Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino

by Emily W. Leider

From the author of B ecoming Mae West —an in-depth look at the Silver-Screen legend who forever changed America’s idea of the leading man

Tango pirate, gigolo, powder puff, Adonis—all have been used to describe the silent-film icon known as Rudolph Valentino. From his early days as a taxi dancer in New York City to his near apotheosis as the ultimate Hollywood heartthrob, Rudolph Valentino (often to his distress) occupied a space squarely at the center of controversy. In this thoughtful retelling of Valentino’s short and tragic life—the first fully documented biography of the star—Emily W. Leider looks at the Great Lover’s life and legacy, and explores the events and issues that made him emblematic of the Jazz Age. Valentino’s androgynous sexuality was a lightning rod for fiery and contradictory impulses that ran the gamut from swooning adoration to lashing resentment. He was reviled in the press for being too feminine for a man; yet he also brought to the screen the alluring, savage lover who embodied women’s darker, forbidden sexual fantasies.

In tandem, Leider explores notions of the outsider in American culture as represented by Valentino’s experience as an immigrant who became a celebrity. As the silver screen’s first dark-skinned romantic hero, Valentino helped to redefine and broaden American masculine ideals, ultimately coming to represent a graceful masculinity that trumped the deeply ingrained status quo of how a man could look and act.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film, History, Media Tie In, Biography Memoir, Memoir

536 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2003

Reviews

[MAP · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always risky when you choose a biography of someone about whom you know NOTHING. When you are already interested and know something about a person, there's always the chance that your interest will carry you through even a dry biography. When you don't, it's all on the author's skills to get you hooked.

Fortunately, this is one of those books. Leider writes a book that gets you involved and caring about Valentino's life and struggles, even if you've never once before given a thought to them. She has a good, natural style of narration that gives the book an almost novel-like feel, although the book does bog down some around the time Rudy starts getting snippy about his Paramount contract and doesn't pick up again until Natasha starts to step out on him.

Solid four stars, and definitely turned me into a Rudolph Valentino fan.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant examination of the life and death of the smoldering star of the silent screen: Rudolph Valentino. In this meticulously researched book Leider examines how Valentino may have been destined to be a part of the movies because he was born in 1895 and he was an Italian immigrant who came to America at a time when 'honest' labor was difficult to secure because of American's irrational fears of foreigners. Embedded within her connection of Valentino to America's fears and WW I is a discussion of how Valentino was the epitome of the changing face of the American experience. Women were going to work, definitions of masculinity were rapidly shifting and more and more Americans were becoming wrapped up in a society that celebrated exuberant levels of consumption of material goods.
Leider captures the sordid and complex details of his life and how Valentino may himself have constantly battled to be seen as masculine even as he struggled with his own confused sexual desires. Ultimately what she captures is the tragedy of his life in the conjunction with the free form ideas of the period of cinemas birth as a global medium of communication.

[Chris Cipollini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is far and away the definitive Valentino biography. I would recoomened it to anyone with any interest in Rudolph Valentino or the whimsical world of Hollywood in the twenties.One day I took an impulsive trip to the outskirts of Seattle. There was a theater I wanted to venture to that still aired silents, so I was drawn. I guess the book was calling me on. I found it in a small, but suprisingly well frequented bookstore on the outskirts of Seattle's University District. The owner who sold it to me was kind and resembled a character from a twenties film herself, though whether it was by intention or not is anyone's guess. Regardless, I was absorbed in Rudy's journey. The misinformation about him presented in other tomes is nothing short of disgusting, and this book was wonderfully free of any of it. I felt his pains, knew his wraths. I truly am upset that more Hollywood bios nowadays seldome feature Valentino, and rather go for tabloid style heresay instead(Dream of Desire, for example..) yet in any event, the book was well written, gloriously researched and told with the candor of a person who was very fine storyteller and did her homework. Valentino would smile. I can only hope that one day a film will come to the screen that captures the magic of this elegant and magnificent work.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most comprehensive bio of Rudolph Valentino to date. Puts Valentino and his legacy in perspective and not a sensationalized bio in any way.

[Kathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seems well researched and gives you a comprehensive account of a too short (aka just 31 years long) life. If your goal is to simply read about what happened in his life at what point in time, then this biography certainly delivers that very well.

I wasn't overly thrilled with the book though, for several reasons: 1, because Leider occasionally loses herself in all sorts of details and just tells a number of events chronologically without really going into how things connect or what the bigger picture was. 2, she also goes into a lot of the actual movies in depth, describing plot, costumes and acting styles but seems to have no critical distance from some of the pictues, which in many cases are interesting and even shocking insights into American racism, sexism and homophobia at the time. I looked into the subjects in depth for uni a few years back, and Valentino is certainly an interesting subject for this type of analysis because as an Italian he was frequently cast as white characters, middle eatern characters, Latino characters, once even cast to play a black character (although that film never ended up being shot), and even within his movies (most notably the Sheik) a lot of commentary on 1920s American racism can be found (whether that commentary was intentional at the time or not is anyone's guess, it probably wasn't, though.)

He also had a lifelong struggle with his own masculinity going on, to a large degree fuelled by the media and society of the time, partly an internal struggle. This the author does go into, but it also remains a listing of facts and events rather than actually dealing with the subject at hand and looking into the effects of the way he presented his masculinity in film and society because he's still scene as the Latin Lover Prototype today, and that type didn't really exist before. I just expected more depth here.

The same goes for the long-lasting bisexuality rumors that are not really addressed at all in this book. The author acknowledges that there was one guy called André who might have been Rudolph's lover but other than that, she doesn't go into it. I am not looking for a detailed account of Rudolph's sex life but for something that has been so attached to his character for almost a century now you might have expected the subject to at least come up. She acknowledges this one guy called André who might have been Rudolph's lover at one point, but other than that she just completely ignores the whole subject altogether in favor of talking about wife Natasha.
Natasha, by the way, is the most interesting person in this book. This may be a bit weird considering it's supposed to be a biography about her husband, but of everything this book accomplished the most profound effect on me is that I now want to read more about her because she seems fascinating!

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leider's biography of Valentino is really quite good. I was a bit surprised, partly because I find the title off-putting (she justifies it really well, though!), and partly because I was skeptical of the level of interest Valentino could actually engender in me. What actually happened was . . . I started to like him. Previously, my interest was limited to his on-screen performances, but Dark Lover is truly a life story. It's incredibly sympathetic, without letting the sympathy and rapport (and, hey, let's be honest, attraction) Leider develops for Valentino cloud her judgment. He was usually not very bright, and he was disastrous with business and money. His relationships with women were not exactly great either, and he was insecure about his masculinity (although this is partly because he made so many other people insecure about masculinity, so they lashed out).

This last element of Valentino's personality comes through very clearly, and the way Leider treats it makes the book extremely interesting. She also brings in very thoughtful discussions of the way Valentino was racially categorized on-screen (um, The Sheik?) and off-screen (Italian wasn't white yet). Although Dark Lover is a very personal biography, Leider doesn't hesitate to place Valentino in the context of enormous concepts like race, gender, and sexuality, and examine the way those elements interacted in his personal life, in his public life, in his construction as a movie star and public figure, and so forth.

All in all, this is a balanced, thoughtful, exhaustive, and entertaining biography. Leider knows how to pick good quotes.

[James Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valentinos legend is something that interested me, having only seen segments of his films I wanted to learn more about the legendary star.

His story is riddled with inconsistencies that will never be truly known however Emily W Leider has done an amazing job of researching the man.

As many rumors about his life are still abound its interesting to see the objective way this book is approached and the images that go with it.

Valentino was the original screen idol, his seductive looks and charm seemed to ooze from the screen yet never quite matched the real life he led.

Beautifully misunderstood Valentino becomes a man to match the legends.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, well-wriiten and researched life of one of the biggest movie stars of the silent era, Rudolph Valentino. It's fascinating to learn how this poor immigrant who started out to be a gardner, became a taxi dancer, then a film actor. Valentino was a kind and romantic man who was unlucky in love and died tragically young. Lots of gorgeous stills too.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a fabulous book! Valentino's life feels like a Jazz Age tragedy akin to The Great Gatsby. The portrait Leider paints of him is very moving and human. Considering a lot of writing about RV is generally based off tabloid fantasies and thirdhand gossip, this well-researched book was refreshing.

[Camille Cusumano · Rating 5 out of 5]

RUDOLPH VALENTINO WAS NO GIGOLO, MAYBE A METROSEXUAL

Rudolph Valentino was no gigolo, contrary to popular myth. Nor was he a “powder puff” as he was accused during his lifetime. He was a natural at playing romantically sensitive, as well as villainous, roles. His career came of age during an era when Douglas Fairbanks, who disdained love-making scenes (as courting was called in those days), was the symbol of American manhood. Playing the turbaned lead in one of his last films, “The Sheik,” boosted his appeal among women, further perturbing men.

Valentino was ahead of the time when Americans would covet all things Italian. The legendary actor/dancer had a penchant for extravagant dress that blended comfortably among Italy’s or France’s continental populace but raised eyebrows in conventional America. He might fit the contemporary definition of “metrosexual”—a man “who is less troglodytic than the average heterosexual man, more concerned about his appearance and displaying characteristics, such as love of art, culture, and shopping—that are more typically seen in gay men.”

After reading the page-turner Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino by Emily W. Leider, I take issue with much of the two-dimensional image accorded this iconic Italian immigrant/artist through the ages. Leider, with stunningly clean, clear, crisp prose, puts before our eyes a much more complex persona than the simplistic idea of the man most Americans have had.
Through her meticulous research, Valentino, born Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi in 1895, appears as a Renaissance man. He grew up in southern Italy, in the province of Apulia, with a doting French mother and a strict disciplinarian Italian father. Notably, he was a rapscallion and rebellious youth performing poorly in early school years and full of devilish pranks. As a teen, he performed well in agriculture school near Genoa, a natural in that field, especially with animals. He would later perform his own stunts with horses in his films. In “The Young Rajah” he handles a baby leopard as if it were a house cat. 

Casting about for his calling, young Valentino was drawn to artsy Paris for a while, spending above his means as he would do his entire life—money be damned. He arrived in New York at age eighteen in 1913 and divided his energy between taking advantage of the Manhattan’s cultural offerings and trying to make a living. Heedless of practical matters, Rudolph let his finances run out quickly. He slept on park benches and washed dishes until he found he could make a living dancing. (If he was a gigolo for being paid to dance tango, then as a tango instructor, I am a female gigolo.)
The tango and other ballroom dances of the time came naturally to Valentino. People noticed. He was lithe, catlike, and moved with native grace. You can perceive his luscious body language and skillful facial expressions in any of his surviving films. His innate dance ability helped him break into the high society whose respect he badly wanted. Valentino, in contrast to his modest rearing, always thought of himself as an aristocrat, perhaps fudging on his ancestry to that end. He was a born clothes horse, well groomed, and fastidious about his physical appearance.

His boyish good looks were only one aspect of his success. His charm, charisma, and humor appealed to both sexes. He persisted in chasing his dreams. His film career began in the east with his playing uncredited bit parts in silent movies filmed in New Jersey and New York. Respected scriptwriter June Mathis famously discovered Valentino. His senior by about nine years and lifelong mentor, Mathis saw this dark-complexioned bit player as perfect for the starring role in “The Four Horse Men of the Apocalypse.” She had to fight to get her way and lucky for us she did. Valentino’s tango with Beatrice Dominguez in that enduringly wonderful film carved in stone (or celluloid) his image as a tango dancer lover boy. But there is so much more to his acting ability, apparent in this saga based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez.

Rudy (he liked that sobriquet given him in his adopted home) would read classical literature that pertained to roles he would play. In addition to learning English well enough to break into Hollywood (a burgeoning backwater that his image helped shepherd into its Golden Era), he learned fluent Spanish and French. He read up on Freud and could discourse on that nascent psychology. He published a book of poetry. Like a Greek Adonis, he honed a beautiful physique, which shows through in surviving photos.

Even before he became enraged about being called a “powder puff” and having his virility questioned, Valentino was athletic, a great swimmer, and loved boxing. Jack Dempsey became a friend and trainer. I'm guessing Rudy knew about carbo-loading for aerobic sports (he loved his pasta) before that was even a concept. It was in the last year of his life that he challenged the journalist who called him a powder puff to a boxing match. The writer never responded.

Rudy was NOT a skirt chaser, much as he loved women. In fact, he was often lonely and bore up under being dismissed as a slick-haired immigrant—“patent leather hair,” they described his look (I dread to imagine what else). He was vulnerable and sensitive in a way men were not allowed to be then (or even now). His loves came to him organically because women were drawn to him. His first wife, Jean Acker, started out as a Hollywood-set friend while others snubbed the not yet famous actor. She listened to his heartbreak when his beloved mother died back in Italy. He had sobbed and brooded for weeks. He and Jean married too impulsively and she rejected him on their wedding night, falling back on her lesbian relationships. It’s not clear whether he knew Jean’s orientation beforehand. Valentino would always be drawn to strong women like Jean, even as he dreamed of a home-body wife.
He was devastated by Jean’s abandoning him but soon Natacha Rambova (a wealthy Utah girl who had studied Russian ballet) became his second wife and the true love of his short life. He never stopped wearing the slave bracelet she gifted him and other jewelry, again projecting a sensibility that was ahead of its time for American men.

Rudy and Natacha, the latter a set and costume designer, enjoyed about five years together, nurturing each other's artistic and creative talents, living sumptuously. Natacha, high-strung and Waspy cool, has been unfairly called to task for being so opinionated about Rudy’s career and even blamed for anything that went wrong.

But he adored her and respected her ideas. Note that Rudy, even when he became a big box-office draw and unprecedented money-maker for studios, was still paid much less than female stars of his time (whose names you might never even have heard). Natacha tried to help him get his due in artistic control and compensation. Rudy endured discrimination, no doubt, because he was pegged as just an immigrant. (Notably: He had tried to join the military during World War I in Canada, but was rejected for his weak vision; when he had tried in his teens to enlist in Italy, he was sent away for too small of a chest.)

The sad ending to Rudy and Natacha's marriage hinged in part on his longtime desire for a family. He loved children and was close to his young nephew, Jean, his older brother’s son. Natacha, to her credit, had told Rudy from day one, if you want kids, go elsewhere. She never wavered on that conviction. This and other issues led to their divorce. They tried to keep up a good front for the media hounds. The irony is that Valentino loved and respected women like Natacha who wrote their own script in life. Perhaps they both lived ahead of their times. (Natacha’s set and costume designs for Oscar Wilde’s “Salome” in 1923 was unpalatable to its contemporaneous audience. Today it shows as a darkly magical, sexually-charged modern dance with its Aubrey Beardsley-inspired sets.)

In less than a year from their separation, Rudolph Valentino, with that unbearable loss and career-stress issues, would succumb on August 23, 1926, in Polytechnic Hospital, NY, to complications from a perforated ulcer. He was thirty-one years old. At the time, he was still cresting the peak of his career and fame. The world mourned as never before, and perhaps only since for, say, a Kennedy. Rudy's final resting place is Hollywood, where he had blossomed into a fully great artist. 
There is too much to make of his living years, as Leider shows, to be concerned about the circus around his untimely death, including in the ensuing years. Rudy lived every moment—whether happy or anguished, winning or losing. He lived it all fully, more than most of us ever do in a lifetime two and three times longer. I don’t mourn his life as cut too short but celebrate the accomplishments he has bequeathed us.

There are several other books on Valentino, probing his sex life, including one that is hell-bent on concluding, solely based on circumstances (Valentino had a male roommate once and gay friends), that Valentino was a repressed homosexual. This book has a number of blatant factual errors in it, and is not to be trusted. However, Leider's work is much more reliable, with impeccable research and numerous footnotes, gratefully rendered at the end, not bogging down the pages. She makes Rudy and other characters come alive on her page-turner. Even though I knew that he would die in his prime, I was moved to tears when that moment came. As an avid tango dancer and instructor with recent ancestry in southern Italy, I feel compelled to restore my compatriot to respect. Rudolph Valentino is a Renaissance man.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is fine, but Valentino, despite the drama surrounding his early death, is a surprisingly boring subject.

[Noah T · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a deeper look into Valentino's life, you won't like this book. While aesthetically superior to David Bret's 'Valentino: A Dream of Desire," Emily W. Leider's book seems very leery of getting too close to the facts of his sex life, which involved many men and few women. Avoiding these aspects of this is denying who he was, a very sexual man. In an apparent attempt to sidestep this, she renders Valentino into cardboard. painted in drab conventional colors. His many lovers, including Ramon Navarro and Andre Daven, are just "friends", Natacha "his difficult but loving wife' his sexuality "confused." Because she couldn't outright deny what his sex life was, and just WHY he remained married to Natacha, which has since become known, she simply pretended it didn't exist, focusing her pen on safer subjects, like his taste for pasta and his penchant for reckless driving. This book is both misleading and boring, albeit with some wonderful photographs.
While writing a bio on a person who nobody living has ever known, you're going to end up drawing on your own ideals, fantasies and conceptions because photographs and vintage copy can only reveal so much. But this woman gave us a study in boredom. There are better book on Valentino. Avoid this one.

[Poly Styrene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent biography of a silent screen star who died at the height of his fame. This book was one of the best biographies I've read so far. The author does a fantastic job at describing Valentino's Hollywood which, in the silent era, was still still very divided between New York and Hollywood. Valentino's relationship with his mother in Italy and his two marriages (the first a quick affair lasting only a few months to Jean Acker the second to the love of his life Natacha Rambova) are examined as well as his rumored affairs with other men. This is far from a mere sensationalistic exploit. On the contrary, those rumors of rampant homosexuality on Rudolph and Natacha's parts are pretty much put to rest for good. I enjoy how the photographs included in this volume are relevant to what is being written. I only wish there were more photos as Valentino was such a dashing man!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

America's first Hollywood star & a latin lover combined! HE WAS DEFINITELY CAT NIP TO THE WOMEN OF HIS GENERATION! This book gives you everything; Rare "HOT" pictures, a glimpse into Segnor Rodolfo's taxi dancing days in the early 'teens, how he got the world going "Tango Crazy" in The Four Horsemen of The Apocolypse, and how he changed the mold forever of the modern American man! Also, the book talks about his marriage to his two wives (at the same time!!!), his divorce from Natasha Rambova, and how his excessive last few months led to his sudden & untimely death at age 31! THIS IS A MUST READ!!!!!!!!

[Susanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and well-researched, with plenty of background and context provided so one really feels a part of the era.

I have been watching Rudolph Valentino films thanks to Netflix, and he certainly deserves the "catnip for women" title. This book will give you all you need to know about him.

It's a tragedy of the human condition that one of the first male Hollywood sex symbols would suffer from the same personal insecurities as the rest of us, hurting from criticism and never fully realizing how appreciated he was.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well written and informative biography of the late film legend Rudolph Valentio. I would have liked more information though, but then again I am a history junkie.

I enjoyed the way how Leider wrote about the original Hollywood system. And how classical acting and the Stanislavsky method were merging to create the stars of the silver screen. And yes Valentino got to meet Stanislavsky.

Reading this book has increased my love for old Hollywood even more.

[Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off I'll start by saying I'm a big Valentino fan and lot of books like to focus on the negatives of his life, e.g. gay. I read this book first with the intention of reading Jeanine Therese Villalobos' book Rudolph Valentino: The Early Years, 1895-1920 as a sort of series. I wasn't disappointed. This is a very complete biography on him, with complete sources and nice photographs.

[Amanda Harford · Rating 5 out of 5]

breaks your heart. by the end of the book you almost can't believe everything you've just read and you really hurt for the guy. I'm actually making it a point to read it again. it was amazing. be prepared to break out your tissues!!

[Will Mayo]

This book concerns Rudolph Valentino - born Rodolfo Guglielmo in Italy - the great lover of the silver screen era who astounded audiences with his mysterious and exotic features and who though he claimed in life to be nothing like the onscreen lover that women admired this is belied somewhat by the women in his life whose affections he charmed. Once while married to his first wife and making love to the woman that would later become his second wife their lovemaking became so active that he knocked the poor woman out cold. Worried, Rudy then roused the two lovers' male housemate with Rudy, stark naked and still visibly aroused, frantic with concern.

Their housemate, whom we have no idea whether was clothed or not, roused Rudy's lover, Natacha, with a cold, dripping sponge on her forehead and the two men watched the woman slowly come to her senses.

"She must have just been unconscious," the fellow said. "Wow. You guys must have really been having at it."

"Yes," Rudy said, "For several hours."

"Well, have at it," the man said.

"Oh, don't worry," Rudy replied. "We will."

And the two made love the whole night through.

Some people have been quick to claim that Rudolph had male lovers as well as female and were all too quick to criticize him for wearing makeup and for his extensive wardrobe but it hardly even matters one way or the other since Hollywood in the silent screen era was a gender fluid set and people were always jumping out of bed with one another with hardly a worry in sight as to whether the lover in question was male or female or something in between. It was a free loving time and in the words of more than one historian, it was a roaring time that resembled our own in many different ways.

Sadly, Valentino died at a young age after having forsaken the advice of a fortuneteller on the Santa Monica pier that his life would soon come to an end and that he must get all his affairs in order. He drove fast, lived and loved recklessly and died soon after with words of love on his lips. To this day, spiritualists and psychics of all kinds worldwide seek the advice of the great lover from the beyond and on every year a mysterious woman dressed all in black lays a single red rose on his grave on the anniversary of his death. His image lives on, in screen and in hearts, and beckons all to follow.

[James Bazen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rudolph Valentino, one of the most iconic faces of film history, attained immortality with his untimely death on August 23,1926 at the age of 31. Emily Leider's biography is an excellent, thoroughly- researched and compelling read. She traces his early life and ambitions of his childhood in his native Italy, his journey to America in 1913 at the age of 18. His early struggles in New York, his rise in the world of taxi dancing and exhibition dancing, his early career in motion pictures, his eventual rise to stardom, and his tragic death. Emily Leider's writing is excellent and she paints a fascinating portrait of the man behind the mystique and exotic screen image. The book gives insight on the cultural significance of Valentino's meteoric rise(after years of playing stereotypical ethnic "heavies" in film), his career triumphs as well as it's frustrations; the intense adulation of his adoring public; the venal and vicious smears of male journalist and many men in the public, and the complexities and contradictions of the man himself offscreen. Leider is also very intelligent and respectful in delving into the questions concerning the rumors regarding Valentino's sexuality and at times androgynous screen image which have become a part of Valentino mystique since before his death. Highly recommended to those with an interest in early film, it's an absorbing and compelling look at this enigmatic and legendary star.

[Andrew Rothstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew that Rudolph Valentino was silent movie star. I thought of him as a heart throb. That was it. Never seen him in a movie. Knew nothing of his personal life. Saw a positive review of the biography and gave it a shot. Turns out, his story is pretty interesting.

What jumps out about Valentino is viewing his life in a cultural context of the first half or the 1920s. Apparently, his Italian appearance and dark skin drove passions in white America - in both directions. Some adored him (mostly women) and others despised him (mostly men). Valentino challenged conventional views of masculinity and sensuality. He became associated with some of the best and worst of them. In film and real life. He came to be associated with Arab men - as a caricature - and was called The Sheik.

His public image didn't correspond with the one he desired. He neediness and appetites for material goods, affection, and recognition were bottomless. His death at age 31 created a legend. His complicated life take a lot of explaining.

Something else that the biography makes apparent. Very few of the silent picture stars retain fame in modern times. Some names, like Chaplin, Fairbanks, Pickford, and Keaton still enjoy a degree of recognition. Most of the people who were stars with Valentino would only be known to students of that film era.

[Lynne M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woops! Totally forgot to review this book when I read it, way back in the olden days pre-quarantine. LOL.

I have to admit, I've never seen much of Valentino's work onscreen. I only saw part of a film called The Sheik, and I really don't think such a film would even get made today because of its content. Still, I always found him interesting, even off-screen mostly because it seems his life keeps being re-told and inconsistently at that. This book did a great job of addressing the myth versus facts of his life. He may have been very g00d-looking and charming, but his life away from the screen did not seem to match the life as it appeared onscreen.

It would have been quite interesting had he lived past the silent screen era. I'd imagine his career would have eventually would have faded out, the same way that the careers of other silent film gods like John Gilbert and Ramon Novarro's eventually did.

[David Allwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rudolph Valentino, according to those who knew him, was an incredibly charismatic man and a highly skilled silent movie actor, and so he probably deserves a better biography than this book. Although it stoically tells his story in detail from birth to death (and beyond), it seems to lack emotion and a genuine understanding of the man. Telling us what he did is different to telling us who he was. There is also a tendency for the author to focus on the lows of his life, and the highs are therefore muted. Silent movie stars were the gods of their day but Rudy’s life is depicted as all struggle and little acclaim, and so when hundreds of thousands turn up wailing at his funeral, it comes as a disjointed jolt. Rudy, as an icon, deserves a more iconic biography.

[Leyendecker1874 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book because of reviews on Goodreads. I did not know much at all about Valentino so all of the information was new to me. The writing was decent if a little drawn out at some parts. The last chapter could’ve ended about 5 pages sooner, and that is indicative of the whole book in my opinion. It could’ve really benefited from a talented editor with a keen eye. I appreciated that the author wasn’t long winded, but I thought the specifics about movie plots went a little too far.

[Brian The Red · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed biography of silent film star Rudolph Valentino follows Rudy from his early days as a young ne'er-do-well in southern Italy to his time hustling dance moves in New York City to his eventual and very brief stardom in Hollywood in the early 20s. In Emily Leider's narrative, Rudy is a complicated character, part proud and devoted artist, part little boy who never grew up. His romantic travails are both tedious and fascinating, and Leider's frequent discussions of sexuality--not just Rudy's, but many of those associated with him--add an intriguing element without being sensationalistic.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhaustively researched look at Valentino's brief life. Maybe too exhaustively, after a while the minutiae of every facet of his life becomes wearing. For ardent fans it's a feast but for the merely curious it's taxing. I found myself picking out salient points and then skimming through the details.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating if not overly long. You can’t blame this book for its immense details , but every detail of trips and movie plots was a little much. Still this is the best biography of the legendary actor and its unbiased and objective position really was wonderful.

[Brandyn Phipps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Lots of little details of other people in Valentinos life as well which I enjoyed! It's not a rambling book like the barry pari s books (sorry barry)

[Gia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, well written and researched book on Valentino.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography was so well-written with meticulously researched information on the actor's life, allowing me a look inside Valentino's world, old Hollywood and the cultural attitudes of the 1920s.