22 May 1922 Valentino’s Bride Declared Former Dancer Who Disappeared in 1916

On reaching Chicago, from escaping the madness she was forced to leave behind when she married Rudolph Valentino in Mexico.  It was revealed by her friends that until her marriage she was Winifred de Wolfe daughter of Mrs. Edgar de Wolfe and niece of Elsie de Wolfe, well known interior decorator.  This discovery recalled the fact a world-wide search was being made for her in 1916, when she suddenly disappeared from New York.  Two Senators and a Russian Ambassador participated in the search. She refused to discuss this disappearance when asked about it tonight. Neither would she say anything about her relationship with a married Theodore Kosloff, Russian dancer with whom she was found as a dancer going by another name of Vera Fredov.  In 1916, she left her home and told her mother the married Kosloff was the only person in the world who could develop her talents. After months of searching she was found with his troupe in Chicago. Later on, Kosloff declared “Miss De Wolfe came to my studio in New York. She wanted to dance the Russian dance. She was not like those other girls who would come to be thinking I could help them. “Altogether she is the same as a blue diamond. Her family did not want her to go on the stage, but it is her life not theirs.  Some girls dance and sing but never have I seen such a clever girl as she to get what she wanted.   I prepared to give her a chance on the stage.  She designed and sewed costumes and did whatever I asked she was dedicated.