1 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: For years, I went to a psychotherapist just three doors 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: down from a funeral parlor. I gotta tell you, passing 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: by mourners on my way to therapy really put me 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: in the right headspace too, you know, think about what 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: I wanted my own life to add up to. I 6 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: highly recommend choosing a psychotherapist with an office next to 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: a funeral parlor. Now let's travel back in time nearly 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: a century ago to Manhattan's Upper West Side. It's a 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: sweltering late summer day, and we're standing in front of 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, then located at Broadway 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: and sixty Street. Over the next hundred years, Campbell's will 12 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: serve as the funeral home for legends from Judy Garland 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: to Jackie Oh to the notorious b I. G. But 14 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: they won't draw the crowds seen on Tuesday August when 15 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: the sidewalks are overflowing with a crowd of some thirty 16 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: thousand warners. They've all gathered here to catch a final 17 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: glimpse of a fallen movie star. Arguably the first male 18 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: sex symbol of the silver screen. He was in great 19 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: physical shape, and you see those rippling muscles in his arms. 20 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if you've ever seen the 21 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: videos of him doing his workout while he's wearing pretty 22 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: much just skivvy. Okay, I'll check those out. I haven't 23 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: seen those. I need to see that he was labeled 24 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: the Great Lover, or even more indelibly, the Latin Lover. 25 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: He would hold you in his arms if you were 26 00:01:53,760 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: a beautiful woman, and kiss you passionately and brutally. Can 27 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: somebody turn down the thermostat and here is I'm feeling hot? 28 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: No one burned up the screen like Rudolph Valentino, driving 29 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 1: women across the planet wild in a way that no 30 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: one had before him, enough to leave a permanent mark 31 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: in the world that he suddenly left behind. At the 32 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: tender age of thirty one. Along Broadway, a procession of 33 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: dark cars carries Valentino's rose covered, bronze and silver coffin 34 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: to the chapel. The crowd grows unruly, a scene recreated 35 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: in the film Valentino. Rain is falling, but instead of 36 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: cooling things off, the crowd explodes into a riot. The 37 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: mourners become a mob, push punching, fighting their way to 38 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: get into the funeral parlor. The surgeon. Crowd pushes a 39 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: line of policemen, causing the windows of the chapel to shatter. 40 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: Mounted police officers try to quell the riot, which lasts 41 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: for hours. Over a hundred are hurt. An improvised emergency 42 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: room is set up inside the funeral chapel, with the 43 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: doctors and nurses ministering to the many injured. The streets 44 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: are covered in debris. A young woman drenched from head 45 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: to toe ambles in her stockinged feet, weeping. I must 46 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: see him, I must see him. But how did we 47 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: get here? How did Rudolph Valentino reach such dizzy heights? 48 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: Why all of this howling, hysterical sorrow? And what exactly 49 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: is a Latin lover? He's a handsome Latin with an accent. 50 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: He's in the living in. Of course, there would be 51 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: many rivals for valen Tino's Latin lover Crown. I was 52 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: ruined by Raymond Navarrow. Raymond Navarro the movie star will 53 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: tell their stories and talk to Latin lover Scion Lorenzo 54 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: Lamas Dad was the original Latin dragon. He was the 55 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: original lothario of fame and notoriety, and his romances are legendary. 56 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: Did you tell me something, Fernando, you have a terrible reputation. 57 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: Do you still have a lot of fooling around to do? 58 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: And we'll tell you how the Latin Lover vanished from 59 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: Hollywood just as suddenly as he had appeared. I'm in 60 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: a night. No fine man is allowed to play a 61 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: leading role, like if we have an operation of someone 62 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: from CBS Sunday morning and I heart I'm Morocca and 63 00:04:50,760 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: this is mobituaries this moment dolf Valentino, Ramon Navarro and 64 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: a Tale of Two Lamas. October eighth, the Death of 65 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: the Latin Lover. World War One ended in and its 66 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: conclusion ushered in the beginning of the sexual Revolution. Wait 67 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: a minute, the sexual revolution that happened in the nineteen sixties, 68 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: didn't it well, There actually was an earlier sexual revolution 69 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: in the nineteen twenties. Out of the devastation of World 70 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: War One emerged a new American woman with a new 71 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: sense of sexual freedom, a modern woman. Women had finally 72 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: won the right to vote, and we're joining the workforce 73 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: in unprecedented numbers. The Great War had made American women 74 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: more aware of the world at large, and these women 75 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: were going to the movies. Approximately eighty three percent of 76 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: movie goers were women. Enter Rudolph Valentino, our first Latin 77 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: lover of the silver screen. Valentino was born Rodolfo Pietro 78 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: Filiberto Raphaele Googliemi on May six in the province of 79 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: Toronto in southern Italy. What was the appeal of Valentino? Well, 80 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: he was handsome, he was elegant. He was a dynamite dancer. 81 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: I mean, he was a professional dancer before he became 82 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: an actor. I'm talking to Emily wardis Lder, author of 83 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: Dark Lover, The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino. Try 84 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: to ignore the noise in the background. And if you've 85 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: seen him dance on screen, he was so graceful and 86 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: dynamic as a performer. Emily, are you sorry? Are you 87 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: cooking there? My husband is getting ready for his lunch. 88 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: What is he What is he making? Salad? Okay? Al right? 89 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: Could he just be a little quieter with the tongs. 90 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: The Italian economy collapsed after World War One, and Rodolfo 91 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: emigrated alone to America, arriving at Ellis Island at the 92 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: age of eighteen. He first made his living as what 93 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: was known as a taxi dancer. He was doing that 94 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: pretty much from the time he was right off the 95 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: boat in New York. Taxi dancers worked in dance halls, 96 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: charging patrons a dime for a dance, a profession immortalized 97 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: by the Rogers and Hart song ten cents a dance, 98 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: and was that His primary ambition was that sort of 99 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: the end goal to be a dancer, not his empty 100 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: at all. He wanted respect, but working as a taxi 101 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: dancer was seen a sort of jigglo adjacent. That's not 102 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: high prestige all that you need. Come on. At twenty three, 103 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: Rodolpho headed to Hollywood and adopted the much more marquis 104 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: friendly name Rudolph Valentino. He played bit parts in various 105 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: B movies, often his Criminals and Low Lifes, until he 106 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: was discovered by June Mathis, one of the most successful 107 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: women in early Hollywood. She was a power in her 108 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: own right. I think most people would be surprised at 109 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: the power that several women had in Hollywood during the 110 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: silent film era. Women were a force in the era 111 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:01,959 Speaker 1: of silent films. They only lost hour later, and they 112 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: did of course. Matthis was a screenwriter and producer, ultimately 113 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: being credited on more than one films, and she picked 114 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: him out and she gets the credit for being the 115 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: person who discovered law Valentino. Oh, if you're intrigued by 116 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: unsung powerful women in Hollywood's earliest days, check out our 117 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: season one episode Forgotten Forerunners, which features silent film trailblazer 118 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: Lois Webber. Okay, so there are no taped interviews of 119 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: June Mathis, but there's this ABC made for TV movie 120 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: from five called The Legend of Valentino, and it stars 121 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: the incomparable Suzanne Plachette as June Mathis. Here she is 122 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: arguing with Metro Studio executives over whether or not to 123 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: cast Valentino in her next big movie. Photographs like a foreigner. 124 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: Foreigners have to play heavies. American women won't trust them. 125 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: They trust American man read them, don't they? Who was 126 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: talking about marriage? I'm talking about sex, Sam. This is 127 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty. It would just be through a world war. 128 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: Women are wearing one piece bathing suits, they're drinking bathtub gin, 129 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: they're dancing the black bottom. And the only thing that 130 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: hasn't changed is the screen. I mean, we are still 131 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: pretending it's sex was invented by Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Now, 132 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: why can't we be closer to reality? June Mathis had 133 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: seen Valentino dance. She knew he had it. I mean, 134 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: women aboard their restless They're tired of being protected and 135 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: American men are dull. Now, by the early nineteen twenties, 136 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: Americans had been going to the movies for more than 137 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: a decade, but the typical leading man of the day 138 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: was square jawed all American, unassailably moral. Think that the 139 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks, very Protestant, hair parted, white shirt suit. 140 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: We're talking menace here, We're talking a gentleman. A gentleman. 141 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: Was he demonstrative with women? There wasn't much heat, but 142 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: Douglas Fairbanks was certainly very exciting. Not as a lover 143 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: on screen. It was an athlete, not such a good kisser. 144 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: But for decades Italian immigrants had been smeared in newspapers 145 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: as gangsters, which is also the only way they showed 146 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: up in movies. The Emergency Quota Act codified this bigotry 147 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: by drastically limiting the number of people coming in from 148 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:43,439 Speaker 1: southern and Eastern Europe, there was a special prejudice against 149 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: Italian immigrants. They were just one step above being black 150 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: in the eyes of filmmakers and society at large white audiences. 151 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: But June math Is envisioned an alternative. Bear in mind 152 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: this was a full century before me too. I mean, 153 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: if we're going to buy a dream, we're gonna buy 154 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: the one about the handsome farn who drags it into 155 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: his bed against our will. You'd like that. I love 156 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,199 Speaker 1: that scene, and so would your wife. Mathis got her 157 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: way and cast Valentino in her film The Four Horsemen 158 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: of the Apocalypse, and one scene in that film came 159 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: to define Valentino for his entire career. The tango scene. Well, 160 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 1: it starts with menace, which used to be and maybe 161 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: still is, considered sexy. Early on in the Silent film, 162 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: Valentino's character Julio is drinking in a crowded, divy Argentine bar, 163 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:52,479 Speaker 1: wearing a gaucho outfit, wide flat brimmed hat with tassels 164 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: and a chin strap, buttoned up blousy shirt. A man 165 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 1: and woman are dancing a jaunty tango. Valentino's drives up 166 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: and taps the man on the shoulder. Never removing his 167 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: lit cigarette, he asks to cut in. Valentino exchanges a 168 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: smile and wink with the saucy Senorita. The man, however, refuses. 169 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: Valentino's eyes widened with fury. He then throws the man 170 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: aside and beats him. Then he breaks in and grabs 171 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: the woman quite brutally, and then tangles off with her. 172 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: So there is Mannas about to knock you out if 173 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,319 Speaker 1: you don't hand over the woman. And that was sexy. 174 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: Oh yes, okay, these movies have not aged well, but 175 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: Valentino's on screen persona was an exotic fantasy that women 176 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: of the era bought into in a big way. The 177 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: famous tango scene only lasted a total of four minutes, 178 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: but it had a seismic impact. Is this the scene 179 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 1: that really makes him a superstar in my opinion? Yes, 180 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:11,079 Speaker 1: But the Sheik took over and became better known, and 181 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: that was a real craze. Valentino's first leading man role 182 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: came that same year in The Chic, the movie adaptation 183 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: of the steamy, hugely popular romance novel The Chic, which 184 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: was basically the Fifty Shades of Gray of its day. 185 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: This was the racy debut of thirty nine year old 186 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: British novelist E. M. Hull a k a Edith maud Hull. 187 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: The book inspired a chart topping hit called The Chic 188 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: of Araby. Crowds went absolutely wild for Valentino as a 189 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: love struck but brutal Arab chic who melts the heart 190 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: of a captive modern woman. Chic mania swept the world. 191 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: Oh and I must see the house where Rudolph Valentino lived. Oh, 192 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: I'll never forget him in the sheet. I'm that her love. 193 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: It also inspired a string of chic rip off movies, 194 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: and it continued to press the tension between sex and violence. 195 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: That's an element in some fantasy romance attention that Valentino 196 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: would exploit in roll after role. And yet now you 197 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: also wrote about a vulnerable, wounded quality that Valentino had. 198 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: He has that in life, and he has it on 199 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: the screen too. Yes, I think it's about its own 200 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: emotional availability and vulnerability. You could see it in his face. 201 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: That softer side was an essential part of his appeal. 202 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: He would kiss the back of women's hands, he would 203 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: bow flourishes of chivalry that American women weren't used to 204 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: seeing in American men, his courtesy, his focus, his intensity. 205 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: He would make you feel like you were the only 206 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: woman in the world while he was kissing you anyhow, 207 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: and this gets to the heart of what made Valentino 208 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: so different from the leading men who came before. He 209 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: put the woman front and sent her very important. The 210 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: woman is central. It's all about adoring the woman, and 211 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: women adored him right back, sneaking onto trains, hiding in 212 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: bathrooms just for a chance to get close to him. 213 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: One Boston headline read ten girls mob World's greatest kisser. 214 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: Women of all ages created the matinee idol is What 215 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: is Bill doing back there? Is he pounding? Veal was pounding? Uh? 216 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: Tell me the truth? Is all this talk about Valentino 217 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: making him jealous? No, he wants his lunch, but out 218 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:10,399 Speaker 1: of the public eye. Rudy was unlucky in love and 219 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: bad with money. He endured two unhappy marriages and made 220 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 1: poor business decisions. Leapfrogging from studio to studio. Valentino burned 221 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: bridges and lost allies and friends in the process, including 222 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: his first champion. June Mathis newspaper soon took to mocking 223 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: the star as Vassilino because of his slicked back hair. Now, 224 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: we've talked plenty about how women reacted to Valentino. Indeed, 225 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: Valentino was a man made by women. But how did 226 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: most American men react to him with suspicion? Hey, he 227 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: was a foreigner. He didn't have exactly white complexion. He 228 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: had all of complexion, which made him suspect. And see 229 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: the wise girl friend mother liked him too much, so 230 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,679 Speaker 1: that was a threat. Valentino knew that he was beautiful. 231 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: He dressed to thrill. He wore jewelry spats over his shoes, 232 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: lemon yellow gloves with his impeccably tailored suits. Think David 233 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: Bowie meets Harry Styles. Enter the infamous pink powder puff attack. 234 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 1: That was such a smear. That was a smear job, 235 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,120 Speaker 1: but it got a lot of press, the pink powder 236 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:38,440 Speaker 1: puff attack. They attacked his masculinity totally without basis. In July, 237 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,440 Speaker 1: in anonymous Chicago Tribune editorial alleged that the city's new 238 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,959 Speaker 1: Aragon ballroom had installed a pink powder puff vending machine 239 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: in the men's washroom, encouraging men to powder their noses. 240 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:58,440 Speaker 1: And it's squarely blamed Valentino without saying it. The editorial 241 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: accused Valentino of being gay. Valentino challenged the anonymous author, 242 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: first to a duel of honor and then to a 243 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: boxing match, but before anonymous could come forward it was 244 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: too late. Complaining of terrible abdominal pains, Valentino was given 245 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:23,360 Speaker 1: an emergency double operation for acute appendicitis and perforated gastric ulcers. 246 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: The resulting sepsis took his life. After a week that will, 247 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: Valentino died at twelve ten pm on Monday August. This 248 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: tribute song was written by Vernon Dolhart. Just ten days 249 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: after Valentino perished. The Guardian newspaper wrote, no monarch or 250 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:00,640 Speaker 1: war hero ever aroused more sympathetic public interest anywhere than 251 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: Valentino during the illness, which ended fatally. Today, the press 252 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: was flooded with reports of fainting women and suicide attempts. 253 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: Twenty seven year old actress Peggy Scott took her life 254 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,400 Speaker 1: in London by poison. Twenty year old Angelina Celestina, mother 255 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: of two, took poison and shot herself in the bowery. 256 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:28,360 Speaker 1: She was rescued and briefly institutionalized. Valentino received two separate 257 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: funerals the first in New York with its riots and mayhem. 258 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: Then his body was transported cross country via railroad to California. 259 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,360 Speaker 1: At several stops, love struck fans lay down on the tracks, 260 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: delaying the trains progress to Valentino's final resting place in Hollywood. Well, 261 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: nobody in this country had seen anything like it since 262 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: the death of Abraham Lincoln, though that is really something else, 263 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: you know, when Lincoln does, his body was carried in 264 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: a famous train ride, and people gathered along the tracks 265 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: in morning and tribute. And the same thing happened when 266 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: Valentino died. The more sensationalized reactions to Valentino's to death 267 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: became part of the national consciousness for decades afterwards, as 268 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,879 Speaker 1: evidenced by this brief side in Billy Wilder's comedy Some 269 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: Like It Hot. How about Roseberry Short She slashed the 270 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: wrist when Valentino, Well, we might as well all slash 271 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 1: our risk unless we round up two games. Valentino is 272 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,479 Speaker 1: buried next to June Mathis, who, out of compassion, allowed 273 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,439 Speaker 1: Valentino to be entuned in her crypt at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. 274 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: His estate couldn't afford to bury him there. They rest 275 00:21:50,840 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: side by side Valentine, but way up, there's on you story. 276 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: Within three years of his death, silent movies were officially finished. 277 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,439 Speaker 1: Would Valentino have made it in talkies, Well, here's a 278 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: rare recording of him singing let's have a quick listen 279 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: and wonder what might have been. But it was the 280 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: singing voice of our next Latin lover which would allow 281 00:22:47,160 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: him to make the jump to talkies. Night. Ramon name 282 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: Samaniego Jose Ramon Hill Samaniego was born on February six Inturango, Mexico. 283 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: His large family was wealthy and influential and lost everything 284 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: in the Mexican Revolution. Seventeen year old Jose Ramon moved 285 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: to Los Angeles, where he supported his family by working 286 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 1: as a bus boy, a nude model, and a movie extra. 287 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: He dreamed of singing opera, and, just as Valentino had, 288 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 1: Samanego simplified his name to Ramon Navarro, although it was 289 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: much more frequently pronounced Ramon Navarro. Superstardom came with the 290 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: silent version of Ben Her. Now, this was thirty four 291 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: years before Charlton Heston's Panavision extravaganza Ben Her, I Tell 292 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: You the day room falls, there will be a shout 293 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: of freedom such as the world has never heard before. 294 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 1: But the earlier version was just as epic, the most 295 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,360 Speaker 1: expensive movie of its time, and it was written by 296 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: none other than June Mathis. Mathis desperately wanted Valentino for 297 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,399 Speaker 1: the title role, but Valentino was at the time on 298 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:33,439 Speaker 1: the ounce with the studio. Navarro got the lead. The 299 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: world had a new Latin lover, the first Mexican actor 300 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,679 Speaker 1: to make it in Hollywood. Navarro could dance, and he 301 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: could act. He was funny, and this was key to 302 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: his success in talkies. He could sing, I should like 303 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: to hear you sing. That's easy. I think I looked 304 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: anywhere without any good. Here he is singing the pagan 305 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 1: love song from the nine Polynesian romance The Pagan Nice. 306 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: And here he is as a romantic and reckless Napoleonic 307 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: French officer in Devil May Care. And here he is 308 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:38,199 Speaker 1: crooning alongside fledgling movie soprano and future star Jeanette McDonald 309 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 1: in n GM's The Cat and the Fiddle. Okay, so 310 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,240 Speaker 1: maybe that pigeon like warbling is not to our current tastes, 311 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: But save your bread crumbs. Navarro's operetta style of singing 312 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 1: was all the rage at the time. I'm Navarro had 313 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,639 Speaker 1: only one accent for all of his speaking roles. Whether 314 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,399 Speaker 1: he was playing an Egyptian, Belgian or Austrian, he always 315 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:12,919 Speaker 1: spoke with his natural, lilting Mexican accent. Here he is 316 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: as a Russian. Just go with it, wooing the world 317 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: weary Swedish screen siren Greta Garbo in Mata Hari's a 318 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: strange boy who loves you, William, I love you as 319 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: when a door's sacred things. Let's sink of things. God, country, 320 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 1: honor you now. Navarro was not the sex god that 321 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: Valentino evoked on screen. He was short, with a smallish mouth, 322 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: and while he was definitely athletic, he was also slightly pudgy. 323 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: Navarro's seduction technique, even in the films where he played 324 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:59,199 Speaker 1: a cad, was playful, naughty, innocent, Oh you would go, 325 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: that would do you little? In a word, Ramon Navarro 326 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: was cute, a lovable, love struck scamp, and an uninhibited 327 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 1: romantic with loads of charm. I lost my career today, 328 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,639 Speaker 1: but I don't care. I'm happy today. I found the 329 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: most glorious girl in the whole world. Nothing about Navarro 330 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: spoke of menace or danger. Today I found love. Ironically, 331 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: Navarro reached his peak and popularity at a time when 332 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: prejudice towards Mexican immigrants had become extremely common. Mexicans had 333 00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: been welcomed as cheap labor to the US, but at 334 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,840 Speaker 1: the same time they were resented, and Hollywood's depictions of 335 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: handlebarred bandidos in westerns were at least partially to blame. 336 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:54,160 Speaker 1: Whether Valentino and Navarro were sensations because or in spite 337 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 1: of being immigrants is hard to say, but the studios 338 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:02,119 Speaker 1: consciously avoided casting either of them as their native nationalities. 339 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 1: To audiences, they were simply acceptably exotic celebrities. Now, until 340 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:13,160 Speaker 1: four Novarro was one of the world's biggest stars, one 341 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,200 Speaker 1: of the few to straddle silent films and talkies. Then 342 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:23,360 Speaker 1: two things happened. Hollywood turned toward more stoic, traditionally manly 343 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: man like Clark Cable and Gary Cooper for its romantic 344 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:31,639 Speaker 1: male leads that was not Navarro. At the same time, 345 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: the old fashioned operettas that had made Navarro so popular 346 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: fell out of fashion. In favor of newer sounding musicals, 347 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: led by the likes of fred As Stair. I'm longing 348 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: to be in chains and that's with me. One final 349 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:01,480 Speaker 1: MGM musical, The Night Is Young, in cemented the end 350 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:09,160 Speaker 1: for Navarro with us and apple Struds. I've ordered apple 351 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: Strudo without students. Love you listen. I happen to love 352 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: both veener Schnitzel and apple Strudel, But this movie gave 353 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: me indigestion. It tanked with both critics and audiences, and 354 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,120 Speaker 1: m GM fired Navarro. Navarro had had a good run, 355 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: make that a great run. He lived comfortably over the 356 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 1: next few decades, even helping to take care of his 357 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: many siblings and their families, having smartly invested his money 358 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,720 Speaker 1: in real estate. Oh, I feel very fortunate because I 359 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,920 Speaker 1: know people that have certainly much more intelligence than I had, 360 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: an intelligence and ability, and yet I'd be fortunate in 361 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: the investing my money rightly. Ramon Navarro's legacy would likely 362 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: be his very real early stardom if not for the 363 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: way he died at the age of sixty nine. Navarro 364 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: was murdered in his Hollywood home on October by two 365 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:15,640 Speaker 1: male hustlers. The details are lurid, and we're not going 366 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 1: to get into them here, but the general circumstances of 367 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,240 Speaker 1: his death and the trial that followed revealed to the 368 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: world what Hollywood insiders had long known. Navarro was gay. 369 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: As a young star, he had refused to give into 370 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: studio pressure to marry a woman. In his early days, 371 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 1: he'd had a few relationships, but as he grew older, 372 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: biographer Andre Suarez beliefs Navarro had become less self accepting 373 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: and found it harder to reconcile his Catholic faith with 374 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: his sexuality. He drank to excess, and he paid for sex. 375 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 1: When he eventually lost his driver's license, navarro secretary would 376 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:59,240 Speaker 1: drive him to church. If Navarro noticed a handsome young 377 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: man walking the sidewalk, he would quickly cross himself. At 378 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: the trial of his murderers, the defense attorney victim blamed, 379 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: saying contemptuously to the jury, back in the days of Valentino, 380 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: this man who set female hearts of flutter was nothing 381 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 1: but a queer. Navarro, he argued, had invited this upon himself. 382 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 1: Sadly in that was a compelling argument. Neither murderer served 383 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: more than nine years for this crime. Posthumously, Navarro's name 384 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:38,760 Speaker 1: fell further into disgrace thanks to Hollywood Babylon. Hollywood Babylon 385 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: is a book by a man named Kenneth Anger, and 386 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: that's pretty much where the facts end. It's attacking and 387 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 1: tasteless compilation of scandals and hearsay about the very first 388 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,040 Speaker 1: movie stars, and it was a best seller. The most 389 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: infamous edition in included gruesome graphic photos of celebrity deaths 390 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:04,320 Speaker 1: we its litany of lies. Hollywood Babylon ensured that Navarro's 391 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: death would overshadow his life. When the fabulous MGM retrospectives 392 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,880 Speaker 1: That's Entertainment and its sequel were released in the nineteen seventies, 393 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:23,480 Speaker 1: they included dozens of clips from Hollywood's earliest musicals. Navarro 394 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:28,080 Speaker 1: was conspicuously absent at that time. It may have been 395 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: impossible to honor him properly without invoking his recent troubling demise. 396 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: And that's a big shame. Tears to remembering Ramon Navarro 397 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: as he was in his Latin Lover Heyday with that 398 00:32:42,360 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 1: wonderful warble up next, Lat Lover's invade television, just before 399 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 1: their last big hurrah on the silver screen. You know, 400 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: Ricky another Rudolph Valentino, Ricky Ricky ricking me. That's who 401 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: the studio just had to go over and have my 402 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:35,560 Speaker 1: picture taken with Ricky Ricardo, whoever he is? Haven't you mad? You? 403 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: He's a handsome Latin with an accent. He's the end 404 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: the living en. By the nineteen fifties, the whole idea 405 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 1: of the Latin lover had become something of a punch 406 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: line on TV. Ricardo Alberto Fernando Ricardo, I love Lucy's 407 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:01,320 Speaker 1: Ricky Ricardo has played by Desi Arnaz, is hardly dangerous. 408 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: This Latin lover was safely domesticated. What a dream of situation. 409 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:09,200 Speaker 1: And I bet you know a million girls? Where's your 410 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:14,759 Speaker 1: address book? I burned it. I hadn't been in this 411 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 1: country very long, and Lucy said it was part of 412 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:23,440 Speaker 1: the American marriage ceremony. Over on the big screen. The 413 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: Latin lover vehicles of the period were gloriously cheeseball. Here's 414 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: Mexican Heartthrob Ricardo Montalban teaching some poor sap his own 415 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: seduction technique. In Neptune's Daughter, you must say to her, 416 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:44,800 Speaker 1: why do I have to speak Spanish? Because it's a 417 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:49,360 Speaker 1: language of love? Women can resist it. Not surprisingly, Montaban 418 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: didn't like being typecast, as he later recalled in a 419 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 1: CBS interview, but I didn't know what it meant, you 420 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: see Latin love it. I it meant a man, I 421 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 1: guess I going into Hollywood with slick hair, Natalie dressed 422 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,920 Speaker 1: and kissing ladies hands, you know. And it was a caricature, 423 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,880 Speaker 1: so I I kind of resented it. There were vapid roles. 424 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,080 Speaker 1: Perhaps the most successful of the Latin lovers of this period, 425 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:20,400 Speaker 1: and one of the last, was dapper Debonair Fernando Lamas. 426 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:25,360 Speaker 1: Aren't you rather forgetting yourself? Maybe I always forget myself 427 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: when I'm near a beautiful rule. Neither dangerous like Valentino 428 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:35,839 Speaker 1: nor boyish like Navarro, Lamas was instead a smooth operator. 429 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,120 Speaker 1: Come to my home tomorrow and I will show you 430 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:43,520 Speaker 1: the real Gord of California, the sweet smelling hay and plums, 431 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,000 Speaker 1: and the grapes, and the prod cattle and the bigs. 432 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: Do you like pigs, lady? Normally that's a few. At 433 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: the height of his popularity, Fernando married movie star and 434 00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:00,040 Speaker 1: businesswoman are Lean Tall, a Minnesotan of Norwegian descent, and 435 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:03,600 Speaker 1: the couple were expecting a child when they spoke to 436 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,080 Speaker 1: Edward R. Murrow on person to person, have you picked 437 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: a name for the baby and not? Not yet. We 438 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:13,960 Speaker 1: have in mind a couple of names. But he's not 439 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,839 Speaker 1: quite easy, isn't No. It's not easy to see both 440 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:18,560 Speaker 1: my father and for not to want a boy. So 441 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:21,960 Speaker 1: we've been concentrating only on boys names, right. You see, 442 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,279 Speaker 1: he's got to go with the name Lamas, and I 443 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: don't think that, for example, Sam Lamas would really go 444 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:31,120 Speaker 1: out together. You know, they did not name their son Sam. 445 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: As much as I was stereotyped as a jock, Dad 446 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:38,839 Speaker 1: was stereotyped as a Latin lover. That's actor and son 447 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:43,439 Speaker 1: of Fernando Lorenzo Lamas. And he told me it's good 448 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,799 Speaker 1: to be stereotyped and have steady work, then to not 449 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,680 Speaker 1: be stereotyped and go without having the phone ring for 450 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,560 Speaker 1: months at a time. Lorenzo would go on to have 451 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:57,719 Speaker 1: his own movie and TV career. I first came to 452 00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: know him for his work on the nighttime soap Falcon Crest. 453 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:05,040 Speaker 1: You created Falcon Crest in your own image, Grandmother, My 454 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:06,719 Speaker 1: mother and I are the way we are because of 455 00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:08,840 Speaker 1: you and if I've turned against you, it's your own fault. 456 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: You get out of my sight. I really think the 457 00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:18,080 Speaker 1: Latin lover was introduced to the American audience to give 458 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:22,319 Speaker 1: people a chance to look at an emotional man, a 459 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 1: man that is not afraid to show his feelings. Fernando 460 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,320 Speaker 1: Lamas was discovered in his native Argentina by an MGM 461 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:35,279 Speaker 1: talent scout. He was of a group of people like 462 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 1: ss A Ramaron, Ricardo montal Bond that were brought to 463 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:43,239 Speaker 1: the studio system to play that kind of that spoiler, 464 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,480 Speaker 1: the Latin lover that comes into the storyline and kind 465 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:48,920 Speaker 1: of breaks up the couple, and they would play the 466 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: continental swave, you know, sophisticated man about town. How many 467 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,840 Speaker 1: may have told you that you're the most beautiful girl 468 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,319 Speaker 1: they have ever seen. Fernando took to the Latin lover 469 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 1: role on screen and off movie Star and Champions Swimmer. 470 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:08,680 Speaker 1: Esther Williams would become his fourth wife. She later recalled 471 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,279 Speaker 1: the first time they met, tell me something, Fernando, you 472 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: have a terrible reputation. Do you still have a lot 473 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,799 Speaker 1: of fooling around to do? And he said, such an 474 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:22,640 Speaker 1: honest question deserves an out to answer. He says, I'm 475 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,520 Speaker 1: afraid I do, and I said, you kill me. I 476 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:27,560 Speaker 1: said goodbye to him and I was saw him for 477 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:31,560 Speaker 1: eight years. By the late fifties, Fernando was eager to 478 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:35,239 Speaker 1: leave the onscreen part of the role behind. I'm very 479 00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:37,959 Speaker 1: happy to say that I'm walking away from one role 480 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: that I seem to be stuck with in quite another 481 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:43,840 Speaker 1: of my pictures in Hollywood. That's what I called the 482 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,439 Speaker 1: Latin lover type of a role, which is the one 483 00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,680 Speaker 1: dimensional you know only it calls for a starting one hand, 484 00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:51,960 Speaker 1: a blonde dame on the other, and the horse waiting 485 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 1: outside that's all black hair and long pink. And indeed, 486 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: by the end of the decade, the Latin lover had 487 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 1: largely banished from the big screen. But, much to the 488 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:08,799 Speaker 1: dismay of Lamas, this didn't lead to better opportunities. As 489 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:13,360 Speaker 1: he later explained to Johnny Carson, I'm in a nine sixty. 490 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,040 Speaker 1: No foreign man is allowed to play a leading role. 491 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:21,479 Speaker 1: Like if we had an operation of something. You didn't 492 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 1: know that you have an operations, You're gonna may love 493 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:27,360 Speaker 1: an Marsa. Now you play the friend of the leading man, 494 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:32,440 Speaker 1: who is some dumb guy from Topeka or oh, you'll 495 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:36,560 Speaker 1: play the heavy. The Latin lover was being replaced by 496 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,640 Speaker 1: the Latin criminal, all too often the urban gang member 497 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:45,960 Speaker 1: by Ella Nasa collection time. Okay, girl, come on come, 498 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,680 Speaker 1: I'm gonna get the money ready. This man needs some 499 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:53,640 Speaker 1: great Former movie star Latin lovers had to turn elsewhere 500 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:57,320 Speaker 1: for work. By your guests, I am Mr Rourke, your host. 501 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fantasy Island. Ricardo Montauban became the star of 502 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:08,400 Speaker 1: TV's Fantasy Island, where I would watch him every Saturday night. Smiles, 503 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:16,279 Speaker 1: everyone smiles. No longer cast as a romantic lead, he 504 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:23,400 Speaker 1: was also during commercial breaks romancing car seats, venue small prison. 505 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 1: Here is the warm, thickly cushion contour seats available even 506 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:33,520 Speaker 1: in Fine Corinthiander. By the way, fine Corinthian leather is 507 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,919 Speaker 1: a marketing term, not any actual type of leather. As 508 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:41,440 Speaker 1: for Fernando Lamas, he turned to directing for television. He 509 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:46,359 Speaker 1: directed Lorenzo in several episodes of Falcon Crest. Fernando's name 510 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:51,200 Speaker 1: and fame slowly faded until Pop Culture twice turned the 511 00:40:51,239 --> 00:40:56,719 Speaker 1: spotlight back on him. It's time now for Fernando's bideaway. 512 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 1: Find that yours, my friends, I'm so happy to be 513 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:08,799 Speaker 1: at tonight. In the recurring Saturday Night Live segment Fernando's Hideaway, 514 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:14,359 Speaker 1: Billy Crystal parodied the Elder Lamas inspired says Lorenzo buy 515 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 1: an appearance Fernando had made on The Tonight Show, and 516 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:20,920 Speaker 1: Billy was watching Dad the way he was on Johnny Carson, 517 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:22,960 Speaker 1: and Dad came in and appeared, and he had a 518 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:25,840 Speaker 1: little bit of a cult. Johnny said, So for I 519 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:29,279 Speaker 1: understand you're a little under the weather tonight, because yes, 520 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: Johnny and Lutheran to the weather, not not, you know, 521 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:36,520 Speaker 1: feeling to moral us. But it's always better to look 522 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,319 Speaker 1: good than to feel good, right, I would rather look 523 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,000 Speaker 1: good than to feel good. You know what I'm saying 524 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:47,719 Speaker 1: to your dolling mama. You look thank you, but you 525 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:52,160 Speaker 1: look pretty good yourself. I'm rushing inside my temperature. Dad 526 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,920 Speaker 1: loved it because Billy was introducing my father to an 527 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,440 Speaker 1: audience of people that didn't know who he was. By 528 00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:00,640 Speaker 1: the way, there really was a Fernando's Hie to way 529 00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:03,200 Speaker 1: in that appearance on Person to Person. Back in nineteen 530 00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:06,879 Speaker 1: fifty seven, Fernando led Edward R. Murrow on a tour 531 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:10,800 Speaker 1: through his Manhattan town house and to his man cave. 532 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 1: This is the room where you got away from it all? 533 00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 1: Is that? That's why? Definitely, you know, I think a 534 00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:17,640 Speaker 1: man who hasn't what has to be along with himself. 535 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:20,600 Speaker 1: But what's the sign just beside you? There is the 536 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:23,880 Speaker 1: sign here says exactly Fernando's high The way is the 537 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,920 Speaker 1: picture of a bullfight? Is it? Fernando Lamas died in 538 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,319 Speaker 1: but another tribute of a sort came posthumously in a 539 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:38,000 Speaker 1: popular beer campaign in two thousand six. In the First Life, 540 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:43,600 Speaker 1: he was himself. If opportunity knocks and he's not home, 541 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:51,400 Speaker 1: opportunity wings. He gave his father the talk. He is 542 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:57,640 Speaker 1: the most Interesting man in the world. Character actor Jonathan Goldsmith, 543 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:01,000 Speaker 1: a good friend to Fernando's audition and for a commercial 544 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:05,600 Speaker 1: for Doseki Spear and the character that Dosekis was looking 545 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:10,400 Speaker 1: for was some sort of Latin lover type. Goldsmith, a 546 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:14,400 Speaker 1: self described Jewish guy from the Bronx, summoned the spirit 547 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:17,799 Speaker 1: of his beloved lost friend and the most Interesting Man 548 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:21,440 Speaker 1: in the World was basically from Jonathan's memory of the 549 00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:24,640 Speaker 1: times that he spent with Dad. Running in place will 550 00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:28,160 Speaker 1: never get you the same results as running from Claya 551 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:34,640 Speaker 1: Fernando Lamas was never entirely able to shake the Latin 552 00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:40,000 Speaker 1: lover label. His New York Times obituary David October two 553 00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:46,600 Speaker 1: starts off, Fernando Lamas, the silver haired star of numerous 554 00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:51,280 Speaker 1: Latin Lover movies, died today of cancer. He was sixty 555 00:43:51,360 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 1: seven years old. There when you realize that Valentino he 556 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,000 Speaker 1: invented the leading men, and he came on and he 557 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:09,800 Speaker 1: invented the thing, and he dressed himself funny, and Buddy 558 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:12,520 Speaker 1: caught on, and then there were a lot of funnis 559 00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:17,839 Speaker 1: that followed. We've left the Latin lover behind us, and 560 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:22,160 Speaker 1: as with most all stereotypes, that's for the best. But 561 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:26,279 Speaker 1: let's also acknowledge that the Latin Lover allowed foreigners to 562 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:29,399 Speaker 1: be leading men for the first time. And while it's 563 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: rare to see someone marketed as a Latin lover today, 564 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 1: some of his better aspects have been absorbed, assimilated into 565 00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:42,680 Speaker 1: today's leading men of all ethnicities. Even the most macho 566 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:48,759 Speaker 1: man mus now also have some emotional awareness and vulnerability. Yes, 567 00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:53,560 Speaker 1: behind each posturing, chest thumping bro in Magic Mike, there's 568 00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:57,440 Speaker 1: a surprisingly sensitive guy who just wants to be loved. 569 00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:01,839 Speaker 1: I'm not my lifestyle. I'm not a in my magic 570 00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:04,239 Speaker 1: in my magic mike right now talking to you. I'm 571 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:06,759 Speaker 1: not my goddamn job. And that's not who, That's not 572 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:09,239 Speaker 1: what I That's not what I do. That's I mean, 573 00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:11,600 Speaker 1: this is what I do, but it's not who I am. 574 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:14,840 Speaker 1: Sure every once in a while somebody bemoans the loss 575 00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:17,600 Speaker 1: of the stoic leading man. What have that happened to? 576 00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:23,239 Speaker 1: Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type that was an American. 577 00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:25,399 Speaker 1: He wasn't in touch with his feelings. He just did 578 00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:27,239 Speaker 1: what he had to do to what they didn't know. 579 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:30,000 Speaker 1: Once they got Gary Cooper in touch with his feelings 580 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:32,200 Speaker 1: that they wouldn't be able to shut him up. But 581 00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:37,520 Speaker 1: there's no going back day, not form, nothing. But you 582 00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:44,280 Speaker 1: get a little confused here. That was the movies there's 583 00:45:44,400 --> 00:46:01,920 Speaker 1: on you have. I certainly hope you enjoyed this mobituary. 584 00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:04,680 Speaker 1: May I ask you to please rate and review the podcast. 585 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:08,600 Speaker 1: You can also follow mobituaries on Facebook and Instagram, and 586 00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:11,799 Speaker 1: you can follow me on Twitter at Morocca. Listen to 587 00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:16,000 Speaker 1: mobituaries on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts, 588 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:20,640 Speaker 1: and might I suggest mobituaries great lives worth reliving the 589 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:24,239 Speaker 1: New York Times best selling book, now available in paperback 590 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,840 Speaker 1: and audio book. It includes plenty of stories not in 591 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:30,640 Speaker 1: the podcast, and I gotta say it's kind of a 592 00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:38,080 Speaker 1: perfect stocking stuffer. This episode of Mobituaries was produced by 593 00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:42,960 Speaker 1: Francisco Robina and Aaron Shrank. Our team of producers also 594 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:48,280 Speaker 1: includes Wilco, Martina Scaceto, and me Morocca. It was edited 595 00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:51,799 Speaker 1: by Moral Walls and engineered by Josh Hahn, with fact 596 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:56,160 Speaker 1: checking by Naomi Barr. Our production company is Neon hom Media. 597 00:46:56,600 --> 00:47:00,719 Speaker 1: Our archival producer is Jamie Benson. Our theme music is 598 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:06,680 Speaker 1: written by Daniel Hart. Indispensable support from Craig Swaggler, Dustin Gervais, 599 00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:10,920 Speaker 1: Alan Peg, Reggie Basil and everyone at CBS News Radio. 600 00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:16,920 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Andre Suarez, Mattia, Santonio Bombal Lauda, Isabel 601 00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:22,279 Speaker 1: Cerna and Alberto Robina, the Unsinkable Aaron Shrink as our 602 00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:28,440 Speaker 1: senior producer. Executive producers for Mobituaries include Steve Raises and Morocca. 603 00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:32,960 Speaker 1: The series is created by Yours Truly and as always, 604 00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:37,920 Speaker 1: undying gratitude to Rand Morrison and John carp for helping 605 00:47:38,040 --> 00:47:43,719 Speaker 1: breathe life into Mobituaries. Before we go Hollywood also had 606 00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:48,879 Speaker 1: its female Latin lovers. The pioneering and stunning Dolores del 607 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:53,560 Speaker 1: Rio was Ramon Navarro's second cousin. Del Rio was often 608 00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:58,240 Speaker 1: called the female Rudolf Valentino. She and her contemporary Lupe 609 00:47:58,360 --> 00:48:02,400 Speaker 1: Vells paved the way for other Latin actresses like Carmen 610 00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:07,120 Speaker 1: Miranda and Maria Montez. The storied history of those Latin 611 00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:12,560 Speaker 1: lovers is its own tail, deserving its own future mobituary. 612 00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:15,920 Speaker 1: I think you like that very much. You like that too, 613 00:48:16,440 --> 00:48:19,279 Speaker 1: of course I'm willing to everyone else. Is you want 614 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:21,919 Speaker 1: to know what I think. I can't tell what I said. 615 00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:25,440 Speaker 1: It's okay, stan Leando, do you make it sounds nothing? 616 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:27,799 Speaker 1: You don't know not to call the battles? Yeah, you're not. 617 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:37,400 Speaker 1: Wish I couldn't you know saying that in English