RUDOLPH VALENTINO BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Rudolph Valentino was born May 6th, 1895 in Castellaneta, Apulia, Italy as, Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antoguolla. His family was middle class and he was one of three boys born to Giovanni Guglielmi, a Veterinarian and his wife Beatrice Gabriella Barbin. In 1906, his father passed away and Valentino and his brother were sent to study at the nearest town, Taranto. Valentino spent must of his early educating years at the Venice Military Academy, in Venice, Italy, but flunked out of school at the age of 13. He later on was able to complete school receiving a diploma in agriculture from the Royal Academy of Agriculture. Valentino was finally given the money his father had put way for his education and he set sail for the United States.
Valentino immigrated to the United States in 1913 and worked for a time as a gardener, a dishwasher, and later as a dancer in vaudeville. A job as a busboy changed his fortune. It was here that he was introduced to the world of Dance Halls and Cabarets. An older waiter took him under his wing and taught him to dance. He was soon working as a full-time dancer at the Restaurant. The tango became his specialty. Before long he was supplementing his income by working as a gigolo.
In 1918 he went to Hollywood, where he played small parts in films. . His first role was a bit part as a dancer in the film "Alimony". He then caught the eye of movie star, Mae Murray who insisted that he play the lead in her next feature, "The Big Little Person". Soon after, "A Society Sensation" and "All Night" were his next two films and both were a huge success. Valentino was now a rich young man, darting around Hollywood in fast cars with beautiful women.
He was then given the role of Julio in "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" 1921. This was his next big step to stardom. He mostly appeared in romantic dramas such as, "The Sheik" 1921, "Blood and Sand" 1922 and "The Son of Sheik" 1926.
In Mexicali, Mexico on May 13th, 1922, Valentino married actress Natacha Rambova, however since his first marriage to Jean Acker was not yet over, he was jailed for bigamy. The couple remarried in 1923, but that marriage soon ended as well.
Single again, again Valentino set off on a lifestyle of wild partying. On 14 August, 1926 he attended an all-night party. The next morning he was found laying on the floor in pain, he was rushed to hospital and operated on for acute appendicitis. However, complications set in, including poisoning of the wall of the heart. Rudolph Valentino, the Great Italian Lover, died on 23 August, 1926. He was just 31 years of age. His early death, at the age of 31, only increased his legendary status, especially among his large female following. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
Filmography
1914 The Battle of the Sexes
1914 My Official Wife
1916 Seventeen
1916 The Foolish Virgin
1918 Alimony
1918 A Society Sensation
1918 All Night
1919 The Delicious Little Devil
1919 The Big Little Person
1919 A Rogue's Romance
1919 The Home breaker
1919 Out of Luck
1919 Virtuous Sinners
1919 The Fog
1919 Nobody Home
1919 The Eyes of Youth
1920 The Married Virgin
1920 Stolen Moments
1920 An Adventuress
1920 The Cheater
1920 Passion's Playground
1920 Once to every Woman
1920 The Wonderful Chance
1921 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1921 Uncharted Seas
1921 The Conquering Power
1921 Camille
1921 The Sheik
1922 Moran of the Lady Letty
1922 Beyond the Rocks
1922 Blood and Sand
1922 The Young Rajah
1924 Monsieur Beaucaire
1924 A Sainted Devil
1925 Cobra
1925 The Eagle
1926 The Son of the Sheik
