Angelyne

Good call. This episode, at about 0:50.

I think I’ve seen it other times as part of LA montages.

Perhaps not “the forerunner,” but certainly a forerunner in regards to “famous for being famous.”

Zsa Zsa was certainly best known for her glamour (and her many marriages, and diva behavior), particularly in the 1960s and later, when her TV appearances were mostly (if not entirely) just a function of her celebrity status. She did have an extensive acting career, though she was mostly in small roles and bad films (and TV shows), and was probably not as skilled an actress as her sister Eva.

2:06

Actually she only had a few credits as an actress until later. A lot of her IMDB credits are for being Zsa Zsa. She could barely act while Eva not only could act at least but had a few major roles from Green Acres to Disney starring voice work.

Call it and let us know!

A bigger phone bill?

If you google that number you get a lot of Angelyne related links including a link to her FB page which has that number at the top, and ads from 2016 offering her pink Corvette for sale.

The car ads state:

I never heard of her until now - I guess her fame is local - but now that you posted this and I’ve seen some images of her, it’s clear to me that the character of Angle-ine from the Futurama episode “Bendless Love” is meant to be based on her. I just thought it was a feminine name which relates to bending, but the visual resemblance is too close to be coincidence.

Getting your own SDMB thread and a Futurama robot modeled after you are some decent signs of success. She’s not Kim or Zsa Zsa but she’s done pretty well for herself.

I thought it was weird that the author mentioned Robin Gunningham (a.k.a. Banksy) as someone whose identity is still a mystery.

Eh, we’re talking about the sort of author who would search up a few public records, then make up a story about some mysterious private detective and a celebrity siccing her lawyers on him. Conveniently ignoring that some other “big secret” is actually known hardly registers.

My wife just texted me that she just “won a ride” in Angeline’s car. Not too sure of any details on what that means yet.

Did the offer come from a Nigerian prince?

How could you search up public records if you didn’t know her legal name?

Was there always a number on the billboards? I remember driving around LA, probably in 1985, and seeing an “Angelyne” billboard somewhere near the Crossroads of the World. All I remember is the picture and the word “Angelyne”, and being surprised to see that there wasn’t any other information. I assumed it was a sign for a strip club or excort service.

Search records for “Angelyne” with no last name, and when a match, however tenuous comes up, fabricate the rest.

I’m thinking this article that is mentioned in the op was just the beginning of some renewed PR push. Not only did my wife win a ride, but so did her best friend seperately.

He is a reporter for The Hollywood Reporter…I doubt his editors would allow that. Besides, the reality is more interesting than some fiction.

She ran for governor in the Great Recall Election. There’s got to be some publicly-accessible paperwork associated with that. And yet, even though he mentions that run several times in the article, that’s the one paper trail he doesn’t actually follow up on at all.

She didn’t file under her real identity according to the article.