Gay???
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iamthemook — 18 years ago(August 20, 2007 02:52 PM)
apparently not. When he arrived in the U.S. in the mid-1910's, he found work as a tango dancer many of whom found work as gigolos who catered to weathly society women (he allegedly slept with Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Lillian Russell, and Lillie Langtry) and later had affairs with Pola Negri, Allah Nazimova (who was bisexual), Nita Naldi, Vilma Banky, Dolores del Rio, Myrna Loy (he got her a screen test and bedded her as well), Mae Murray, Gloria Swanson, May McAvoy, Renee Adoree and BeBe Daniels among others. His two wives, Jean Acker and Nata5b4sha Rambova were lesbians.
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cclub — 18 years ago(August 26, 2007 09:29 PM)
apparently not. When he arrived in the U.S. in the mid-1910's, he found work as a tango dancer many of whom found work as gigolos who catered to weathly society women (he allegedly slept with Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Lillian Russell, and Lillie Langtry) and later had affairs with Pola Negri, Allah Nazimova (who was bisexual), Nita Naldi, Vilma Banky, Dolores del Rio, Myrna Loy (he got her a screen test and bedded her as well), Mae Murray, Gloria Swanson, May McAvoy, Renee Adoree and BeBe Daniels among others. His two wives, Jean Acker and Natasha Rambova were lesbians.>>>>
In Emily Leider's book, it is noted that he had a relationship with up and coming French actor Andre Davenhe was either bisexual or straight, but I know he wasn't a homosexual.
It wouldn't bother me either way. -
cclub — 18 years ago(August 26, 2007 09:35 PM)
Nazimova! He never slept with her. Most of those affairs are 'alleged' and there is no proof he slept with Naldi, Nazimova and many of those other women. He even resisted the advances of gloria swanson because he was so deeply in love with Natacha.
Rudy was a pretty conservative guy on sexual matters. -
kewlcrueldude — 18 years ago(September 16, 2007 10:32 PM)
According to Mark Ellinger on his San Francisco Hotel Project website:
ALHAMBRA APARTMENTS - 860 GEARY ST.
1913. Architect: James F. Dunn. 6 stories, stucco & painted terra cotta facade, cusped Moorish arches, loggia, penthouse, dome, fantasy lobby.
The Alhambra's most famous tenant was Rudolph Valentino, who used the penthouse and dome as his San Francisco playhouse, where he could play with his boytoys away from the bright lights and prying eyes of Hollywood.
Ellinger's website is scrupulously researched, but I do not know where he got this information. I will ask him. -
NatachaRambova — 18 years ago(September 24, 2007 11:28 PM)
Rudy was NOT gay or bisexual! They are stupid sick rumors that DO need to stop! In a biography on Natacha Rambova the author has true facts that point out Natacha was NOT lesbian or even bisexual! And Rudy was not either! Also Rudy NEVER had an affair with Nazimova! She was a bisexual and she didn't like him nor did he like her! And he was very very dedicated to his wife Natacha. He only slept with her during their marriage! Just because he was very handsome and called "The Great Lover" many rumors have popped up about affairs2000 and his sexuality! Ramon Novarro was the homo and not Rudy! Rudy was very straight!
"He who gazes upon the sun, need not debate it's brilliance! Uh, Ling Po." -Harold Lloyd -
Falconeer — 11 years ago(June 21, 2014 08:30 AM)
I do respect your passion for these silent film stars, but it's not really appropriate to call Ramon Novarro a "homo." It's just as bad and tasteless as calling Rudy a "homo." The truth is, nobody on this board can answer this question. Even people that knew Valentino would be hard pressed to know such intimate details. Many actors breaking into show business sometimes will engage in certain acts and relationships, simply to get ahead in the business. Unfortunately some people don't realize that, and assume that the person engaging in that sexual act actually "enjoys" it. R. Valentino was a known gigolo when he first arrived in New York. That is not slander, and nothing to be ashamed of. I believe that Rudy, along with countless immigrants coming to America to start a new life, did things to survive, that the average person might not think of as "acceptable." Rudy danced with and socialized with countless women that would be seen as old and undesirable, because they could help him get where he needed to be. It is not a long shot to believe that he had sexual relations with some of those women as well. and men can just as easily hustle gay men as they can women. That does not make them "gay," it just makes them ambitious. Valentino was beautiful in a way that wasn't traditionally "masculine" by the standards of the early 1900's. most men hated him and called him a 'homo' and things like that, while women fell in love with his exotic looks and style. I believe this is where the gay rumors come from. but I hate to break it to you; most men, especially artists, are a little bisexual. They don't broadcast it, and back in the 20's they would protect that fact with their lives. so was Rudy bisexual? Sorry, but nobody can answer that question today. his sexuality will remain part of his mystique forever. And that is a good thing, because everyone has a right to their privacy. I'm a dedicated fan of R. Valentino, and I don't wonder about his sexuality, because I don't really think it matters. What he created on film is the only important thing.
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics' -
LadyJaneGrey — 18 years ago(October 17, 2007 06:47 AM)
I tend to think that Rudy was not gay, but somewhat dependent on a forceful personality and attracted to very strong, domineering women, deferring to them in most everything, to his own detriment. It could also be that he wouldn't turn down a liaison with an attractive male if it presented itself, but might not go searching for it. I could not even read the David Bret book on Valentino, so obvious was his attempt to pin the gay label on Rudy. I wouldn't care either way, I think he was very sexy and magnetic onscreen, regardless of sexual orientation. My own personal feeling is that Rudy sought strong mother figures in his mates, much like Edward VII, another man rumored to be gay. Not all straight men are ruggedly masculine and not all gay men are effeminate (i.e., Tony Randall and Rock Hudson.)
Am I anywhere near the imaginary cliff? -
Jessica000 — 18 years ago(November 15, 2007 11:25 AM)
I am so sick and tired of this question (nothing against the poster) but who cares? He might have been bi/homo/heterosexual for all I care. But so I can satify your curiosoty: according to his relatives he was heterosexual.
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tealhilton — 13 years ago(March 17, 2013 10:34 PM)
No I really don't think Rudy was at all gay. but I have come to accept is that who am I too begrudge whoever wants to love Rudy and feel that they could be loved wholeheartly by him? I think if he were apart of this time he would be very flattered at the attention and outpouring of affection for him.
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metalman091 — 12 years ago(April 10, 2013 12:06 AM)
An intelligent insight into how the rumors of Valentino's sexuality began, and how creeps like David Bret got their inspiration.
http://rudolphvalentino.org/how-rudolph-valentino-became-gay/ -
DivingIntheBlue — 12 years ago(May 16, 2013 12:22 PM)
I can understand why people ask this question. I certainly don't understand why certain people go ballistic if someone poses this (albeit tired) question however. To act like there aren't certain pictures or certain scenes in films where Valentino appeared to be what is now considered stereotypically gay is silly.
The acting style back then was vastly different from today. All those theatrics weren't questioned then but to see some of that stuff now makes most people curious. That's not a bad thing nor is it "sick". Proclaiming rumor as fact is wrong but I don't see that going on here.
As for David Bret and authors like him, they make every one who is dead into a raging homosexual or bisexual. If they weren't gay or bisexual, they were promiscuous or working as a prostitute. Those kinds of authors are the equivalent to kids who used to write nasty things on the bathroom walls about other people - half of what they write is wrong and the other half is pure fantasy. -
metalman091 — 12 years ago(December 12, 2013 02:29 AM)
I can understand why people ask this question. I certainly don't understand why certain people go ballistic if someone poses this (albeit tired) question however. To act like there aren't certain pictures or certain scenes in films where Valentino appeared to be what is now considered stereotypically gay is silly.
The acting style back then was vastly different from today. All those theatrics weren't questioned then but to see some of that stuff now makes most people curious. That's not a bad thing nor is it "sick". Proclaiming rumor as fact is wrong but I don't see that going on here.
As for David Bret and authors like him, they make every one who is dead into a raging homosexual or bisexual. If they weren't gay or bisexual, they were promiscuous or working as a prostitute. Those kinds of authors are the equivalent to kids who used to write nasty things on the bathroom walls about other people - half of what they write is wrong and the other half is pure fantasy.
Exactly!
But I have never seen any kind of homophobic reaction to the rumors of Valentino [or any other star]. More common is the blatant accusations of homophobia that seem to occur when someone disagrees with the assertion that an actor might be gay or bisexual. I guess these people are too PC and will interpret any disagreement as veiled homophobia.
Was Rudolph Valentino straight, gay or bisexual? I cannot claim anything one way or the other. All I know is the evidence is very thin and sketchy. And whatever the truth is/was, authors like Kenneth Anger, Darwin Porter and David Bret have not helped with their exploitative and sensationalist works which for some reason enchant those who should know better. Even if Valentino was gay, these authors are still the definition of inaccuracy.
One of the ugliest stories was from Kenneth Anger when he claimed that Ramon Novarro was choked to death with a dildo that once belonged to Valentino. Novarro choked to death on his own blood after being beaten. There was no dildo at the scene. This is the kind of crap that makes people angry. Anger sensationalized someone's demise!! What a piece of garbage he and the rest are.
There is no evidence to suggest that Valentino and Novarro had ever met long enough to be friends let alone lovers.
Valentino's sexuality
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=AeFRWzXjoVcC&pg=PA220&lpg= PA220&dq=darwin+porter,+david+bret&source=bl&ots=lyy8rMHUk G&sig=5uEqX5hRbqnBVEvAdRTsRWEJzMc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dCapUs fNGo7xoASNyoDQAw&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=darwin%20porter%2 C%20david%20bret&f=false -
!!!deleted!!! (5085627) — 11 years ago(June 16, 2014 11:15 PM)
"Was Rudolph Valentino straight, gay or bisexual? I cannot claim anything one way or the other. All I know is the evidence is very thin and sketchy."
The "evidence is very thin and sketchy" for which one, metalman? Strab68ight, gay or bisexual? Surely Valentino was one of the three. ("Yes, he was, but what does his sister Shirley have to do with it?") Regardless of your wording, you are right about one thing: you cannot claim anything one way or the other because you're speculating about something you know nothing about just like everybody else. And just what is this "evidence" you claim is "thin and sketchy"? Did you know Valentino or someone who did?
Valentino was bisexual, and to those who are so convinced otherwise, get over it. Do you really think that gay and bisexual actors didn't exist in the 1920s or that it was only minor, less famous actors who were gay or bi? Hardly. There have been gay and bisexual male sex symbols since the birth of film, and Valentino was indeed one of them, so what's the big deal, especially 90 years later? Why does this still bother so many to the point of refusing to believe that there's even a possibility? Only homophobes and/or the uninformed still firmly believe that Valentino was straight. The film industry has always been one in which the majority of its gay and bisexual actors have married for the sake of their image and career, and in Valentino's time studio heads would even resort to ordering and threatening its top moneymaking gay and bisexual stars to marry or else they could kiss their careers goodbye. Some buckled and submitted (see next sentence) and some didn't (William Haines and David Manners). Cary Grant, another supposed "ladies' man" with five marriages to his name the first being at age 30 just as his career started to take off and his live-in relationship with Randolph Scott was becoming publicly known is one example of a popular, mainstream heartthrob who married rather than risk his career. Even today this straight facade is still utilized by certain gay and bi actors such as that transparent joke, John Travolta, but there are others. Travolta's career was in the toilet until Look Who's Talking revived it and suddenly he decided to marry for the first time at age 37. (Travolta's nickname isn't "Bone" without good reason. Give him a bone and he's in gay heaven.) I could name several still-closeted actors and actresses off the top of my head who are definitely gay or bisexual, and if I were to reveal their names right here and now even a few of the names I can already see some of the responses I'd get, and most if not all would be angry, indignant accusations of spreading lies and rumors. ("No, he/she can't be! I refuse to believe it! You're lying! Prove it! The evidence is thin and sketchy! Etc. etc. etc.") The same doubts would be expressed by those at this thread who've also doubted Valentino's bisexuality.
And incidentally, both of Valentino's wives were well-known lesbians, and then as now, it's never been uncommon nor unheard of for ga111cy or bi men to marry gay or bi women, especially in an occupation where image is everything. Can we all say the word "beard," boys and girls? Is anyone at this thread old enough to remember the term "lavender marriage" and what it means?
I met and conversed with Ramon Navarro on two occasions in 1966, and he told me of his brief affair with Valentino and offered proof and validation of its existence and no, not the supposedly infamous dildo but indisputable, concrete proof which I promised Mr. Navarro I would never publicly reveal, and I never have after all these years. But yes, they were lovers again, briefly and who could blame them? Would you have refused either one? Valentino also had other male lovers both before and during his fame, but they weren't as well-known at that time as Navarro. One such encounter was with 17 year old Samuel Steward (look him up) just a month before Valentino's death, which is detailed in the highly acclaimed and thoroughly researched bio, "Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward." The encounter left such an an impression on Mr. Steward that he kept a swatch of Valentino's pubic hair in a monstrance by his bedside for the rest of his life. (His quirk was collecting swatches of pubic hair from his lovers. Interesting "hobby," huh?) -
!!!deleted!!! (5085627) — 11 years ago(June 18, 2014 11:36 AM)
What did you expect to find at this thread, jcarpenter, Valentino giggling while waving his peloso cazzo non circonciso at you? That would have been nice for us all, but you'll just have to settle for adult conversation instead.
Perhaps you'd feel more comfortable at a thread where an attention span and writing skills aren't required or maybe you could actually try contributing something of worth instead of writing the word "yawn" at thread after thread. Consistently using a one-word response to everything just makes you look limited, lazy, and lacking. Don't be so afraid of multi-syllable words and most importantly, stimulate yourself instead of counting on others to do so. -
jcarpenter-1 — 11 years ago(June 20, 2014 07:48 AM)
OK, that was weak. I'm not going to get into a flame war with you because clearly you are a person who is verbose, hyperbolic, and likes to hear himself talk. My one word response to your lurid spew was a reflection on it's content, which read more as a personal fantasy than actual truth. Rudy's biographers both concluded he was, most likely, straight. Your source, Ramon Navarro, a brief matinee idol at best, was an alcoholic with cloudy j111cudgement. All of that
may
be debatable but what isn't is your torrid pulp, which should be kept to the free chat-rooms you creep.