L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS autographed to Alberto. My father first met him in 1923 when he was only eight or n i n e y e a r s o l d . H e l a t e r worked in the movie busi- ness as well, but behind in the sound department, first with MGM, and then inde- p e n d e n t l y w i t h U n i v e r s a l and other studios. H o w w a s h e t a l k e d about? As an Italian, family is so, s o i m p o r t a n t . S o h e w a s more of a relative than he was a movie star. But it was a small family because Rudy h a d n o c h i l d r e n , a n d h i s younger sister only had one d a u g h t e r . T h e n i e c e w a s Gabriella, and I got to meet her. She came to America many times, and my father was the only nephew. Was there a particular story about Uncle Rudy that was passed down in y o u r f a m i l y t h a t impressed you the most? I had always heard how close he was to his mother, wrote her letters all the time. Everyone has always been p r o u d o f h i s a c c o m p l i s h - ments. The stories of how he came as a young man, that a l w a y s s e e m e d a m a z i n g , how he left Italy so young, at only 18. Is there anything he owned that is now yours to remember him by? We didn't get a lot of the t h i n g s h e o w n e d b e c a u s e they were auctioned off just after his death. Mostly, the house, the Falcon Lair, his legendary 4-acre estate in t h e h i l l s a b o v e B e n e d i c t Canyon in Beverly Hills, got s o l d . S o a l o t o f m a t e r i a l things did not stay within the family. W a s h i s I t a l i a n upbringing still strong in his identity? I have two recordings of him singing, and he definite- l y h a s a n a c c e n t . A n d m y grandfather and my grand- mother, also from Italy, they h a d v e r y s t r o n g I t a l i a n a c c e n t s . S o t h e r e w a s n o denying it. The Apulian tra- dition stayed with us in the kitchen. We always have the fish dinner for Christmas Eve. Lobster is one of the fish we have. But we would also have lots of pasta. D o y o u s t i l l h a v e a c o n n e c t i o n w i t h h i s birthplace in Apulia? Yes, I've been there about three times. I was able to attend a wonderful event invited by Annamaria Gal- gano, the president of the Rudolph Valentino Founda- t i o n i n h i s b i r t h c i t y o f Castellaneta, in the Taranto region. I've seen the house that has a plaque honoring his birth there. They have a b i g s t a t u e , w h i c h j u s t recently they took down for r e m o d e l i n g , a n d I d o n ' t know if they ever put the s t a t u e b a c k u p . B u t t h e whole city of Castellaneta welcomed me back in 2014. I was honored as an hon- orary citizen by the mayor. They treated me just won- derfully. And then there was a big evening event where they gave out achievement awards to many good liter- a r y , a c t i n g , a n d m u s i c a l people in Castellaneta. W h a t p a r t o f U n c l e Rudy's legacy would you m o s t l i k e p e o p l e t o remember? I ' v e a l w a y s b e e n v e r y impressed that he said that h e w a s o n l y t h e c a n v a s . There's a quote of his, and I can't say it exactly. He said he was the canvas that all these people made their own drawing of who he was. He k n e w t h a t e v e r y b o d y w a s having a different impres- sion of him. But actually, he was very serious and wanted to just achieve being a good actor and being at the begin- ning of the motion picture industry like he was. He has definitely made his mark. Do you have a favorite Valentino film? I have seen The Son of the S h e i k m a n y t i m e s , a n d I think it's really one of his best movies. He plays both the father and the son. So imagine them doing all that makeup. But my father and I jointly agree that we like The Eagle the most. There's a side story here. What story? W a l t D i s n e y , w h e n h e o p e n e d u p D i s n e y l a n d i n 1955, they had an old movie house on Main Street in Dis- neyland, and the movie that was showing on the opening o f D i s n e y l a n d w a s T h e Eagle. And so The Eagle was the first movie for Disney to show in that theater. But we happened to own the royal- ties back then. So my father actually went to Walt Disney and said, "You need to pay me a little bit because I own The Eagle." We don't have any royalty rights anymore; they have expired. W h y d o y o u t h i n k a u d i e n c e s a r o u n d t h e world are still so fasci- nated by Uncle Rudy? I n m y o p i n i o n , i t ' s because he never grew old. He died very young. He was at the top of his career. He had only been making suc- cessful movies for five years. H e w a s a t t h e t o p o f h i s l o o k s a n d h i s a c t i n g , a n d everybody was falling in love with what they were seeing on the screen. And to this day, all these fans that are all over the world are look- i n g e x a c t l y a t w h a t t h e y looked at in 1926. And so e v e r y o n e h a s t h e s a m e image of him as so success- ful, so handsome. Everybody can love him just like they d i d y e a r s a g o . N o t h i n g ' s changed. Why do you think audiences around the world are still so fascinated by your uncle, Rudolph Valentino? "In my opinion, it's because he never grew old. He died very young. He was at the top of his career." – Sylvia Valentino CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 Sylvia Valentino, great-niece of Rudolph Valentino, with Raffaella Valentini, Consul General of Italy in Los Angeles, and Anna Manunza, president of LILAA, during the centennial commemoration of Valentino at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on August 23, 2026; below, Valentino's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Photos: John Hatzis)

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