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Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926) was an Italian-born actor in the era of silent films. He emigrated to the United States in 1913 and took a string of temporary menial jobs before becoming a film extra in 1914. He appeared in several films until 1921—many of which are now lost. That year he got his major break when he appeared in the role of Julio in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. According to Valentino's biographer, Noel Botham, the film was "hailed ... a masterpiece and Valentino as a star"; the film grossed $4.5 million at the North American box office.

Valentino played leading roles in fourteen films as a romantic figure. When he appeared in The Sheik in 1921, women fainted in the aisles of theaters; the film grossed $1.5 million. His second wife, Natacha Rambova, took increasing control of his career and image, although this meant his screen image turned "increasingly effeminate". The films in which he played a romantic role within the action genre were the more successful at the box office; these included his final two works The Eagle (1925) and The Son of the Sheik (1926). In 1995 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was inducted into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"; a second Valentino film was inducted in 2003 when The Son of the Sheik was selected.

Valentino died suddenly of peritonitis on August 23, 1926, at the age of 31. His death at the height of his fame, and extensive media coverage, turned his funeral into a national event, at which large crowds attended. According to his biographer, Carl Rollyson, Valentino had a "... trim body, athletic grace, and dark good looks made him an action hero and a romantic legend—the epitome of the silent screen's Latin lover".

Filmography

References and sources

References

1. ^ Rollyson 2000.
2. Botham 2002, pp. 15, 23, 30.
3. Ellenberger 2005, p. 3.
4. Botham 2002, p. 135.
5. ^ IMPA 1938, p. 492.
6. Leider 2004, p. 4.
7. ^ LaGumina et al. 2003, p. 659.
8. Browne & Browne 2001, p. 867.
9. "Librarian Names 25 More Films to National Film Registry". Library of Congress. December 18, 1995. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
10. "Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry". Library of Congress. December 16, 2003. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
11. Leider 2004, p. 389.
12. Leider 2004, p. 392.
13. ^ Ellenberger 2005, p. 236.
14. Ellenberger 2005, p. 235.
15. Leider 2004, p. 425.
16. ^ Leider 2004, p. 426.
17. Ellenberger 2005, p. 237.
18. "A Society Sensation". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
19. "All Night". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
20. "The Married Virgin". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
21. "The Delicious Little Devil". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
22. "The Big Little Person". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
23. "A Rogue's Romance". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
24. Botham 2002, p. 348.
25. Botham 2002, p. 347.
26. "Nobody Home". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
27. "Eyes of Youth". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
28. "Stolen Moments". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
29. "An Adventuress". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
30. Rambova 2009, p. 254.
31. "Passion's Playground". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
32. "Once to Every Woman". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
33. "The Wonderful Chance". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
34. "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
35. "Uncharted Seas". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
36. "The Sheik". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
37. "The Conquering Power". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
38. "Camille". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
39. "Moran of the Lady Letty". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
40. "Beyond the Rocks". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
41. "Blood and Sand". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
42. "The Young Rajah". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
43. "Monsieur Beaucaire". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
44. "A Sainted Devil". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
45. "Cobra". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
46. "The Eagle". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
47. "The Son of the Sheik". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.

Sources

• Botham, Noel (2002). Valentino: The First Superstar. London: Metro Books. ISBN 978-1-84358-013-3.
• Browne, Ray Broadus; Browne, Pat (2001). The Guide to United States Popular Culture. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-87972-821-2.
• Ellenberger, Allan R. (2005). The Valentino Mystique: The Death and Afterlife of the Silent Film Idol. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-8341-9.
• International Motion Picture Almanac 1937–38. New York, NY: The Quigley Publishing Company. 1938. OCLC 900904412.
• LaGumina, Salvatore J.; Cavaioli, Frank J.; Primeggia, Salvatore; Varacalli, Joseph A. (2003). The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-58333-0.
• Leider, Emily W (2004). Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-21819-6.
• Rambova, Natacha (2009). Rudolph Valentino: A Wife's Memories of an Icon. Hollywood, Cal.: 1921 PVG Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9816440-4-2.
• Rollyson, Carl (2000). "Valentino, Rudolph". American National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved September 24, 2015. (subscription required)

• Male actor filmographies
• American filmographies
• Rudolph Valentino