His father Giovanni had been in a traveling circus before meeting his mother and settling down as a veterinarian. Though his father was a strict authoritarian, his mother doted on her "beautiful baby" even to the exclusion of his older brother Alberto and younger sister Maria. By the time he was eleven he was an undisciplined, pampered bully. He was expelled from many schools, finally obtaining a diploma in the Science of Farming from the Academy of Agriculture.

He went to Paris where he learned apache dancing, joined a gay crowd, returned broke, took his inheritance of $4000 and, December 1913, sailed for New York. He worked as a busboy, then gigolo, while pursuing dance, especially the tango. In 1917 went to Hollywood and obtained a small dancing part in Alimony. When he did get acting roles they were villains not lovers. Script writer June Mathis and director Rex Ingram convinced Metro to do The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and to cast Valentino in the lead. The first million dollar production saved Metro and made Rudy a star.

It also brought him to the attention of Alla Nazimova who wanted him to play opposite her in Camille. Alla's friend, Natacha Rambova (nee Winifred Hudnut) became attached to Rudy and they eloped to Mexico 13 May, 1922 in the belief his divorce from Jean Acker was official. He was jailed as a bigamist and fined $10,000. After their re-marriage the following year she fled to Paris having never entered his new mansion, Falcon Lair. He took up her interest in séances and the occult. He began dating sexy Pola Negri partly to improve his image as a man. While touring to promote his last film, an editorial in the Chicago Tribune accused him of "effeminization of the American male". He defended his manhood by challenging the writer of the article to a boxing match (which never took place). He died shortly afterward. 80,000 mourners caused a near riot at his New York funeral. Another funeral followed in California.


The Son of the Sheik (1926): $200,000+25% of the profits
The Eagle (1925): $200,000+25% profits
An Adventuress (1920): $25/day
Alimony (1917): $5/day

Ranked #80 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] A portion of Irving Boulevard in Hollywood, California, was renamed Rudolph Valentino Street in 1978. Published a thin volume of sentimental poetry titled "Day Dreams" in 1923. The book sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Following his untimely death, a bogus, composite photograph of Valentino ascending up to heaven was released for sale, and was snatched up by his legion of fans. Pictured on one of ten 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating stars of the silent screen, issued 27 April 1994. Designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, this set of stamps also honored Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Zasu Pitts, Harold Lloyd, Theda Bara, Buster Keaton, and the Keystone Kops. At the time of his death, Valentino was severely in debt, and his heirs could not afford a burial plot for him. June Mathis, friend and screenwriter of Rudy's hit films The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) and Blood and Sand (1922), graciously agreed to temporarily loan him a space in her family crypt at Hollywood Park Cemetery so he could be interred upon his body's arrival in Los Angeles following a coast-to-coast funeral train ride from New York. Mathis died the following year and Valentino's body was moved into her husband's space. He is still interred there today as all memorial plans fell through during the depression. At the height of his popularity, Valentino went on a brief sojurn in his native Italy to visit friends and family and, in general, to get a much-needed rest. When he returned to Hollywood, friends asked him if he'd been mobbed by fans while on vacation. Valentino said no, explaining that, "over there, I look like every other Italian fellow on the street." He was voted the 32nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Is mentioned in the The Bangles hit song (written by Prince) "Manic Monday". Was paired with Nita Naldi in four movies: Blood and Sand (1922), A Sainted Devil (1924), The Hooded Falcon (1924) and Cobra (1925). In the 1930s, Sheik Condoms, named after his most famous role, were introduced and feature Valentino's silhouette on the packaging for years. The Rudolph Valentino Film Festival, held in Los Angeles, CA was created in his honor. In 2009, a novel, based on the idea of Rudolph Valentino living to the age of 110 was published as, "Conversations with Rodolfo" by Hala Pickford.