Winona Love was called "the sweetheart of all hula dancers." Tony Todaro says "Her great beauty
and graceful hula hands made her one of the most popular dancers in the history of Hawaii." She made her debut as a child when
her mother asked Johnny Noble to include her in his entertainment for an American Factors (one of the "Big Five"
in Hawaii, presently Amfac) banquet in 1929. She danced 'Liliu E.' She was so popular, Noble included her in
his mainland tour the next year. Before that, she had appeared in Chas. E. King's
Hawaiian operetta Prince of Hawaii, which premiered in Honolulu's Liberty Theatre in 1925.
She was a solo dancer at San Francisco's Mark Hopkins and Palace hotels and opened the stage of the Royal
Hawaiian Hotel in 1927. She taught Delores Del Rio to dance the hula for the 1932 RKO film Bird of Paradise, a film which tried to
use more authentic music and dance (as well as a lot of local extras) than most Hollywood films set in the islands.
She also appeared in a series of radio broadcasts that Noble originated with the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and
Moana Hotel orchestras.
