23 Sahara Knights

The Sexuality of Rudolph Valentino

 

 

 

 

Q: Was Rudolph Valentino Gay or Bisexual?

 

No.  There were many gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual stars in vaudeville and Hollywood just as there is today (Ramon Novarro, Alla Nazimova, Jean Acker, and Julian Eltinge would be a few to name).  Not every silent film star was gay or in hiding as has come to believed in the last few decades.  To say he wasn't gay is not denial, or homophobic.  He would have been just as an amazing actor no matter what his orientation.  But the questions always arise, and the facts are still the facts.

 

The 1920s were a very liberal time, akin to the 1960s in many ways.  Women, Homosexuals, Cross dressers, and Minorities had many freedoms that would soon be lost until more recent times.  To be gay in Hollywood wouldn't have been a major shame, though admittedly it would be hard to be out and out as it is today.

 

Everyone likes to speculate, and say they 'know' because 'someone told someone' the 'truth' about a long dead star.  This happens often in Valentino's case.  Obviously it is impossible to know what someone did in their bedroom 90 years ago (with the advent of digital cameras maybe biographers of the future wont have this problem) but it is possible to get a general idea based on their actions over a lifetime.

 

By all accounts Valentino was straight.  He had his childhood girlfriends, a troubled romance with a chorus girl in Paris during his teenage years, and apparently did not slow down once he arrived in New York.  True he wasn't a woman hungry Sheik as he portrayed on the screen, but by most accounts he loved women.  Mae Murray recalled he had aspirations on her, though she was seeing someone at the time.  He got into major trouble pining over the married Blanca de Saulles (eventually driving him from New York).

 

In California he married Jean Acker, who was indeed a lesbian (caught in a very powerful love triangle she seen Valentino as her way safely out of it).  Rudolph could not understand what he had done to offend her and wrote her many love letters pleading for her to forgive him and love him as his wife.  It seems by this letters he did not know she was a lesbian, or the concept was lost on him until their separation.

 

Ironically he did come to have many gay friends, which is probably where some of the rumors spread from.  Julian Eltinge while not officially gay (he married a woman) was a female impersonator, a close friend of June Mathis (Rudy's mentor), and gave Rudy one of his early supporting roles in "Isle of Love" (1918).  Alla Nazimova had small flings with men (including Paul Ivano) but for the most part was considered a lesbian (in fact she was dating Jean Acker, one part of the triangle).  Rudy was not one to discriminate, he always insisted someone should be judged on their character and proved it with his circle of friends, including the black sheep of Hollywood Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
 

Rudy was obsessed with Natacha Rambova, his second wife.  He wound up in jail for her (over bigamy charges), he couldn't wait to marry her, he let her run his business affairs, he admired her taste in art and design, and he nearly committed suicide on a few occasions after they separated.  A gay man would not pine so longingly for a beard of a wife.

 

On his death bed he sent telegrams to Natacha (who was in Paris) right up until his final hours.  Both George Ullman who was with him, and Natacha, believed a reconciliation had taken place.  Why he would make it such an urgent matter when death was so near seems odd if he were indeed gay.

 

In addition to his liberal friend circle some of the rumors may have spread from his media battle during the 1920s.  White American Men did not take kindly to his Latin Lover ways, and called him effeminate in press for the COSTUMES he wore in films (gaucho pants and Sheik robes were baggy and thus considered girly).  This was a coded way of lobbing 'gay' at someone.  They then called him effeminate for wearing a wristwatch which was considered girly at the time even though other sexy male celebrities had begun wearing them (it was a new invention).  In his 1927 book George Ullman went to great lengths to explain how Rudy did not care what people though of his clothing, though that caused the most stir.  The Pink Powder Puff article was another similar attack, and it bugged him so he pursued it viciously in the press, even though everyone thought it was a publicity stunt (on his death bed he reportedly asked the doctor "Am I still a pink powder puff?").

 

However no one seemed to sincerely doubt his sexuality at the time.  In the 2 years following his death Ullman noted 32 some women claimed to be carrying his child, even when the timeline did not quite fit.  Pola Negri threw a fit at the funeral, convinced they were set to be married.  Marion Benda and a slew of other women were confirmed to be dating him near his final months.  Rumor had it he dated Vilma Banky and Nita Naldi as well (though both of these claims are doubtful).

 

The gay rumors officially started in the 1960s, when several trashy books claimed that he was gay amongst other things.  Hollywood Babylon perpetuated the myth he dated Ramon Novarro (see below please) and both his wives were lesbians.  These rumors just grew over the years, despite no basis in fact.  Today it has been quite hard to overturn them as Rudy speaks so deeply to both the gay and straight fans who have found him in the decades following his death.  Surely he would have been pleased to have such a following but as it stands the facts only prove one thing: he was straight.