Below, one of the thousand Valentino probate documents I recovered in 2003. The documents are official copies of Valentino's probate case file and stand as proof that the original file was once housed in the Los Angeles County Hall of Records. The story of the theft of the original case file is revealed in detail in Affairs Valentino.
In this document above, Valentino is assigning his United Artists' contract to the ownership of his corporate alter ego, Cosmic Arts, Inc. I learned from the recovered court records how Natacha Rambova held all ten shares of Cosmic Arts stock. In essence upon the assignation, she owned Valentino's (her husband's) contract. As you see (above)Valentino transferred ownership to Natacha on April 21, 1925.
Four months later they would separate and he would have her sign away her interest in Cosmic Arts, Inc. The court records explain he, “had become dissatisfied with the management”, namely his wife, Natacha. From that day forward, Valentino and his manager George Ullman conducted his business under his new corporate alter ago, Rudolph Valentino Productions.
I found the subject of Cosmic Arts, Inc. to be fascinating and as it became a topic of dispute in Alberto Valentino's frivolous lawsuit v. Ullman, there is a great deal about Cosmic Arts, Inc. included in the recovered records.
How valuable these records are!... as the originals were stolen and now have vanished, secreted away into oblivion by the collectors.
How easy it was all those years to spin their false narrative about many things; Ullman, Alberto, Natacha... with those stolen records in their hands, they were free to say whatever they wanted to.
While we have been working to share the true story as at last revealed in those records I recovered.... they, the keepers of the original documents... impugn, defame, mock, bully and lie to maintain their upside down version of Valentino's life.
Regarding their “kill the messenger” campaign; I would point out that records such as these do not belong in the “trash can of Valentino history” as Tracy Terhune recently and shamefully referred to me and my work:
With each document brought forth... each and every valuable one.... Terhune's relegating our work to the “trash can” appears less and less like someone determined to be the King of Valentino... and more and more an act of someone desperate to maintain the years of lies passed off as fact and determined to exploit collecting Valentino memorabilia to push a personal agenda.
I do not fabricate or forge documents and present them as the valuable gems they truly are.
