Tag Archives: Rudolph Valentino

Ramón Novarro – Style Icon

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Silent film sex symbol, brilliant real estate investor (Samuel-Novarro House in the Los Feliz Hills), grisly Halloween murder victim:  I have been fascinated by him for years.  Today is his 114th birthday.  He is one of my “Not So Secret Obsessions” and for the longest time, I really did not fully understand why.  I am sure it is a combination of a lot of things, but as with most of the Style Icons I admire, it really all comes down to reinvention.  I am fascinated with it, drawn to it, and well, a product of it.  So, I guess when I see another tribe member, it is only natural that I embrace them, even if they died two years before I was born.  Another one of his biographies may be the next book I read and if anyone knows how to get a copy of “Bloody Wednesday” without having to win the lottery first, please let me know.  Ladies and gentlemen, Ramon Novarro.  Style Icon Born: February 6, 1899 Durango, Mexico
Died: October 30, 1968 (aged 69) North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Navarro was born José Ramón Gil Samaniego on February 6, 1899 in Durango, Mexico to Dr. Mariano N. Samaniego. He moved with his family to Los Angeles, California, to escape the Mexican Revolution in 1913.

Allan Ellenberger, Novarro’s biographer, writes:

…the Samaniegos were an influential and well-respected family in Mexico. Many Samaniegos had prominent positions the affairs of state and were held in high esteem by the president. Ramon’s grandfather, Mariano Samaniego, was a well-known physician in Juarez. Known as a charitable and outgoing man, he was once an interim governor for the State of Chihuahua and was the first city councilman of El Paso, Texas…

Ramon’s father, Dr. Mariano N. Samaniego, was born in Juarez and attended high school in Las Cruces, New Mexico. After receiving his degree in dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania, he moved to Durango, Mexico, and began a flourishing dental practice. In 1891 he married Leonor Gavilan, the beautiful daughter of a prosperous landowner. The Gavilans were a mixture of Spanish and Aztec blood, and according to local legend, they were descended from Guerrero, a prince of Montezuma.

The family estate was called the “Garden of Eden”. Thirteen children were born there: Emilio; Guadalupe; Rosa; Ramon; Leonor; Mariano; Luz; Antonio; a stillborn child; Carmen; Angel and Eduardo.

At the time of the revolution in Mexico the family moved from Durango to Mexico City and then back to Durango. Ramon’s three sisters, Guadalupe, Rosa, and Leonor became nuns.

A second cousin of the Mexican actresses Dolores del Río and Andrea Palma, he entered films in 1917 in bit parts; and he supplemented his income by working as a singing waiter. His friends, the actor and director Rex Ingram and his wife, the actress Alice Terry, began to promote him as a rival to Rudolph Valentino, and Ingram suggested he change his name to “Novarro.” From 1923, he began to play more prominent roles. His role in Scaramouche (1923) brought him his first major success.

In 1925, he achieved his greatest success in Ben-Hur, his revealing costumes causing a sensation, and was elevated into the Hollywood elite. As with many stars, Novarro engaged Sylvia of Hollywood as a therapist (although in her tell-all book, Sylvia erroneously claimed Novarro slept in a coffin). With Valentino’s death in 1926, Novarro became the screen’s leading Latin actor, though ranked behind his MGM stablemate, John Gilbert, as a model lover. He was popular as a swashbuckler in action roles and was considered one of the great romantic lead actors of his day. Novarro appeared with Norma Shearer in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) and with Joan Crawford in Across to Singapore (1928). He made his first talking film, starring as a singing French soldier, in Devil-May-Care (1929). He also starred with the French actress Renée Adorée in The Pagan (1929). Novarro starred with Greta Garbo in Mata Hari (1932) and was a qualified success opposite Myrna Loy in The Barbarian (1933).

When Novarro’s contract with MGM Studios expired in 1935, the studio did not renew it. He continued to act sporadically, appearing in films for Republic Pictures, a Mexican religious drama, and a French comedy. In the 1940s, he had several small roles in American films, including John Huston’s We Were Strangers (1949) starring Jennifer Jones and John Garfield. In 1958, he was considered for a role in a television series, The Green Peacock with Howard Duff and Ida Lupino after the demise of their CBS sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve. The project, however, never materialized. A Broadway tryout was aborted in the 1960s; but Novarro kept busy on television, appearing in NBC’s The High Chaparral as late as 1968.
At the peak of his success in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was earning more than US$100,000 per film. He invested some of his income in real estate, and his Hollywood Hills residence is one of the more renowned designs (1927) by architect Lloyd Wright. After his career ended, he was still able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

Novarro had been troubled all his life as a result of his conflicting views over his Roman Catholic religion and his homosexuality, and his life-long struggle with alcoholism is often traced to these issues.[7][8][9] MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer reportedly tried to coerce Novarro into a “lavender marriage”, which he refused. He was a friend of adventurer and author Richard Halliburton, also a celebrity in the closet, and was romantically involved with journalist Herbert Howe, who was also his publicist during the late 1920s.

Novarro was murdered on October 30, 1968, by two brothers, Paul and Tom Ferguson (aged 22 and 17, respectively), whom he had hired from an agency to come to his Laurel Canyon home for sex. According to the prosecution in the murder case, the two young men believed that a large sum of money was hidden in Novarro’s house. The prosecution accused them of torturing Novarro for several hours to force him to reveal where the nonexistent money was hidden. They left with a mere 20 dollars that they took from his bathrobe pocket before fleeing the scene. Novarro allegedly died as a result of asphyxiation, choking to death on his own blood after being brutally beaten. The two brothers were later caught and sentenced to long prison terms, but were quickly released on probation. Both were later rearrested for unrelated crimes, for which they served longer terms than for their murder conviction.

Ramón Novarro is buried in Calvary Cemetery, in Los Angeles. Ramón Novarro’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6350 Hollywood Boulevard

Novarro’s murder served as the influence for the short story by Charles Bukowski, The Murder of Ramon Vasquez, and the song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, “Tango,” recorded by Peggy Lee on her Mirrors album.

In late 2005, the Wings Theatre in New York City staged the world premiere of Through a Naked Lens by George Barthel. The play combined fact and fiction to depict Novarro’s rise to fame and a relationship with Hollywood journalist Herbert Howe.

Novarro’s relationship with Herbert Howe is discussed in two biographies: Allan R. Ellenberger’s Ramón Novarro and André Soares’s Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramón Novarro. A recounting of Novarro’s murder can be found in Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon.

Ramón Novarro – Style Icon.

Rudolph Valentino – Style Icon

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Today is Rudolph Valentino’s 117th birthday.

NAME: Rudolph Valentino
OCCUPATION: Film Actor
BIRTH DATE: May 06, 1895
DEATH DATE: August 23, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH: Castellaneta, Italy
PLACE OF DEATH: New York City, New York
ORIGINALLY: Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi

BEST KNOWN FOR: Rudolf Valentino was an Italian-born American film actor who was idolized as the “Great Lover” of the 1920s.

Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the “Latin Lover”. He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik. He had applied for American citizenship shortly before his death.

His sudden death at age 31 caused mass hysteria among his female fans, propelling him into icon status. Though his films are not as well known today, his name is still widely known.

After his death many of his films were reissued to help pay his estate expenses. Many were reissued well into the 1930s, long after the demise of silent film. Several books were written including one by Rambova. Several songs, including “There’s a New Star in Heaven Tonight” and one by his first wife Jean Acker, entitled “We will meet at the end of the trail”, became best sellers. A photomontage print showed Valentino arriving in Heaven and being greeted by Enrico Caruso.

Over the years, a “woman in black” carrying a red rose has come to mourn at Valentino’s grave, usually on the anniversary of his death. Several myths surround the woman, though it seems the first woman in black was actually a publicity stunt cooked up by press agent Russel Birdwell in 1928. Several copycats have followed over the years.

Valentino’s hometown of Castellaneta, Italy has created several services in his honor. A Museo Rodolfo Valentino was opened in his childhood home. A Fondazione Rodolfo Valentino was created to promote his life and his work. In 2009 a film school was also opened in his hometown, “Centro Studi Cine Club Rodolfo Valentino Castellaneta.” At the centennial of his birth several events were held in his honor. From 1972 to 2006 an Italian acting award, “The Rudolph Valentino Award”, was handed out every year. Several actors from all over the world received this award including Leonardo DiCaprio and Elizabeth Taylor.
In 2006, the Italians planned a one-off film festival to celebrate the opening of the Museo Rodolfo Valentino. In May 2010, the American Society held The Rudolph Valentino Film Festival in Los Angeles, California.

Why He’s A Style Icon

Born in 1895 in Castellanata, Italy, Rudolph Valentino arrived at Ellis Island at the age of 18 in 1913. By 1921, following a lead role as Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan in The Sheik, Valentino had achieved superstardom. His exotic, Mediterranean look was the polar opposite of the fair complexioned, blue-eyed, all-American image that dominated Hollywood at the time, and Valentino, who oozed sensuality and Italian sophistication, quickly became known as the “Latin Lover.” In addition to his smoldering, handsome looks, it’s undeniable that the star’s incredibly fashion-forward wardrobe was instrumental in cementing his status as a sex symbol.

In fact, Valentino’s avant-garde sense of style effectively turned middle-class American dressing on its head, and at least four major fashion trends can be credited to this style innovator. Following the success of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, gaucho pants were introduced to American men, who previously viewed baggy clothing as effeminate.

The pop icon also had a hand in removing the stigma associated with wristwatches. When they were first introduced, watches were perceived as a feminine accessory by American males due to their resemblance to bracelets. Finally, after the debut of The Sheik, Valentino’s perfectly slicked-back hair was so copied that men who wore their hair in this manner were known as Vaselinos and guys who were players were referred to as being “Sheiks.” When Valentino died at age 31 in 1926, some 100,000 people swarmed the streets of New York, leading to mass hysteria among female fans and rioting as the public swarmed the funeral home.

Dress The Valentino Way

Never photographed looking sub-par, Rudolph Valentino’s Italian heritage was evident in his knack for always being the most elegantly dressed man in the room. A gentleman through and through, when his wardrobe was auctioned off following his death, rumor has it that it included some 50-odd suits. From business suits to lounge suits, Palm Beach suits, formal dress suits, and even a gray corduroy hunting suit, Valentino had a suit for every occasion. In order to cop this legend’s look, you’ll, therefore, need at least one fits-like-a-glove tailored suit in your closet.

When he wasn’t spotted in a suit, Valentino favored either tailored slacks or gauchos and white vests. In his downtime, ever a glamorous Italian, Valentino kicked back in sumptuous dressing gowns, including one with a paisley pattern that was lined with white fur. In fact, this celluloid seducer’s love of luxury so completely pervaded his style that all of his handkerchiefs were personalized, his drawers were silk, his rings and cuff links were set with precious or semi-precious stones, and his pocket watches and cigarette cases inlaid with diamonds.

The lesson to be learned here is to not be afraid of incorporating unusual elements into your wardrobe. Finally, to really nail Valentino’s look, never go anywhere without a hat. For a tasteful modern spin on Valentino’s dapper Italian style, try this warm-weather, Mediterranean-resort-appropriate white blazer from Zara and slick your hair back or part it cleanly to one side.

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