gone but not forgotten - rudolph valentino

in sainted devil,  1924

in the sheik, 1921

with first wife jean acker

photograph by maurice goldberg, ca. 1923

rear view of his home called falcon lair, 1927

1922

in the rajah

with second wife, natacha rambova

photograph by james abbe, 1924

ca. 1923

with pola negri at a costume party thrown by marion davies

an estimated 100,000 mourners descend upon frank e. campbell's funeral chapel in new york

earliest photograph of the lady in black mourning rudolph valentino taken from the los angeles times, august 23, 1947

rudolph valentino 6 may, 1895 - 23 august, 1926

the latin lover

born rodolfo alfonso raffaello piero filiberto guglielmi di valentina d'antonguolla in castellaneta, italy, valentino would become one of the world's biggest stars. at the age of 18, in 1913, he arrived at ellis island in new york. he became a taxi dancer at maxims until a scandal forced him to move west.  he arrived in los angeles in the fall of 1917 where he took up residence at the alexandria hotel & continued dancing & teaching dance. his first film roles were as gangsters or "heavies" & by 1919 he had carved out a career in bit parts.

in 1919 he impulsively married actress jean acker who was involved in lesbian affairs with grace darmond & alla nazimova. she quickly regretted the marriage & locked him out of their room on their wedding night. they separated soon after & the marriage was never consummated. they remained legally married until 1921 when acker sued him for divorce, citing desertion. acker actually sued valentino for the right to use the name "mrs. rudolph valentino" publicly & won....in 1923 whe appeared in the film the woman in chains & was credited thusly.

in 1921 he was cast in the four horsemen of the apocalypse which was a commercial & critical success. it was one of the first films to make $1,000,000 at the box office, as well as the sixth highest grossing silent film ever. metro pictures seemed unwilling to acknowledge his fame and refused to give a raise beyond the $350 a week he had made on the film. he was forced into a bit part in a b film, uncharted seas, where he would meet his second wife, natacha rambova.  his next film, camille, where he was cast as alla nazimova's love interest was considered too avant garde by both the critics & the public.

after quitting metro, he joined famous players-lasky where he was cast as the sheik ahmed ben hassan in a role that would solidify his reputation as the "latin lover". when asked if lady diana (his love interest in the film) would have fallen for a 'savage' in real life, valentino replied, "people are not savages because they have dark skins. the arabic civilization is one of the oldest in the world...the arabs are dignified and keen brained."

in 1922 he began work on blood and sand, co-starring nita naldi, where he played a bullfighter, juan gallardo. the film would become one of the top four grossing films of 1922, breaking attendance records. after finishing the film he married rambova on may 13 of that year, which led to a bigamy trail since he had not been divorced for a full year as required by california law at the time.  the trail was a sensation and they were forced to have their marriage annulled & they separated for a year. they lived in separate apartments in new york city, each with their own roommates until march 14, 1923 when they legally remarried. 

many of valentino's friends disliked rambova & found her controlling. during their relationship, he lost many friends & business associates. the end of their marriage was bitter, with valentino bequeathing rambova one dollar in his will.

during the forced break from rambova, the pair began working on the young rajah - although the film did not live up to expectations. valentino wanted to leave famous players but jesse lasky had already lined up his next picture, the spanish cavalier. valentino decided to declare a 'one man strike' against famous players. the strike was for financial reasons - valentino earned $1,250 a week, with an increase to $3,000 after 3 years. this was $7,000 per week less than what mary pickford had made in 1916. in september of 1922 he refused to accept paychecks from famous players until the dispute was solved but famous players filed suit against him. eventually the studio backed down & tried to settle - upping his salary from $1,250 to $7,000 a week but, valentino refused the offer. valentino wrote an open letter to photoplay magazine where he argued his case saying that artistic control was more at issue than the money. as he became more in debt, famous players exercised their option to extend his contract, which prevented him from working with any other studios. he filed an appeal and although he was not allowed to work as an actor, he could accept other types of employment.

in late 1922 he toured 88 cities with rambova for the mineralava dance tour. after the tour he accepted an offer from ritz-carlton pictures (working through famous players) that included $7,500 a week, creative control & filming in new york.  the first film under this new contract was the leading role in monsieur beaucaire which was not successful. his next film was a pet project called the hooded falcon but the production was beset with problems. he was persuaded to film cobra with nita naldi only on condition that it not be released until after the hooded falcon debuted. rambova did costumes on the 2 films & due to the lavish spending on both costumes & sets, valentino's contract with ritz-carlton was terminated.

during the filming of monsieur beaucaire, charlie chaplin & douglas fairbanks approached him privately about joining united artists. this contract provided him $10,000 a week for 3 pictures a year, plus a percentage of his films. the contract excluded rambova from production on his films & the film sets which caused a major rift in their marriage.

his first project with united artists was the eagle where it was rumored that he began an affair with his co-star vilma banky, thus causing further strain on the marriage & leading to their divorce. in february 1926 he began shooting the son of the sheik, again working with vilma banky.  the film opened on july 8, 1926 to great fanfare. also in 1926, valentino met actress pola negri at a costume party thrown by marion davies. he was dressed as the "blood and sand" matador & she was dressed as an officer of the guard for catherine the great. she asked nazimova for an introduction & sparks flew.

on august 15, 1926, valentino collapsed at the ambassador hotel in new york city. he was hospitalized at the polyclinic & an examination showed him to be suffering from appendicitis & gastric ulcers requiring immediate surgery. despite the surgery, he developed peritonitis & on august 21 he was stricken with a severe pleuritis relapse. he was briefly conscious on the early hours of august 23 but fell back into a coma & died a few hours later at the age of 31.

pola, who was in hollywood, collapsed when she heard the news. she sped across the country to attend his funeral. her grief-stricken performance was over the top - she declared to reporters that she & valentino were secretly engaged. she posed dramatically by the casket & then, weeping & fainting, threw herself into the open casket causing a riot.

an estimated 100,000 people lined the streets of new york to pay their respects - mass hysteria & suicides were reported of distraught fans. 

for several years, on the anniversary of his death, a woman dressed in black was seen laying flowers on his grave. some believed it was pola negri but her identity was never established. valentino was an animal lover & owned several dogs & horses, including an arabian wolfhound named centaur pendragon & a great dame named kabar.