Corey @ I'll Keep You Posted

SOULJA BOYS

Three handsome, but unnamed World War II soldiers.  Teenie Harris, photographer, 1940-45.  Happy Memorial Day!

FLORA AND FAUNA

Consider this claw-foot sofa draped in dissimilar Indian batik prints, so much a part of the bohemian decor found in apartments all over Harlem during the 1920's. Surely James VanDerZee was attempting a more welcoming and contemporary look when he incorporated this element in his first studio at 109 West 135th St.  Oh, and of course we have the unidentified but intriguing, rather androgynous looking identical twins, who are dressed to the hilt in dresses with the dropped-waist, sheer, contrasting bands of fabric, wide boat necklines, calf-length handkerchief hemlines and matching head scarves.  Magnificent!

 James VanDerZee, photographer, 1924.

 

Fine And Mellow YELLOW

Ralph Cooper, former dancer, sometimes actor, accused pimp, Harlem badboy, notorious playboy, savvy entrepreneur, emcee and originator of Amateur Night at the Apollo, and one redeemed fine and mellow fellow.  Photo, 1930's.

MALCOLM X: BIRTH AND LOSS

On May 19, 1925, Malcolm Little was born to Earl Little and Louise Norton Little in Omaha, Nebraska.  On February 21, 1965, the world lost Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.  Happy Birthday and Rest In Peace!

DONNA SUMMER 1948 - 2012

Here's to the LAST DANCE with the Queen of Disco!   Thank you for all those wonderful twirls on the dance floor!

 

 

 

 

You were one classy DIVA!  Rest In Peace.

BROCK PETERS as Johnny in The L-Shaped Room.

I just finished watching The L-Shaped Room, the 1962 British film starring Leslie Caron and Tom Bell and I can't quite seem to get the stark realism of it out of my head.  The movie handles delicate subject matter such as pregnancy outside of marriage and abortion in such a straight-forward matter-of-fact way that Hollywood would have blanched at in 1962.  In fact, Leslie Caron is far, far from Hollywood as Jane Fossett, an unashamed unwed mother who decides to keep her baby after considering everyone else's advice on how to get rid of it.  There is no judgement nor sermonizing; it just IS, and everyone else seems to lay their cards out on the table in like fashion.

Spoiler Alert:  Single and two months pregnant, Jane moves into a roach and bedbug infested L-shaped London flat on the top floor of a run-down boarding house filled to the brim with other outsiders and misfits.  There are prostitutes with hearts of gold in the basement, an aging, lonely lesbian actress on the first floor (who provides one of the films most searing moments) and Toby, portrayed by Tom Bell, is a struggling, always down on his luck writer living on the second floor whom Jane quickly falls in love with. And then there's Johnny next door!

Brock Peters as Johnny, a West Indian jazz musician, is perhaps the most intriguing character in the movie because he isn't as transparent as the others.  He quickly becomes Jane's best friend, interior designer and trusting confidant - until he witnesses Jane and Toby having sex.  Johnny suddenly takes a vicious turn and tries to wreck havoc in the budding relationship between his two friends.  Ask any gay man who knows and he will tell you that there's something about the way Johnny did what he did, and the way he curses out Jane that says he's as much in love with Toby as she is. There are clues along the way; if you blink, you might miss a snatch of strange dialogue left hanging in the air between the two main characters as they discuss their friend Johnny.  He's so brotherly and sisterly at the same time!  In Peters' sensitive Johnny, we recognize certain mannerisms here or a certain touch there and we know we're watching an early film portrayal of a kindred spirit that comes off so natural, relaxed and unique that's just not common for 1962.

Made in the "kitchen sink drama" style of British films of the late 50's and early 60's, "a style of social realism, which often depicted the domestic situations of working class Britons living in rented accomodation and spending their off-hour drinking in grimy pubs to explore social issues and political controversies", The L-Shaped Room earned Leslie Caron a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Actress, and an Academy Award nomination in 1962. 

Cicely Courtneidge as Mavis, the nosy neighbor/fading actress who admits her truth to Caron's Jane is outstanding.  I've never ever seen a mediocre performance from Brock Peters, and Johnny is about as far from Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird as it gets, but if for no more than sheer versatility, Johnny ranks among his best performances.  Brock Peters worked pretty much consistently in Hollywood and on television until his death in 2005 at the age of 78, and Johnny is a testament to the talent and quiet dignity of Brock Peters, a great actor who never fully got his due.

FINE BROWN FRAME

1950's Black Hollywood Heartthrob, James Edwards. 

GOOD BLACK!

BROCK IS BEAUTIFUL!  Brock Peters, 1963?

ADELAIDE HALL, BLACKBIRD OF 1928

International Superstar, Adelaide Hall, in one of her signature costumes from Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1928.  Several of the photos used here were taken by Paul Walery and Manual Freres in Paris, around 1929.

Adelaide Hall, born in Brooklyn, raised in Harlem, first received major recognition as a dancer and cast member in the groundbreaking production of Shuffle Along in 1921. Written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles, with music and lyrics by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle,  the show was a wildly popular, all-black Broadway musical success story that, at one time or another, employed and helped introduce the likes of Florence Mills, Josephine Baker, Fredi Washington and Paul Robeson. In 1923, Miller and Lyles scored again with Running Wild, which turned out to be equally as acclaimed and successful.  In many ways, Running Wild epitomized the carefree, gin-soaked, and jazz-age decade of the 1920's by popularizing the notion of the independent flapper with the short skirt, and officially introducing the world to what is perhaps the greatest, well-known American dance, The Charleston.

Rudolph Valentino, the great Italian silent screen lover, and a dancer by trade, was captivated by the energy of the show, and of this new dance called the Charleston.  As a backer of the show, he was particularly fond of Miss Hall.  One day, he placed a call to Miller and Lyles  and had them send Adelaide to his hotel room in Manhattan ... to teach him the Charleston! Not surprisingly, Valentino proved himself to be a rapt, attentive and rather passionate student.  As she departed, he kissed Miss Hall's hand and the very next evening, a beautifully wrapped gift box arrived at her dressing room.  It was a large bottle of expensive French perfume with a handwritten note on parchment paper that read To my teacher, I will say my thank you's with perfume ... it lasts longer.  Love Rudolph Valentino.  (See The Elegance and Cool of VALENTINO)

With her high operatic tones, Adelaide Hall was sort of an early crossover artist who enjoyed immense popularity both in the segregated theatre and in mainstream entertainment. 1925's Chocolate Kiddies, gave Hall her first taste of global stardom and artistic freedom outside the confines of the states - a heady experience for many African American entertainers of the era. But Miss Hall soon reached the zenith of her early success in America in Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1928.  The most famous of the "Blackbird" revues, the score for the show is now part of the lexicon of American popular music for the 1920's with songs like Doing The New Low Down, I Can't Give You Anything But Love (attributed to Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh but actually written by Fats Waller) I Must Have That Man, and Digga Digga Do - all performed by Miss Hall. The show also boasted Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Earl "Snakehips" Tucker, Peg Leg Bates, and a very young, unknown Nina Mae McKinney in the chorus line.

1928 was a banner year for Adelaide Hall. Just the year before, she had recorded the iconic Creole Love Call with Duke Ellington's Orchestra, and it was still riding the crest of popularity.  She was a star in Harlem, on Broadway and in Europe, especially Paris, which was the beginning of a love affair that could only be consummated by leaving America for good, and in turn becoming an International Superstar!  Adelaide Hall died shortly before her 92 birthday in 1993.  She held the record for being the most consistently active cabaret performer with a career that was well into its eighth decade.

BALLARD AND BIRDSONG: This Magic Moment!

In the summer of 1975, Mary Wilson worked a little magic and pulled Florence Ballard on stage as a Supreme for one last time!  The Supremes (Wilson, Cindy Birdsong, who had replaced Florence in 1967, and Scherrie Payne, who had replaced Jean Terrell, who had replaced Diana Ross) were performing at Magic Mountain, an amusement park located just north of Los Angeles, and Ballard was there visiting. 

Florence had fallen on hard times financially, and had struggled with physical and emotional problems since being fired from The Supremes in 1967.  1975 was a particularly rough year, and Wilson, distressed over her old singing partner's present condition, invited Flo to spend the summer with her family in California.  There are stories of fans seeing Ballard walking backstage and through the crowds looking rather rough and tough for wear, but, to me, these photos suggest otherwise.  The visit with Wilson had its up and downs, but for one shining, magical moment, Florence Ballard held supreme with the group she named and helped found for the first time in eight years.  And she did it with the nice lady who replaced her in the group, Cindy Birdsong, the Good Supreme!

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a surprise guest .... Miss Florence Ballard!" Wilson intoned to an audience of over 2,000.  The crowd went berserk and rushed the stage with cameras and cries of "Flo, we love you."  Florence was met with a thunderous ovation with love flooding the headlights.  She didn't sing a note!  All she did was beat a tambourine and dance around the stage, but that was good enough! There are varying stories of Ballard having stopped listening to the classic songs that helped to make her famous, and the word is during the classic group hits-medley that night, Ballard excused herself from the arena only to return when it was over.  Apparently, Wilson had no problem coaxing her onstage for the rousing finale, a rendition of the O'Jays hit, Love Train.  And in what must have been a glorious moment for everyone, there were tears in the eyes of those who watched the beleagured Ballard come full circle, and take her rightful place right alongside Cindy Birdsong for just one more magical moment.

 

AND I'M TELLING YOU I'M NOT GOING

June 28, 1967.  Florence Ballard knew the hour and the day was coming. When she began to spot Cindy Birdsong sitting front and dead center in the audience studying her, she knew it was getting mighty damned close. She just didn't know when. Ballard was already telling people that she was going to tear down the mountains, yell, scream and shout and that she wasn't walking out, but when Berry Gordy finally dropped the axe, there was no fight left in her.  With bodyguards standing around to monitor her movements, there really wasn't much she could do but go back to her hotel room and get drunk. And that night, on the second show at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Florence Ballard was out of the group for good, and Cindy Birdsong, formerly of Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, officially became a Supreme.

Days earlier, the cameras caught Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, Berry Gordy and Florence Ballard living the high and glamourous life in the hotel casino. No one would have known just by looking at them all the discord, arguments, insults, taunts, mistreatment, shade and self-destruction that was going on behind the scenes.  They were consummate professionals; the original Supremes could make anything look (and sound) beautiful!  Check out Flo's candelabra earrings and matching bracelet! Note her attempt to hold down her skirt or cover her legs.

The Supremes arrived fresh in Vegas from an engagement at New York's Copacabana, where they experienced unprecedented success.  During this time, Gordy and Ross were just beginning a stategic joint effort at making Miss Ross a solo star, while Mary Wilson was secretly teaching Cindy Birdsong, who was sequestered across the street at Caesar's Palace, the group harmonies and choreography.  Florence wasn't happy with any of it, said she wasn't having any of it, and had already had a serious run-in with Gordy. "Berry .... always said he wanted to control me, and if he couldn't control me, he didn't want me around" Flo said. He constantly harangued her about her weight and drinking issues; she threw her drinks in his face. Her relationship with Diana had slowly deteriorated to nothing.  She was angry and depressed and now only hanging on by a slender thread! 

However, on June 30, Florence experienced a high point during the run when everyone (except Gordy) got together to help celebrate her 24th birthday with a surprise party and a wild night of dancing at the local discotheques. Party guests included Wilson, Ross, Esther Gordy Edwards and Anna Gordy Gaye.

The legendary Joe Louis can be seen seated next to Diana Ross in this photo.

The next night at the Flamingo, they were dressed in silver lame' pantsuits with midriff tops (see addendum at end of article). "At this particular incident at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, I had me a few drinks .... and they kept calling me fat so much that I went onstage and I poked my stomach out as far as I could" Ballard confessed. Berry Gordy was furious and walked through the nightclub area cursing Ballard out.  "The girls" finished the show and Ballard retired to her dressing room.  When it came time for the second show of the evening, Ballard came out dressed in what she thought they were going to be wearing for that performance.  But they had switched costumes without notifying her! Cindy Birdsong was dressed in a matching dress and was poised to take her place that very night! 

Ballard was fired on the spot! Gordy told her if she went onstage that he would have her thrown off and she believed him.  Bodyguards moved in and surrounded Ballard. She was taken through the hotel kitchen, led to a service elevator and dropped off at her room. The next day they carried her out of the hotel, placed her tired and defeated body in a waiting limousine, and sent her back to Detroit.

That night, the group's name was officially changed to Diana Ross and The Supremes! The Supremes had reached the highest pinnacle of success and had almost singlehandedly ushered Motown and Mr. Gordy right into the reality of every crossover dream they ever dared to dream. They were currently riding high on the charts with another no. 1 record, Reflections (Of The Way Life Used To Be), but for Ballard the dream was over. 

Flo, looking here for all the world like contemporary singer Faith Evans, had no clue just how nightmarish it would become for her after she left the Supremes. At first, things looked promising, but there wouldn't be enough supreme faith in the world to return her to her glory days in the years to come. Ballard recorded a lackluster solo album for ABC but the once glorious voice was scratchy. Radio started out playing the single releases but suddenly stopped. The album was shelved.  Then it disappeared from the ABC vaults only to mysteriously turn up in the Motown vaults many years later.  Ballard was being ripped off by lawyers, record companies, and people that she thought were her friends.  The drinking escalated.  She had to go on welfare.  She married and divorced.  Tried to make a comeback.  Reconnected with Ross and Wilson. Just when things looked to be on the upswing, Florence Ballard passed away from cardiac arrest on February 22, 1976.  She was just 32 years old.

Addendum:  For the record, I just wanted to say that every source that I checked for this blog post has a slightly different telling of the Florence Ballard firing, and I have tried to piece it together as much as I could according to my own understanding of it.  Florence Ballard was actually fired from the Supremes before the fiasco at the Flamingo, but was reinstated on a "trial run."  The Flamingo engagement was slated for June 28 to July 19, 1967.  Some sources indicate that Ballard's official ousting from the group happened after the first show of the first night at the hotel, but others like Diana Ross biographer, J. Randy Taraborelli, state that several shows (there were four a day) had already taken place before Ballard left for good.  Taraborelli also states that the Supremes were wearing tailored tuxes for that fateful last show, and not the gold lame' outfits that most others say they were wearing.  Some mention the bodyguards; others do not.  Taraborelli writes that Diana Ross was actually waiting in Ballard's dressing room to have words with her but no one else seems to know about it.  The "nightclub" photos that I have used in this post were supposedly taken in the casino of the Flamingo Hotel, but Taraborelli writes that photographers were subject to having their cameras confiscated in the casino.  The whole "I'll have you thrown off stage" conversation between Ballard and Gordy is legend, but Taraborelli says that it did not happen face to face but on the hotel telephones.  Obviously, Ballard had not been fired on June 30, 1967, when they celebrated her birthday, but some say that she was officially fired the very next day, July 1, 1967. One writer has said that the hotel marquee announced The Supremes (with Diana Ross) on opening night.  Others have said Ross's name did not appear seperately until Ballard left the group.  I have found the photo above that clearly announces THE SUPREMES as the headlining act with Fats Domino as a supporting act. I always try my best to be as accurate as possible on my posts but this one ........wow!?!

 

Rejoice and Shout, It's SARAH VAUGHN and not MARIE KNIGHT!

Rejoice and Shout (2011) is an electrifying documentary on the history of black gospel music that interweaves insightful contemporary interviews with with often spellbinding archival performances that are culled from concerts, church services and early television shows - the way that most musical documentaries usually do.  But this one kept me hanging on for dear life from performance to performance by the likes of Clara Ward and the Ward Singers to the Staple Singers.  Watching Ira Tucker & The Dixie Hummingbirds and Claude Jeter & The Swan Silvertones wreck the Newport Jazz Festival in the 1960's is tingling and mesmerizing and is worth the full price of the DVD alone.  And when Marie Knight speaks, it is with such knowledge, power and authority that it feels like she's casting spells or stirring up spirits with her words.

That's why I was elated to find a bonus interview in the Special Features part of the DVD.  Once again, she had me on edge as she conjured up another riveting tale of life on the gospel highway until all of a sudden, out of the blue - they showed a photo of the great jazz singer Sarah Vaughn (above) in the late 1940's trying to make us think it was Miss Knight.  The person I was watching the show with said I was crazy and why would they do that?  But I know the Divine Sarah when I see her!  It's so funny because the photo continues to be represented as Miss Knight on more than a few websites, and even appears on the DVD artwork as well as Knight's Wikipedia page. However, I can see how they may have made the mistake; there was a little resemblance going on in the late 40's and early 50's as evidenced by this actual period photo of Miss Knight.

It's okay to rejoice and shout if you wanna .... but change the photo.  Please!  For those who still won't believe me, consider this photo of Sassy taken in 1947.  She has just won an award from Esquire magazine, and she is posed in the same dress and almost has the same coiffure.  Case closed!

 

For Vaughn's fan's who see this, I am posting this other lovely rarely seen photo, also from the late 40's. 

 

Marie Knight also crossed over into R&B music a few times and did so with the same amount of fervor that she held in gospel.  Check out this version of the oft-recorded Cry Me A River that many consider to be the ultimate.

 

NOT SO PICTURE PERFECT

Sometimes Life gets in the way to the point where I don't know if I'm coming or going!

I'm sure you've noticed the whole run of photos here on the blog with little accompanying text. It's just a ploy that I use when things get stressful and I can't focus and run out of energy. It's also because I have plenty of great photos in the vault that I know I will never use, and right now while my head is a little discombobulated, I've decided to make good use of them just to fill in the slack. And sometimes when things really aren't as picture perfect as they seem, I know you know that it helps to, at least, look sharp and keep on steppin'. It be's that way some time!

In the meantime, I think I have a number of really good blog posts in draft (and in my head) that haven't quite decided which way they want to go just yet. But hang with me! I just have to find the time, energy and especially the focus to get back in the right direction.  Until then, I hope you enjoy the photos!

INNERVISION

Little Stevie Wonder and the great Brotha Ray Charles, about 1963.   *Shout out to Terrence Lathan for the title!

IF I WERE A BOY

Ethel Waters once showed her best friend Joan Croomes an old photo of herself dressed as a man with short hair, pants and a jacket.  "This was when I was a boy" said Ethel.  "She was a lesbian .... she told me that she was the best that ever did it" Joan told Donald Bogle in Heat Wave:  The Life and Career of Ethel Waters.

Stay tuned for a whole new series of blog posts on the great Ethel Waters!

BARNABAS COLLINS DEAD AGAIN!

Jonathan Frid (December 2, 1924 - April 13, 2012) passed away in Ontario, Canada at the age of 87.  He died of natural causes, but everybody knows that true vampires never die.

HAZEL SCOTT GAVE THEM LIFE!

The beautiful Hazel Scott could always be counted on to give anyone with even a peripheral view of her a lesson in glamour, elegance, taste and style.  She certainly must have given them LIFE at this 1949 Herb Jeffries concert.  By this time, the virtuoso jazz and classical pianist had been married to Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (side view) for just five years after having "stole" him from Isabel Washington Powell, the sister of actress Fredi Washington.  In just a few more years, the same thing would happen to Hazel.  Life, indeed!

Photo from the Life Archives.  Gordon Parks, photographer, 1949.

NAUGHTY COUTURE

Sean Combs (c).  Sean John Couture, Autumn Collection, 2002.  I still covet it! Photograph by Herb Ritts.

MISS BROWN TO YOU

Miss Minnie Brown, Williams and Walker showgirl, photographed by Luther S. White, New York, 1907.

The Elegance and Cool of VALENTINO

Today, they're called divos or mandivas.  Yesterday, descriptions for men like that weren't quite so nice, and in Valentino's case in particular, he was disparagingly referred to as a "pink powder puff." But that had more to do with the ignorance and insecurities of his (American male) detractors and less to do with Rudolph Valentino. Regardless, 1920's silent screen icon, Rudolph Valentino is the man that started it all!  Possessed with an innate elegance and natural male beauty, Valentino cultivated a high octane glamour that was normally only associated with female stars of the era like Gloria Swanson.  Born in Italy, and with swarthy good looks, he also set the precedent for what would become known as the Latin Lover!  No male star before him, and very few afterwards, had such savoir faire and expressed such an obvious love for dress up, finery, and posing before the camera.

Valentino started out as a ballroom dancer and gigolo for hire in New York, but rose to fame in the early days of silent screen cinema with the romantic male lead in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) a role that allowed him to utilize his dancing skills, and helped ignite the 1920's American fascination with an Argentinian dance called the Tango.  But it was as the handsome but dangerous, dark-skinned Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan in The Sheik (also 1921) that Valentino's career really caught fire. It is at this point that I stopped to wonder if the original Sheik (at least in the movies) had any connections to Harlem, and what he must have thought of the trendsetters and darker-skinned sheiks uptown?

In those days, everybody was going to Harlem for one reason or another.  So far, I haven't found any record of Valentino sneaking uptown, but it is a matter of record that he was old friends with dancer, Bessie Dudley. It was Miss Dudley who provided Valentino with an important professional tip that would advance his early career as a dancer in the late Teen's. It also stands to reason that if one really wanted a hot act, one visited Harlem for inspiration.

The outrageous Harlem Renaissance luminary, Richard Bruce Nugent also became acquainted with Valentino in the early 20's while working as a young messenger and apprentice at the catalogue house of Stone,Van Dresser and Company in New York. Nugent was fascinated by Italian men, and it can be argued that his protagonist in Smoke, Lillies and Jade, the first blatantly homoerotic story by an African American, is at least in part created in the image of Rudolph Valentino. 

And then there is the influence Valentino had on Lorenzo Tucker, billed as The Colored Valentino in Oscar Micheaux's "race" films of the 20's and 30's. Tucker got to meet his idol in early August, 1926, in Atlantic City, shortly before the star's sudden death. Tucker was fond of reminding people that he was actually lighter in complexion than Valentino and found himself decades later, invited to deliver annual eulogies at Valentino's tomb in Hollywood's Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Like many African Americans fresh from small Southern towns in Alabama and Georgia, Valentino as an immigrant, loved to rent clothes he couldn't afford and spend money he didn't have just to take prosperous looking photos to send back home to unsuspecting relatives in Italy. His obsession with the camera would last throughout his reign as king of Hollywood, up to his early death at the age of 31. 

Valentino relished costumes, props, makeup, accessories, robes, turbans, jewelry, cars, fabrics and dogs.  And that is how I must present him in this striking series of photographs ....

Valentino was a known spend-thrift and often went way over budget for his films. He spent a small out-of-pocket fortune on costumes for films that were often never made or never used, or used just to play dress up.  As seen in the last photo above, sometimes body paint and a leather jockstrap sufficed.

Whenever Mr. Valentino went out in public, it was an exercise in elegance, a lesson in style.  He had thousands of suits, and hundreds of pairs of shoes to choose from.  Beloved pets were often used as accessories.  Even while lounging at home, it was all about silk and satin and posing.

 

 

 

Often the proof is to be found in the small details like the shoes, socks and the spats.  Valentino knew how to utilize a walking stick and a cigarette holder to full effect.  Most men of his era could care less about kid gloves, fur collars and cuffs but most men were not Valentino and Valentino wasn't like most men.  Even the most stylish men of the 1920's wouldn't be caught dead in a gold slave bracelet - at least not for a few more DECADES.  Valentino had IT so he flaunted it!  Having IT is taken for granted these days, but in the 20's - for a man - it was revolutionary.

 

 

Valentino even knew how to flaunt his basket on the beach!

I'd be remiss if I didn't say something about sexuality and race. During his lifetime, and especially afterwards, rumors ran rampant that Valentino was, at least, bisexual. There were whispers about his days as a struggling dancer (and gigolo for hire) in the early days of his career. 85 years later, there is no direct proof, but in Emily W. Leider's definitive Valentino bio, Dark Lover:  The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino, considerable time and scholarship is devoted to making a case for his relationships with French magazine publisher and theatre producer, Jacques Herbetot, and French actor/producer Andre Daven, who helped introduce Josephine Baker to Paris in 1925.  Here, Herbetot is shown (left) with the gay Hollywood actor, Ramon Novarro, whom many considered Valentino's successor in films until the advent of talking pictures.  His career was basically over when Novarro opened his mouth and spilled all of his secrets.

 
Race matters.  Rudolph Valentino was born Rudolpho Guglielmi in Castellaneta, a quiet village along the costal regions of Southern Italy - just across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa's Northern Coast.  His parents were Giovanni Guglielmi and Maria Gabriella Barbin Guglielmi, who was supposedly from France. Many Southern Italians trace their roots across the sea but don't always talk about it.  Many Creoles of color from the American South, especially in New Orleans, were sent to France in the early 19th Century by their white fathers to be educated, and many stayed there and started families!  All I know is that Mother Guglielmi (above, left) and her offspring (top) look like any of my multi-racial maternal ancestors.  My great-uncle James greatly resembled Valentino in the 20's, and so did his son, James, Jr. (above, right) in the 30's.

The decline of Rudolph Valentino started on August 15, 1926 when he was stricken with agonizing abdominal pains in a hotel rooom.  X-rays confirmed a perforated ulcer in the abdominal cavity surrounded by other ulcerated areas.  He passed away in the hospital on August 23, becoming the first major star to die young and become an icon for the ages.  His death, public viewing and funeral are the stuff of legend that none of his movies could ever match and no Hollywood press agent could ever dream up.  It is an unbelievable saga that one biographer devoted almost 100 well-deserved pages to (Valentino by Irving Shulman). The plot includes suicide, poisonings, the outrageous antics of actress Pola Negri, and the unscripted mayhem of thousands of New York mourners.  Among the cast of characters are psychic mediums, Italian fascists, a dummy corpse, and unscrupulous doctors, and the drama traveled all the way from the east coast to the west. He was FINALLY laid to rest on September 7, 1926. 

Valentino did not want to be remembered as just another handsome face but that would be his fate.  He was not necessarily a great actor but had the makings of one.  Today, he is one of the few still-recognizable stars of the silent screen.  He helped define the word STAR!  Who says a man can't be a diva?!