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| Valentino's memorial service. Charlie is third from left. |
He released the following statement regarding the death of his friend:
The death of Rudolph Valentino is one of the greatest tragedies that has occurred in the history of the motion-picture industry. As an actor he achieved fame & distinction; as a friend he commanded love and admiration.
We of the film industry, through his death, lose a very dear friend, a man of great charm and kindliness.
I read that Valentino was not happy with being type cast as The Shiek and that he definately didn't want to do The Son Of The Shiek but he was in financial trouble when he joined United Artists. It's too bad they printed a poster size photo of him in costume instead of him the man. I believe he died a few weeks before the movie was released. Was U.A. promoting it at his funeral? How tacky huh?
ReplyDeleteHe was probably most remembered for that role, so perhaps the photo was more for the fans, not necessarily to advertise the film.
DeleteDidn't Valentino die in Aug 1926 in NYC? Did they ship his body back to California? My first thought is it must have been by train and they weren't very fast back then...and the funeral was over a week later...
ReplyDeleteYes, he died at the end of Aug. in NYC and his body was eventually brought by train to California. That's why the service in LA was a couple of weeks later.
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