timeline

This timeline will give you an idea of the chronology of events in Valentino's life. There are a few entries which are still debatable, most notably the purported meeting of Valentino and Rambova in France prior to their divorce. But, I felt it important to include them as possibilities if they can be verified at a later date.

1895 - Rudy is born

Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina D'Antonguolla is born to Giovanni and Beatrice Guglielmi in
Castellaneta, Italy May 6, 1895. He is the second of three children. Alberto is his older brother, Maria his younger sister. Coincidentally, the birth of film also occurred in 1895.

1904 - Rudy at 9

The family moves to Taranto.

1906 - Rudy at 11

Father Giovanni dies of malaria in connection with his biological research.

1908 - Rudy at 13

Attends military school and completes his military course at age 15.
At his Mother's urging, he applies to the Naval Academy (in hopes of gaining some discipline). He fails the physical examination and is utterly devastated. This is the catalyst for his lifelong regimen of health and physical fitness. Though a chain smoker in later life (arguably his only vice), he maintains an active physical fitness program to keep in shape.

1913 - Rudy at 18

December 9, 1913 Rudy leaves Italy on the U.S.S. Cleveland for America. He arrives in New York on December 23, 1913.
Rudy is practically penniless with an imperfect command of English which causes him some problems. He ends up renting a small room in an Italian neighborhood in New York.
He spends a lonely Christmas and New Year in a new and strange land, he wonders if it was wise to come to America.
He obtains work where he can and ekes out a meager living.

1914-1915 - Rudy at 19-20

Rudy gets work as a dancer. He moves to an American boarding house where he can improve his command of English.
A stroke of luck! He meets, and soon begins work as a gardener for Cornelius Bliss. He is soon fired for his misdeed or borrowing a motorcycle and wrecking the vehicle on the property. The temptation for speed would follow Rudy throughout his life. Several car accidents, near misses and speeding tickets await! Rudy reaches his lowest point and resides some nights in Central Park.
Rudy steals stationery from expensive New York hotels and addresses letters to his mother in which he lies about his success in New York.
Fortune smiles again! Rudy obtains a position working as a dancer at Maxim's. He meets Bonnie Glass, who is in need of a new dancing partner to replace Clifton Webb (the soon to be actor), and tour New York clubs and the Vaudeville circuit as a dance team. Rudy is billed as Signor Rodolfo.
After Bonnie Glass retires, he dances with Joan Sawyer and continues to tour in vaudeville on the East Coast.

1916 - Rudy at 21

Rudy testifies as a favorable witness in the divorce trial of Blanca de Saulles.
Rudy is charged with "misdemeanor, white slave investigation" by the New York D.A.
(It is speculated that this was at the behest of Jack de Saulles as revenge).
The scandal following on the heel of the divorce testimony led Valentino to believe that New York may not be the best place to stay.

1917 - Rudy at 22

To get to California he gets work as a chorister in The Merry Monarch and The Masked Model.
The Masked Model closes in Ogden, Utah and Rudy is paid off with a train ticket to San Francisco.
Rudy finds work in San Francisco as a dance instructor, also reportedly as a bond salesman and ultimately a chorus boy in a play Nobody Home.
In San Francisco Rudy meets Norman Kerry, Mary Pickford's leading man, who advises that he try his luck in Hollywood.
Rudy joins the cast of The Passing Show starring Al Jolson to get to Los Angeles.
Rudy makes first screen appearance as a dancer in the film Alimony.
Rudy also obtains work dancing in exhibitions partnering several ladies including, Marjorie Tain, Kathleen Phelps and Carol Dempster (best remembered today as a rather unsuccessful D.W. Griffith prodigy).

1918 - Rudy at 23

Rudy's beloved mother Beatrice Gabriela Barbin Guglielmi dies on January 18^,1918 (Valentino does not find out the news until a letter reaches him a month later from his sister, Maria)
Rudy travels to San Francisco to avoid the Spanish Influenza epidemic. He contracts it on his return but miraculously, due to his superb physical shape, he recovers without the aid of a physician.
He meets an independent producer Joe Maxwell who casts him as the lead in The Married Virgin, a film that would not be released until well after Rudy becomes a star.
Rudy gets more extra work in films. He has several appearances as the "heavy" in films.
Though work can be slow to come in and the breaks are tough, steadily his luck increases as his roles seem to get better and better.

1919 - Rudy at 24

Rudy crosses paths with his old New York acquaintance, Mae Murray and her husband Robert Z. Leonard and they cast him in two of her films Big Little Person and A Delicious Little Devil.
From his good work with Mae Murray, Universal employs him in two Carmel Myers pictures, A Society Sensation and All Night.
Rudy gets a meaty and villainous role in Dorothy Phillip's latest film Once to Every Woman.
Rudy meets Jean Acker and, after a brief courtship they marry, on November 5, 1919. A fiasco, the marriage lasts barely a few hours. Jean Acker locks Rudy out of her apartment and refuses to see or speak with him initially.
In December, Rudy still struggles with his reluctant wife and seemingly still unaware of her being a lesbian, writes her an impassioned letter and sends her three photos inscribed with endearments of a loving husband.
His efforts fail and in late December, an announcement is made of their official separation. (She never remarried, used his name for the rest of her career. After the bitter divorce and bigamy trial, they came to an understanding and remained friends.)

1920 - Rudy at 25

Rudy travels to the East Coast to begin filming Stolen Moments (filmed on location in Florida and Georgia).
Rudy returns to New York to begin filming The Fog.
Fortune strikes! Earlier in the year Rudy made The Eyes of Youth with Clara Kimbell Young and his performance makes an important impression on June Mathis, head scenarist and driving force behind the future Metro production, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Rudy is called to Metro's offices to meet June Mathis. He is offered the plum role of Julio in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Rudy returns to California to film Four Horsemen and where fame awaits him as an "overnight sensation."
Uncharted Seas co-starring Alice Lake is filmed on the backlot and on location in Truckee, California (a lost film).
Rudy meets the great Russian actress Alla Nazimova who is preparing to film an adaptation of Camille.
Rudy also meets Natacha Rambova, designer of Camille, his future wife and the driving force that some say nearly ruined his career. He does not make a good first impression.

1921 - Rudy at 26

Camille begins filming in January and during the course of the shoot, Valentino falls in love with Natacha Rambova. His persistent attention and perhaps his rising star breaks her down and they begin an affair.
Shortly after production closes they begin living together at her bungalow on Sunset Boulevard.
Jean Acker files suit for divorce on January 17, 1921.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is released in March and Valentino garners the first big notices of his career. Metro makes changes to some of the marketing for the film to highlight its newest star.
The Conquering Power begins filming. The set is a less happy one and Rex Ingram grows jealous of Valentino's popularity, often needling him during filming and vows not to work with him again. He doesn’t.
Rudy becomes disenchanted with Metro after they deny him a salary increase from $350 to $400 a week and Metro fails to renew his contract. Rudy is out of work for eight months.
Rudy gets a one film contract with Famous-Players Lasky/Paramount to begin filming and star in the adaptation of E.M. Hull’s scandalous novel, The Sheik.
In September, Rudy travels to San Francisco and films location work for Moran of the Lady Letty.
The infamous arty “faun” photos are also taken at Helen MacGregor’s studio in San Francisco. Valentino loved the photos, however, the photos will come back to haunt him later.
The Sheik is released in October and Rudy becomes a national phenomenon. An instant romantic icon is created and a new word enters the lexicon of popular slang, a "sheik." This is the symbol of being romantic and cool by 1921 standards.
In November, Valentino signs a new contract with Famous-Players Lasky, one detail of which is he will star in a vehicle with Gloria Swanson.
The divorce trial between Rudy and Jean Acker begins on November 23, 1921. There is intense public scrutiny of the events as reported in the papers.
Rudy and Natacha jointly purchase a home in the fashionable Whitley Heights section of Hollywood at 6770 Wedgewood Place, in December. Natacha moves in and Rudy lives in a bungalow nearby until the divorce proceedings are concluded. They anticipate a spring wedding.
Beyond the Rocks begins shooting the exteriors off Catalina, Gloria Swanson reported the shoot was a happy one and the atmosphere was festive.

1922 - Rudy at 27

Rudy begins filming Blood and Sand under the direction of Fred Niblo. Valentino is angry that Famous Players Lasky reneged on their promise to film the epic in Spain under the direction of George Fitzmaurice. Instead, the film is shot cheaply on the backlot and at the Lasky Ranch.
An interlocutory divorce from Jean Acker is granted on March 4, 1922. She is awarded a one time only alimony payment of $12,000. Under California law, the divorce is set to become final one year later.
Shooting begins in April on the next Valentino production, The Young Rajah (also scripted by June Mathis). Once again, Rudy and Natacha are unhappy with the state of production.
While vacationing in Palm Springs, Rudy and Natacha (and a host of friends and witnesses) cross the border and marry in Mexicali, Mexico on May 13, 1922.
On May 21, 1922 Rudy is summoned on charges of bigamy and is jailed. He is fined $10,000. His bond was posted by June Mathis, George Melford (director of The Sheik) and Thomas Meighan.
Natacha entrains eastward to avoid the press, Valentino languishes in Hollywood, miserable about his career and miserable without Natacha.
Rudy goes on strike declaring Famous Players Lasky is unfair in their practice of making "cheater" pictures and not giving him artistic freedom in choosing stories and directors.
Rudy and Natacha spend the month of August at Foxlair the Hudnut summer estate in the Adirondacks with his future in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hudnut.
On September 14, 1922 Paramount slaps Rudy with an injunction so he can't work in the film industry.
During the winter months Rudy collaborates with Herbert Howe to produce his biography for Photoplay Magazine. It is later published in Photoplay in 3 parts in 1923.
On December 22, 1922 Rudy participates in an early radio broadcast entitled "The Truth About Myself."
Famous-Players Lasky offers to settle and offers Valentino the princely sum of $7,000 a week to come back to work, “all is forgiven.” Valentino, bad businessman that he was, and perhaps at the urging of Natacha stood his ground for more control on the production end, and stubbornly refused the offer. The gloves were off from this point forward.

1923 - Rudy at 28

Unable to earn a living, the bills begin mounting. Joseph Schenck floats a loan of $11,000 to Rudy for living expenses to get him through hard times.
Valentino, struggling with no income petitioned to have the Lasky injunction amended to allow him to be gainfully employed in some fashion. Legal bills and other debts were mounting. The court agreed and the wording was changed so as to allow Valentino to find work.
Rudy and Natacha are approached by a representative of the Mineralava Beauty Clay Company to promote their products in what was, ultimately, a wildly successful dancing exhibition tour. They toured across country in a private rail car for 17 weeks and 88 cities. The tour culminated in a grand finale beauty contest at Madison Square Garden.
On March 14, Rudy and Natacha travel to Crown Point, Indiana and exchange vows for a second time in a civil ceremony at the Court House.
Rudy enters the Brunswick Studios in New York on May 14 and records The Kashmiri Song in English and El Relicario in Spanish. He is not very impressed with the results and has a few of the records given to friends as gifts. The master recording lies dormant and unreleased until after his death. It was issued in 1930 by Celebrity Records.
His book of poetry, Day Dreams, is published on May 29, 1923. Sales of the book are tremendous and Rudy is justly proud at the reception of his efforts.
His attorney files a lawsuit for payment of fees. Rudy, never a particularly good businessman when it comes to finances, hires S. George Ullman as his personal business manager.
Rudy accepts a new contract offered by Paramount on July 18, 1923. His new salary starts at $7,500 per week with his next two films to be shot at Paramount's Astoria Studios on Long Island.
Rudy and his new bride sail for Europe on a well earned and extended honeymoon. This marks his first visit to Europe since leaving in 1913.
Rudy and Natacha visit London, Paris, Nice and Monte Carlo. They also visit the Hudnuts at their chateau on the Riviera, Juan les Pins, before motoring South to Italy. Natacha leaves Rudy in Rome and returns to Nice.
Rudy continues on to Castellaneta to see his older brother Alberto and his family.
The Valentinos return to New York where Valentino signs a new two-picture deal with Famous Players-Lasky. First up, Monsieur Beaucaire.
Delays in scripting Monsieur Beaucaire provide the Valentinos with an excuse to return to Europe. Valentino departs alone and spends some time in Paris with his friend Jacques Herbetot. Natacha arrives and they spend the Christmas holidays at Juan les Pins.

1924 - Rudy at 29

In the spring and through the summer Rudy begins work on Monsieur Beaucaire in earnest. Production is supervised by Natacha and is directed by Sidney Olcott. Production costs soar, but the ultimate result is a film of outstanding beauty. The box office receipts do not provide any profit for Paramount.
In order to keep the Valentinos happy, Paramount authorizes a generous budget for the next endeavor, A Sainted Devil. Rudy is unhappy with the story treatment, and the simplification of the Rex Beach original. He is reteamed in this film with Nita Naldi.
With his contract concluded with Famous Players Lasky, the Valentinos sign a contract with J.D. Williams to form Ritz-Carlton Productions.
In the fall, Rudy and Natacha return to Europe to purchase antiques for his next planned film under the Ritz-Carlton banner, The Scarlet Power (later renamed The Hooded Falcon).
Armed with $40,000 as a "research budget" Rudy and Natacha travel to Nice, Seville,
Madrid, Granada and Cordoba. Without George Ullman at hand holding the purse strings, they quickly spend $100,000 on Spanish artifacts for use in the film and ultimately to give as gifts to friends and family.
While in Spain Rudy also spends some enjoyable time with his favorite hobby and makes many photographic studies of the Alcazar and the Alhambra.
Rudy and Natacha return to Paris where Nita Naldi, the proposed co-star, joins them for costume fittings for The Hooded Falcon.
In November the Valentinos and Miss Naldi return to New York.
A clamor arises when Rudy is seen sporting a beard he cultivated for his upcoming role in The Hooded Falcon and the Barbers of America vow to boycott his films unless he shaves his beard. With a great deal of publicity and an unbeatable photo opportunity, Rudy bows to pressure and shaves in Los Angeles.
Originally set to begin filming under the Ritz-Carlton banner in Astoria, production is moved to California.
The Valentinos have arguments with June Mathis on the scenario for The Hooded Falcon which results in a break between Rudy and his good friend June.
Ritz-Carlton decides to reduce the budget of the film to a mere $500,000.
After returning to California, Rudy and Natacha begin house hunting in Beverly Hills and he buys an 8 acre estate which is named "Falcon Lair."
Pre-production on The Hooded Falcon bogs down and J.D. Williams suggests that the Valentinos begin filming Cobra while the problems with The Hooded Falcon are ironed out and production is ready to start.
Despite the modern theme of the script, the Valentinos reluctantly agree to begin work on Cobra.
Natacha is in charge of production on Cobra but is rarely seen on the lot.
On Christmas, Natacha presents Rudy with a platinum slave bracelet and matching watch. For the remainder of his life, he is not seen without it.

1925 - Rudy at 30

Ritz-Carlton sees no profit in Cobra and ultimately refuses to continue production on The Hooded Falcon. In fact, Ritz-Carlton can hardly wait to dump the troublesome pair. They soon sever ties, bitterly. All that remains extant of The Hooded Falcon are some costume shots of Rudy.
In February, the Valentinos travel to the desert of Palm Springs for a much needed vacation.
It is during this vacation that Rudy tells Natacha of the contract negotiations between S. George Ullman and Joseph Schenck of United Artists.
On March 9, 1925 Rudy reluctantly signs the new contract with Joseph Schenck and becomes his own producer by joining Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks at United Artists. Rudy will earn $10,000 a week and is contracted to produce 3 films per year of which he earns 42% of the profits. The snag is that Natacha is barred from participating or contributing to any part of the production of his films. Natacha is furious.
To appease Natacha, Rudy sinks money into a production for her alone, What Price Beauty which stars Nita Naldi (and has Myrna Loy in a bit part as a model).
Rudy having met the painter F. Beltran-Masses in Europe, he invites him to Los Angeles. Rudy commissions two paintings and begins taking lessons with the famous artist. He also hosts a party at the Biltmore Hotel to introduce Beltran-Masses to Hollywood and hopefully arrange for further commissioned portraits.
Natacha stalls and provokes a fight with Rudy before leaving to attend the affair which they are hosting. Both look miserable in photographs commemorating the evening.
Rudy begins filming The Eagle on June 6, 1925. He is partnered by a beautiful Hungarian actress, Vilma Banky and by the majestic Louise Dresser (playing Catherine the Great). He is directed by the veteran Clarence Brown.
Falcon Lair is ready for occupancy in early August and Natacha refuses to set foot on the place.
Still hurt and angry at Rudy's betrayal for signing the United Artist contract, she leaves for New York with George Ullman ostensibly to find a distributor for What Price Beauty.
Publicly, they declare their "marital vacation" from one another. Rudy is heartbroken and distraught.
Rudy decorates Falcon Lair in his own style.
Rudy pals around with Beltran-Masses and tangos with Marion Davies at the poolside of her “Ocean House” in Santa Monica.
Rudy forms a close bond of friendship with his co-star in The Eagle Vilma Banky, while she, inexplicably, has eyes for Rod la Rocque!
In November Rudy attends the premiere of The Eagle with United Artist publicist Beulah Livingstone. Rudy is mobbed at the Mark Strand Theater.
On November 10, 1925 Rudy applies for U.S. Citizenship.
Natacha travels to France just ahead of Rudy and files for divorce in Paris.
Rudy travels to London for the premiere of The Eagle at the Marble Arch Theatre on November 22, 1925.
He also travels through France in the hope of meeting with Natacha who seems to be forever one step ahead of him. While in France, Rudy establishes a residency in Paris for the divorce proceedings.
Rudy and Natacha meet for a final time in Nice to discuss property settlement.
In December Rudy spends Christmas with his brother Alberto and his sister Maria in London.
Over the New Year holiday, Rudy wagers that he will not remarry before 1930.

1926 - Rudy at 31 in his final months of life

January 18, 1926, Natacha is granted a divorce in the French Courts.
Rudy brings his brother Alberto and his family to America.
Rudy retreats to Falcon Lair in his own style, filled with antiques purchased on his trips to Europe and he begins a new life as one of Hollywood's most eligible bachelors.
Son of the Sheik begins filming in February on the United Artist lot. Rudy finally gets to work with George Fitzmaurice and is again co-starred with Vilma Banky. Desert exteriors are filmed in Yuma, Arizona.
Rudy is seen socializing with both Vilma Banky and Pola Negri. Soon, it appears that Rudy and Pola are "an item." Both share a common love of horses and are seen riding in the hills above Falcon Lair.
Rudy spends his 31st birthday working on one of his cars and having a wonderful day.
In July Rudy begins to tour the country opening the new film. He visits San Francisco and then heads East to Chicago, where he is defamed by a Chicago newspaper article. He writes an open letter to the author challenging him to defend himself. He receives no response and declares himself vindicated by the author's cowardice.
In New York and still fuming at the libelous article, Rudy engages in a well publicized one-round boxing match on the roof of the Hotel Ambassador with sportswriter Frank "Buck" O'Neil of the New York Evening Journal, O'Neil is impressed with Rudy's facility in the ring.
Rudy travels on to Atlantic City and Brooklyn to open The Son of the Sheik during one of the worst heat waves in recent history.
Rudy sees Alberto and his family off for their return trip to Italy on the S.S. France.
While in New York, Rudy is seen squiring Jean Acker to nightspots. Though their marriage was a fiasco, they later came to terms with their unhappy past and remained friends.
August 14, Rudy attends a party for Barclay Warburton, Jr. in which he escorts Follies chorine Marion Benda.
August 15, at approximately 4:00 p.m. he is stricken at the Hotel Ambassador and is removed by George Ullman and his valet to the Polyclinic Hospital. Exploratory surgery is performed and an acute perforated gastric ulcer and infection is discovered. Surgery is performed by Dr. Harold Meeker to close the perforation between 6 and 7 p.m. Rudy recovers from the anesthesia at about 10:30 that evening.
The hospital is flooded with wishes of good will from fans and friends as well as from Jean Acker and Pola Negri. The newspapers issue special bulletins reporting on Valentino's condition. He appears to be on the mend, however his health begins to fail as a post surgical infection spreads.
August 21, with no antibiotics or sulfa drugs, Rudy soon sinks into a coma from the massive infection. George Ullman, Joseph Schenck and Frank Menillo are at his bedside along with two priests. No other visitors are permitted.
August 23, 1926, as dawn is breaking he utters his last words "Don't pull down the blinds. I feel fine. I want the sunlight to greet me". Lapsing into a coma, Rudy dies at 12:10 p.m.
Official cause of death is endocarditis and septicemia, although almost instantly rumors begin that Rudy was either poisoned or shot by a jealous lover as reported in the tabloids.
Pola Negri's publicist works overtime and she is seen in widow's weeds, claiming that she and Rudy were to be married. She plays the role of a grieving widow to the hilt.
Crowds increase after the announcement of Rudy's death.
His body is removed to Campbell's Funeral Parlor and soon riots erupt in the streets by the crowd attempting to obtain access to view his body as it lies in state.
Crowd control is regained and an estimated 100,000 people crush to see his bier.
August 30, Funeral Services are held at St. Malachi's in New York. Honorary pallbearers include Adolph Zukor and Douglas Fairbanks.
His body is transported across the U.S. by train for entombment in Hollywood.
September 7, 1926 - Funeral at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hollywood, California.
Honorary pallbearers included Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Charlie Chaplin.
Rose petals shower from an airplane over the funeral cortege, Rudy is taken to Hollywood Memorial Park and buried in a crypt borrowed from his friend June Mathis.
In October, George Ullman publishes his book, "Valentino as I Knew Him" and begins making arrangements for the auction of Rudy's estate to pay off his debts.
December 10, 1926, a four day public auction of Rudy effects begins. Rudy's will is made public and among the beneficiaries, besides Alberto Valentino and Mrs. Teresa Werner, his former wife, Natacha Rambova is bequeathed the sum of one dollar.

1927

Rudy's friend June Mathis passes away. After nearly one year in a borrowed crypt, a new need arises for a final resting place for Rudy. Since all plans for a Valentino memorial have fallen through, Sylvano Balboni, June's husband, saves the day by loaning his adjoining crypt to the Valentino family until the crypt is quietly purchased from Balboni in 1929. Rudy, in a borrowed crypt no longer, is linked forever to his friend June Mathis. Ironic that in life as well as death it was June Mathis who was Rudy's great benefactor.

Timeline

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