Rudolph Valentino

He was born in Castellaneta, Apulia, Italy to a solidly middle-class family (his father was a veterinarian), in the same year as the invention of cinema. He studied and qualified in Agricultural Science at Nervi in Genoa. He spent some time in Paris, where he became a talented dancer, and then returned to Italy for a while. In 1913 he left for America, following the advice of Domenico Savino, a friend of his and of tenor Tito Schipa. He landed in New York where he worked for a while as a dancer and obtained a certain local fame. It has been said that during this period he also was a gigolo and that he had judicial troubles for prostitution-related matters.

He next joined an operetta company that soon disbanded in Utah; from there he reached San Francisco, California, where he met the actor Norman Kerry, who convinced him to try a career in cinema (still in the silent era). After a dozen films, that made him quite famous, in 1919 he was married for a few hours to Jean Acker (1893-1978), a part-Cherokee film starlet who was a lesbian; the marriage was reportedly never consummated and they were divorced in 1923. He then achieved full success in films in 1921 with "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse".

On May 13, 1922, in Mexicali, Mexico, Valentino married actress Natacha Rambova, but this resulted in him being jailed for bigamy, since his divorce from Acker was not yet final. They remarried a year later. The following scandal was notorious. The same year Valentino became a great star with the release of The Sheik.

In 1923 a dispute with Paramount Pictures resulted in an injunction which prohibited Valentino from making films with other producers. He 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.

After his separation from Rambova, Valentino had an affair with the actress Pola Negri.

Valentino's Irish Wolfhound was named Centaur Pendragon.

In 1926 he died in New York, New York as a result of septicemia a short time after surgery for an acute perforated gastric ulcer. An estimated 100,000 people were said to have taken part in his funeral. Hollywood legend relates the story that thousands of women lined the streets, causing riots. Several of his fans were even said to have committed suicide.

He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Filmography

• Alimony 1918
• A Society Sensation 1918
• All Night 1918
• The Delicious Little Devil 1919
• The Big Little Person 1919
• A Rogue's Romance 1919
• The Homebreaker 1919
• Out of Luck 1919
• Virtuous Sinners 1919
• The Fog 1919
• Nobody Home 1919
• The Eyes of Youth 1919
• The Married Virgin (or Frivolous Wives) 1920
• 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
• The 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 having acted, at the beginning of his career, in the following films:

• The Battle of the Sexes (1914)
• My Official Wife (1914)
• Seventeen (1916)
• The Foolish Virgin (1916)

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

Referenced By