![Frederick Ko Vert, Chasing the Chaser](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Frederick_Ko_Vert%2C_Chasing_the_Chaser.jpg)
Frederick Kovert (sometimes written Ko Vert or KoVert) was an American
female impersonator
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
. Kovert appeared in drag in a number of comic roles in
silent films
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...
of the 1920s. His first film role was in the 1920 film ''
An Adventuress'', alongside
Julian Eltinge
Julian Eltinge (May 14, 1881 – March 7, 1941), born William Julian Dalton, was an American stage and film actor and female impersonator. After appearing in the Boston Cadets Revue at the age of ten in feminine garb, Eltinge garnered notic ...
, then the best-known female impersonator in the entertainment world. Kovert appeared in the 1925 ''
The Wizard of Oz'', a silent film adaptation of
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
's ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...
'', and also designed the film's costumes.
![1940s Kovert of Hollywood Buck Lewis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/1940s_Kovert_of_Hollywood_Buck_Lewis.jpg)
Following the end of his career in film, Kovert became a
physique photographer
Physique photography is a tradition of photography of nude or semi-nude (usually muscular) men which was largely popular between the early 20th century and the 1960s. Physique photography originated with the physical culture and bodybuilding movem ...
, operating under the name Kovert of Hollywood.
Bob Mizer
Robert Henry Mizer (March 27, 1922 – May 12, 1992) was an American photographer and filmmaker, known for pushing boundaries of depicting male homoerotic content with his work in the mid 20th century.
Biography
Bob Mizer's earliest photographs ...
, who would go on to pioneer the
physique magazine
Physique magazines or beefcake magazines were magazines devoted to physique photography — that is, photographs of muscular "beefcake" men – typically young and attractive – in athletic poses, usually in revealing, minimal clothing. During t ...
format with his ''
Physique Pictorial
''Physique Pictorial'' is an American magazine, one of the leading beefcake magazines of the mid-20th century. During its run from 1951 to 1990 as a quarterly publication, it exemplified the use of bodybuilding culture and classical art figure pos ...
'', apprenticed under Kovert in the 1940s.
Kovert's
nude photography
Nude photography is the creation of any photograph which contains an image of a nude or semi-nude person, or an image suggestive of nudity. Nude photography is undertaken for a variety of purposes, including educational uses, commercial applic ...
business made him a target for the
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
vice squad
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trai ...
, and in 1945 his studio was raided and he pled guilty to possession of
obscene materials.
Kovert died in 1949 by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovert, Frederick
Physique photography
American male silent film actors
20th-century American male actors
American drag queens
1949 deaths
Suicides by firearm in California