VALENTINO IS 116

today may 6th, 2011,would have been Valentino's 116th birthday. Rest his dear soul.

RUDOLPH VALENTINO, (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor, and early pop icon.
A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". Valentino was the first american film sex icon.
He starred in several well known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik.
His sudden death at age 31 caused mass hysteria among his female, (and male) fans, propelling him into icon status.


In 1919, just before the rise of his career, Valentino impulsively married actress Jean Acker who was involved with actress Grace Darmond and Alla Nazimova. Acker got involved with Valentino in part to remove herself from the lesbian love triangle, quickly regretted the marriage, and locked Valentino out of their room on their wedding night. The couple separated soon after, the marriage never consummated.


The divorce was granted with Acker receiving alimony. Despite her antics and use of the name "Mrs. Valentino" (a name to which she had no legal right), she and Valentino eventually renewed their friendship. The two remained friends until his death.


Valentino first met Natacha Rambova, a costume designer and art director and protégée of Nazimova, on the set of Uncharted Seas in 1921. The two worked together on the Nazimova production of Camille, by which time they were romantically involved.

They married on May 13, 1922, in Mexicali, Mexico.
Many of Valentino's friends disliked Rambova and found her controlling.[40] During his relationship with her, he lost many friends and business associates, including June Mathis. Toward the end of their marriage, Rambova was banned from his sets by contract. Valentino and Rambova divorced in 1925. The end of the marriage was bitter, with Valentino bequeathing Rambova one dollar in his will.

From the time he died until the 1960s, Valentino's sexuality was not generally questioned.

This began to change with the publication of an article published on February 27, 1961 in the French Magazine "La Presse" by an anonymous author.[56]. The article, written as a diary entry, claimed in descriptive detail that Valentino had been the lover of both Andre Daven and Jacques Hebertot. Since then this article has been the source of proof that Valentino was gay in such books as "Dream of Desire" by David Bret, and "Gay L. A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, And Lipstick Lesbians" by Stuart Timmons.


Four years after the La Presse article author Chaw Mank took the claim further with his book "Valentino, The Intimate and Shocking Expose". Mank then joined author Brad Steiger to write another biography, "The Intimate and Shocking Expose of Rudolph Valentino" a year later.[57] This book would be the first to claim that not only had Valentino married one lesbian, Jean Acker, but another: Natacha Rambova. Valentino biographer Evelyn Zumaya interviewed Steiger on this claim writing, "I asked him how he could possibly make such an assumption. He told me that he and Mank assumed Valentino was gay or bisexual because Valentino's first wife Jean Acker was a lesbian. He continued by explaining that they formed this belief because Valentino and Jean Acker divorced, 'on grounds of non-consummation when he wished to marry Ms. Rambova...which seems suggestive and supportive of the allegations of homosexuality.'"


Rambova biographer Michael Morris disputes this claim, as did Emily Leider. Rambova had male relationships before Valentino, and married a man after his death. Many books have taken both the claim that Valentino was gay, and that both his wives were gay, such as Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger. Shortly before his death, Valentino was dating actress Pola Negri. Upon his death, Negri made a scene at his funeral, claiming they had been engaged. Valentino had never confirmed the engagement claim. Negri would later be claimed as a lesbian herself, again with no evidence.

Hollywood Babylon added to the legend by claiming that Valentino had a relationship with Ramón Novarro, despite even Novarro stating they barely knew each other. Hollywood Babylon also perpetuated the rumor that Valentino had given Novarro an art deco dildo as a gift, which was found stuffed in Novarro's throat at the time of his murder. No such gift ever existed.

These books also gave rise to claims that he may have had relationships with both roommates Paul Ivano and Douglas Gerrad, as well as Norman Kerry, French actor Jacques Herbertot and André Daven. However, Ivano maintained that it was completely untrue and both he and Valentino were heterosexual. In 1972 French biographer Jeanne DeRequeville declared these rumors false and misguided. In her book "Rudolph Valentino", DeRequeville challenged the anonymous La Presse author to provide evidence for his claims. She provided a handwritten authenticated letter of Valentino's to help prove if the writings were really his. Her challenge was never answered. She also provided evidence that the men usually cited as flings of Valentino were themselves straight.


Biographers Emily Leider and Allan Ellenberger generally agree that Valentino was most likely straight, although enjoyed the company of men at times. Novarro biographer Andre Soares has also concluded the same.

On August 15, 1926, Valentino collapsed at the Hotel Ambassador in New York City, New York. He was hospitalized at the Polyclinic in New York and an examination showed him to be suffering from appendicitis and gastric ulcers which required an immediate operation. On August 21 he was stricken with a severe pleuritis relapse that developed rapidly in his left lung due to the actor's weakened condition. The doctors realized that he was going to die, but decided to withhold the prognosis from the actor who believed that his condition would pass. During the early hours of August 23, Valentino was briefly conscious and chatted with his doctors about his future. He fell back into a coma and died a few hours 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: Suicides of despondent fans were reported. Windows were smashed as fans tried to get in and an all day riot erupted on August 24. Over 100 Mounted officers and NYPD's Police Reserve was deployed to restore order. A phalanx of officers would line the streets for the remainder of the viewing. The drama inside would not be outdone. Polish Actress Pola Negri, claiming to be Valentino's fiancee, collapsed in hysterics while standing over the coffin, and Campbell's hired four actors to impersonate a Fascist Blackshirt honor guard, which claimed to have been sent by Benito Mussolini. It was later revealed as a planned publicity stunt.
Media reports that the body on display in the main salon was not Valentino but a decoy were continually denied by Campbell.


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 in Beverly Hills. Valentino had no final burial arrangements and his 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.



Valentino left his estate to his brother, sister, and Rambova's aunt Teresa Werner, who was left the share originally bequeathed to Rambova. His Beverly Hills mansion, Falcon Lair, was later owned by heiress Doris Duke. Duke died there in 1993.
The home was later sold and underwent major renovations. The estate was bulldozed in 2006 and put back on the market.