Dark Lover - Tapa dura

One of the first - some would say the greatest of all - screen lovers, Rudolph Valentino was born a nobody called Rudolfo Guglielmi, and first found success as a dancer. His irresistible rise to the position of the cinematic sex god of his day in such films as The Sheik, and early death thereafter, makes a riveting life story. Valentino, it seems, attracted gossip as easily as he did adoration from his millions of fans. Was he homosexual? A gigolo? Honest if naive? Corrupting and decadent? Despite the passing of the years, such questions remain, fascinating film fans and cultural historians alike.

Emily W. Leider traces the extraordinary journey by which a nobody named Rodolfo Guglielmi became a somebody named Rudolph Valentino - a silver screen legend who forever changed America's idea of the "leading man". Valentino wasn't just a star, he was a phenomenon, adored by women, despised by men. On-screen, he offered American women a dangerous sexuality unlike anything on offer from their husbands or lovers; in private, his first wife - a lesbian - refused to consummate their marriage. Gossip and rumour about his early life as a taxi-dancer haunted him, until his untimely death cut short a career that lasted only five years. This book now attempts to rehabilitate Valentino's reputation, both as a man and as an actor.