Rudolph Valentino

Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentain d'Antonguolla was actually Rudolph Valentino. He was born on May 6, 1895. Valentino was a silent film actor who make his mark in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Eagle, The Sheik, Son of the Sheik Blood and Sand. He was a sex symbol of the 1920s and was known as the Latin Lover.
Valentino was a spoiled and indulged child and he did poorly in school. He earned a degree at the agricultural school in Genoa but hated every minute. He moved to the United States in 1913. He ran out of money quickly and supported himself by bussing tables and gardening. He found work as a taxi dancer at Maxims.
He found work in in an operetta company in 1871 where it traveled to Utah. He joined Al Jolson's production of Robinson Crusoe Jr. and travelled from Utah to Los Angeles. He had a small part in Nobody Home where he met Norman Kerry who convinced Valentino to try film. His first part in Hollywood was in Alimony. He was always cast as a gangster.
In 1921 Valentina starred in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It was a critical success and one of the first films to make $1M. In 1921 Valentino played a major part in the Sheik. This film cemented Valentino's image as a Latin Lover. His leading role in Moran of the Lady Letty gave him more notoriety. He starred with Gloria Swanson in Beyond the Rocks and in 1922 worked on Blood and Sand.
Valentino married Jean Acker to get her out of a lesbian love triangle. They divorced quickly and Valentino married Natacha Ramboa in 1922. He was arrested for bigamy since he had not been divorced from Acker for a full year. In March 14,, 1923 they legally married but divorced in 1925. Valentino died at the age of 31 from appendicitis and gastric ulcers on August 23, 1926.