Leone Sousa

Leone Sousa (1909 – January 9, 2001) was an American actress and model whose career spanned Broadway, film, and international fashion. Born in Lake Elsinore, California, to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur R. Sousa, she grew up in San Bernardino, California, where she attended both elementary and high school. Her interest in performance emerged early, and at seventeen she left high school and relocated to Hollywood, where she began singing in clubs and securing extra parts in films.

Her ambitions eventually drew her to New York, where she pursued modeling alongside her work as an entertainer. Sousa established herself quickly in the fashion world, appearing on the covers of multiple fashion magazines and in commercials. In 1931, a committee of stylists selected her as "Miss Fifth Avenue" from among the leading models working along Fifth Avenue. Later that same year, French designer Gabrielle Chanel chose Sousa from a pool of sixty models as one of twelve American women to present her gowns in Paris salons, an event that generated international publicity for Sousa and led directly to her Ziegfeld Follies contract.

Her Broadway career ran from 1932 to 1938 and included appearances in Who's Who?, the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931, and the musical A Little Racketeer. In 1934, following her return to the United States, Sousa became a Ziegfeld Follies girl, and that same year a group of New York artists named her the most beautiful Ziegfeld girl. Later in 1934 she traveled back to Hollywood in pursuit of film work, but the roles she obtained were small and she did not achieve major success there, leading her to return to the stage.

On September 8, 1933, Sousa married actor George Houston. The two performed together in several productions, including the 1936 play Everyman and, after their divorce, the 1944 production of The Pilgrimage Play. The couple separated on November 1, 1939, and Sousa was granted a divorce on February 21, 1940. As part of the divorce settlement, Houston was ordered to pay her two hundred dollars per month in alimony until the death of either party or Sousa's remarriage. Sousa's second husband was a naval officer. Her third husband, Walter Avellar, shared her later years in real estate and in raising and showing poodles competitively, a pursuit they continued together until Avellar's death in 1964.

Sousa's career continued through the second half of the 1930s, and during World War II she performed for American troops in Europe. Her professional activity declined in the 1940s, and she eventually left the entertainment industry. In her later years she was approached about appearing in a Las Vegas musical featuring former showgirls, but declined, believing the production would not succeed. The show was still running at the time of her death on January 9, 2001.