Valentino's 100 years of passion with a passion
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.EDWARD HELMORE
Los Angeles
Under the watchful gaze of 12 marble apostles and close to the resting places of Tyrone Power and Jayne Mansfield, 100 people turned out yesterday to remember Rudolph Valentino, the silver screen's greatest romantic idol, on the centenary of his birth. More than any other star, he came to symbolise the legendary glamour of Hollywood in the age of silent movies.
The service, at a marble mausoleum in Hollywood Memorial Park, has been held every year since Valentino's death in 1926. It attracted the strange breed of movie enthusiasts and dreamers who live in the twilight here. "This is what Hollywood is all about," enthused Ann Magnusson, a modern- day diva, who attended the service. ``Hair pieces and cummerbunds."
Women in widow's weeds arrived in imitation of the Lady in Black, a studio- inspired publicity stunt in which starlets were organised to mourn Valentino at his grave. One carried a doll yesterday. "I guess I just feel close to him when I have this," she said, tears filling her eyes.
With a burnoose, an Arabian steed, a pair of riding boots and a luxurious tent with intimations of a harem, Valentino ignited the passions of millions of women with his mystery. "He had the ideal charm and magnetism for the camera," said Bud Testa, the 87-year-old organiser of the event. "The big stars of today are not even close; none of them attract women the way he did.''
Valentino, whose real name was the impressive Rodolpho Rafaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valetina d'Antonguolla, came to the America in 1917 . His first appearance, in the The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in 1919, introduced audiences to the Latin lover, who would treat women with courtesy and deference but promised skill and experience behind the bedroom door.
Valentino died in 1926 in New York at the age of 31, barely 15 years after he had first arrived in America.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments