Rudolph Valentino

Having already failed to make the grade as an army officer he arrived in America from Italy in 1913 and went through a succession of casual jobs such as dish washer and waiter before getting work as a dancer.

Valentino and Jean Acker had one of the shortest celebrity marriages on record: six hours. After courting for just a few days, they impulsively married on November 5, 1919, but she locked him out of their hotel room later that night after a spat. They separated, and their divorce was finalized in 1922. Ironically, after their divorce, they became good friends.

At the time of his death he was severely in debt, and his heirs could not afford a burial plot for him. June Mathis, friend and screenwriter of his hit films The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) and Blood and Sand (1922), agreed to temporarily loan him a space in her family crypt at Hollywood Park Cemetery so he could be interred upon his body's arrival in Los Angeles, following a coast-to-coast funeral train ride from New York. Mathis died the following year and Valentino's body was moved into her husband's space. He is still interred there, as all memorial plans fell through during the Depression.

Hollywood's original Latin Lover, a term that was invented for Rudolph Valentino by Hollywood moguls. Alla Nazimova's friend,Natacha Rambova (nee Winifred Hudnut) became romantically involved with Rudy and they lived together in her bungalow, from 1921 (during the filming of Camille) until they eloped to Mexico 13 May, 1922 in the belief his divorce from Jean Acker was official. After their re-marriage two years later she left him because he signed a contract that barred her from being involved in his pictures and wasn't allowed on set. She went to Nice to live with her parents and never entered their new mansion, Falcon Lair. He began dating sexy 'Pola Negri' and was also linked to Vilma Banky. While touring to promote his last film, an editorial in the Chicago Tribune accused him of "effeminization of the American male". He defended his manhood by challenging the writer of the article to a boxing match (which never took place with the author but another writer for the paper did enter the ring on behalf of the author who would not be named and Rudy beat him). He died shortly afterward while in New York attending to the premiere of his last film.

In 1923 he recorded two songs, "Kashmiri Love Song" (from The Sheik (1921)) and "El Relicario" (from Blood and Sand (1922)) for Brunswick Records. Both recordings still exist and have been released on the CD "Rudolph Valentino: He Sings & Others Sing About Him".

Worked as a dishwasher, taxi dancer and gardener before starring in The Son of the Sheik (1926).

In the 1930s Sheik Condoms, named after his most famous role, were introduced and featured his silhouette on the packaging for years.

He was voted the 32nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6164 Hollywood Blvd. on February 8, 1960.

Is referenced in The Kinks' 1972 song "Celluloid Heroes", with the lines "Rudolph Valentino looks very much alive. And he looks up ladies' dresses as they sadly pass him by".

His name was mentioned once in the Disney comedy film Herbie Rides Again (1974).

A portion of Irving Boulevard in Hollywood, CA, was renamed Rudolph Valentino Street in 1978.

On January 25, 1982, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosted a special Tribute to Rudolph Valentino. Clips from several films and documentaries were shown during this special event. Opening comments came from Mr. Jean Valentino, the nephew of Rudolph. A screening of "The Son of the Sheik" (1926), with color-tinted sequences, was shown in its entirely. A representative from the Academy read an affectionate telegram from silent film actress Pola Negri. After all these years, she still loves Rudy. [Source: Steven A. Fredrick].

Is mentioned in The Bangles 1986 song (written by Prince) "Manic Monday".

Pictured on one of ten 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating stars of the silent screen, issued 27 April 1994. Designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, this set of stamps also honored Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Zasu Pitts, Harold Lloyd, Theda Bara, Buster Keaton, and the Keystone Kops.

In October 1997 he was ranked #80 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

In 2009 The Rudolph Valentino Society was created to honor his legacy.

In 2011 "Affairs Valentino" by Evelyn Zumaya was released by The Rudolph Valentino Society. The biography drastically repaints the life of Valentino with newly found court documents, accounting ledgers, and unpublished memoirs and memories by his manager S. George Ullman and godfather Frank Mennillo.