Harry Conover

He was from Chicago and was of Irish descent. His father, Harry S. Conover, was a bigamist who later left the family shortly after he was born.[3] Conover's mother, Mary Byrnes Conover, wanted him to become a priest. Conover said he was not only poor, but also uneducated.[4] Conover went to school at Peekskill Military Academy and later worked a variety of jobs including being a dough mixer, being a disc jockey and a tie salesman.[5] He later became a radio soap opera performer.[1] He accompanied a female friend to an interview at the John Robert Powers modelling agency for a modeling job. His friend got nervous and Conover did the talking for both of them, landing both of them jobs as models.[6][5] While Powers had a near monopoly on models at the time, Conover eventually worked his way into becoming a competitor and a personal friend.[7]

In 1939, Conover invested $500 into a one-room office which served as the headquarters of the "Conover Model Agency". A decade later, he had 12 suites in the same building and was making over $2,000,000 a year.[1]

Conover had unique ideas about modelling, saying that models needed "deglamorized" and preferred his models to have a "natural outdoors" look over a "sophisticated" look.[1] Conover also looked for what he called, "that inner glow".[8]

Conover was credited with inventing and copyrighting the term, "Cover Girl".[1][5] Conover was also credited with launching the careers of Joan Caulfield, Shelley Winters, Nina Fech, Anita Colby, Jinx Falkenburg and Constance Ford.[9] He had also hired models like Joan Bennett Kennedy, Sandra Dee and C. Z. Guest.[3] His models were said to have a knack for reaching stardom and Conover created names for models which helped attract attention.[3] He employed over 200 models in 1945, earning $150,000 in commissions.[5]

Conover's modeling agency collapsed in 1959. He was being sued for withholding money from models and his agency lost its license.[10] Conover then began working for charm schools. Conover later went bankrupt.[9][1]

He married Gloria Dalton in 1940.[11][2] Dalton had modeled for Conover prior to their marriage.[2] Dalton was said to be one of the most glamorous models of the 1940s.[9] The couple later divorced with Dalton accusing him of "extreme mental cruelty".[5] He married Candy Jones in 1946 and the couple had three children together. The couple divorced in 1959[12][6] At the time of his death, Conover had five children and a grandson.[1]

Conover was said to be best friends with Gerald Ford. Ford lent him $1,500 to start his modelling agency.[3]

Conover died on July 21, 1965, at Elmhurst City Hospital due to a heart attack. He was 53 years old.[1]