Los Angeles – and especially Hollywood – has long proven to be an extraordinary city, where many fight to find fame and riches.
Some make it, others don’t. Of course, there are many ways to reach stardom, and many more examples of people who have made themselves into legends.
One such individual is Angelyne, also known as the “Billboard Queen.”
The mysterious woman appeared on Billboards around the Los Angeles area in the 1980s, and quickly became a Los Angeles icon. That said, Angelyne’s life and career remain something of a mystery. For decades, a hunt for her real persona – and name, for that matter – was on.
Now, it seems like it’s finally come to an end.
This is all you need to know about the legendary “Billboard Queen,” Angelyne.
Many people dream of becoming celebrities. Aspiring singers, actors, dancers and performers all like to see bright lights in their future. The most likely place to achieve that vision? Hollywood.
Los Angeles is notorious for being the place where dreams come true. Conversely, “The City of Angels” can also be the site where dreams are abruptly smashed to pieces. The entertainment business is a tough one to navigate.
If you want to make it to the absolute top, extreme sacrifice is required, as well as blood, sweat, and tears. In short, one has to be prepared to do anything to give themselves the best possible chance. That said, a certain few have been able to attain fame through less conventional means …
Angelyne – “Billboard Queen”
In the 1980s, one woman found themselves on billboards all over the Los Angeles area. She was called the “bombshell billboard princess”, was often seen scantily clad, and always wore pink.
If you ever visited Los Angeles between the 1980s and the 2000s, chances are you’ve seen her face. Angelyne became a Los Angeles legend – though still to this day, very few know who she really is.
Her legends are many, including everything from dating Madonna to speaking with Marilyn Monroe through a medium.
So who is Angelyne really? And what does she look like today? Here’s all you need to know about the original “Billboard Queen” – who only marketed one thing: Herself.
In February 1984, a billboard in Los Angeles would change lives forever. On it was an attractive blonde woman, wearing pink and pouting while staring out across Sunset Boulevard.
Nothing more was needed for the woman in the picture, known as Angelyne, to cause a stir. It was an overnight explosion. But where did she even come from?
Well, the story concerning the legendary billboard woman is a complicated one. There are many different tales told about her – new ones spring up with each passing year.
On top of that, she’s never revealed her real name, choosing to go by Angelyne and nothing else. With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that her entire life has remained a mystery.
Angelyne – real name revealed?
In some interviews, Angelyne explained that she was from the Midwest. On other occasions, she’s mentioned that she’s from Idaho.
In 2001, speaking with the Los Angeles Times, she claimed that she was orphaned as a young child, and thereafter raised by foster parents in Idaho. However, this wasn’t exactly true.
Angelyne claimed that no one paid attention to her as a child, so she craved it as she grew up.
“I didn’t feel they were competent as parents, and this is where I relate to Marilyn (Monroe),” she said. “She got tossed around as a child too.”
In a Boston Globe article from 1995, she placed her age between 28 and 32,
In 2017, however, a whole new side of Angelyne’s life was revealed by Gary Baum of The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Baum, Angelyne’s real name is Renee Tami Goldberg, and she was born in Poland on October 2, 1950. She was the daughter of Polish Jews, who managed to escape the Chmielnik Ghetto during World War II, and emigrated to Israel.
Reportedly, she lived in an ultra-orthodox community of Hasidic Jews called Bnei Brak outside of Tel Aviv before her family left for New York. They settled in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District, but after her mother passed away when Angelyne was only 14, she and her father moved to Panorama City in the San Fernando Valley. That’s where she attended high school.
Appeared on billboards all over Los Angeles
The Hollywood Reporter also provided documents from Ventura County – filed in 2016 – where a portion of Angelyne’s name change can be seen, from Renee Goldberg to Angelyne Llyne.
But is it correct? According to Scott Hening, Angelyne’s assistant and close friend for many years, it’s not.
“This stuff comes up every few years — it seems to get more and more ridiculous,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.