Leone Sousa

Leone Sousa (1909 – January 9, 2001 ) was an American model and actress.

Life and career

Sousa was born in 1909 in Lake Elsinore, California She attended elementary and high school at San Bernardino, California. When she attended high school, her teachers failed her because they said she wasn't proficient in her sewing work, which came as quite a blow to her because she was making her own tailored suits at the time.

Sousa had an interest in amateur dramatics from a young age, out of the leading models from shops along Fifth Avenue. This event brought Sousa international publicity and led directly into her Ziegfeld Follies contract. In 1934, after returning to the United States, Sousa became a Ziegfeld Follies girl,

Later in 1934, Sousa went to Hollywood, California again in hopes of becoming a movie star, but only ever got small roles and never had major success. As such, she soon returned to theatre. Sousa continued successfully with her career in the second half of the 1930s, but in the 1940s things didn't go as well for her. After, among other things, having performed for American troops in Europe during World War II, she left the entertainment industry. On February 21, 1940, Sousa divorced Houston, after they parted on November 1, 1939. On the day of the divorce, Sousa said in court that "He paid practically no attention to me. He'd go out socially without me and he wouldn't return until some time between 2 and 5 o'clock in the morning. [...] He was always having bills for champagne sent to our home. But I never saw the champagne." Sousa was awarded the divorce decree and Houston was made to pay her $200 a month in alimony until one of them died or Sousa remarried. In 1944, after their divorce, Sousa and Houston performed together in The Pilgrimage Play.

Sousa's second husband was a naval officer. Her third husband was Walter Avellar. In Avellar's later years, him and Sousa raised poodles and worked in real estate together,

Cyrano De Bergerac

Ziegfeld Follies of 1934 "That's Where We Come In" Singer, Model's Guild Girl

Who's Who

The Pilgrimage Play Mary Magdalene