AKA: Rodolfo di Valentina, Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaelo Pierre Filibert di Valentina d'Antonguolla Guglielmi, Rodolfo di Valentina
Nationality: Italian
Birthdate: 05/06/1895
Birthplace: Castellaneta, Italy
Death Date: 08/23/1926
biography
His death at age 31 spurred suicide attempts and waves of public violence by mourners; a testament to the singular cultural lightning rod that had been the life of Rudolph Valentino. Dubbed “The Great Lover” for posterity, H.L. Mencken called him “catnip to women,” even as some of the nation’s most influential op-ed pages castigated him as a catalyst in a national wave of effeminacy in American men, perhaps the nation’s first bout of “metrosexuality.” Arguably the first true superstar in the modern age, Valentino left more of mark as a heartthrob and a media phenomenon than, by critical
Arrived in NYC and worked as landscape gardener; lost job and worked as dishwasher and waiter; booked by police on suspicion of petty theft and blackmail; worked as taxi driver and then nightclub dancer
Replaced Clifton Webb as partner of Bonnie Glass in NY
