Timeline: Angelyne, from the first billboard to the governor’s race

Peacocks’ new series Angelyne, starring Emmy Rossum as the title’s neon-blonde impresario, may be based on the work of Hollywood Reporters Gary Baum. But the real Angelyne, known throughout Los Angeles for her eye-catching billboards and her hot pink Corvette, never limited herself when it came to publicity.

At The Times, we’ve met her regularly over the years, from filming Earth Girls Are Easy in 1987 to her (most recent) run for governor in 2021, and what stands out in every dispatch is her grip on the city’s imagination. : As David L. Ulin wrote in 2019, after the announcement of the Peacock series, Shes a Los Angeles original, a living signifier of place and how it works. The image, its presence tells us, is not frivolous; it has substance, especially here.

With Angelyne premiering on Thursdays, we decided to piece together this archival coverage in this by no means exhaustive timeline of her career. Good reading.

1981: When Angelyne first became famous, according to Angelyne

In a profile from May 1987, the star traces his career to a former manager [who] papered Hollywood with 2-by-3-foot posters of Angelyne. Then his current manager started buying billboards and sticking even bigger portraits of the future star around town. A billboard was part of the opening montage of the TV show Moonlighting; another photo was published in the National Geographic magazine Just me! I am part of the Hollywood landscape! she said laughing.

1996 marked the 15th anniversary of Angelynes billboards, joining several other notable American anniversaries that year, according to the Times, including Harley-Davidson, Fredericks of Hollywood and the National Enquirer.

1980s: The Rise of Angelyne

A profile from 2002 sums up her fame if not exactly her business model: Since the 1980s, billboards have been erected on the Sunset Strip, La Brea Avenue and other famous hallways advertising the name of Angelynes, a neckline in canyon shape and a phone number. If curious motorists call this number, they’ll reach Angelyne Management, where she has several full-time employees dedicated to selling her steak sizzle.

An actress with a handful of on-screen credits, including Earth Girls Are Easy, Angelyne has become an LA icon thanks to her billboards. They had better film careers than her, appearing in Get Shorty and Volcano as well as The Simpsons, Moonlighting and Futurama TV series. She boasts a fan club of over 22,000 and has appeared in magazines from National Geographic to People. Angelyne is also an occasional pitcher for the La Brea Chevrolet dealership, which sells Corvettes.

June 1987: A mural by Angelyne goes against the city’s new visual pollution ordinance

Among about 500 people cited was the painter of a mural of Angelyne on the side of a building near Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, for failing to obtain approval from the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission: the mural was commissioned by an actress calling herself Angelyne, she refuses to give her last name to attract job offers.

September 1987: Catching up with the Patron Saint on a certain side of Los Angeles

I hate the heat, Angelyne tells The Times on the set of Earth Girls Are Easy. Im a pampered kitty and I don’t like to be uncomfortable.

April 1995: Novelist Ajay Sahgal searches for the real Angelyne and documents her failure

Other rumors: Angelyne has a rich Turkish boyfriend who pays for all her billboards. Some people say he’s an Arab sheikh. She dated Charlie Sheen. She dated Madonna. She’s beset by adoring fans and Japanese tourists everywhere she goes. She lives in Studio City. She lives in Beverly Hills. She’s a Scientologist. She’s a lesbian. It’s a man. Rumors can’t all be true.

August 2002: Angelyne goes from billboard to ballot

Angelyne, the age-defying actress who appeared in the movie Earth Girls Are Easy and a music video by Moby, filed her nomination papers on Friday, along with 19 other board candidates. [in the proposed city of Hollywood]. The documents included a statement that she had no assets to declare, despite billboards of her which began to appear in the 1980s. In an interview, she insisted that she was serious about improving Hollywood: I’m Angelyne. I am the image of Hollywood. I want Hollywood to live up to my occasion.

August 2003: Angelyne files paperwork to run for gubernatorial recall

Among the latest to join a host of potential governors that already included Hustler magazine boss Larry Flynt and pin-up girl Angelyne were a travel agent, sitcom writer, structural engineer, sumo wrestler and fashion personality. radio Jim Poorman Trenton, who called his campaign a good way to meet women.

Running on the campaign slogan, Weve had Gray, weve had Brown, now it’s time for blonde and pink, The Times recalled in a 2007 article, she finished 28th.

March 2008: Angelyne joins the race for the honorary mayor of Hollywood

Billboard queen Bodacious Angelyne wants to be the next star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Not with a bronze plaque embedded in the terrazzo sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevards. But as the person presiding over Tinseltown’s greatest tourist tradition. Civic leaders are looking for a new honorary mayor who can help choose Walk of Fame winners, then host glitzy star unveilings in a way that makes celebrities and onlookers feel special.

Longtime honorary mayor Johnny Grant had that talent during the 28 years he helped lead the Walk of Fame and host its sidewalk ceremonies for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. He died on January 9 at age 84. Although the selection could be months away, three favorites have emerged: Angelyne, longtime Hollywood radio personality Gary Owens and Lets Make a Deal game show host Monty Hall.

May 2008: Angelyne wins legal battle with W Hotel

As part of a legal settlement with the developers of the W Hotel project near Hollywood and Vine, the Tinseltown icon will keep the same business address she has used for 19 years despite being destroyed by the wrecking ball… Angelyne accused the agency and developers of leaving her stuck with thousands of Angelyne Fan Club photos, posters and other materials printed with the defunct Selma Street mailing address .

August 2009: Where did she do it?

“[Angelyne] alleges the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency reneged on its promise to let her keep her longtime mailing address after evicting her to make way for a new luxury hotel project in Hollywood. As a result, fan mail is stamped return to sender and not delivered…

I get at least 10 letters a day from people who want my merchandise, Angelyne said. But then it stopped. Eventually, a fan saw me in person and mentioned that his letter had been returned to him. After that, she and an assistant sent a series of test letters to Selma’s address. All were returned as undeliverable by the post office which routinely routes mail for up to a year.

Two weeks ago, Angelyne complained to the redevelopment agency and demanded that it pay $403,566 so that photos, posters and other promotional materials bearing Selma’s old address could be reprinted. She also asked for $50,000 in compensation for loss of business.

August 2021: Angelyne is running (again) for governor

I knew when I was 3 that I could rule the world and do a great job, Angelyne told The Times in response to our Meet the Candidates questionnaire. So why not California? I’m already the queen of the universe, so the governor is a breeze.