| Harry Conover | |
| Birth Name: | Harry Sayles Conover |
| Birth Date: | 29 August 1911 |
| Occupation: | American radio performer, model and business executive |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 5 |
| Agency: | John Robert Powers Modeling Agency |
Harry Sayles Conover (August 29, 1911 – July 21, 1965), was an American radio performer, model and business executive. He was known for creating the term, "Cover Girl".
He was from Chicago and was of Irish descent. His father, Harry S. Conover, was a bigamist who later left the family shortly after he was born. Conover's mother, Mary Byrnes Conover, wanted him to become a priest. Conover said he was not only poor, but also uneducated. Conover went to school at Peekskill Military Academy and later worked a variety of jobs including being a dough mixer, being a disc jockey and a tie salesman. He later became a radio soap opera performer. He accompanied a female friend to an interview at the John Robert Powers modelling agency for a modeling job. His friend got nervous and Conover did the talking for both of them, landing both of them jobs as models. While Powers had a near monopoly on models at the time, Conover eventually worked his way into becoming a competitor and a personal friend.
In 1939, Conover invested $500 into a one-room office which served as the headquarters of the "Conover Model Agency". A decade later, he had 12 suites in the same building and was making over $2,000,000 a year.
Conover had unique ideas about modelling, saying that models needed "deglamorized" and preferred his models to have a "natural outdoors" look over a "sophisticated" look. Conover also looked for what he called, "that inner glow".
Conover was credited with inventing and copyrighting the term, "Cover Girl". Conover was also credited with launching the careers of Joan Caulfield, Shelley Winters, Nina Fech, Anita Colby, Jinx Falkenburg and Constance Ford. He had also hired models like Joan Bennett Kennedy, Sandra Dee and C. Z. Guest. His models were said to have a knack for reaching stardom and Conover created names for models which helped attract attention. He employed over 200 models in 1945, earning $150,000 in commissions.
Conover's modeling agency collapsed in 1959. He was being sued for withholding money from models and his agency lost its license. Conover then began working for charm schools. Conover later went bankrupt.
He married Gloria Dalton in 1940. Dalton had modeled for Conover prior to their marriage. Dalton was said to be one of the most glamorous models of the 1940s. The couple later divorced with Dalton accusing him of "extreme mental cruelty". He married Candy Jones in 1946 and the couple had three children together. The couple divorced in 1959 At the time of his death, Conover had five children and a grandson.
Conover was said to be best friends with Gerald Ford. Ford lent him $1,500 to start his modelling agency.
Conover died on July 21, 1965, at Elmhurst City Hospital due to a heart attack. He was 53 years old.