Hello one and all!
There were a lot of figures in the silent film industry that had interesting lives. One of those was undoubtedly Rudolph Valentino. He was a sex symbol of the 1920s; a person who caused hysteria among many women and jealousy in men.
Rudolph Valentino
Born in 1895 in Castellaneta, Italy, Valentino arrived in New York in 1913 and began working as a “tango pirate”. Although this title sounded cool, this meant that he spent a lot of time on the dance floor with wealthy women. He befriended a certain Chilean heiress, Blanca de Saulles, who divorced her husband and Valentino testified that he had evidence that her husband had multiple affairs, and one with his other dance partners. De Saulles’ husband was well connected though and had the Italian dancer jailed. Shortly after the trial Blanca de Saulles shot her husband to death over a fight for custody over the children. Valentino didn’t wait to stick around, and he went out to California and landed bit parts in film and again started to dance with wealthy women. Some of his clients became so enamoured that they allowed him to zip around in their expensive cars.
On a sudden impulse Rudolph Valentino married Jean Acker, but she regretted it and locked him out of their hotel room on their wedding night. Rumour had it that she was actually really in love with fellow actress Grace Desmond, and the union with Valentino was just a way of hiding her homosexuality form scrutiny. She quickly sued for a divorce.
Valentino’s breakout role came in 1921’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, one of the silent era’s highest grossing films. Women loved him, but a lot of men disliked him and called him “effeminate." According to them he cared too much about his appearance, wearing “jewellery” like bracelets and the newly fangled wrist watches (according to the press not manly, like the pocket watch). When he married his second wife, Natacha Rambova, he was charged with bigamy, as he was still married to Jean Acker at the time, and he was sent to jail. When he divorced his second wife Natacha in 1925 rumours were spread that he was homosexual.
There were a lot of figures in the silent film industry that had interesting lives. One of those was undoubtedly Rudolph Valentino. He was a sex symbol of the 1920s; a person who caused hysteria among many women and jealousy in men.
Rudolph Valentino
Born in 1895 in Castellaneta, Italy, Valentino arrived in New York in 1913 and began working as a “tango pirate”. Although this title sounded cool, this meant that he spent a lot of time on the dance floor with wealthy women. He befriended a certain Chilean heiress, Blanca de Saulles, who divorced her husband and Valentino testified that he had evidence that her husband had multiple affairs, and one with his other dance partners. De Saulles’ husband was well connected though and had the Italian dancer jailed. Shortly after the trial Blanca de Saulles shot her husband to death over a fight for custody over the children. Valentino didn’t wait to stick around, and he went out to California and landed bit parts in film and again started to dance with wealthy women. Some of his clients became so enamoured that they allowed him to zip around in their expensive cars.
On a sudden impulse Rudolph Valentino married Jean Acker, but she regretted it and locked him out of their hotel room on their wedding night. Rumour had it that she was actually really in love with fellow actress Grace Desmond, and the union with Valentino was just a way of hiding her homosexuality form scrutiny. She quickly sued for a divorce.
Valentino’s breakout role came in 1921’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, one of the silent era’s highest grossing films. Women loved him, but a lot of men disliked him and called him “effeminate." According to them he cared too much about his appearance, wearing “jewellery” like bracelets and the newly fangled wrist watches (according to the press not manly, like the pocket watch). When he married his second wife, Natacha Rambova, he was charged with bigamy, as he was still married to Jean Acker at the time, and he was sent to jail. When he divorced his second wife Natacha in 1925 rumours were spread that he was homosexual.
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I
think we can all relate how it must feel to be too handsome and charming.
Right?
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The Chicago Tribune ran a piece “Pink Powder Puffs”, where it accused the actor of being guilty of making American men more effeminate. Valentino promptly challenged the writer to a boxing bout but the person did not step forward. With no opponent, the heartthrob travelled to New York and took boxing lessons from heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, who was so impressed that he mentioned the actor’s physical prowess to sportswriter Frank “Buck” O’Neill. Frank O’Neill didn’t believe it though (because of the image that the public had of the leading man) and the scribe met Valentino to fight on a rooftop. The actor dropped his larger opponent with a left hook, but match still didn’t convince everyone.
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| Rudolph Valentino and Frank O’Neill facing off. |
His fans didn’t care though. At the New York premiere of his film The Son of the Sheik, the mob almost tore the clothes off his back. The film was filled sufficiently with “masculine” fights and rough stuff to convince everyone that Valentino was a tough guy.
Just two weeks later he collapsed because of a ruptured appendix and taken to hospital, where he died. At news of his death 100 000 people swamped the streets of New York, people tore at their clothes, and reports of dozens of suicide attempts came through. For decades after his death veiled women in black laid roses at his tomb each time on the anniversary of his death.
Thank you for reading!
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