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1926 – He who got slapped and why?

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12 Sep 1930 – Valentino Speech

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12 Sep 1926 – Actor Bares Tragic Crash of Home Life

I have been reluctant to write on this subject, but so many interviews, purporting to come from me, have been printed that I think it maybe best to put myself on record over my own signature.  I shall have to disappoint the reader who expects something sensational. I did not beat Natacha Rambova my former wife.  She did not throw flat irons at me. Sorry but we did not do those things and no did I object to her having a career her own career. Nor did I demand that she bear children. I wanted her to have what she wanted, in so far as I could get it for her. In other words, I wanted her to be happy, and tried as any man would, to make her so.  There was never any issue about her staying at home and keeping my house.  No woman that anyone knows stays at home and keeps house anymore. Los Angeles wives have their own cars, as a rule, and go and come as they please.  Fortunately, I was able to free my former wife from housework and from all forms of drudgery.  If she wanted to keep house I would have “fired” the servants and let her “express” herself in that way.  If she wanted children, I would have engaged nurses and urged her to “express” herself in that way. She did not want to do these things and frankly I did not give them any thought. Dissatisfaction in marriage as in other family life is apt to be cumulative.  There is no sudden erratic or dramatic offense which determines one to “leave home” to be rid of the presence and influence of relatives and out of the environment at all cost.  There is often a steady decline in mutuality of interest, in sympathy, in esteem.  The child which leaves the home does so because of a long series of misunderstandings, or thwarted plans, which leads him to believe that he can best accomplish the thing he feels it in him to do if he is away from those who blindly or selfishly or arbitrarily “love” him.  He suffers a loss of material things the safeguards and comforts of home goes hungry, or maybe or is undernourished over a period of years to enjoy a mental and spiritual freedom which seems to more than compensate for the lack of what his family considers “the real things”.  So, it is apt to be with a young man who is too closely circumscribed by an ambitious girl. At first, she stimulates him to “bigger and better” things.  She is indeed generous and helpful. He is touched and flattered by her consecration to his aims, her devotion to his interests. Eagerly they plan his career.  He welcomes her counsel, and following it, finds it sound.  Sound, because in the first flush of life, while she is much enamored of him, she is thinking with her heart, rather than her head, and intuitively arrives at correct conclusions. She has “guidance’s” and powers of divination which calculating women can never exercise for the man she seeks to promote for gain and self-aggrandizement only.  They marry.  She gives up her career, if she has one, to better and more completely aid him in his.  Almost imperceptibly but slowly and surely her attitude changes. It gradually dawns on him that, while she has given up her career, she has not given up a career. She has started on a new one, which is to “manage” and make a success of him. Now, you will say, a man should be deeply grateful for that.  Yes, and no.  Wait a minute.  In the friendship and courting period’s, she considered him, weighed and advised him with relation to his profession or art he was trying to master, with relation to the public or patrons he was trying to serve, to please, to win, to hold. She was anxious for him to do the finest and best thing it was in him to do; and at the same time, please or conciliate those with whom he had to deal promoters and make those little concessions to pride and vanity and even pocketbook, which would make for lasting success in the long run.  She was disinterested, and able to see him at long range, and his true relation to others.  With marriage and the needles and pins routing of everyday living servants, household budgets, clothes, his friends, her friends, his family, her family and the like she inevitably began to consider him, and then, also, with relation to herself and her relation to him. Would they interfere, would they presume to give advice or make plans without first consulting her? In other words, would they usurp her position as friend, guide, and philosopher, would they jeopardize her place and power?  Then there enters the ever-present question of money much money. Keeping up an establishment, entertaining, and all that, seems so necessary; and if one does not make money, more and more money, one falls behind the procession and of course, once having got in the procession, there is nothing for it, it seems, but to stay in. There is the couple ahead, which would turn and stare, and the couple behind, which might titter, and the couples on either side who might exchange knowing looks, as if a pair fell out and walked along quietly by the side of the road.  Acquaintances must be appraised according to their places in the procession. People must be cultivated or discarded in direct proportion as they might help or hinder one in “getting on” socially, professionally, or financially. Those lovable and improvident soul’s writers, artists, musicians who follow their own rather than publics tastes must not be “picked up”.  They “aren’t” anybody, don’t know anyone of importance and are often a little “seedy” in appearance, and run down at the heel.  The most charitable in the procession regard them as a lot of harmless nuts. The others are careful not to regard them at all.  Were they alive, and living in Hollywood, Byron and Wilde would be very much in demand at smart affairs?  The Browning’s would be sought after by an exceedingly small clique.  Keats, Shelly and Burns would scarcely get a bid to dinner, no matter how badly they might need one, nor how much bright and beautiful conversation they might bring to a table.  Now, I am being a Latin, am not what you Americans call “practical” by later. No Latin is, or can be, practical 24 hours a day. We maybe as mercenary, or more mercenary, than you in the barter of our wares, or talents; but we spend ourselves and our money in different ways.  This is an experience which I believe I have in common with the American husband that after a few years of married life he finds only those of his friends of whom his wife approves, remaining; only those of his or her relatives of whom she approves, visiting; and all of her friends, whether or not they like him, or he them, invited to the house on each and every occasion.  Well that happens when a man discovers he is being “managed” in every department of life life, those in which he may need direction, as well as those in which for the sake of his own development, he should be allowed volition and selection?  The result is that all “management” becomes irksome to him.  He suddenly becomes as assertive as he has been “easy”.  He finds that he can hire a competent counselor and business advisor, and “live his own life” so to speak.  What does the wife do when her husband’s career is taken away from her? She can go back to her own career, or take up a new one, or wash her hands of careers, and be just a wife; for after all a business manager has not tender womanly breast a tired actor may lay his head of an evening.  If her love is greater than her pride, she will surrender gracefully, and make the adjustments which will enable them to start all over again on a new basis.  If her pride is paramount, she will probably slap him across the face with a bill of divorcement.  The world knows what happened in my case, and that is the answer.  I have no regrets, no remorse.  I enjoyed being married to Natacha and did my utmost to make her happy. Whatever she may say or think now, she too got a lot out of our life together both in material things and good times. She cannot tax me with the old “you have taken the best years of my life etc.”.  The best years of her life are yet before her.  She is as ambitious as ever she was, as high-spirited, as bright and keen.  She can still achieve anything within her logical range. I bear her no ill-will and wish her the best of success.  Neither am I broken-hearted. Nor am I out of a home.  I have a secretary, and I have a few dependable servants, so I am week taken care of.  This summer I brought with me from Europe my brother and his wife.  They supervise my household, and I may entertain whom I like, when I please; and have that “monarch of all I survey” feeling which is so nourishing to the male ego.  Perhaps this account of my second wreck on the reefs of matrimony will give the lie to the line which has been tacked onto me. That I am “a great lover” both on and off the screen.  I suppose it is intended for a compliment, but I do not relish it. I wish above everything to be known as a great artist and am working earnestly and steadily to that end. I hope eventually to be given a picture which will demand something more than a physical performance, and I want to be ready when the times comes. After all, a man gets tired of being talked about and written about as though he were a processional “handsome” man.  For this reason, I need to concentrate on my work and plan for my future as never before.  And what may happen is on the lap of God. However, I must admit that I am not insensible to the charms of the fair sex.

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9 Sep 1926 – Damia Lyric Tragedienne, Arrives

Damia, the French lyric tragedienne, arrived last night on the French liner Paris to fill an engagement under the Shubert management for a few weeks in New York. A special orchestra was brought over on the Paris to accompany her. She said last night on the Paris that she hoped that she could learn English quickly “because people like a song much better when it is rendered in their native tongue.”  Eventually, she became a trusted friend of Rudolph Valentino’s they bonded due to both speaking French.

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8 Sep 1926 – The Late Rudolph Valentino Died Heavily in Debt

Surprise has been caused by the announcement that when Rudolph Valentino, the film star, died, it was found that no only did he have no money but that he owed Joseph Schenk $50,000. His earnings last year amounted to $250,000. His next of kin, his sister and brother in Italy, however, will receive a large amount from royalties in films now running or ready for release. Valentino owed a remarkable collection of antique armor, weapons, and furniture, which he kept at his home at Falcon Lair. Pola Negri recently said that they would have occupied this home as a married couple next year. New York friends of the dead star assert that he was not engaged to Pola Negri, though he thought a good deal of her
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2 Sep 1922 – Idol of Fans

In an exclusive interview with a representative with the NY Times yesterday Valentino announced he will not return to Hollywood pending the outcome of his litigation with Famous Players-Laskey. Papers in the action will be filed early next week and yesterday the company retained Guggenheim, Untermyer and Marshall in an attempt to force Valentino to continue the program outlined in his long-term contract. All day yesterday, the idol of thousands of film enthusiasts sat in a rear room of the office of his counsel, Arthur Butler Graham, at 23 West, 43rd Street in preparation of Valentino. It is understood that Sim Untermyer will be arraigned by Graham in the courts. To prevent Valentino with another production Guggenheim, Untermyer appealed to Hays, High Chief of the affidavit stating the actor’s case will be forwarded today by Valentino’s counsel.  Although the fact is generally known Valentino far less compensation the players of equal import pictures. His salary is to be $1200 a week. Valentino contends Paramount netted more than $1,000.00 in “The Sheik” his first star vehicle, and that “Blood and Sand” his current picture will nearly double that amount he says, is not commensurate with these profits and furthermore, he insists Famous Players-Lasky abrogated its part of the contract by failure to provide the publicity agreed upon. After Valentinos marked success in “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” Metros dramatization of the Ibanez novel he was called to NY by Famous Players-Lasky and offered a contract at a sum that to the theater gods and goddesses is nominal. He refused at first, but when the company agreed to augment the salary with extra publicity he signed for a period of several years. Sleek of hair as always and with a ring of beaten silver on earth has his little fingers Valentino smoked innumerable cigarettes as he discussed his case yesterday for the first time since his arrival in NY.  For days, he has been incognito refusing interviews and remaining in complete obscurity.  “I will not return to Hollywood at the present time: he said. The reports that I will desert America and return to Italy are ridiculous. I have made great success in America and shall remain here. “If I return to Italy it will be only for the purpose of visiting my parents whom I have not seen in 10 years. I have no plans for contracts with other companies. I do not intend to make any until this matter has been settled satisfactorily. I would like to have it understood that I will stand by any contract I make, as long as the other party does likewise. He refused to discuss his private affairs and ignored mention of the name of “Miss Hudnut”, whom he married to in Mexico before the interlocutory degree from Jean Acker had become final. But from another and no less authoritative source the Times learned the Valentinos will not live under the same roof until Jean Acker has passed legally of Rudolph’s life forever. Along Broadway in the motion picture offices, Valentino is known as the “gold mine of the screen” according to his counsel. When his case is called Graham expects to introduce as witnesses the editors of film magazines, who will testify that 70 to 80% of the “fan letters” about screen players received by these publications concern Valentino. Since her marriage to Valentino and return to New York, Miss Hudnut has evaded reporters. She remained for several months at the Hudnut summer camp Foxlear, at North Creek, NY and at one time was said to have booked passage to Europe which for some unexplained reason was cancelled. No she has moved into the Biltmore Suite of her foster parents. She will not return this season to the employ of Nazimova, whose art director she was. Although the Valentinos are living apart, there has been no break in their happy relations. It was admitted yesterday they have been together frequently and will continue to see one another at intervals until the California law permits them to take up their life together.

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George Ullman was Rudolph Valentino’s manager at the time of his untimely passing. The role he played during and after tells a different story.

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1927 – In Memory of Valentino

Tribute to Rudolph Valentino is paid in a donation received by the Near East Relief from an American woman in Maryland.  The money was accompanied by a letter, in which the donation stated that “this gift is to be used for the support of an orphan child in memory of Rudolph Valentino, who brought so much joy into the world for so many people”.

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25 Aug 1926 – More newspace

Several readers have complained because the newspapers devoted more space to the death of Rudolph Valentino.  An editor is not a historian who seeks to put happenings into their proper perspective. If the great preoccupation of the public with Valentino is a thing to evaporate in a short time, that is more reason why it becomes news today.  It is well to remember also that the story of Valentino’s death is not concerned alone with the individual in question but with the reaction of the public to this event.  When thousands stand in the rain for hours seeking a chance to pass the dead man’s bier, that is news beyond any question.  It does not matter that many of the people in line were morbid curiosity seekers. The precise extend of morbidity is also a proper subject of journalistic concern. I rather think that some reports have been too severe in judging the motives of the crowd.  I saw long lines at a distance in the dripping rain, and it is my belief that if it had been possible for a reporter to investigate the hearts of all who waiting there he would have found in many who trudged the slow march through the doors a profound emotion. Valentino had become that priceless thing – a symbol. It was not so much a motion picture actor who lay dead as Pan of Apollo whom they are to bury from Campbell’s funeral parlor. He was to the thousands the romance which they never knew.  He was Prince Charming and came from the other side of the moon.  And if a symbol of romance in the lives of many millions fades, that is a not undignified matter of newspaper interest.  It is a long sleep to which Valentino has gone, and soon the thousands will have another symbol to take his place. It seems to me a little cruel to deny a dead actor his last full measure of press clippings.

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23 August 1971 – Valentino Memorial Service

Today is just another day in Hollywood but for fans of the late Silent Film Star Rudolph Valentino it was 76 years since the passing of their favourite star. This solemn annual event held at Cathedral Mausoleum included former silent movie actor Hal K. Dawson and actress Mary McLaren who led the tribute. Also, the service included members of the Masquers Club, Troupers Club, Foundation for the Preservation of the Memory of Rudolph Valentino, and other noted fans.

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24 Aug 1960 – Service Hails Memory of Screen Idol

A silent screen idol, Rudolph Valentino was eulogized at memorial services Tuesday as the man who “filled a need” for women who lost their loved ones in the first World War. About 50 persons, most of them middle-aged or elderly women, attended that memorial service that marked the 34th anniversary of Valentino’s death at the peak of his career. Former silent film star James Kirkwood, a life-long friend of Valentino, and Belle Martell, also of the silent screen era, both spoke in the solemn service at Valentino’s crypt at Hollywood Memorial Park.  Absent for the third straight year was the “Lady in Black”, who formerly made an annual pilgrimage to the crypt.  Miss Martell insisted this is not just a bit of showmanship, not a carnival. Rudolph Valentino was a great artist with a great big spark of genius. Kirkwood quoted from Hamlets speech to Horatio “Thou has been as one, suffering all…” and recalled the “great qualities” of the silent screen star whose “Son of the Sheik” recently was shown in a new television series.

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23 Aug 2022 – 95 Years of Remembering Rudolph Valentino

What a day to remember a wonderful silent film actor we still recall with love and reverence Rudolph Valentino. I virtually attended the Annual Memorial Service, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, L.A. a time of watching with awe and respect of those that came together to watch and listen to the speakers who had a personal connection to Valentino, musicians, watch moving tributes and soak up an atmosphere of love. Time goes by quickly and it was time to see friends and familiar faces until next year.  I wanted to continue with remembering and watched a 1975 fictional movie titled “The Legend of Valentino” on Amazon Prime. This was an excellent tribute centered around June Mathis who was responsible for Rudy’s career. While the viewer must use their imagination watching it does provide something different and I recommend it you have some time check it out and hope you enjoy.  I finished my evening, of thinking about how many years later, many fans still find time to remember a wonderful actor. It’s been my honor to have met some absolutely wonderful and kind people who are genuine in their admiration. Years will go and life will evolve with fans coming and going. But never forget that Valentino was someone who wanted what we all do a world of kindness with respect for others.

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23 Aug 1961 – 100 Mourn at Grave of Valentino

 

One Hundred persons gathered Wednesday, the 35th anniversary of his death, to pay tribute to Rudolph Valentino. There was no lady in black the mourner whose devotion to Valentino was a tradition in the first 25 years after his death, the Masquers Club and the Troupers another show business group, conducted the rites at Hollywood Memorial Park.

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Aug 1926 – Valentino Cartoon

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19 Aug 1926 – Cheer Up Valentino

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18 Aug 1933 – What Rudolph Valentino Items are Worth

A Rudolph Valentino autograph recently was sold for $75.00.  A mechanics weekly salary will buy Rudolph Valentino’s $18,000 Isotta Town Car, now dusting on a used automobile lot. Nina Wilcox Putnam has a Voisin formerly owned by Valentino.

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17 Aug 1927 – Valentino

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16 Aug 1931 – West East Portraits

In the 25th story art studio in the Roerich Museum, New York City on the night before he sailed on the Mauretania bound for Paris and India, Svetoslav Roerich put the final touches to the last portrait he had completed during the Spring and Summer.  Svetoslav Roerich work as a portrait painter is known to the hundreds of visitors to the Roerich Museum through an extraordinary and moving piece of realism the portrait of Miss Natacha Rambova, his fiancé.  The artist hosted a private showing of the painting titled “A Young Woman Composer” better known as Natacha Rambova former wife of departed Silent Film Star Rudolph Valentino. Miss Rambova originally from Salt Lake City but lived in the New England area is a brunette with a singularly handsome little head and she has draped herself in an old Japanese robe of silvery grey, the background being some stuff in a Japanese design of the same general tone as the robe.  Miss Rambova makes a more brilliant figure, seated in three quarter length in a rich, pale golden robe with a black border.  She wears a golden turban of the true Indian mode and around her neck is a band of golden ornament that would be barbaric if it were not so sophisticated.  The lovely face gleams amidst all these golden tones with an intelligence and a charm that almost dims these auriferous surfaces. 

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14 Aug 1976 – Valentino in the News

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1918 – The Plaint of a Powder-Puff

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In 1918, being called a powder-puff was considered a negative and demeaning word if your a man.  In 1926, Rudolph Valentino was called this same thing by an unknown newspaper reporter from the Chicago Tribune.  Regardless of the time period, I found how interesting this article related to Rudy.

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1920’s – Gloria Swanson Versus Pola Negri

“According to Irwin Zeltner (1971), Hollywood has had many famous feuds, but not cam compare with the feud between two 1920’s silent film stars Gloria Swanson and Pola Negri.  At the time, both were two of the most exotic women this town had known and experienced.  The battleground was Paramount Studio in which their movies were made.  When I first met Gloria Swanson, I was a bit startled by her voice. It was anything but musical.  She was charming, but I quickly noted she spoke with an unmistakable midwestern accent.  My first impression of her was she appeared tiny.  Reared in Chicago by her U.S. Army officer father, in her early teens she was employed as ribbon clerk in a store not far from the stockyards.  Somehow, like so many other famous discoveries, she landed a job with Mack Sennett Studios. She was standing in the doorway of a shack on the Sennett lot one day, when the great star maker Cecil B. Demille chanced by. DeMille, as he told me later, did a double-take and his intuitive perception told him this young lady had personality, charm, and appearance wholly distinctive.  In a short while Miss Swanson was before the DeMille camera clothed in costumes that then were a shock to Hollywood. Her hair was done up in bizarre styles, and in a few lessons, she was taught to gesture with an elongated cigarette holder. The soon-to become famous Miss Swanson was thus prepared for the roles she was assigned to, and these were mostly females of questionable morals.  With everything against her, she somehow remembered her public-school motto “Perseverance Wins”. How well I remember how exciting my duties were in behalf of two of her productions “Feet of Clay” and “Madame Sans Gene” released a couple of years later. These activities brought me in close contact with Miss Swanson and during one of our frequent meetings I was astonished when she spoke out most critically of Pola Negri who had appeared on the Hollywood scene to challenge Gloria’s pre-eminence as “Queen of the Movies”.  “Mr. Zeltner”, she said I am the topmost female star of our industry and I cannot seem to get our Paramount Studio to subdue that Pola Negri woman, that foreigner, that gypsy. I listened carefully, as Gloria after a moments rest continued her tirade. Her eyes glinted, and she was relentless and more sharply demanding than ever. It was not long in coming a showdown with Paramount Studio officials and Adolph Zukor a kingly little man who was President. In his effort to calm the tempestuous Miss Swanson, Zukor offered her a contract in which Paramount was to pay her upwards of one million dollars annually.  But she would not give an inch.  About this time, I had luncheon with Miss Swanson, and no sooner had sat down when I ventured to inquire about her latest Paramount offer.  Her reply was quick “Mr. Zeltner I am forming my own production company. I am the reigning female star of the movie world and determined to remain as such”. I will make arrangements to release my pictures through an affiliation with United Artists. She would be joining Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplain, Harold Lloyd, Rudolph Valentino.  It was not long, after Gloria now complete master of her fate, realized her star was glowing less brilliantly.  Gloria carried her head high, persevered as was her wont and never for a moment allowed her battle with Pola Negri to lapse. Miss Negri kept up the challenge. However, it was now Hollywood History that Miss Swanson won that war, and for along time sustained her exalted position.  It was producer Ernest Lubitsch, who brought the gifted Pola Negri to America and to the Paramount Studio.  Here she immediately clashed with Gloria Swanson. I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Negri on the day of her arrival. This very exotic female was a genuine gypsy. Her father died in exile in Siberia after he had become involved in Poland’s fight for independence from Russia.  Miss Negri in my opinion was a beautiful and talented woman.  She achieved considerable success on the Warsaw stage. In Berlin, impresario Max Herinhardt directed her to state and screen stardom. Miss Negri was well-known on the European Continent as a dancer, having graduated from the Russian Imperial Ballet School. Her combined abilities were now being praised in movie and stage circles in America and juicy contracts were being offered to her. Somewhere in between Miss Negri married and then shelved a real count. The one thing, I keenly remember of Miss Negri on the day of her arrival was that she kept reminding all and sundry that she was a countess.  It was only natural for Lubitsch, to star her in his epic “Gypsy Blood”. This of course, was produced by Paramount Studio. Her role was that of a sultry vamp, and the picture was a box-office success. Soon as the cameras started to grind on this picture, and all through production her famous clash with Gloria Swanson on the same lot flared and it forthwith, grew in intensity.  The battle between them both was so bad Paramount officially shifted Gloria to the East Coast Studio. Later when they sent her to Paris, one of her first achievements was to acquire a titled husband a marquis. Now her fight with Miss Negri was really joined. While this was all going on, Miss Negri was succeeding in turning everyone in Hollywood against her. She held everyone and everything in contempt. She avoided all social contacts, remaining in solitude and her music and literature and an occasional visit from a European friend.  Miss Negri found herself completely rejected and she took great comfort in the romance and love that quietly existed between her and Rudolph Valentino. Incidentally, I was one of only a few close friends of Rudy’s to know of this romance.  When word came to Miss Negri in Hollywood the Latin Lover was on his deathbed, she made a transcontinental dash to be at his bedside. It is true among Valentino’s last words were “If she does not get here in time, tell her I love her”. This message which she received in Hollywood, gave her license to display great grief and some have said was laying it on too thick.  About this time, her popularity started to rapidly decline, and Paramount Studios found it hard to sell her films.  Heroic efforts were made to remold the temptress image, but everything fizzled.  Abruptly she went back to Germany, where she was understood and admired. Again, she married to a fake Prince and I was not surprised by the news at all. I received a cable invitation to come to Germany. This and a later letter detailed her desire for American promotional campaigns for her pictures. She was frank enough to state our methods applied to her German Films would rebound in her favor in the U.S. and this she wanted more than anything else.  Even though she was offering me an amount more than what I was currently earning I respectfully declined. My regard for Pola as an actress never wavered and nor my respect until one day, I received authentic information from a remarkably close friend in American news that Miss Negri was linked with Adolf Hitler. My friend queried her on this, and she never denied the association with the Fuhrer. Her only comment was that there had been many prominent men in her life, with Valentino heading the list.”

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Aug 1966 – Legend lives on…

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2022 – Hollywood Historical Significance of Annual Rudolph Valentino Memorial Service

Silent Film Star Rudolph Valentino is still beloved by fans the world over and every 23 August is remembered through a memorial tribute showing Hollywood one of its own is “Never Forgotten”. His every career move has been documented in newsprint or media, books, blogs, vlogs, and outside interest has never wavered. While greedy property developers and others seek to destroy buildings of historical significance related to the Hollywood movie industry this is one event that will never go away.   

There are two highly recommended books “Valentino the Unforgotten” by Roger Peterson and “Valentino Forever the History of the Valentino Memorial Services” by Tracy Terhune. These great references give the reader further insight from the first-person perspective on how fans still adore our beloved Rudolph Valentino.

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28 Jul 1896 – She truly was most beautiful

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There is something about Barbara that was truly special. She never took a bad picture beautiful inside and out.

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23 Aug 2014 – Annual Memorial Services for Rudolph Valentino, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, L.A.

When I first started this blog, I have always wanted to attend an Annual Memorial Service for Rudolph Valentino, Hollywood Forever Cemetery. For me, I personally felt it important to read about the historical significance of this special event before attending and there were two must reads for me “Valentino the Unforgotten” by Roger Peterson and “Valentino Forever: The History of the Valentino Memorial Services” by Tracy Terhune. I strongly recommend reading both books they were wonderfully informative.

The year was 2014, and I was finally going to make my personal dream a reality and spend 8 days filled with fun and exciting activities during my time in the Los Angeles area. I created a daily calendar of famous historical Hollywood sites I had always wanted to visit. By planning my time carefully, I wanted to ensure my time in L.A. was meaningful.

The day finally arrived and it was time, catching the first flight out. I arrived into L.A. in the very early hours of the morning immediately I hit the ground running. My first stop was Hollywood Forever Cemetery to visit my very favourite silent film actor Rudolph Valentino. When I first entered the Cathedral Mausoleum it felt surreal and having never been here before I instinctively knew where Valentino’s crypt was. I spent time just gazing at a place that was very sacred and special. I took time and quietly spoke to him how he was a wonderful actor, still beloved by many people globally, and how much I adored him. Then I started to look at the other famous people that are laid to rest there and was in awe. After an hour, I went outside and toured more of the cemetery grounds. There was so much more I wanted to see, and made sure to book Karie Bible as my cemetery guide during my stay and it was worth my time and I highly encourage others to contact and make a tour with her.

The day I had been anxiously waiting for finally arrived. It was 23rd August, and I was going to Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I was an early arrival so I could find a good seat to take it all in. I made sure to grab a program and take my seat. I was in awe of how wonderful everything looked from the displays to the flowers it was simply beautiful and tasteful. I introduced myself to Mr. Tracy Terhune and congratulated him on how everything looked. I met Ms. Stella Grace, Christopher Riordan, and many other fellow attendees. From the music selections to the readings and the guest speaker, I was mesmerized by the whole service. Here I was personally mourning someone who meant a great deal to me surrounded by other fans all like-minded and it was what made this first visit special. After the reading of the 23rd Psalm the service ended all too soon and I felt sad. But I knew I was going to come back time and time again.

During my time in L.A. I was privileged to meet some incredible people who have become quite special to me. One person in particular became a close friend during my first visit to the city. Whenever I came back to L.A. in August each year thereafter, we would meet up and have a mini reunion spending the best time together during my visits. We had so much in common and she was such a wonderful friend to many. Last year when plans were being made to attend the memorial service did we find our friend Pam passed away quite unexpectedly. Life may go on but she is always with us.

I dedicate this article to Pam Colt who died on 10 Aug 2021. I miss you very much my friend.

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