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Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926) was an Italian-born actor in the era of silent films.[1] He emigrated to the United States in 1913 and took a string of temporary menial jobs before becoming a film extra in 1914.[2] He appeared in several films until 1921—many of which are now lost.[3] That year he got his major break when he appeared in the role of Julio in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.[1] According to Valentino's biographer, Noel Botham, the film was "hailed ... [as] a masterpiece and Valentino as a star";[4] the film grossed $4.5 million at the North American box office.[5]
Valentino played leading roles in fourteen films as a romantic figure.[6] When he appeared in The Sheik in 1921, women fainted in the aisles of theaters;[7] the film grossed $1.5 million.[5] His second wife, Natacha Rambova, took increasing control of his career and image, although this meant his screen image turned "increasingly effeminate".[7] 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).[8] 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";[9] a second Valentino film was inducted in 2003 when The Son of the Sheik was selected.[10]
Valentino died suddenly of peritonitis on August 23, 1926, at the age of 31.[11] His death at the height of his fame, and extensive media coverage, turned his funeral into a national event, at which large crowds attended.[1][12] According to his biographer, Carl Rollyson, Valentino had a "... trim body, athletic grace, and dark good looks [which] made him an action hero and a romantic legend—the epitome of the silent screen's Latin lover".[1]
Year | Title | Role | Credited as | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1914 | My Official Wife | Extra | Uncredited | Lost film | [13] |
1914 | The Battle of the Sexes | Dance extra | Uncredited | Lost film, only a fragment survives | [14] |
1916 | The Quest of Life | Extra | Uncredited | Lost film | [15] |
1916 | The Foolish Virgin | Extra | Uncredited | Lost film | [16] |
1916 | Seventeen | Extra | Uncredited | Lost film | [13] |
1917 | Alimony | Dancer | Uncredited | Lost film | [16] |
1917 | Patria | Extra | Rudolph Valentino | Incomplete | [17] |
1918 | A Society Sensation | Dick Bradley | Rodolpho De Valentina | Lost film (original version) Survives (1924 re-release) | [18] |
1918 | All Night | Richard Thayer | Rodolfo di Valentina | Survives | [19] |
1918 | The Married Virgin | Count Roberto di San Fraccini | Rodolfo di Valentini | Survives | [20] |
1919 | The Delicious Little Devil | Jimmy Calhoun | Rudolpho De Valintine | Survives | [21] |
1919 | The Big Little Person | Arthur Endicott | Rodolpho De Valentina | Lost film | [22] |
1919 | A Rogue's Romance | Apache dancer | Rudolph Volantino | Lost film | [23] |
1919 | The Homebreaker | Dance extra | Uncredited | Lost film | [24] |
1919 | Virtuous Sinners | Bit part | Rodolfo di Valentini | Survives | [25] |
1919 | Out of Luck/Nobody Home | Maurice Rennard | Rodolph Valentine | Lost film | [26] |
1919 | Eyes of Youth | Clarence Morgan | Rudolfo Valentino | Survives | [27] |
1920 | Stolen Moments | Jose Dalmarez | Rudolph Valentine | Lost film (original version) Survives (1922 re-release) | [28] |
1920 | An Adventuress | Jacques Rudanyi | Rodolph Valentino | Survives | [29] |
1920 | The Cheater | Extra | Rudolph Valentino | Lost film | [30] |
1920 | Passion's Playground | Prince Angelo Della Robbia | Rudolph Valentine | Lost film | [31] |
1920 | Once to Every Woman | Juliantimo | Rudolph Valentino | Lost film | [32] |
1920 | The Wonderful Chance | Joe Klingsby | Rudolph de Valentino | Survives | [33] |
1921 | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Julio Desnoyers | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [34] |
1921 | Uncharted Seas | Frank Underwood | Rudolph Valentino | Lost film | [35] |
1921 | The Sheik | Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [36] |
1921 | The Conquering Power | Charles Grandet | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [37] |
1921 | Camille | Armand Duval | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [38] |
1922 | Moran of the Lady Letty | Ramon Laredo | Rodolph Valentino | Survives | [39] |
1922 | Beyond the Rocks | Lord Bracondale | Rodolph Valentino | Survives | [40] |
1922 | Blood and Sand | Juan Gallardo | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [41] |
1922 | The Young Rajah | Amos Judd | Rudolph Valentino | Incomplete | [42] |
1924 | Monsieur Beaucaire | Duke de Chartres/Beaucaire | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [43] |
1924 | A Sainted Devil | Don Alonzo Castro | Rudolph Valentino | Lost film | [44] |
1925 | Cobra | Count Rodrigo Torriani | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [45] |
1925 | The Eagle | Lt. Vladimir Dubrovsky | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [46] |
1926 | The Son of the Sheik | Ahmed/The Sheik | Rudolph Valentino | Survives | [47] |
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