Angelyne

Angelyne (born Ronia Tamar Goldberg, October 2, 1950) is an American singer, actress, media personality, and model who came to prominence in 1984 after the appearance of a series of billboards in and around Los Angeles, California, with only one word, "Angelyne", picturing her posing suggestively.

These caught the attention of local media outlets, and soon she received several offers for film roles, magazine interviews, and television show appearances.

The main trademark of her celebrity persona is a pink Corvette.

Her billboards have been featured in a number of movies and television series, including the opening credits of Moonlighting and atop the building occupied by producer Harry Zim (played by Gene Hackman) in the movie Get Shorty, and have been spoofed in shows such as The Simpsons, Futurama, and BoJack Horseman.

The family later settled in Bnei Brak, Israel, before immigrating to the United States in 1959.

They moved to the Fairfax District of Los Angeles where she went by the name Renee Tami Goldberg.

Goldberg attended James Monroe High School and was married briefly.

In 1978, she joined her then-boyfriend's punk rock band Baby Blue, which performed in clubs around Los Angeles, but never became financially successful.

In 1978, Angelyne joined her then-boyfriend's band Baby Blue.

They performed in local clubs in L.A. and once opened along with Rubber City Rebels for the Screamers' show at the Whisky a Go Go.

The punk rock club The Masque served as a rehearsal place for the band.

They released a single "Rock n' Roll Rebel" with a B-side, "Fantasy Man".

Only 1,000 copies of the record were made and distributed in England.

The band wasn't getting much attention, so they decided to promote it by posting her picture around town.

In 1979, the single "Too Much to Touch" was released under the name Angelyne, also promoted by posters and flyers.

In 1982, she released her self-titled debut album and her first posters began appearing as a part of the album's promotion.

In 1982, she released a self-titled debut album on an independent label Erika Records.

According to Angelyne, she met wealthy adhesive-free-tape entrepreneur Hugo Maisnik (inventor of Hugo's Amazing Tape ) in 1982.

Maisnik had a display-printing business in Los Angeles.

Described as "very eccentric" and a "bored prankster", Maisnik reportedly saw potential in using Angelyne's image and understood the "intricacies of the outdoor-advertising game".

The 12" picture disc contained 11 songs, including two versions of "Sexy Stranger", a cover of Elvis Presley's hit "Teddy Bear," and the main single "Kiss Me L.A.". Another series of bus-shelter posters promoted the album. In July 1983, Erika Records released another Angelyne single, "My List", accompanied by a music video.

After the launch of a massive billboard campaign in February 1984, she began working on her second album.

In February 1984, Angelyne's first billboard proclaiming "Angelyne Rocks" went up on Sunset Boulevard.

Driven to Fantasy was released in 1986.

In 1986, she released her second album, Driven to Fantasy, on her label, Pink Kitten.

An enhanced pink vinyl re-issue of the album was later released in Italy.

In June 1987, an 85 feet high mural depicting Angelyne was painted on the side of a building on Hollywood and Vine.

Her manager allegedly financed the $22,000 painting.

The same year, her friend Nina Hagen got her recording with Michael "Doc" Dosco, who had previously worked with Hagen on her album Nina Hagen in Ekstasy.

He wrote and produced several songs for Angelyne, including "Animal Attraction," which was later featured in Julien Temple's movie Earth Girls Are Easy, where Angelyne had a cameo.

Angelyne then appeared in small parts in films such as Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), Dangerous Love (1988), and Homer and Eddie (1989).

The single was released in 1988 with remixes by Italian producer Pino Toma.

Hagen mentioned Angelyne in her song "Super Freak Family," and her voice can be heard in "Pillow Talk".

By 1995, she had over 200 billboards up all over Los Angeles.

Angelyne is also an artist; she began painting in 1998 and has had several art shows in Los Angeles.

She has run for Governor of California twice, during the recall elections of Gray Davis in 2003 and Gavin Newsom in 2021.

Angelyne was noted for concealing her real name, age, and identity, which did not become public knowledge until 2017.

Angelyne's previous names and origins became publicly known in a 2017 article by Gary Baum for The Hollywood Reporter.

The article cited public records revealing that Angelyne was born in Poland as Ronia Tamar Goldberg to Holocaust survivors who were Polish Jewish.

After being liberated from German Nazi concentration camps, including Skarżysko-Kamienna, Bergen-Belsen, and Buchenwald, her parents were married in the Föhrenwald DP camp, and then returned to post-war Poland.