· Ancient Egyptians shaved their faces and heads so the enemy had less to grab during hand-to-hand combat…gold & copper razors in their tombs dating back to the 4^th Century BC have been discovered.

· A typical razor lasts about 10 shaves [I get double that with a disposable using just bar soap]

· The longest beard, according to the Guinness Book of Records, measures 17.5 feet in length and was presented to the Smithsonian Inst. In 1967.

Some mighty odd channels to view on Nameless TV