Frederick Kovert

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. • Illustration — 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. 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. Kovert died in 1949 by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

• Illustration — 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 — The Unchastened Woman — The Dancer — uncredited • 1925 — Starvation Blues — Dancer (as Frederick Kovert) — short • 1927 — The First Night — Mimi/Jack White • 1931 — The College Vamp — Female Impersonator — uncredited