- Born
- 6 May 1895, Castellaneta, Italy
- First work
- 1914: The Battle of the Sexes
- Peak
- 1921 to 1926 (estimated)
- Last work
- 1926: The Son of the Sheik
- Died
- 23 August 1926, New York City, United States; aged 31; illness
Rudolph Valentino
Film: actor, dancer, Italy
Rudolph Valentino was the ultimate romantic idol of silent cinema, whose smouldering charisma earned him the title of the Latin Lover. Emigrating from Italy, he worked as a ballroom dancer and bit-part player before skyrocketing to global sensation in 1921 with The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and The Sheik. Valentino brought exotic sensuality and dynamic grace to romantic adventures such as Blood and Sand. His sudden collapse and subsequent death from peritonitis in New York City in August 1926 at age thirty-one provoked unprecedented worldwide public grief. He remains an archetype of early cinematic stardom.
Who else was born on 6 May or who died on 23 August.
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Signature works
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse film1921
- The Sheik film1921
- Blood and Sand film1922
- Monsieur Beaucaire film1924
- The Eagle film1925
- The Son of the Sheik film1926
Honours
- Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1960