Tova Borgnine
{{Short description|American businesswoman (1941–2022)}}
{{infobox person
| name = Tova Borgnine
| image = Tova Borgnine.jpg
| caption = Borgnine in 1987
| birth_name = Tove Træsnæs
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1941|11|17}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2022|02|26|1941|11|17}}
| death_place=Chester County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| occupation = Businesswoman
| years_active = 1965–2022
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{Marriage|Louis Littleton
|1965|1972|end=div}} - {{Marriage|Ernest Borgnine
|1973|2012|end=died}}
}}
| children = 1
}}
Tova Traesnaes Borgnine (born Tove Træsnæs; November 17, 1941 – February 26, 2022) was a Norwegian-born American businesswoman. She was the founder of Beauty by Tova cosmetics and the widow of Hollywood actor Ernest Borgnine.
Early life
Tova was born in Oslo, Norway; her father was a graphic artist and her mother was a translator at the U.S. Embassy.{{Cite magazine|last=Adelson|first=Suzanne|title=With His Fifth Marriage, Ernest Borgnine Finally Has a Face-Saver: Wife Tove|date=17 August 1981|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20080003,00.html|magazine=People|volume=16|issue=7|access-date=28 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508120815/http://www.people.com:80/people/archive/article/0,,20080003,00.html|archive-date=8 May 2016|url-status=dead}}) Following her parents' divorce, she moved to the United States with her mother, at age 7;{{Cite web|last=Mullen|first=Dan|date=April 27, 1984|title=Tova Borgnine: Cosmetics not bad business if you can talk: 'Skin has no sex'|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/04/27/Business-ProfileNEWLNTova-Borgnine-Cosmetics-not-bad-business-if-you-can-talkSkin-has-no-sex/2238451890000/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-27|website=UPI|language=en}}{{Cite news|first=Megan|last=Rosenfeld|title=Kiss and Makeup|date=19 November 1997|newspaper=Washington Post|issn=0190-8286|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/11/19/kiss-and-makeup/6e158832-f0bc-433a-84ea-395202801d71/|access-date=27 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728135820/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/11/19/kiss-and-makeup/6e158832-f0bc-433a-84ea-395202801d71/|archive-date=28 July 2020|url-status=live}} though she did not speak English at the time.{{Cite web|last=Benson|first=Leslie|date=August 14, 2008|title=Tova Did It Her Way: Celebrating 25 Years of the TOVA Signature Fragrance|url=https://www.gcimagazine.com/business/management/smallbusiness/19294029.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-27|website=Global Cosmetic Industry|language=en}}
Career
Tova studied acting in Manhattan, but she developed a fondness for applying makeup. After marrying a New Jersey businessman in 1965, she opened a makeup center. When the marriage failed, she moved her business to Las Vegas to be near her mother.
In Las Vegas, in 1975, Tova learned of a cactus-based face cream made from a formula by a Mexican family and bought worldwide distribution rights. By 1977, the revenues for her company, then called Tova9, were about $500,000; by 1981, they were nearly $2 million. In 1984, she published The Tova Difference: A Promise of Lasting Beauty, with Elaine Trebek.{{Cite book|last=Borgnine, Tova.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10726713|title=The Tova difference : a promise of lasting beauty|date=1984|publisher=Simon & Schuster|others=Trebek, Elaine.|isbn=0-671-50032-5|location=New York|oclc=10726713}}{{Cite web|last=Schner|first=David|date=July 2010|title=LEADERS Interview with Tova Borgnine, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, The Tova Corporation|url=http://www.leadersmag.com/issues/2010.3_Jul/ROB/LEADERS-Tova-Borgnine.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-27|website=www.leadersmag.com}}{{Cite web|last=Jacobs|first=Jody|date=1985-10-06|title=More Amazing Blue Ribbon Amazers|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-06-vw-5362-story.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-27|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}
Her perfume, Tova Signature, has been produced since 1983, and sold on QVC since 1990.{{Cite web|last=Gumpel|first=Eve|date=2009-07-01|title=Like Sinatra, She Did It Her Way|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217933|access-date=2020-07-27|website=Entrepreneur|language=en}} By 1984, her firm had 47 employees at her offices in Beverly Hills, California, and factory in nearby Arcadia. By 1987, she had 65 skincare products and 80 employees.
According to QVC, as of 2001 her perfumes made her "a steady presence at QVC and its biggest fragrance vendor". {{citation needed|date=October 2014}}
In 2002, QVC bought the Tova brand for a seven-figure sum. As of 2008, Tova Signature was QVC’s top-selling perfume.{{Cite news|last=Ellin|first=Abby|date=2008-07-10|title=After Selling the Company, Remorse|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/business/smallbusiness/10sbiz.html|access-date=2020-07-27|issn=0362-4331}}
She was awarded the FiFi Award for the Women's Fragrance Star of the Year (Non-Store Venues) in 1998. Her fragrance, Tova Signature, was nominated for the 2008 Fragrance Hall of Fame FiFi Award.{{Cite web|last=Frederick|first=Kelly|date=July 28, 2008|title=2008 FiFi Hall of Fame Nominees|url=https://www.gcimagazine.com/marketstrends/segments/fragrance/18366684.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-27|website=Global Cosmetic Industry|language=en}}
In June 2009, she received the Retailer of the Year award from the Fragrance Foundation, both for her innovative use of direct marketing to sell her products and for her longevity in the fragrance industry.
Personal life
Borgnine was married twice. Her first husband was Louis A. Littleton of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972 after seven years. She had one son, David Johnson, born out of wedlock.Stritof, Sheri & Bob. [http://marriage.about.com/od/academyawards/ss/Timeline-And-Marriages-Of-Ernest-Borgnine_6.htm Timeline and Marriages of Ernest Borgnine], About.com; accessed October 17, 2014. She married actor Ernest Borgnine on February 24, 1973.{{cite news|url=http://www.una.edu/library/about/collections/borgnine/bio.html |title=Ernest Borgnine Biography |publisher=University of North Alabama Library |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528054506/http://www.una.edu/library/about/collections/borgnine/bio.html |archivedate=May 28, 2010 }} Their marriage lasted for 39 years until his death at age 95 on July 8, 2012.{{Cite web|last=David|first=Mark|date=2013-02-01|title=Jason Bateman Buys Ernest Borgnine's Beverly Hills Mini-Compound|url=https://variety.com/2013/dirt/real-estalker/jason-bateman-buys-ernest-borgnines-beverly-hills-mini-compound-1201234879/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-27|website=Variety|language=en}}
She is the author of Being Married Happily Forever, published in 1997.{{Cite book|last=Borgnine, Tova.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37226885|title=Being married happily forever : 22 secrets, 12 strategies, and 8 compromises|date=1997|publisher=Putnam|isbn=0-399-14321-1|location=New York|oclc=37226885}}
Borgnine died at her home in Pennsylvania on February 26, 2022, at the age of 80.{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Rachel |title=Tova Beverly Hills Founder Tova Borgnine, Who Sold Millions Of Fragrance Units On QVC, Dies At 80 |url=https://www.beautyindependent.com/tova-beverly-hills-founder-borgnine-dies/ |access-date=1 March 2022 |publisher=Beauty Independent |date=1 March 2022}}{{cite web|title=Tova Borgnine, Cosmetics Maven and QVC Star, Dies at 80|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/style/tova-borgnine-dead.html|work=The New York Times|last=Green|first=Penelope|date=March 13, 2022|accessdate=March 14, 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.qvc.com/cgen/render.aspx?qp=class%7C5497&rewrite=no Beauty By Tova] on QVC
- {{IMDb name|2517893}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgnine, Tova}}
Category:American businesspeople
Category:Businesspeople from Oslo