Celebrate Valentino Day Every August 23
Valentino Day commemorates the day Rudolph Valentino died, August 23, 1926.
Why do we celebrate on the day of his death rather than his birth? Not really sure on that one.
We’re also not sure who came up with the idea for a day celebrating a silent film star.
Keep in mind that Rudolph Valentino is very different from San Valentino, the patron saint of Terni. His day is Valentine’s Day (yes, the day in February).
This Valentino Day is also different from the Valentino’s Day in September 2011, honoring that women’s fashion legend Valentino Garavani.
No, this Valentino was incredibly popular in his day. But today he’s mostly a footnote in history. Possibly the only people who know him these days are silent film fans.
Who Was Rudolph Valentino
So wee’ll forgive you if you’ve never heard of Rudolph Valentino. Even though he’s been called Hollywoood’s first male sex symbol. After all, that was in the 1920s.
He was born in Castellaneta, Italy on May 6, 1895, with a really (REALLY!) long name: Rudolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Piero Filibert Guglielmi De Valentina D’Antonguolla.
Whew!
He came to America in 1913 and worked a lot of odd jobs … In that respect he was just like today’s aspiring actors!
But he wasn’t necessarily trying to be an actor at the time. He first built a career as a vaudeville dancer. He didn’t get to Hollywood until 1917.
His first movie roles were as dancers or extras in films like Alimony, The Battle of the Sexes, and Seventeen. In many of the films he did not even appear in the credits.
After Alimony, casting directors apparently considered him a good Latin villain and cast him in a number of small roles.
His breakout role was the lead in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in 1921. He moved from villain to sex symbol and starred in several romantic dramas including:
- The Sheik (one of the best known)
- Son of the Sheik
- The Eagle
- Blood and Sand
He was only 31 years old when he died from an infection caused by a ruptured ulcer at a New York Hospital.
It took almost a month to lay his body in its final resting place. First his body lay in state in New York for several days. Mourners rioted and fought with police to see his body. His first funeral (yes, the first. He had two!) was also in New York on August 30.
Then his body went to Hollywood where friends held another funeral on September 14.
For decades a “Lady in Black” laid a single red rose on his tomb on the anniversary of his death. In later years several imitators started doing the same. Maybe that’s how celebrating Valentino Day on the day of his death started?
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficial celebrity holiday.
Ideas For Celebrating Valentino Day
Watch one (or more) of Rudolph Valentino’s films.
Silent black-and-white films seem quaint in today’s world of computer-generated special effects, but they have their charms.
And they’re surprisingly easy to find:
- Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
- The Sheik and Son of the Sheik (Special Edition)
- The Eagle
- Blood and Sand
You can also find several collections of his films, including this one of some of his lesser-known films: The Valentino Collection (The Young Rajah/Stolen Moments/A Society Sensation/Moran of the Lady Letty).
Or maybe you’d prefer a biography of Rudolph Valentino. A number of books have been written and movies made about his relatively short life.
