On August 23, 1926, Hollywood’s first true megastar, Rudolph Valentino, died unexpectedly at the age of 31 in a New York hospital, at the height of his fame. His sudden death caused mass hysteria across the United States, and around the world, with more than 100,000 fans and mourners lining the streets of Manhattan to pay their respects.
Despondent fans were reported to have committed suicide, and the mass hysteria caused by Valentino’s death required more than 100 mounted officers and NYPD Police Reserve to keep onlookers from continuing to smash the windows of the Frank Cambpell Funeral Home, hoping to catch one last look at their beloved Latin Lover.
A week after Valentino’s passing, on August 30, 1926, his East Coast funeral was held in Manhattan, at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church, often referred to as "The Actor's Chapel,” due its location in the Broadway Theatre District, and because so many of its parishioners were Broadway stars, or other cast and crew.
Valentino’s remains were then taken by train from New York to a secret location just outside of Los Angeles, California, after which a second, West Coast funeral was held in Beverly Hills at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Because Valentino had died so young and unexpectedly, he had made no final arrangements, so his good friend, confidante, and the one who initially discovered Valentino, famed Hollywood screenwriter, June Mathis, lent him what was intended to be a temporary resting place in the Cathedral Mausoleum at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery (now Hollywood Forever Cemetery) in Hollywood, California.
Mathis herself would die unexpectedly less than a year later of a massive heart attack at the age of 40. Mathis and Valentino are still interred next to one another to this day, a remarkable testament to their friendship and loyalty to one another.
Every year since Valentino’s passing, family, friends, and fans of the silent film megastar have gathered at the Cathedral Mausoleum in Los Angeles to pay their respects. The Valentino Memorial Service is the oldest and longest continuing annual event in Hollywood, even pre-dating the Academy Awards, and begins promptly at noon each year. The event is free, open to the public, and features keynote speakers, musical guests, and often, never-before-seen photos, film clips, interviews, and artifacts from Valentino’s storied career.
2025 marks the 99th anniversary of Valentino’s passing, and the 98th Valentino Memorial Service. It also marks the 100th anniversary of one of Valentino’s most beloved films, The Eagle. This year’s Valentino Memorial Service special guest speakers include Rachel Skytt from the Los Angeles Breakfast Club, of which Valentino was an early member.
Supermodel and actor, Tyler Sebago, will be presenting the history of the rare 1925 The Eagle coin, and Diane Mathis Madsen will be recounting special family memories passed down from her great aunt, silent film screenwriter, June Mathis.
The 98th historic annual event will also feature a very special tribute to the late Donna Hill, famed Valentino biographer, historian, author, and researcher. Hill, who was widely regarded as one of the greatest authorities and experts on Valentino, passed away unexpectedly in late 2024.
Keynote speaker, Thomas J. Slater, will be giving a very special presentation entitled, “June Mathis: The Rise and Fall of a Silent Film Visionary,” and Katy Jane Harvey, this year’s special musical guest, will be performing rare musical numbers.
For those who are unable to travel to Los Angeles to see the annual event in-person, you may watch the annual event for free on the official “We Never Forget” YouTube channel, which also includes the most comprehensive collection of past Valentino Memorial Services that exist, as well as a carefully curated collection of well-researched, and captivating Rudolph Valentino content, including never-before-seen footage and a wealth of information on those who worked most closely with him.
Below, you’ll also find a list of the best books on Rudolph Valentino.
1. VALENTINO
Published 1967 Trident Press, Irving Shulman, author.
This was the very first deep dive into Rudolph Valentino’s life. Other books that previously attempted to tell his story were often riddled with gushing, effusive prose that they lost their objectivity and left the reader cold. This is not so with the Shulman Valentino bio. For the first time ever, Valentino’s illness, hospitalization, death, and the infamous Campbell’s viewing were told in great, intimate detail. The first quarter of the book is exclusively dedicated to this information. This had never been covered before at all and never has been since, which makes this a particularly valuable read.
When Valentino was first published in 1967, many of Valentino’s associates and co-workers were still living. Shulman did something no other Valentino biographer had the benefit of; he got them to talk. However, fearing litigation, they all spoke off the record. While you’ll read much truth in this book, you will not find direct quotes, as no one wanted to be sued. Irving Shulman was a gifted writer. The pages flow in such a way, you almost can’t put the book down. This is the number one biography for anyone who wants to hear Valentino’s story told chapter after chapter in fascinating detail. This book sold in the millions upon its initial release, and millions more were sold in the subsequently released paperback edition a year later. Valentino is without question the best-selling Valentino biography of all time. Copies of Valentino are easy to locate, and this is one Valentino book that stands above all the rest.
2. DARK LOVER
Published 2003 Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Emily Leider, author.
Dark Lover is the definitive biography of Rudolph Valentino. Heavily sourced, and meticulously researched, it is the first and only Valentino biography to have an index. Evenly told, it avoids rumors and side-steps the pitfalls of gossip. It is a straightforward beginning-to-end biography. It was hailed by the New York Times and was the featured cover book of their weekly book review Sunday pull-out section. In addition to the Times, it has been nearly constantly endorsed by other respected authors, including Kevin Brownlow, Eileen Whitfield, Tracy Ryan Terhune, Anthony Slide, Donna Hill, and David Stenn.
3. SILENT IDOL
Published 2010 First Edition, 2019 Revised Edition RVG Books.
Donna L. Hill, author. This is a book of ultra-rare, candid photos of Rudolph Valentino, the majority of which have never been widely available and certainly never in book form. First released through Blurb in a glossy paper edition in 2019 it was later revamped to add even more rare photos and made available on Amazon at a reasonable soft cover price. The late Donna Hill left no stone unturned in sharing with readers a plethora of Valentino’s life in pictures, culling from her own expansive collection and reaching out to major Valentino collectors to utilize rarities that had never before been seen. So impressed with its content, the Valentino family themselves opened their personal vault to allow several early Valentino candid photos in and around New York (1913-1917) to be used for the project. Never-before-seen photos that Valentino had sent back to his family in Italy to assure them life was good in America give readers a rare glimpse into Valentino’s early career and private life. Brimming with context, history, and meticulous research, Silent Idol is complete with captions and chapter outlays. This is an essential book in the Valentino canon.
4. VALENTINO FOREVER
Published 2004 Author House, Tracy Ryan Terhune, author.
Valentino Forever covers an integral and important part of Valentino’s enduring legacy after his death. The Valentino Memorial Services often received only brief mention in previously released Valentino biographies. Valentino Forever rights that wrong. The Valentino Memorial Service has become the oldest annual event in Hollywood history. It has been held without interruption since the very first service in 1927. Valentino Forever benefits from extensive research and tells this fascinating story in easy-to-follow chronological order. Terhune had access to ultra rare and previously unavailable materials, including the original Lady in Black, Ditra Flame’s complete personal files and correspondence. Valentino Forever is heavily illustrated containing rare images, all pertaining to the history of the service. The book’s introduction was penned by fellow Valentino biographer, Dark Lover author Emily Leider, who stated, “Tracy Terhune narrates a chapter of Hollywood history never told before, and very much worth telling.”
Honorable Mention:
THE INTIMATE LIFE OF RUDOLPH VALENTINO
Published 1975 Jonathan David Publishers Inc, Jack Scagnetti, author.
This book is mostly composed of information gleaned from audio tapes made by Luther H. Mahoney who was Rudolph Valentino’s personal employee and was a firsthand witness to the interworking’s of the life and household of Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambova. It was Mahoney who drove the Valentino family to the train station for the famous good-bye kiss for the cameras. It was Mahoney who created the Valentino Estate sale catalog. Mahoney who passed away in 1968 told his story via the audio tapes, and they are full of fascinating anecdotes and rare history. Author Jack Scagnetti realized his gold mine and dedicated the book to Luther Mahoney. Making this book an even more valuable tool, Mahoney’s daughter wrote the foreword. This is another gem in the Valentino canon not to be missed.
VALENTINO AS I KNEW HIM
Published 1926 Macy-Masius Publishers, S. George Ullman, author.
The very first book on Valentino after his passing hit the market shortly after Valentino’s death, was written by Valentino’s own manager, S. George Ullman. Valentino died in late August 1926 and by October of that year, Ullman had penned his own version of Valentino, avoiding the burden of a full-fledged biography by calling it “As I Knew Him,” filled with stories and anecdotes Ullman clamed Valentino had confided in him. It is a fun, breezy read and no doubt delighted fact hungry Valentino fans of the time. It is widely considered to have been ghost-written as Ullman was quite busy in the short weeks following Valentino’s death, with handling the estate settlement. Regardless, it is entertaining even if it falls within the category of “sugary Valentino could do no wrong” type of book. Valentino As I Knew Him is freely available online, as it now is in the public domain.
Valentino Books To Avoid
AFFAIRS VALENTINO
Published 2011 1921 PVG Publishing / 2013 Vivace Edizioni / 2015 Vivale Industria Pubblicazioni Evelyn Zumaya, author.
Affairs Valentino is a bizarre, ranting, fictional machination which has wildly shape-shifted with each of the endless editions subsequently released. Affairs Valentino is certainly not a biography, and the books timeline inconsistently bounces around, yet centers around the legal aftermath of the Valentino estate. Zumaya intentionally misquotes Valentino’s own family, and its own source material. In the first edition the Zumaya inserted a scathing “Forewarning” with conspiracy-theory-centric details about alleged boogeymen, “Valentino Cult” leaders and bloggers she disliked, all of which have nothing to do with the subject of the book. Later editions wisely dropped the “Forewarning,” but by then Zumaya’s personal and professional reputation had suffered greatly, and her original publisher, 1921 PVG Publishing was successfully sued for libel before the books release. So poorly received, Affairs Valentino was dropped from or pulled from nearly all retailers due to its libelous and scandalous content.
Later editions were self-published by Zumaya’s new husband. Factual errors within the book(s) indicate that research and editing were scarce if not non-existent entirely. In Affairs Valentino, Zumaya leads the reader to believe that Jean Valentino (Valentino’s brothers’ son) was Valentino’s illegitimate son, and that the Valentino family sent him to America in shame. Following a simple pregnancy timeline would have easily put this allegation to rest, but Affairs Valentino lacks any cohesive timeline, whatsoever. One-third of the book is filled with fictional dialogue of which Zumaya sheepishly admits “I added minimal dialogue” going onto say it was to create what she labels as a “narrative non-fiction style,” yet Affairs Valentino is indeed a work of fiction. Dialogue created nearly a century later by people who were not present is exactly that, fiction. Affairs Valentino adds nothing cohesive, and certainly nothing trustworthy regarding the books’ subject, and was the most factually baseless and error-ridden book out of all we reviewed.
THE RUDOLPH VALENTINO CASE FILES
Published 2021 Viale Industria Pubblicazioni, Evelyn Zumaya, Renato Floris authors.
As with Zumaya’s many other books, The Rudolph Valentino Case Files escapes any clear definition, whatsoever. Instead, it borrows short form articles from old sources and sloppily attempts to shape them into cohesive chapters within this book. Zumaya and her late husband, Renato Floris, shared duties in writing the rest of the 31 chapters. Fictional subject lines include pushing a narrative of “godfathers” that came to meet Valentino upon his arrival to America, even though Valentino himself, his heirs, and his own family have dispelled any such notion. The bizarre and baseless love child theory again receives its own chapter and, in this edition, given more emphasis than previously, despite being one of Zumaya’s many factually baseless conspiracy theories regarding her subject.
Even more bizarrely, Zumaya reprints private emails, never intended for public consumption, from a co-author of an earlier Valentino book, the legality of which is shaky at best. Even stranger yet, an entire chapter of this book is devoted to a Valentino author having nothing to do with the books subject, whatsoever. Here she takes other Valentino authors to task for small typos and errors, yet in The Rudolph Valentino Case Files, Zumaya has typos throughout. Zumaya, in a footnote, manages to misspell even her own name. Multiple photos are misidentified, including Valentino promissory notes which are erroneously listed as bank checks. Black and white photos have all been poorly colorized, giving them an unnatural appearance.
The Rudolph Valentino Case Files is a lackadaisical, ranting, mostly fictional work, and reads more like a vindictive blog post, spending more time attacking other authors, than an actual book.
THE TRUE RUDOLPH VALENTINO
Published 2019 Viale Industria Pubblicazioni, Baltasar Fernandez Cue, author.
This book is a “typical of its time” movie-magazine-style storyline of Rudolph Valentino. Cue, who briefly met Valentino, had intended to work with him on writing his life story but before that could happen, death put an end to their collaboration. After interviewing several friends and associates of Valentino, Cue decided to write a serialized ten-part, watered-down, yet still pleasing to the public article in Spanish movie magazine Cine-Mundial. Baltasar Cue even received a letter from Rudy’s brother Alberto who clearly wrote it prior to a word having been written. While there is no evidence presented that Alberto ever saw or read the final, finished version, it would make one wonder what he would’ve thought of it. The publishers claimed the Alberto Valentino letter was a “Letter of Endorsement,” and while true, he initially gave his permission and blessing regarding the project, it would be a stretch to call it an “endorsement” since Alberto had not read the ten installments. The “endorsement” claim was intended to help sell books, but to imply it was endorsed by the Valentino family is simply untrue. Oddly, many things within the book, which the title openly boasts as being “The True Rudolph Valentino,” clash with other Valentino stories penned by Evelyn Zumaya. In Cue’s writings there is no Godfather, and there is no love child. Every Valentino friend he interviewed obviously used revisionist history and with no one around to say differently, elevated their role in Valentino’s life to grand heights. Also working against this book is the fact that it was translated from Spanish to English, with neither language being the native tongue of the translator. The flow of the book and general content suffers greatly from this. This is most certainly not the “true story” of Valentino and contains far more fiction than fact. It is a 1927-28 movie magazine filler column and everything you would expect it to be.
VALENTINO
Published 1966 MacFadden-Bartell / 1976 Corgi Books, Brad Steiger and Chaw Mank authors.
Released exclusively in paperback in 1966 and again a decade later in the United Kingdom, this book is the absolute worst work featuring Rudolph Valentino as its main subject matter. In Valentino, author Chaw Mank brings endless filth to the table. Mank’s co-author’s role revolved around navigating the publishing process. Mank cozied up to Valentino, or so he says, in 1922 and claims that Valentino considered Mank his “first sincere fan.” Mank uses endless buzz words to imply how close they were. Mank says Valentino would “confide” in him, and claims they had an “intimate association.” Valentino’s personal manager, S. George Ullman unwittingly helped further Mank’s secret goal out by gifting him a personal Valentino scrapbook shortly after Valentino’s passing. Mank had written a small pamphlet in 1929, three years after Valentino’s death called “What the Fans Think - Rudy Valentino.” Nothing in the 1929 pamphlet is scandalous or sexual in nature. By 1966, however, Mank discarded any perceived loyalty towards Valentino and wrote of him in graphic terms of homosexual experiences and failed relationships with women. Coupled with large chunks of dialogue that one would have to have been hiding under the bed to have overheard, one can easily guess where Mank is leading the reader. Mank’s Valentino is pure sleaze and Rudolph Valentino surely deserved better treatment. Valentino’s life was not one of running in and out of 1920’s gay bath houses seeking to further his acting career. This book is unsourced trash from
Dishonorable Mention
RUDOLPH VALENTINO: THE MAN BEHIND THE MYTH
Published 1962 The Citadel Press, Robert Oberfirst, author.
This book tried and failed to tell the life story of Valentino by using what Evelyn Zumaya would years later call a “narrative non-fiction style.” Rudolph Valentino: The Man Behind The Myth is filled with fictional dialogue, even dating back to when Valentino was a small boy in Italy. Oberfirst surmises what Valentino was thinking, if he was hungry, etc., all created by the author and the quotes are squeezed into the mouths of his mother, father and whomever else happens to appear in any given chapter. Oberfirst has Valentino banished from Italy by the family for gambling at Monte Carlo. Off to America, the last words his mother said to him in person was “May God go with you, my little one.” The book is full of many such cases of lofty prose, which amount to nothing more than fictional dialogue created by the author. In 1962, readers were hungry and appreciative of any book to be had on Valentino. Aside from Ullman’s 1926 book, there were only one or two others between 1926 and 1962 when this book came out, but sadly, this book contains much more fiction than fact.
RUDOLPH VALENTINO
Published 1978 Editions France-Empire, Jeanne de Recqueville, author.
This book was published only in French until 2020 when it was poorly translated to English. It was created from Recqueville’s memory and her memory doesn’t seem to serve her well. Errors of fact stand out on nearly every page. Small ones, such as getting plot lines of movies mixed up, to larger ones by misidentifying the actress who unveiled the Valentino Aspiration statue in 1930 create trust issues throughout. Recqueville has Pola Negri at the unveiling and tears Pola apart for wanting the attention it will bring. It wasn’t, however, Negri who unveiled the statue. There are so many glaring factual errors one would quickly lose count. Recqueville is hyper fixated with Valentino’s sexuality, presenting fiction as fact, and surmising about many things. Whereas author Chaw Mank wanted to make Rudy gay in his Valentino paperback, (1966) it is clear his book was the guiding influence of Recqueville, who also seemed completely fixated with Valentino’s sexuality, but in her book, Rudy is completely straight. Recqueville claims to have letters to “prove” it, but no proof is ever provided. Endless errors of fact and ill-advised speculation on his sexuality make this an unpleasant read. It comes across as very forced, headstrong, and determined to sway the reader, despite no evidence to back up its wild claims and endless supposition.
Don’t miss the 98th Annual Valentino Memorial Service on August 23rd, 2025, at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in the Cathedral Mausoleum. The annual service starts promptly at noon. Early arrival is suggested, as the event quickly becomes standing room only each year. The Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038.