Frederick Kovert

Kovert in the James Finlayson 1925 film Chasing the Chaser.

Frederick Kovert (sometimes written Ko Vert or KoVert) was an American female impersonator. Kovert appeared in drag in a number of comic roles in silent films of the 1920s. His first film role was in the 1920 film An Adventuress, alongside Julian Eltinge, 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's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and also designed the film's costumes.[1]

A photograph from Kovert's physique studio. Kovert's photography of male nudes made him a target for police, as such photographs were considered obscene.

Following the end of his career in film, Kovert became a physique photographer, operating under the name Kovert of Hollywood. Bob Mizer, who would go on to pioneer the physique magazine format with his Physique Pictorial, apprenticed under Kovert in the 1940s.[2] Kovert's nude photography business made him a target for the Los Angeles Police Department vice squad, and in 1945 his studio was raided and he pled guilty to possession of obscene materials.[2]

Kovert died in 1949 by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[1]

Filmography

Kovert (left) with Ben Turpin in an advertisement for the 1924 comedy The Reel Virginian, directed by Mack Sennett.
Year Title Role Notes
1920 An Adventuress Lyn Brook (as Fred Covert)
1921 The Queen of Sheba Peacock
1921 I Am Guilty The Dancer (as Frederic De Kovert)
1924 The Reel Virginian Mlle. Sans Souci - the Detective (as Fred Kovert) short
1925 The Wizard of Oz Phantom of the Basket (as Frederic Ko Vert) Kovert also served as costume designer.
1925 Chasing the Chaser The Detective
1925 Starvation Blues Dancer (as Frederick Kovert) short
1927 The First Night Mimi/Jack White
1931 The College Vamp Female Impersonator uncredited

References

  1. ^ a b Massa, Steve (2017). Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy.
  2. ^ a b Johnson, David K. (2019). Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-18911-8.
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