RUDOLPH VALENTINO

'Rudolph Valentino' (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor. He was born 'Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi' in Castellaneta, Italy, to a middle-class family. In the 1920s, Valentino was know as a Latin sex symbol.

Contents

Biography

Early years

New York

The Sheik

United Artists

Chicago Tribune episode

Death and Funeral

Estate

Films about Valentino

Quotations

Filmography

Selected coverage in the ''New York Times''

Further reading

References

External links

Biography

Early years

Valentino was born to Marie Berthe Gabrielle Barbin (1856 - 1919), who was French, and Giovanni Antonio Giuseppe Fidele Guglielmi (1853-1906), an Italian veterinarian. He had an older brother, Alberto (1892-1981), a younger sister, Maria, and an older sister Beatrice who died in infancy.

New York

In 1913 Valentino left for the United States, following the advice of his friend Domenico Savino. He arrived in New York City on December 23, 1913. After exhausting a small family legacy, he endured a spell of poverty during which he supported himself with odd jobs such as bussing tables in restaurants, and gardening.
Eventually he found work as a taxi dancer and instructor, and later as an exhibition dancer. He gained attention for his rendition of the Argentine tango.
Valentino joined an operetta company that traveled to Utah where it disbanded. From there he traveled to San Francisco where he met the actor Norman Kerry, who convinced him to try a career in cinema, still in the silent movie era.
In 1919, after small parts in a dozen films (in which he typically played "heavies" and gangsters), he married Jean Acker, a part-Cherokee film starlet (who was later revealed to be a lesbian). Their marriage was rumored never to have been consummated - Acker reportedly locked him out of their hotel room on their wedding night - and despite Valentino's efforts at a reconciliation, the two separated shortly afterward, and were divorced in 1922.

The Sheik

Valentino met screenwriter June Mathis who had been impressed by his role as a "cabaret parasite" in ''The Eyes of Youth''. She then cast Valentino as a male lead in her next film ''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' which was directed by Rex Ingram. Released in 1921, the film was a commercial and critical success, and made Valentino a star, earning him the nickname "Tango Legs." It also led to his iconic role in ''The Sheik'' and ''The Son of the Sheik''.
Valentino first met Natacha Rambova (a costume designer and art director who was a protégé and possibly the lover of actress Alla Nazimova), on the set of ''Uncharted Seas'' in 1921. The two also worked together on the Nazimova production of ''Camille'', by which time they were romantically involved. They married on May 13, 1922, in Mexicali, Mexico. This resulted in Valentino being jailed for bigamy, since his divorce from Acker was not finalized; California law at the time required that divorcing couples wait a full year before remarrying. June Mathis posted his bail. Valentino and Rambova remarried a year later.
''Blood and Sand'', released in 1922, and co-starring Lila Lee and the popular silent screen vamp Nita Naldi, further established Valentino as the leading male star of his time. However, in 1923, a dispute with Paramount Pictures resulted in an injunction which prohibited Valentino from making films with other producers. To ensure that his name remained in the public eye, Valentino, following the suggestion of his manager George Ullman, embarked on a national dance tour, sponsored by a cosmetics company, Mineralava, with Rambova, a former ballerina, as his partner. During this time he also traveled to Europe and had a memorable visit to his native town. Back in the United States, he was criticized by his fans for his newly cultivated beard and was forced to shave it off.
In New York City on May 14, 1923, he made his first and last record, consisting of "Valentino's renditions" of Amy Woodforde-Finden's Kashmiri Song featured in ''The Sheik'' and Jose Padilla's "El Relicario," used in ''Blood and Sand''.

United Artists

In 1925, Valentino was able to negotiate a new contract with United Artists which included the stipulation that his wife not be allowed on any of his movie sets (it was perceived that her presence had delayed earlier productions such as ''Monsieur Beaucaire''). He separated from Rambova shortly afterwards and had an affair with the Polish actress, Pola Negri.
During this time he made two of his most critically acclaimed and successful films, ''The Eagle'', based on a story by Alexander Pushkin, and ''The Son of the Sheik'', a sequel to ''The Sheik'', both co-starring the popular Hungarian-born actress, Vilma Bánky (with whom he had a brief relationship prior to his involvement with Negri).

Chicago Tribune episode

The ''Chicago Tribune'' reported in July, 1926 that a vending machine dispensing pink talcum powder had appeared in an upscale hotel washroom. An editorial that followed used the story to humorously protest the effeminization of American man, and lightheartedly blamed the talcum powder on Valentino and his sheik movies. The piece infuriated Valentino, who happened to be in Chicago at the time, and the actor challenged the writer to a duel, and then a boxing match. Neither challenge was answered. Shortly afterward, Valentino met for dinner with the famed journalist H.L. Mencken for advice on how best to deal with the incident. Mencken advised Valentino to "let the dreadful farce roll along to exhaustion," but Valentino insisted the editorial was "infamous." Mencken found Valentino to be likable and gentlemanly and wrote sympathetically of him in an article published in the ''Baltimore Sun'' a week after Valentino's death:
In defence of his honour, Valentino challenged the Tribune's anonymous writer to a boxing match: the New York Evening Journal boxing writer, Frank O'Neill, volunteered to fight in his place. Valentino won the bout, on the roof of New York's Ambassador Hotel. ^[1]

Death and Funeral

On August 15, 1926, Valentino collapsed at the Hotel Ambassador in New York City. He was hospitalised at the Polyclinic in New York and underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer. The surgery went well and he seemed to be recovering when peritonitis set in and spread throughout his body. He died eight days later, at the age of 31. An estimated 100,000 people lined the streets of New York City to pay their respects at his funeral, handled by the Frank Campbell Funeral Home. The event was a drama itself: windows were smashed as fans tried to get in and Campbell's hired four actors to impersonate a Fascist Blackshirt honor guard, which claimed to have been sent by Benito Mussolini, but which later turned out to have been a publicity stunt. The ''New York Graphic'' printed a ghoulish fake composed photograph on its front cover purporting to show Valentino in his casket, before the body actually reached the funeral home.
His funeral Mass in New York was celebrated at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church, often called "The Actor's Chapel," as it is located on West 49th Street in the Broadway theater district, and has a long association with show business figures. Actress Pola Negri collapsed in hysterics while hovering over the coffin.
After the body was taken by train across the country, a second funeral was held on the West Coast, at the Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd. Not having a resting place of his own his old friend June Mathis offered her crypt for him in what she thought would be a temporary solution. However she died the following year and Valentino was placed in the adjoining crypt. The two are still interred side by side in adjoining crypts at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery (now the Hollywood Forever Cemetery) in Hollywood, California.

Estate

According to his biography written by Emily Lieder, Valentino left his estate to his brother, sister, and Rambova's aunt Teresa Werner. His Beverly Hills mansion, called Falcon Lair, was later owned by heiress Doris Duke until she died there in 1993.

Films about Valentino

The life of Rudolph Valentino has been filmed a number of times for television and the big screen. The most notable of these biopics is Ken Russell's ''Valentino'' (1977), in which Valentino is portrayed by Rudolf Nureyev. An earlier feature film about Valentino's life, also called ''Valentino'', was released in 1951. It was directed by Lewis Allen and starred Anthony Dexter as Valentino.^[2] The short film "Daydreams of Rudolph Valentino"( with Russian actor Vladislav Kozlov as Rudolph Valentino) was presented at Hollywood Forever cemetery on August 23, 2006, marking the 80th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino's death.

Quotations

★ "Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas on which women paint their dreams."

Filmography

★ ''My Official Wife'' (1914)

★ ''The Quest of Life'' (1916)

★ ''The Foolish Virgin'' (uncredited) (1916)

★ ''Seventeen'' (uncredited, extra) (1916)

★ ''Alimony'' (1917)

★ ''A Society Sensation'' (1918)

★ ''All Night'' (1918)

★ ''The Married Virgin'' (or ''Frivolous Wives''; 1918)

★ ''The Delicious Little Devil'' (1919)

★ ''The Big Little Person'' (1919)

★ ''A Rogue's Romance'' (1919)

★ ''The Homebreake'' (1919)

★ ''Out of Luck'' (1919)

★ ''Virtuous Sinners'' (1919)

★ ''The Fog'' (1919)

★ ''Nobody Home'' (1919)

★ ''The Eyes of Youth'' (1919)

★ ''Stolen Moments'' (1920)

★ ''An Adventuress'' (1920)

★ ''The Cheater'' (1920)

★ ''Passion's Playground'' (1920)

★ ''Once to Every Woman'' (1920)

★ ''The Wonderful Chance'' (1920)

★ ''The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' (1921)

★ ''Uncharted Seas'' (1921)

★ ''Conquering Power'' (1921)

★ ''Camille'' (1921)

★ ''The Sheik'' (1921)

★ ''Moran of the Lady Letty'' (1922)

★ ''Beyond the Rocks'' (1922)

★ ''Blood and Sand'' (1922)

★ ''The Young Rajah'' (1922)

★ ''Monsieur Beaucaire'' (1924)

★ ''A Sainted Devil'' (1924)

★ ''Cobra'' (1925)

★ ''The Eagle'' (1925)

★ ''The Son of the Sheik'' (1926)
Valentino was also supposed to have acted, at the beginning of his career, in the following films:

★ ''The Battle of the Sexes'' (1914)
'Other names by which he was known:'

★ Rudolph DeValentino

★ M. De Valentina

★ M. Rodolfo De Valentina

★ M. Rodolpho De Valentina

★ R. De Valentina

★ Rodolfo di Valentina

★ Rudolpho De Valentina

★ Rudolpho di Valentina

★ Rudolpho Valentina

★ Rodolph Valentine

★ Rudolpho De Valentine

★ Rudolph Valentine

★ Rodolfo di Valentini

★ Rodolph Valentino

★ Rudi Valentino

★ Rudolfo Valentino

★ Rudolf Valentino

★ Rudolph Volantino

Selected coverage in the ''New York Times''

★ New York Times; July 21, 1926. Rudolph Valentino arrived here yesterday from Chicago indignant at an editorial which appeared in The Chicago Tribune Sunday, entitled "Pink Powder Puffs," and vowing to return there next Monday or Tuesday to whip the man who wrote it.

★ New York Times; August 16, 1926. Rudolph Valentino, noted screen star, collapsed suddenly yesterday in his apartment at the Hotel Ambassador. Several hours later he underwent operations for a gastric ulcer and appendicitis.

★ New York Times; August 21, 1926. Rudolph Valentino, screen star, who is recovering at the Polyclinic Hospital from operations for appendicitis and gastric ulcer, felt so much better yesterday that he asked to be taken to his hotel. His request was promptly vetoed by the attending physicians, who told the patient that he would not be allowed to sit up in bed for several days.

★ New York Times; August 22, 1926. Rudolph Valentino, motion picture actor, who underwent a double operation for acute appendicitis and gastric ulcers at the Polyclinic Hospital last Sunday, took a turn for the worse yesterday. His surgeons found that he had developed pleurisy in the left chest. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon the patient's temperature rose to 104.2.

★ New York Times; August 23, 1926. The condition of Rudolph Valentino, motion picture actor, grew more critical yesterday, and the three doctors who have been attending him at the Polyclinic Hospital since he underwent a double operation for acute appendicitis and gastric ulcers called in a fourth.

★ New York Times; August 24, 1926. Rudolph Valentino, motion picture actor, died at 12:10, yesterday afternoon, at the Polyclinic Hospital where he had undergone a double operation for acute appendicitis and gastric ulcers on Aug. 15. He was thirty-one. His youthfulness and rugged constitution aided him in making a valiant fight even after his five doctors had given up hope.

★ New York Times; August 27, 1926. The public was barred yesterday from the bier of Rudolph Valentine, motion picture actor, because of the irreverence of the thousands who had filed past the coffin in the Campbell Funeral Church, Broadway and Sixty-sixth Street, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

★ New York Times; September 4, 1926. A letter from Dr. Harold E. Meeker, the surgeon who operated on and attended Rudolph Valentino during the illness preceding his death, to S. George Ullman, the dead actor's friend and manager, describing in technical detail the steps of diagnosis, operation and treatment, was made public last night by Dr. Sterling C. Wyman of 556 Crown Street, Brooklyn, Pola Negri's physician.

★ New York Times; September 9, 1926. Los Angeles, California; September 8, 1926. Rudolph Valentino's will, disposing of property which may amount to more than $1,000,000, became public tonight, in advance of being offered for probate here tomorrow. The instrument provided a great surprise, evento lifetime confidants of the dead moving picture star, in that it shared the actor's estate in equal thirds among his brother, Alberto Guglielmi of Rome, who is ...

★ New York Times; September 10, 1926. Los Angeles, California; September 9, 1926. A contest over the "surprise" will of Rudolph Valentino was being considered tonight, it was admitted by Milton Cohen, Los Angeles attorney, who declared that he had been retained to represent Alberto and Maria Guglielmi, brother and sister of the screen star.

Further reading

★ '' by David W. Menefee. Albany: Bear Manor Media, 2007.

★ Emily Leider (2003), ''Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino,'' (ISBN 0-374-28239-0).

★ Jeanine Basinger (1999), chapter on Valentino in ''Silent Stars,'' (ISBN 0-8195-6451-6).

References

1. Cawthorne, Nigel, ''Sex Lives of the Hollywood Idols'' London; PRION, 1997, p. 52
2. IMDB Listing for Valentino, 1951

External links

★ Rudolph Valentino homepage

★

★ Rudolph Valentino Yahoo discussion group

★ Rudolph Valentino photo gallery at Silent Gents.

★ Audio history (MP3, 17:23). Emily Leider, author of ''Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino'' discuss what made Valentino such a sensation in life and death. Produced: February, 2005.

★ Affairs Valentino. This site contains details of a recently discovered unpublished memoir by George Ullman about his years as Valentino's manager. It is to be the basis of a forthcoming new book about Valentino.

★ A retouched photographic collage that claimed to show Valentino's surgery, featured on George Mason University's History Matters site

★ Valentino biography in Spanish, Italian & English

★ Rudolfo Valentino at tricolore.net