“My Private Diary", was published in 1929, thanks to an idea of Michael A. Romano, friend of Rudolph Valentino and his honorary pallbearer at the funeral. He has been mistakenly identified as André Daven who, at the time of Rodolfo's death, was in France.
What did Michael A. Romano really publish? Is this the authentic and autographed diary of Rodolfo Valentino?
It is my well-founded opinion that Valentino, personally, did not write a word contained in Romano's diary. The diary was published in 1929, during a difficult historical period of great economic depression and seemed a powerful inspiration for the community of Italian immigrants in the United States. It served as an example of success, both in the economic and social sectors, presenting an example of a "poor" and "lost" immigrant who, thanks to self-confidence, determination and his own talent, was able to reach unattainable heights. From that moment, “My Private Diary” became a sort of sacred book for the followers of the Valentinian cult, a book they would swear on as being the, “true word of Rudolph Valentino”.
Romano based his book on two then existing and ghost-written versions of Valentino's life; one being “My Life Story”. In 1923, this alleged autobiography of Rodolfo was published in three installments in the February, March and April issues of Photoplay Magazine. I say alleged autobiography, because Rodolfo himself confided to his friend Baltasar Fernández Cué, that the autobiography titled,”My Life Story”, had very little to do with his "real" life. Additionally, I can say that this fresco of words was written by Herb Howe, who confessed to having written it in an article he wrote about an interview he conducted with Natacha Rambova. This was published in The New Movie Magazine, December 1929-May 1930. His confession reads:
“I recalled the days I spent in her apartment collaborating with Rudie on his life story. Because of some legal technicality pertaining to his divorce from Jean Acker, he and Natacha were forced to maintain separate apartments for several months after their marriage in Mexico, but of course Rudie spent most of the time in Natacha's....
There was a moment of constraint as Natacha and I set down on the divan. To break it, I referred to the hours spent on his life story. 'Now we ought to do your life,' I said.”
It is therefore legitimate to deduce; Valentino provided Herb Howe with basic information and the journalist created his fresco of words to tell the alleged, "real" life of Rodolfo.
Romano's, “My Private Diary” was a broad reworking and embellishment also of a travel diary based on, “My Life Story”. This travel diary, published in 1924 in two cinema magazines after Rodolfo and Natacha returned to the United States from their trip to Europe, revealed another pen giving some additional brushstrokes and I think with very high probability it was Adela Saint Johns. She was an editor of Valentino's book of poetry titled, "Day Dreams" as revealed by Natacha herself in a letter sent to Valentino during her marital exile; a letter which Rodolfo himself gave to his friend Baltasar Fernández Cué.
I will not digress here with an analysis of the many trademark errors contained in Romano's, "My Private Diary" but I intend in the near future to share my in-depth analysis which I believe no one, with intelligence and intellectual honesty, will be able to contradict.
To share just one example, I refer to the most easily verifiable errors, this because there are documents available on line referring to the actual dates of Rodolfo and Natacha's trip to Europe.
I want to add I read with great dismay the Italian translation of My Private Diary, made by an "expert" in the history of cinema who in the introduction cites as gospel truth, a biography written by an unscrupulous British "biographer".
It is painful to see a life, that of Rudolph Valentino, misrepresented both for obvious commercial reasons and for cultist perverted proposals based on nothing more than innuendo. The Romano publication, created to give hope to the poor Italian community, can not and must not be considered actual truth.
I, very humbly, urge readers to read our books and may intellectual honesty triumph! In this regard, I paraphrase a sentence from Augustine of Hippo when he was sure he heard a child's voice saying, "Tolle, lege, tolle, lege" (Pickup the book, read it, pick it up, read it) Augustine took the advice, picked up the book and it's importance changed his life forever.
