Rudolph Valentino

Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik. Valentino was a sex symbol of the 1920s, known in Hollywood as the "Latin Lover" (a title invented for him by Hollywood moguls), the "Great Lover", or simply Valentino. His early death at the age of 31 caused mass hysteria among his fans, further cementing his place in early cinematic history as a cultural film icon. Valentino was born in Castellaneta, Apulia, and named Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella. His father, Giovanni Antonio Giuseppe Fedele Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella, was an Italian from Martina Franca, Apulia; he was a captain of cavalry in the Italian Army, later a veterinarian, who died of malaria when Rodolfo was 11. His mother, Marie Berthe Gabrielle Barbin (1856–1918), was French with Torinese ancestry (the original family name was Barbini, gallicized to Barbin later on), born in Lure in Franche-Comté. She was lady-in-waiting to a local marquess. Valentino had an older brother, Alberto (1892–1981), a younger sister, Maria, and an older sister, Beatrice, who had died in infancy. As a child, Rodolfo was indulged because of his exceptional looks and his playful personality. His mother coddled him, while his father disapproved of him. He did poorly in school and was eventually enrolled in agricultural school in Genoa, where he earned a certificate. After living in Paris in 1912, he soon returned to Italy. Unable to secure employment, he departed for the United States in 1913. He was processed at Ellis Island at age 18 on December 23, 1913. Although he found unparalleled fame and success in America, Valentino never filed the necessary papers for naturalization, and so retained his Italian citizenship.