Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926) was an Italian-born actor in the era of silent films. He emigrated to the United States in 1913 and took a string of temporary menial jobs before becoming a film extra in 1914. He appeared in several films until 1921—many of which are now lost. That year he got his major break when he appeared in the role of Julio in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. According to Valentino's biographer, Noel Botham, the film was "hailed ... [as] a masterpiece and Valentino as a star"; the film grossed $4.5 million at the North American box office.

Valentino played leading roles in fourteen films as a romantic figure. When he appeared in The Sheik in 1921, women fainted in the aisles of theaters; the film grossed $1.5 million. His second wife, Natacha Rambova, took increasing control of his career and image, although this meant his screen image turned "increasingly effeminate". The films in which he played a romantic role within the action genre were the more successful at the box office; these included his final two works The Eagle (1925) and The Son of the Sheik (1926). In 1995 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was inducted into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"; a second Valentino film was inducted in 2003 when The Son of the Sheik was selected.

Valentino died suddenly of peritonitis on August 23, 1926, at the age of 31. His death at the height of his fame, and extensive media coverage, turned his funeral into a national event, at which large crowds attended. According to his biographer, Carl Rollyson, Valentino had a "... trim body, athletic grace, and dark good looks [which] made him an action hero and a romantic legend—the epitome of the silent screen's Latin lover".

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Credited as	Notes	Ref.
1914	My Official Wife	Extra	Uncredited	Lost film
1914	The Battle of the Sexes	Dance extra	Uncredited	Lost film, only a fragment survives
1916	The Quest of Life	Extra	Uncredited	Lost film
1916	The Foolish Virgin	Extra	Uncredited	Lost film
1916	Seventeen	Extra	Uncredited	Lost film
1917	Alimony	Dancer	Uncredited	Lost film
1917	Patria	Extra	Rudolph Valentino	Incomplete
1918	A Society Sensation	Dick Bradley	Rodolpho De Valentina	Lost film (original version) Survives (1924 re-release)
1918	All Night	Richard Thayer	Rodolfo di Valentina	Survives
1918	The Married Virgin	Count Roberto di San Fraccini	Rodolfo di Valentini	Survives
1919	The Delicious Little Devil	Jimmy Calhoun	Rudolpho De Valintine	Survives
1919	The Big Little Person	Arthur Endicott	Rodolpho De Valentina	Lost film
1919	A Rogue's Romance	Apache dancer	Rudolph Volantino	Lost film
1919	The Homebreaker	Dance extra	Uncredited	Lost film
1919	Virtuous Sinners	Bit part	Rodolfo di Valentini	Survives
1919	Out of Luck/Nobody Home	Maurice Rennard	Rodolph Valentine	Lost film
1919	Eyes of Youth	Clarence Morgan	Rudolfo Valentino	Survives
1920	Stolen Moments	Jose Dalmarez	Rudolph Valentine	Lost film (original version) Survives (1922 re-release)
1920	An Adventuress	Jacques Rudanyi	Rodolph Valentino	Survives
1920	The Cheater	Extra	Rudolph Valentino	Lost film
1920	Passion's Playground	Prince Angelo Della Robbia	Rudolph Valentine	Lost film
1920	Once to Every Woman	Juliantimo	Rudolph Valentino	Lost film
1920	The Wonderful Chance	Joe Klingsby	Rudolph de Valentino	Survives
1921	The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse	Julio Desnoyers	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1921	Uncharted Seas	Frank Underwood	Rudolph Valentino	Lost film
1921	The Sheik	Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1921	The Conquering Power	Charles Grandet	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1921	Camille	Armand Duval	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1922	Moran of the Lady Letty	Ramon Laredo	Rodolph Valentino	Survives
1922	Beyond the Rocks	Lord Bracondale	Rodolph Valentino	Survives
1922	Blood and Sand	Juan Gallardo	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1922	The Young Rajah	Amos Judd	Rudolph Valentino	Incomplete
1924	Monsieur Beaucaire	Duke de Chartres/Beaucaire	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1924	A Sainted Devil	Don Alonzo Castro	Rudolph Valentino	Lost film
1925	Cobra	Count Rodrigo Torriani	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1925	The Eagle	Lt. Vladimir Dubrovsky	Rudolph Valentino	Survives
1926	The Son of the Sheik	Ahmed/The Sheik	Rudolph Valentino	Survives

References and sources