On the Green-Eyed Monsters

In response to some of the past few days slurs on the memory of Rudolph Valentino, his close friend and trusted business manager George Ullman and Rudolph Valentino's lover and wife, Natacha Rambova I say the following.

It has been alleged the past few days that Alberto Valentino had nothing but kind words about his brother after his death. Point made there: after his brother's death when it mattered so greatly that he keep his brother Rudolph's limelight on himself. I ask how Alberto thought trashing Ullman for decades was “saying anything nice about Rudolph”? I think sometimes what would be going on if after I die, people come out to say that every single one of my dear and trusted friends and business colleagues were just thieves and devious scheming people and do so without a lick of evidence? What would motivate someone to do that? I say jealousy.

Jealousy is defined as a “feeling or state of resentment, bitterness, or hostility towards someone because they have something that you don't.” “Jealous” is derived from “Zealous” which lends some interesting nuances to jealously I think. It is an ardent act of protecting something. Biblically jealously has a lot to do with coveting or wanted something someone else has.

Of course Alberto had to spin the warm, homespun version of it all but his narrative for the press becomes a tragedy for him in my opinion when he lashed out against people whom his deceased brother adored, loved and trusted. We know Alberto wanted to be appointed executor of the estate and petitioned the court for this. He was refused. He wanted to have Rudolph's adoring fans rush him for a button off his jacket. He was refused. I made my point.

Jealously still affects the Valentino world today and those cruel lashings out continue against the very people who were assaulted by Alberto's lamentable jealousy. But I believe now there is an added layer of jealously impacting it all. Jealously in the protection aspect of the word...and I think it goes further than just perpetuating the Alberto Valentino family narrative.

...because I defended the people close to Rudolph and told their true stories, the rush to defame Ullman, Rambova, Mennillo intensified. The surrogate war against Affairs Valentino was launched with these fine people collateral damage in the ritual killing of my book. Hitting them is to hit me.

For example, before I vetted Bret in that speech in 2009, he barely cared about Valentino. He churned out his little hit piece on Valentino and was on to the next ten victims of his fantasies. After I came along Bret decided to become the “World's Ghastliest Author” writing only on Valentino perpetuating his fantasy that Valentino loved only men. It was a thinly constructed premise in his first book but boy it has not held up well in his rehashing in others. (see previous post about repetition not making something true)

So all in all how well can Bret say that went well for him because now he can not even join a Facebook Group which is run by those he claims are his “buddies”? He has to don a cloak of obscurity, Kim Edelman, Alberto Morris... and hide behind lamp posts because his “buddies” do not want him there. In lashing at me all these years and years and years I guess it shows his tenacity in hanging in there and not admitting his utter defeat.

But he had to protect his hoax that Valentino was gay and/or bisexual....and he lashes out and I say out of jealousy. Because he wants what I have and that is sources.

I share this oddment (see below) as a tribute to a great source of mine...and the one person I believe suffered more than any one else because of the jealous lashings out in Valentino's name by those protecting the lies. From a review of George's book.

That Frayed Myth

Accepting documentation.. it is a normal thing to do within the civil non-psycho world or not biased world... Michael Morris used to call “it” the tired old myth. And shortened that to T.O.M. It is such a prevalent problem in the Valentino world that we spoke of it so often we shortened for the sake of convenience.

But as Franklin Roosevelt infamously said, (see below) repeating something a billion times does nothing to make it true.

Renato refers to this as “intellectual dishonesty” and I say a nice way to scam folks and play them for fools.

I use the word liar. Because that is what is going on … a whole lot of lying. For example...Michael Morris called me one morning to say he read what I said on a witness stand on David Bret's (Kim Edelman's blog). I had to tell him I never took the witness stand it was a total lie.

How long the list would be here if I began a tally of all the lies purported in the name of Rudolph Valentino by these same liars. The last thing a liar wants is someone disputing their lies with facts and documentation. They cry, “Get Thee Back Satan!” (see below where Tracy Terhune attempts to get my documentation out of sight). How many layers of disturbing is this image he posted as a home page illustration on that "Literary Critique" hate blog he runs under the title of Affairs Valentino. So Jesus here would be Terhune? And I would be the cowering Satan? Wow. 

Jesus and Satan are fairly important characters so why would Terhune want to bother them just to protect his innuendos and fantasies. Just an FYI to Tracy Terhune about this image...Tracy, you are no Jesus Christ. 

I am happy to say that the comments left on this blog reveal many people are also recognizing the lies. The documentation is the force here, a wall of pain for them because it makes their feeble, tired old lies become frail. Evidence v. innuendo.

Bill Self once told me when we were discussing the rampage to make Valentino gay and bisexual...that everyone who knew Rudy would say the same thing about it, “Poor Rudy.”

I have to join the chorus. Because it is just a lie. 

Sickest thing about this is that they know its a lie. Buyer beware I say....check under the hood.

It is my opinion there is nothing in the world more dishonest than a liar acting it out with authority.

Truthiness

Of all the pieces I have penned and published over the years which came under assault from those who yes called themselves the “team”, as spearheaded by David Bret and Tracy Terhune...the introduction to the first publication of Affairs Valentino would win the prize as most battered irrationally by them. I have written about this and won't reiterate but just say 2010 was complete hell for me as a victim of said “team” and I threw the book away basically, had it uploaded into print mostly for the Ullmans and the Mennillos and left to live in Italy.

I has so beaten and furious about what happened to me in 2010, I felt I had to explain; explain why my Google search included lies about drug busts, incest, homophobia, and why my personal information... phone numbers, addresses, family member's names were all out there with sadistic taunts such as “We are almost there folks!”

So I wrote from the heart and did not hold back. The only actual name I mentioned was David Bret. I wanted the world to know what horror this man had put out there about me and mine on a daily basis for a year then. At that time I knew the members of that “team”...I had my proof in e-mails passed back and forth, information I shared with someone which turned up on Bret's killing bully blogs. But I now have definitive proof of his affiliation with these people in the form of court documents submitted on their behalf.

I wanted the world to know what kind of people they were, the lengths they were and still are going to silence people and how their bullying me affected my life and psyche in such a tragic way. And I do not use that word lightly.

They were so offended and outraged by the intro which I titled, “The Forewarning” they are still weeping copiously about it. Imagine that? The truth about them they consider so awful to read they have cried over it for a decade and more.

Bret was so offended by my truth, he published the Forewarning in little Twitter bites. And he sent it to Michael Morris' superior at the school where Michael taught telling him to have a look at this “filth” Michael wrote. (“filth” being Bret's own actions I was commenting on) Perhaps they had never been exposed to such a high degree but after what they put me through the previous year I had nothing to lose and threw the brick as far as I could.

Would I write it differently today? Of course I would because I have so much more evidence of what goes on. There are no flood gates strong enough to withhold the kind of torrents of abuse that came my way after my truthiness in that intro.

The police in Bret's hometown told him once he should shut up because he was just promoting my book and I do sometimes think if they never said a peep when the book came out it might have sold a few copies and then have faded away and I would have moved on also. But I can not be grateful to them because the trauma they inflicted on me was and is too heavy. And it has gone on for too long.

Did Michael Morris write the Forewarning? No, he did not. I wrote all of it except one small phrase. This said he edited a great deal and made some suggestions. But that one phrase he inserted was so brilliant and nothing I would have thought of that I left it. The phrase was “Magus of the Cult”.

In this sordid history I learned one thing about the “team” and that is they project so wildly. They call my posting any defense against their unthinkable cruelty... they call that bullying. And pretty much whatever they say about me is the absolute truth about themselves. Even when Bret repeats how I called him a rapist when in fact (and I have the proof) he called himself that.

So we have a new one to hang on that projection lamp post... the slur or attempted slur that Renato and I are crass merchants chuckling as we ring up another sale on our “RVG” embossed cash register. Boy, who just laid out a sad little description of himself there?

Do I regret the Forewarning? Not one bit. If other people chose to ID themselves from that intro then there you go. It was all true and still is.

I feel most injured in this by the silent sycophants who continue to chant their praise of and genuflect before the magus and his beast... despite knowing what they have done and continue to do to me and mine. Hear the opening of that Forewarning here...

A Logical Scenario

It is my personal opinion after researching this story for almost two decades of my life, that Alberto knew his brother left Jean as his sole heir and knew he would only receive a stipend of 100$ a week. I believe Alberto either knew this before Rudy died or in the least on arrival in New York after Rudy's death. When he arrived in New York, it is my belief Alberto called Lou Mahoney in Falcon Lair knowing he had access to the office safe and told him to remove that second page of the will which outlined Jean as sole heir and gave Ullman sweeping authority to continue to run the production company. If Alberto did allow that second page of the will, Paragraph Fourth to surface, then two things would have occurred which did not.

One, Jean as sole heir and being a minor would have had a designated guardian appointed by the court, (usually a lawyer) to protect his interests until he was of age. This is standard procedure. And two, Alberto would have had to come up with some face-saving explanation why his brother did not appoint him as heir and he would have never have had his ability to live such a star lifestyle upon arrival in Hollywood as he did.

With that pesky paper out of the way, Alberto immediately began petitioning huge advances from executor George Ullman based on his “future share” which in reality he never had. I think he always knew he never was Rudy's sole heir. By doing this and receiving a fortune in those advances and then suing Ullman for years, Alberto squandered the estate which was rightfully Jean's and Alberto alone spent the fortune Ullman worked to build up.

In answer to a question posed in the comments here, Alberto benefited financially in every way and then tried with insane audacity to collect it all a second time from Ullman for thirty years. And lest we forget Lou Mahoney witnessed that second page of the will which vanished not so mysteriously, never said a word about its existence in four years while Ullman fought Alberto's false charges and Lou M. has ever since been the sacred cow of the Valentino family...despite his driving away from Falcon Lair with a van full of artifacts.

I make a comparison in saying that if you walk into a room and see a cat licking its paws by a fish bowl spilled and broken on the floor and your fish is gone... it is not rocket science to construct the scenario which took place.

The one other element I would add to this scenario are those final words Rudy whispered to his godfather Frank Mennillo. Mennillo then told those to Alberto on his arrival. I am sure Rudy was not passing on some trivial tidbit knowing he was dying... and in my opinion he could very well have told Frank to tell his brother how the will was in the safe and he left it all to Jean. Alberto would have then acted accordingly...not wanting to be cut out of the monies available and not wanting to publicly admit his brother Rudolph handed him a $100 bill a week. Nada mas.

To me it is a logical scenario to realize based on the timing, the characters involved and what transpired. The fall guy being George Ullman.

Interesting Factoid

 

The Brothers Valentino

More "Pennies"

Between April and July 1926, Rudolph Valentino gave his brother Alberto a total of $6150. (see below) Spending money? This was money not included in the total Ullman advanced to Alberto being $37, 411. Again x 15 by today's currency exchange and inflation rate this $6150 would today be $92,250.00.

Just to put this into perspective...at the time, the average U.S. family annual income was about $2000.00. You could buy a family car for about $300.00.

In my previous post I shared the total of the monies Alberto received from Ullman as being almost $600,000 by today's inflation percentages and today I will add just a bit more to that with the pocket money Rudy gave Alberto during his stay in Falcon Lair... bringing the total of his “pennies” now up to $43,561.00 calculated to today's spending value that would be $653,415.00. Bearing in mind this is all the documentation I have access to and I am sure there was more which was not included in the audit records of Ullman's appeal's case.

I do not judge people for how they want to spend their money or for even having a great deal of it. But I do find it offensive that Alberto and his offspring continue to polish his halo when he lied mercilessly about the facts of the settlement of the estate. He did his best to garner sympathy by saying how sad it was he only got “pennies” and that all the money went on lawyers... and blah blah blah. Well no one could really fact-check Alberto's statements because the court records proving otherwise turned up missing. They never counted on anyone... let alone me... finding copies of enough of those records to learn the truth.

The Power of Truth

I will refresh Tracy Terhune's ill-informed mind on just one point with this clip from court testimony (not fake as he is wont to claim):

The exchange rate from November of 1927 to 2021 is times $15.78. 

While Alberto Valentino was playing his violin telling the sad story all his life how he got "pennies" from his brother's estate, (never profited?) according to the court records of the case... which were mysteriously stolen.... he received a total of $37,411. 

This would be by today's exchange rate and spending power, $590,171.89 and this was before 1930.

The exchange rate by 1930 would be slightly less at $566,000. Hardly a few pennies. 

Documentation matters. It is the power of truth. 

And lest we not forget how Alberto took advantage of it all to pursue Ullman for thirty years trying to force him to pay him that entire amount a second time and out of his pocket. Its a sick story. And I also recall Terhune referring to the Valentino family's "never ending greed" way back when. How the tide has turned. 

https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=37&year=1930

"Court Denies Valentino Kin"

So (see below) we are to believe that because someone made a bad fictional movie on Rudolph Valentino, this caused Jean Valentino to lose almost a half a million dollars and his “privacy” was invaded? How would that work anyway?

Let's say someone sees that bad movie, do they think... Oh, I need to cancel that contract with Jean Valentino for that sound system he was going to install because of that bad movie?  How naive did Jean think people were?

By the time he filed that lawsuit, people were able to differentiate between actors and real life people. And even if someone was so utterly naive to believe a film like that completely and then disdain Jean Valentino because of it... is not that part of his heritage which he so eagerly embraced and something Jean should expect?

Bill Self told me (lamented to me) how Jean carried an actual list with him at all times... a list of the things (Valentino relics) which were missing and obviously of great value to him...he carried that list because he felt it alllll belonged to him. I know that list was not something Self liked and it must have made him very nervous. With such an epic sense of entitlement, it is not surprising Jean would feel he alone owned not only all of Valentino's “stuff”... but Valentino too.

I refute that figure of $400,000 which Jean claims that movie cost him personally. So obvious. It would be interesting to see the court records for that case to see how Jean itemized that figure.

The "Remodeled Nose"

The photo of Alberto Valentino (see below) was originally watermarked heavily by historic images archive. It is no longer in their catalog. The caption on the back of the photograph explains this is Alberto with his "remodeled nose". I can think of no other sibling of a deceased celebrity who went as far as surgery to exploit the situation. But perhaps this is a more common occurrence than I know. I do not own the rights to this image and put my watermark on it only so it does not appear on one of those Facebook groups in five minutes. 

Lately Renato and I have been piecing more together from Alberto's early days and perhaps he had a reason to exact some retribution from his brother Rudolph.

The Sad Old Hoax

Just to reiterate: David Bret has called me so many gay slurs it boggles the mind he is still pretending to be any kind of a gay activist. Disgusting homophobic slurs let me tell you not small and subtle innuendo.

The only reason he wants people to think Valentino was gay and/or bisexual is because he wants to sell his cheap, horribly written unsourced porn fictional books based on his own fantasies. It has nothing to do with history or integrity.

But since he has signed affidavits for the court testifying as sworn truth that he has no assets at all then I wonder just how successful he really is as far as being that “World's Greatest Author”?

If it is true as he claimed he has sold 2 million books, he should have an asset somewhere. He now owes me almost $60,000 and counting and has told the court he is broke.

Which is it Bret? Millions of sales of your books or millions of lies?

And btw...calling women “widows” and mocking elderly people with cracks about “cobwebs” is ageist and sexist.

I revile David Bret and his offensive homophobia and his frivolous appropriation of homosexuality to titillate as he tries so hard to sell his sad old hoax to one more unsuspecting person.

David Bret has abused me, lied about me and mine, terrorized me, written more disgusting homophobic slurs than anyone reading this can possibly imagine. I have been too kind in my response but the game is now afoot.

Fact: David Bret lies. And that about sums it up. 

Regarding Bernie Fairlawn

What kind of person claims to be an “expert” on Rudolph Valentino, yet would not know what was going on in George Ullman's life in 1930? Good Lord. That is basic Valentino 101.

What kind of person, claiming to be an “expert” on Valentino, would not know the documented facts proving Ullman at that very time, 1930... was about to face a life sentence for his loyalty to his friend Rudy... because he was then receiving Alberto Valentino's collection orders from the LA County Sheriff and would be for the next 30 years?

What kind of person, claiming to be an “expert” on Valentino, would not know that in doing this Alberto was defying all logic and the court's recommendation not to hold Ullman responsible in any way to pay Alberto a fortune... which he, Alberto, had already spent? Madness.

What kind of person, claiming to be an “expert” on Valentino would not grasp the documented facts that Alberto Valentino had already begun his deep reign of lies and harassment of Ullman by 1930?

To answer these questions, I would point out how Tracy Terhune recently felt compelled to smear George Ullman one more time on his Facebook group. It was then someone running an account under the name of , “Bernie Fairlawn” chimed in.

For the benefit of Mr. Bernie Fairlawn, new to Facebook for only two days... who apparently does not know what kind of person would be guilty of feigning expertise while revealing themselves as unknowledgeable on the subject...I tell him if he wants to know what kind of person this would be he need not look much further than Tracy Terhune.

Most people these days have read the court records, know the story I presented and know Ullman was completely exonerated on all of Alberto's charges. I hope Bernie F. will find a copy of Affairs Valentino and get to reading. He has some serious homework to do I think.

Meanwhile to Tracy Terhune I address the following:

Regarding George Ullman, you need to bow down to the man who made it allll happen for you. From the death fest there at the crypt to your own collection.

In my opinion, you need to get your priorities straight and thank George Ullman for keeping all those relics in his garage and then naively confiding about it to Self. If Ullman had not trusted Self you would be sitting on half of your pile of Valentino gold there.

I have never posted the following quote by you because I had no citation as it was sent to me around 2003 before I knew much about doing such things. But it occurred to me that it came to me by e-mail in a much longer transcript so it has been preserved there. Just to refresh your memory, you wrote the following in a chat room of which you were a member.

Terhune comments on Valentino family and Ullman relationship, chat room transcript, November 3, 2003, ”I don't deny that the Valentino families (sic) never-ending greed played a major part in this suit, setting Ullman up for a fall, in a no-win situation.”

Did you once have some knowledge and common sense on the subject?

How many of Rudy's shirts did it take for the Alberto Family to change your mind on that one?

And then there is this:

The Pekingese Puppy Dispute

The following books, all our books... are black-listed by Donna Hill and Tracy Terhune on their Facebook group, “We Never Forget” and on their surrogate Facebook group, “Mad About the Boy”.

My edition of Daydreams

Affairs Valentino in all editions, Italian and English

The Affairs Valentino Companion Guide

S. George Ullman Memoir

Beyond Valentino

Astral Affairs Rambova

The True Rudolph Valentino by B. Cue in English

Jeanne De Recqueville's Valentino - In English

The books are not all that is black-listed by Donna Hill and Tracy Terhune, they also patrol their groups to rout out any mention of our podcasts, blogs and various other contributions.

When Donna Hill and Tracy Terhune promote absolute garbage about Valentino in their groups (see previous posts) but black-list legitimate work and documentation, in my opinion it speaks of their fear...fear of allowing us in to freely discuss. Tracy Terhune is so fearful of Affairs Valentino he deletes any mention of it instantly and feels compelled/justified to run a hate blog under our book's title for eight years now. Who does things like that out of any other motivation than fear?

What do they fear? Truth basically. “We Never Forget” and “Mad About the Boy” are highly-censored groups run by the very people who try to ruin us for telling the truth we uncover about Valentino.

Another “truth”... someone sent this article (see below) which I had never seen. I knew Alberto demanded Rudy's beloved Kabar but did not know about the Pekingese puppy. Although a small article, I think the content is huge. The poor little dog being yanked away from two people it knew and loved after its master died. And being yanked away by Alberto because of its cash value. And because Alberto was not entitled to a thing past his designated weekly allowance, the court would have made Ullman responsible for the cash value of the dog as it played out in Alberto's frivolous and tragic lawsuit v. Ullman. “We Never Forget”?? More like “We Hope to Forget Everything”. And thank you to the person who forwarded this article to me. 

Why Would I Think Any Differently?

Following up on my previous post and the insightful comments left, I share the following (see below). It makes one wonder what these two would have to say today. And the logical question follows; why are their descendants so silent about such repulsive exploitation and objectification (see previous post) of their famous ancestor which is being promoted by the emcee at the crypt?

I have heard all the arguments about the service being a “fine Hollywood tradition” and how now the Alberto Valentino family supports the “goings-on”/ current burlesque at the crypt.

But as someone who is publicly bullied by Tracy Terhune, the current emcee of the event, (and who has been for almost a decade) I would logically oppose it entirely. Every day he runs that hit blog under my book's title and tells anyone who will listen our work is “trash fiction” , he is bullying us. Every day he repeats that I am a “madwoman” , deletes any mention of our work from his two Facebook groups, jokes how my husband Renato is drinking his “Ensure”, etc., Tracy Terhune is bullying us. So there you have it. The general integrity of the crypt event in my opinion has been woefully compromised by his very presence and why would I ever think differently?

Of course I would not think him the ideal person to hold forth before the final resting place of Rudolph Valentino. I consider it a sort of sacrilege. And now after his most recent promotion of such a vile piece on Valentino (see previous post), I think Alberto and Jean would be very upset with Mr. Emcee... Ma mi faccia il piacere!

 (From the Des Moines Register, August 30, 1951)

Emcee? Ma mi faccia il piacere!

Is anyone else concerned that the man who emcees the annual memorial service commemorating Valentino's death is promoting things like this? (see quote below) Well I am. Today I received a message from someone who had just watched the piece Terhune was recommending. I asked for their permission to post the message here with the image and was given permission:

“I write this after quite a bit of wretching. The photo below is a still image from an animated film recommended today by the mighty Terhune on his Valentino forum. The name of the film is “Coriander & A Penny’s Worth of Lonesome.” The figure in the photo is - suspend your disbelief - Rudolph Valentino. Not only have the “filmmakers” concocted a grotesquely distorted physical representation of Valentino, but they have also given him a high pitched voice, made him stupid and barely verbal with unintelligible English. He is also chronically flatulent, with all the other characters remarking on it. And of course, the plot centers around a hard bitten would be actress who is hired by a UA publicist to pretend to be Valentino’s lover because - as the UA publicist says - Valentino is “a ponce” who was married to “dykes.” So to sum it up, Valentino was ugly, stupid, ill mannered, and, oh, a closeted gay man. I cannot believe that not one of Valentino’s self-proclaimed “mother bears” has stood up to condemn this disfiguration of their beloved. And where, oh where, is “the Valentino family?”

The message to me included the following image/screen capture which is how Valentino is represented in the piece promoted by Terhune. 

I have to ask where is Ms. Eleanor Gribbin? Does she not make a huge point to label herself Rudy's defender? She says nothing about Terhune's recommendation? I guess her silence says this is aok with her and in my opinion that makes her quite the hypocrite.

I call Tracy Ryan Terhune directly out on his promoting this and more.

I ask him... while you sir are banning us from even being mentioned on your Facebook forums, while you are smearing our names with lies and defamatory statements running rampant on that eight-year-old designated hate blog you run under the title of Affairs Valentino..while you call all our hard work on the subject of one Rudolph Valentino, “fiction” and “trash:... this is what you bring to the table?

You call me a “madwoman?”

I call you out.

Life on the Rails for Rudy and Natacha

Note: Today two comments were left on the post I made on May 6th, titled: "Rudolph Valentino was Heterosexual - Part 2" which I found very interesting and hope readers will check them out. Thanks. 

I have recently had reason to learn about the luxury Pullman cars of the 1920's. They were the private jets of the era. It is well-known Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambova traveled in luxury during the Mineralava Tour in 1923, and I guess some people assume this was something unique to them. It was not. It would be great if interior photos of their private car, “The Colonial” surfaced but some similar interiors can be found on line so we can imagine.

In Ullman's memoir he mentions the interior of the Valentino Pullman on p. 20,

“There was a living room. Nicely furnished, two bedrooms with brass beds and wardrobes and one compartment with regulation sleeping car bunks. There were also two full-sized showers. The bedroom I was to use was adjacent to the Valentino's room, and when Natacha's Aunt, Mrs. Teresa Werner, joined us, she occupied the compartment.”

He goes on to comment,

“At any rate no potentate could possibly have lived in greater comfort on the road!”

There is plenty online about this era, Googling “1920's Pullman cars”... and we can only imagine what these rolling five star hotel rooms looked like.

Rudy and Natacha's bedroom?

George's side bedroom/compartment next to Rudy's and Natacha's room, which he gave to Aunt Teresa Werner when she was on the train?

A sitting room/ parlor?

I think George's description of “The Colonial” has been dismissed by many because he proves Rudy and Natacha slept together so there is that. But I think this is one of the more romantic and visually enticing aspects of Rudy and Natacha's history and by the way some of the old rail lines still offer vacations on the restored Pullmans. For now I can only imagine. 

"We Must No Longer Disturb His Eternal Peace..."

Some time ago Renato found a listing, in Italian, of news mentions published at the time of Valentino's death in the Italian press. (see below) He did a rough translation which we used in a podcast. I outlined one comment which at best was some wishful thinking. Still I find them engaging. 

On The Objectification of Valentino

The objectification of Rudolph Valentino is fairly rampant these days, something made much worse by social media I think. Treating anyone like an object is always offensive to me and I feel when it comes to the subject of Valentino... we do not and have tried in every way... not to objectify the man.

George Ullman did not objectify him, neither did Mennillo, Rambova, Teresa Werner, Doug Gerrard, etc. and neither do many people who find the entire subject of Valentino a fascinating one. I believe Alberto Valentino did objectify his brother when he attempted to reconstruct his face and become Valentino... not much understanding in that act as far as recognizing Valentino was more than an object to mimic.

But the objectifying today is disgusting.... the swooning over him, the wink, wink, nod, nod ridiculous fantasies, the machinations of those demeaning all those people who were most dear to Valentino... the innuendo thoughtlessly attached to his memory online. The baseless and crass lies presented as facts.... all reveal an objectification of Valentino.

Objectifying for me is just treating someone like a piece of meat. No respect for anything much more complex. I think there was a lot more to Valentino that what meets the eye. It genuinely makes me sad to read some of the crap posted on those two awful Facebook groups because it is disrespectful. And it really makes me sad to learn about the deep objectifying by collectors. For them he is a trophy to be had... a dollar sign.

Just a thought because I think the subject of objectification is the great divide in the Valentino world. Objectifiers on one side and respectful people appreciating the truth on the other. Not sure what is to be done about it ultimately but just pointing it out best I can.

In Regards to the Comment About Bee Ullman's Memories

In response to a comment just left on my post titled, “I Can Only Imagine”, I say the following. Someone lamented how it is a shame Bee Ullman did not leave a reminiscence about her life in the days with Valentino. Well the truth is she did.

Bill Self told me in an early interview in 2003, that he interviewed Bee Ullman and recorded everything she had to say. I asked him to let me hear her audio memoir and he said he had it on a couple of reel to reel tapes. I can not remember if it was one or two. I told him I would find a way to listen to them.

In each interview he promised he would have Bee's tapes for me the next time I visited. In a typical slight of hand, he told me he could not find the box they were in, that he had to get things down from some cabinet... blah blah blah total evasion and BS.

I knew Bee's story in regards to what happened between her and Bill Self and it was not a pretty one. Her two children told me the details.

After George Ullman died, Bee wanted to move into a retirement home in Los Angeles for people in the motion picture industry. This required her being sponsored. She befriended Bill Self knowing he could give the recommendation and sponsorship and ensure she could live the rest of her life in the exclusive facility.

During the time frame when she had high hopes Self would make this happen for her, she gave him everything she had remaining that had anything to do with Valentino. She appeared with Self at the Screen Actor's Guild showing of The Four Horsemen.

According to Bob and Bunny Ullman, when Self owned every last thing she had to give him, he told her he would not sponsor her. She was unable to move into the retirement home and was bitterly disappointed. She was furious at Self for playing her on the subject and so were her children. I can think of no other reason why Self would not sponsor her other than his loyalty to the Alberto/Jean Valentino family.

Bee Ullman then moved in with her daughter and lived with her the rest of her life. But Bee hated Alberto and Jean Valentino and Bunny and Bob Ullman said she would tell anyone the ugly story of what they did to George.

So you better believe those tapes Bee made talking about her affiliation with Valentino were spot on and pissed off. There was a reason Self never let me hear them and I have never seen a reference to them or a transcript of them. 

I am sure if they do exist somewhere, they have been savaged and edited mercilessly. Who has Bee's tapes?

Are Bee's tapes in someone's garage on the dark side of the moon? What a total shame and what a great loss for the history of Valentino. 

Real People

I share a letter from Michael Morris' archive, a letter written by Natacha Rambova to her cousin Ann Wollen. I share it today as proof Natacha was a thoughtful and generous woman.

There is also some insight here to be had... because think about it...she wrote this letter in 1964 and mailed it to a cousin. A private thing to do. Today on May 16, 2021, I send this letter out into cyber space to be read by anyone with an interest who might come across it. Anyone. I would feel guilty violating her private communication to Ann, but I think it not a bad thing to do in an effort to save this woman, Rudolph Valentino's Queen... to save her from that slurry of lies, the bastards coat her with.

This letter might point out to them that the people they lie about were (as in Natacha's case) and are (in my case) real people. If they feel so compelled to be vicious, aggressive defamers then perhaps they could do so to fictional characters. Life is hard enough for real people without having malicious hacks making it worse.

Natacha Rambova was a real person who gave her cousin one thousand dollars in 1964 ( by today's exchange rate that would be $8677.56 ) to spend on a European trip and then shared all kinds of advice about the journey. Hardly fits Tracy Terhune's description of her as the “worst thing that ever happened to Valentino”. And Natacha's kind-heartedness and generosity really proves ole' Kim Edelman way wide of the mark when he calls her a “harpy”? Hardly.

So it is with respect for the fact this is a private letter between two ladies in 1964 and was never meant for world-wide publication...that I share the following:

#rudolphvalentinosqueen #kindheartedness #generousity

Leeloo is a Globetrotter

S. in Zurich has done a masterful job, collected the evidence and swept this blog clean. Thank you to them and thank you everyone for your understanding and support. Here we are sailing home from a pretty harrowing three months in Morocco. Not going back.

 

I Can Only Imagine

Someone commented the other day about collector Bill Self and how he managed to accumulate all he did when it came to Valentino memorabilia. Whenever I went to visit Bill for an interview he would have a few of his items out on a coffee table for me to see; Rudy relics.

For me the more interesting gems from those meetings were things he told me; things I never forgot. He had a way of speaking and I could tell when he was being evasive. When he looked you in the eye and said something it had an air of fact about it. If he did not want to answer he just changed the subject and that was that.

Of course I came prepared with a carefully constructed outline of topics and questions. We did not always stay on topic and he would digress and even interview me. When he learned I was also interviewing the Ullmans, when he learned I was going to New York City to visit Campbell's... he had many questions for me.

Some of the statements he made to me were stunning and they inspired my further research and discovery. For example to mention just a few:

He told me the only person who ever had anything bad to say about Rudy was Robert Florey and added that this was because Florey was the only person Rudy ever personally fired.

Bill Self told me how Alberto and Jean Valentino were horrible about George Ullman but that George Ullman never had an unkind word to say about anyone.

Self told me straight up how Alberto told him Rudy contracted syphilis from prostitutes as a teenager.

He told me once to change the passwords to my online accounts and often. (and he named names)

Self told me he interviewed the surgeon who first examined Rudy when he was admitted to the Polyclinic Hospital, Dr. William Rawls... and Self said Rawls told him they all knew Rudy was a dead man.

Self told me Alberto Valentino told him that E.M. Hull's The Sheik was the only book Rudy ever read cover to cover.

And one day Self told me how Jean looked exactly like Rudy.

I have related many times how Self terminated our interviews because the Alberto Valentino family spokeswoman, Jeanine Villalobos told him he could no longer speak to me.

I can only imagine how much more Bill Self would have told me because I really believe he wanted to tell me everything. In the time we did have together he certainly told me enough for me to build the story I did. 

Below, Bill Self with Bee Ullman, the photo behind them...Bee with George and Rudy. I know the woman in this photo has often been erroneously labeled as being Rudy's secretary... but Bee's children identified their mother. 

The Voice of Rage and Ruin

It seems there was an attempt made to hack this blog. I think anyone reading this blog knows we would never attach malware to phish our readers. 

You know this is not the first time this has happened. I was once hacked and had a professional Italiano cyber tech wizard go deep into my hard drive and he found the evidence. I have that hard drive but as it is an international case I am hedging for the cost involved. But he traced the attempted hacking to some IP in Illinois. How random is that. Go figure.

So I just want to share the following. I will have a professional cyber investigator track the evidence and footprint of any attempted hacking. It is really easy to do these days.

Then when I have that evidence I will have a judge issue a search warrant to reveal the ID of the IP address and I will file criminal hacking charges and contact the FBI. I could still do it with the previous hacking job.... or attempt thereof...

Amazing that they do not think there are people out there who are way more tech clever than they are. Sad.

Meanwhile #freedomofspeech and then there is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUQiUFZ5RDw

That Unreadable Letter

I was informed yesterday that on April 27^th, Eleanor Gribbin made a post on Tracy Terhune's Facebook group, Mad About the Boy concerning the recording Valentino made. Her first image is an excerpted transcript of a letter which was written by Jean Valentino to Valentino memorabilia collector, Bill Self. In this first image, Jean relates how his daughter found the recording and he gifts the recording to Self.

Gribbin's second image is of Jean's actual letter which she is excerpting... but it is unreadable. I ask why? Was this done intentionally?

I was able to decipher a bit of the last paragraph of the letter and read how Jean tells Self that George Ullman “attempted to commercialize” the recording after “Rudy's death”. Gribbin did not include that little last paragraph in her post excerpt.

I have to comment on Jean's thinking Ullman's “commercializing” was somehow a bad thing at the time. Did he not realize Ullman was doing everything he could to pay off Valentino's enormous debt so the estate, which was willed by Valentino to Jean... would not slide into complete insolvency and bankruptcy?

Ullman took a salary for his work as executor of Valentino's estate and reported this to the penny to the court. All of this is accounted for in the court records I discovered. Those precious copies of the entire case file of Valentino probate court records which were somehow stolen from their rightful housing and passed between various collectors (three according to Tracy Terhune) and the Alberto Valentino family.

“Commercializing” means Ullman was raising funds for the estate which Jean inherited. Ullman's “attempts” to “commercialize” the recording were done to make money for Jean Valentino. In my opinion this comment by Jean demonstrates complete lack of appreciation for Ullman's work increasing the value of the Valentino estate and it demonstrates complete ignorance of the actual situation and the Alberto Valentino family's revolting attempts to impugn the hand that was then feeding them.

Jean and Alberto's continual attempts to smear Ullman reveal much more about them than Ullman. The man who singlehandedly paid off Valentino's debt and increased the value of the estate... did not deserve their lies, snide remarks and irrational defamation.

So I ask...why is the image of that letter unreadable? I call on Eleanor Gribbin to repost a readable image of that letter.

And perhaps she can listen to the last podcast we posted on the Youtube channel. (see previous post) for the truth about Ullman and those “attempts to commercialize”. Jean makes it seem Ullman was pocketing the money for himself when any monies received in fact went into Jean's pocket.

As excerpted from Eleanor Gribbin's post, Fair Use guidelines apply:

Rudolph Valentino & George Ullman's Truth

I Respond to "Data Dumping" in the Valentino World

I recently learned about “Data Dumping”. This is a process by which files and information are passed from one location to another and usually to make them disappear or in the least not easily available. The user doing the dumping will often sell the files to a site or database. It is often done to dispose of illegal data or data which was collected in a security breach. When I learned about this I had to relate this to what is going on in the Valentino world at the moment. Is this not exactly what is going on?

Tracy Terhune has said my work on Valentino will end up in the “trash bin of Valentino history” but in my opinion, this is his expertise... data dumping. I was blown away to learn some time ago how a woman in Texas bought one of Valentino's letters to his friend Bruno. I found out about this because the woman followed my Instagram page and wanted to know if Renato could translate the letter. Which he did.

She had no idea what she had but I sure did; a precious, fragile and historically important document! I shuddered to think if she did not have a connection to me... this letter and its historical data would have been lost in oblivion.

I alleged those letters to Bruno have been dumped because they are proof Valentino had sex with women and was heterosexual. I also allege that this is by far not the only case of data dumping...in banning our books, banning even the mention of our names and references to our work, Tracy Terhune is furiously data dumping. Only a week or so ago, someone in his Facebook group cited Affairs Valentino in a discussion and Terhune deleted the entire thread. Is this not data dumping?

Why does he do this? There are many answers to that question but the most obvious answer is that he has a false Valentino narrative to maintain; one where Valentino arrives in America with holes in his shoes, picking cigarette butts out of ashtrays and starving for lack of a crust of bread. Absurdly false and the opposite was true.

Terhune must maintain his false narrative where Valentino is such an idiot he surrounds himself with thieves and bastards. Wrong again and the exact opposite was true.

Terhune must maintain his ludicrous narrative that Ullman was a villain and Alberto Valentino a hero when according to a mountain of court records... the exact opposite is true.

I could go on and on but I have made my point. Is this not Tracy Terhune's data dumping Valentino's history; a history he tries to alter/censor.

I think it is fair to wonder how much more he has dumped which we do not know about... including things he has accused me of dumping. We have worked hard to pull documents, share them and prove our discoveries while Tracy Terhune is banning and tossing the actual historical documents into oblivion and in my expert opinion in doing so he is dumping what does not fit his warped and very false narrative about Rudolph Valentino.

#stopdatadumpingvalentinoshistory

The books (see below) which Tracy Terhune does not want you to read, mention or discuss and the books he lies about without mercy.

Below just a few of Tracy Terhune's responses to our books which he has posted on the designated hate blog he runs under the title of my work, Affairs Valentino. 

Thank-you

This image (below) was taken around the time Rudolph Valentino was filming The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. For me, images like this really establish the historical context of Valentino's career. Thank you to a reader who shared this fascinating image with me. The tent stage really is evidence of the advantages of California weather...plenty of sun and seldom a rainy day. 

The Emotion Machine

The marketing of the Sheik was and still is a bit of a carnival side show. From the first attempts by theater owners to fill every seat for every showing (see below) to the outright hype written to amuse and titillate, the inanities about Rudolph Valentino have by and large always been the inventions of those merchants/snake oil salesmen. I contend they still are.

It seems Valentino is still subjected to merchants and their inanities. As silly as the “Emotion Machine” seems now, today a Valentino, “Emotion Machine” would have to include a great deal more emotions than W. E. Paschall's hand made gadget. But I do not think it much of a stretch... to envision a sort of attraction such as this at the annual crypt ceremony hosted by one Tracy Terhune.

When posters advertising movies are wedged against Valentino's final remains/crypt and Tracy Terhune dispenses a chance to wear Rudy's ring for a few moments as a prize.... it really does take on an air of side show for me. You can almost hear the gong hit the bell and the side show barker call out another winner.

Gimmicks, hype (nice word for lies), merchandise... all a part of marketing Valentino then when this article appeared in The Moving Picture Magazine on February 4, 1922 and incredibly still a part of the marketing of Valentino today.

“Step right up ladies and gentleman... for what you are about to witness will amaze and mystify!”

#castthemerchantsoutofthetemple

Vultures

 Someone left a comment clarifying the difference between the “Valentino family” and the “Alberto Valentino family”. I try to always make that point because I agree it is an important one. I think the point was first made long ago by George Ullman when he wrote how Rudy was an, “eagle born to a nest of owls”.

There were many surprises for me when I began researching Valentino, now more than twenty years ago. Alberto Guglielmi was one of them. Before I found the court records and learned the true story, I believed his hype, (nice word for lies). But there it was in black and white... filed officially in a long, lost case file...all the numbers, perfectly laid out... of just how much Alberto did receive from his brother's estate. It was not "pennies" as he claimed but by today's exchange rate nearly a half a million dollars. (See below)

The change in my opinion about Alberto went further than fact-checking his utter bull about the money. My respect for him plummeted when I learned about his deceptions and his being so irrationally hell bent on ruining George Ullman. Ruining the truth, ruining his brother's estate in the process, ruining George Ullman's life and livelihood. It became extremely difficult for me to believe Alberto and Rudy were even related because the contrasts between the two were many and profound.

My writing about these discoveries about the loving brother relationship fiction brought me decades of abuse from those fake experts who are just as “ruinous” in their actions and intent as the man who started the “ruining” in Valentino's name... Alberto Guglielmi.

I know they will howl and have howled how I “ruined” Alberto, but did I not bring forth an enormous amount of documentation as proof of what I said? My god the story needed a wild turnaround. Because what Alberto was saying was wrong. What he was doing was wrong. And this is not a moral judgment on my part but facts.

I never doubted Alberto and Rudy had a typical sibling relationship with many ups and downs. Someone once asked me if I thought Alberto cried at Rudy's funeral. I said I imagine he sure did. But this does not excuse the passing of Rudy's deserved mantle of success onto the undeserving Alberto. It does not excuse his arrogance in thinking he could just take Rudy's place...and it does not excuse his lying for decades about Ullman's performance as executor and does not excuse Alberto's sickening line he handed out for years how he only got pennies from Rudy's estate. He milked it dry and then some. And boy he sure neglected to share the news that he was not even one of his brother Rudy's heirs and legally entitled to nothing more than a weekly stipend. 

So yes, I concur there is a big difference between the Alberto Valentino family, those “owls” and the Valentino family, that “lone eagle”. 

One point I would make is that after all I learned, I would not call the Alberto Valentino family, "owls", but vultures... birds which feed on the carcasses of the dead. 

(Below an excerpt from the Appeals Court records. With the current exchange rate as of today multiplied by 13.3, this makes the total paid out to Alberto Guglielmi, $497,566.30 which would be almost 50 million "pennies" which is hardly a few.  

I Respond to Tracy Terhune's Tiring Wrath

Why is Tracy Terhune still allowed to be the emcee at the annual Memorial Service? Anyone else wonder why? I think I do know why. Because in my opinion he is the good and faithful servant of the Valentino family.

Think about it. Whether he paid cold cash for his almighty Valentino collection or not is not the question here. What is the question is that he is the gatekeeper, the man at the toll bridge, the cult leader who knows how to calm the masses by sharing some relic which once belonged to Rudolph Valentino. The followers gasp, and even with the slightest appearance of the master censor there is a hush. This is by definition a cult leader. They remain elusive and appear to share a cult relic. 

Why does he even matter? Oh he bought his way into mattering. But because of that, people mistake his ability to buy every snippet of Valentino memorabilia for knowledge of Valentino's history. The two do not go hand in hand. Poor Rudy. Yet incredibly with this purchased clout, he did not use it for the good... but wielded his store-bought status to lie, defame and work hard for years on end to try and destroy me and Affairs Valentino.

What was it Cindy Martin told us... something to the order of no one gets wigged out about a book like Tracy did over Affairs Valentino. Why? Because he and his ilk got busted by little old me. And this was in great measure due to Bill Self. I think he wanted me to tell the real story of those collectors of Valentino memorabilia. He did not really hold back.

I have now been sitting by for a decade of my life and watching as Tracy Terhune does his very worst. And I connected the dots before he came out publicly as a “buddy” of David Bret.

What will it take to make people realize what Tracy Terhune does behind the scenes. On that sick blog he has run for eight years and counting to pretend to be me and divert web traffic to find his absolute garbage about me, about Renato and about all of our books. My god he sits and greets every book we publish with his malicious, petty and tiring wrath. And this proves his lack of genuine interest in Valentino.

Shame on Hollywood Forever for being complicit and for Hollywood Heritage for stating on their home page how they are so politically correct when they support a very public bully to gain access to his Valentino merchandise.

It kind of makes me sick that things Rudolph Valentino once owned and the archive of his fascinating life... are being held hostage by the worst possible person in my expert opinion and this is sad indeed.

Affairs Valentino is true, it is the book Tracy Terhune does not want you to read. He failed in his effort to destroy it, failed to prevent people from reading it and failed to ruin me.

(see below)... a visual refresher of home page images Tracy Terhune has used on his "Affairs Valentino" blog. Disgusting..... bullying by Tracy Terhune. What does this possibly have to do with Affairs Valentino... here follows from his "Literary Critique"...

#castthemerchantsoutofthetemple