ADSactly Hollywood Legends: The Stars in Our Eyes
Few are the girls who never dreamed of becoming an actress, a movie star, a Hollywood icon. Even fewer are the girls who never swooned over a hot movie star. Whether we like it or not, Hollywood is still the film-making capital of the world, and if you look at many of today’s starlets you would believe that all it takes is a nice face and a lot of well-placed silicone. However, Hollywood became the stuff of dreams decades ago when the movie stars were larger than life. This series is about the Golden Era of Hollywood and the legends on whose blood, sweat and talent the success of the modern film industry was built upon.
Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson
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Over the past few weeks, in this series we’ve been discussing the lives and careers of some of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Maybe it is a good moment to take a break and define stardom and have a look at people and events that helped shape celebrity status as we know it today. What makes an actor a celebrity? His fans, of course. In modern times, we’ve grown accustomed to hearing crazy stories about fans undergoing plastic surgery to look like their favorite star, collectors paying hard money to get their hands on a tissue paper used by some diva or a half-eaten sandwich their idol dropped in a bin. Popularity is big business today and many celebrities earn millions by endorsing a certain product, urging their loyal fans to switch to that particular brand.
When did all this madness start? Roughly one hundred years ago, when an Italian-born professional dancer was making his way to Hollywood, determined to get a part in a silent movie. If you think about movie stars in terms of Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp, let me just say their fame pales in comparison to that of Rudolph Valentino, the ‘Latin lover’ millions of women went crazy for in the early 1920s.
His career was extremely short, just five years, from 1921 when his first movie was released, to his tragic death in 1926, which sent shock-waves around the world, prompting a few of his grief-stricken female fans to take their own lives.
By today’s standards, we’d find him ridiculous. Especially his acting, typical of that era, with lots of eye-rolls, quivering nostrils and fluttering eye lashes. But, at the time, with his almond-shaped eyes and sleek black hair he was considered the most handsome man ever. The timing was right, too, as the Crazy 20s brought a sense of liberation among women, who were just beginning to step out of their traditional roles of obedient daughters and homemakers. Together with the right to vote, women acquired the right to fall in love with the beautiful stranger on the screen. Extremely charismatic, Valentino became the first Hollywood heart-throb.
What appealed most to his masses of fans was him playing the part of the mysterious stranger, slightly domineering, but also sweet and romantic, which constitutes one of the most common erotic fantasies. Rudolph Valentino never played ‘the boy next door’, he was an Arab Sheikh, a Spanish bull-fighter, an English aristocrat saving his love interest in the most extraordinary circumstances. His ticket to instant fame was ‘the tango scene’ in ’The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’(1921) in which Valentino plays the part of rich young Argentinian. Tango was the latest craze at the time and his experience as a professional dancer surely helped.
Wherever he went, Valentino was mobbed by female fans who wanted to touch him or get a lock of his hair. At the premiere of one of his last movies ’The Son of the Sheikh’(1926), thousands of women braved scorching temperatures waiting in line to get to see their idol on screen. Some even fainted during the screening.
’Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas upon which the women paint their dreams.’
His tremendous success might have been forgotten, had it not been for his dramatic death at the age of 31, which transformed him into a legend. The news their idol had been hospitalized with peritonitis was bad enough, but doctors announced he’ll recover soon enough. However, he developed septicemia and died within a few days.
Huge crowds gathered in front of the New York hospital where he died and tens of thousands swarmed the funeral home hoping to see his body. His funeral brought New York City to a standstill, with 100.000 people lining up the streets.
There were scenes of mass hysteria and riots broke out. After the New York mass, his body was taken to California were he was laid to rest. Along the way, people gathered to see the train passing. At his funeral, his latest lover, actress Pola Negri, put on a an extraordinary display of grief, collapsing over the coffin, but many believe it was mostly a publicity stunt on her part. However, some of his fans were so devastated they committed suicide. Two women killed themselves in front of the hospital, while in London a woman drank poison while clutching her beloved Rudy’s photo.
Some refused to believe he was really dead, favoring the theory he might be hiding somewhere, like in Elvis Presley’s case. There were rumors he had been committed to a mental institution. Others believed his death was caused by a cursed ring, which went on to cause more tragic deaths. His ghost has been spotted in various places, while his dog’s ghost religiously haunts the cemetery were he was buried.
While they could never hope to attain Valentino’s celebrity status, many actors of the silent era quickly understood how important a strong fan base was. Since they did not have Facebook or Instagram, they had to contend themselves with old-school fan-clubs. Stars like Gloria Swanson or Douglas Fairbanks kept in touch with their fans, offering autographed photos or sending messages to their fans’ gatherings, much like today’s celebrities tweeting to their fans.
It will be long time until another star would capture the hearts of so many admirers. Frank Sinatra would later have women faint at his concerts, while scenes of mass hysteria similar to those at Valentino’s funeral would later be seen following James Dean’s tragic death in 1955. Their stories in the next episodes of this series.
Post authored by @ladyrebecca
References: Icons of The 20th Century: Rudolph Valentino, Film Star, Rudolph Valentino and the birth of celebrity.
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when there is light there use to be dark
Rudolph Valentino, then, became the eternal sex-symbol. His physical disappearance when he was still young and with a promising career catapulted him to become an unforgettable star for many young people of the time who were beginning to experience the phenomenon of fans.
Good publication, @ladyrebecca. Thanks to @adsactly for sharing it.
Valentino will continue to be a sort of star that shone soon, but still went out, surprisingly. For many current lovers of cinema will be an unknown, but, as you well pick up in your post, attracted to the delirium many fans (dare I say female and male) of then. I remember seeing a very free version of his life taken to the cinema by the daring American filmmaker Ken Russell and starring another Rudolf, Nureyev. Thanks for your nice post, @ladyrebecca.
With this post I remembered my youth, and I remembered the many times I was a fan of a movie or musical star. I wanted to go to concerts, movies, interviews. I remember that I was a fan of a group called Menudo and I did everything that Valentino's fans did. I think that in each one of these idols works not only the charisma is exploited but also the sexual and sensual aspect. Excellent work, @ladyrebecca.