Rudolph Valentino
Uploaded by snow_shoes31 on Feb 23, 2002
When the mention of the name Rudolph Valentino happens, it is mostly likely that the response received would be, The Great Lover and The Sheik. Valentino’s jaw-dropping appearance and great looks aside, he was also a very fine comedian, something that very few people realize. It was through Valentino that the now very common concept of “hot actors” such as Tom Cruise came about. (Stiff 2/23/02) Valentino was a fine actor, a film pioneer, and a film icon. (Hill 2/3/02)
Born May 6, 1895 in Castellaneta, Italy, to Giovanni and Beatrice Guglielmi, Rudolpho Alfonzo Rafaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d’Antonguolla (Hill 2/3/02) couldn’t have imagined the fame that he would gain after coming to America and becoming Rudolph Valentino. The somewhat bi-lingual and intelligent son of an ex-calvary captain turned veterinarian and the daughter of a French surgeon, Rudolph enjoyed a comfortable middle-class childhood, with instances of mischief. (Stiff 2/23/02) Valentino’s father died when he was only 11, from malaria in connection with his biological research. (Hill 2/3/02) His father’s premature death, however, did not hinder his studies at a nearby agricultural college, and with his mother’s reluctant blessing he set sail for America in 1913. Valentino came to America on the S. S. Cleveland not as the poor immigrant boy of myth, but as an ambitious young man. (Stiff 2/23/02)
His arrival in New York City was less than a dream come true. Unable to find work that he wanted to do, he got a job lined up to be a gardener on a Long Island Estate, calling upon his agricultural knowledge. However, that fell through before it even started. (Stiff 2/23/02) Shortly there after an orchestra leader friend of his at Maxim’s got him a job as a dancer at the club. After Valentino’s short-lived dancing success at Maxim’s another friend of his, Bonnie Glass, needed a partner for a Vaudeville dancing specialty and called upon Valentino talent. The dancing duo opened at Rector’s, they were an immediate success, apparently Valentino’s luck had turned. Shortly there after came another dancing success with Joan Sawyer, but Valentino was sick of New York City, it held too many glum days for him. He wanted to head west. (Hill 2/3/02)
California brought continued new hope for Valentino, he even took a pay cut from $240 a week to $75 a week to be in John Cort’s production The Masked Model. However, before...