On this day, May 20, in 1922, silent screen heartthrob Rudolph Valentino was arrested on a charge of bigamy, causing a scandal that rocked his career. Known as the “Great Lover,” Valentino’s 1921 marriage to his first wife, actress Jean Acker, was never consummated. She was a lesbian. After an provisional divorce, he crossed the border into Mexico to marry costume designer Natacha Rambova.
A judge had him arrested because California law required a year before a person could remarry.
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The charges were dropped a few weeks later for lack of evidence.
Valentino and Rambova’s marriage ended in bitter divorce in 1925.
His death the next year at age 31 caused mass hysteria and reportedly led to a least one suicide. In his will, Valentino bequeathed Rambova $1.
– Scott McCabe
