Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926) was an Italian actor.

Illness and Death

On August 23, 1926, Rudolph Valentino died at the age of 31 in New York, New York as a result of septicemia, a short time after surgery for an acute perforated gastric ulcer. He had collapsed on a Manhattan sidewalk, and author and Algonquin Round Table character Robert Benchley was said to have wound up with Valentino's top hat as he assisted the stricken Valentino into an ambulance.

Related Topics:
New York, New York - Septicemia - Algonquin Round Table - Robert Benchley

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(There were bizarre rumors that he had actually died from, among other things, aluminium poisoning after eating food prepared in aluminum cookware, illegal medicine taken to treat his receding hairline, or a gunshot wound to the stomach inflicted by a jealous husband.)

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An estimated 100,000 people lined the streets of New York to pay their respects at his funeral, handled by the famous Frank Campbell Funeral Home. The event was a drama itself: windows were smashed as fans tried to get in, Campbell's hired four actors to impersonate a Fascist honor guard (which they claimed to have been sent by Benito Mussolini, but which was in fact a publicity stunt), the royalty of Hollywood all turned out, and so on.

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His funeral Mass in New York was celebrated at St. Malachy's Roman Catholic Church, often called "The Actor's Chapel," as it is located on West 49th Street in the Broadway theater district and has a long association with show business figures. Actress Pola Negri collapsed in hysterics while hovering over the coffin. Several of his fans were even said to have committed suicide. The popular rumor that the funeral home displayed a wax effigy of Valentino rather than the actual body itself to protect it from frenzied mourners is probably groundless.

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After the body was taken by train across the country, a second funeral was held on the West Coast, at the Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd, and his remains were interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

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His studio continued to receive fan mail well into the 1930s, and, presaging similar rumors about the American rock and roll legend Elvis Presley, there was even talk that Valentino was not dead at all but had faked his demise to escape the pressures of stardom.

Related Topics:
Rock and roll - Elvis Presley

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The American author John Dos Passos describes Valentino's youth, career, death and funeral in a chapter called "The Adagio Dancer" in his novel The Big Money.

Related Topics:
John Dos Passos - The Big Money

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