In his second biography of Rudolph Valentino, David Bret presents an affectionate story of a man sexually attracted only towards other men, and whose relationships with women~particularly his two rapacious lesbian wives~brought him only despair and pain. However, Valentino was far less ashamed of his sexuality than he was of being trapped in the image of his public persona, at a time when gay men were regarded as weak and effete. Rudy was neither. Here we see Rudy able to be his true self when in the company of his male friends and lovers~as will be seen, he had a particular interest in handsome Frenchmen, most notably the impresario Andre Daven, the great love of his life. David Bret also assesses Valentino's relationship with his manager, George Ullman, a con-man who took advantage of his extreme naivety to legally control his finances and who was one of those, during the actor's final illness, to decide whether he should undergo surgery or not~in other words whether he would be worth more dead than alive.
- ISBN10 1291354603
- ISBN13 9781291354607
- Publish Date 5 April 2013
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 21 November 2013
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Lulu.com
- Format eBook (OEB)
- Language English