The Valentino affair : the Jazz Age murder scandal that shocked New York society and gripped the world

In 1922, Rudolph Valentino was one of the most famous men alive. But few knew that the star had a dirty secret that he desperately wanted to bury. The lurid tale began a decade earlier when former Yale football star and notorious playboy Jack de Saulles made headlines across three continents by pursuing the beautiful young Chilean heiress Blanca Errázuriz, known as the Star of Santiago. After the birth of their son, though, the marriage soured. Jack was going after every chorus girl on Broadway, claiming that Blanca had banished him from their bed. By 1916, Blanca wanted a divorce, rare then and even more so in a wealthy, powerful Catholic family. Enter Valentino, then still known as Rodolfo Guglielmi, a professional dancer in New York City, famous for the Argentinean tango. Blanca discovered that her husband had been sleeping with Joan Sawyer, Rodolfo’s dance partner, so she set about cultivating the hungry young performer. Whether Blanca and Guglielmi became lovers remains unclear, but the ambitious Italian gave evidence on her behalf in divorce court. Furious, de Saulles had Guglielmi arrested on trumped-up vice charges, tarnishing the dancer’s reputation. But Blanca was fighting bigger battles. De Saulles’s family had been pulling strings, persuading the courts to grant him partial custody of their child. When it appeared that he wasn’t going to return the boy to his mother’s care, Blanca exploded. On a sweltering August night in 1917, she drove to Jack’s mansion and shot him dead. Several people witnessed the act, but Blanca’s family hired the best defense lawyer around, who salvaged de Saulles’s reputation and made Blanca out to be a saint. During the “most sensational trial of the decade,” millions devoured the juicy details of how a high-society marriage violently unraveled. Guglielmi, desperate to avoid further poisonous publicity, fled to California, changed his name to Rudolph Valentino, and the rest is Hollywood history. Few of silent film heartthrob Rudolph Valentino & rsquo;s adoring fans knew that he got his start by trying to escape a dirty secret. The lurid tale began in 1912 when notorious playboy Jack de Saulles made headlines by marrying the beautiful young heiress Blanca Err & aacute;zuriz. After the birth of their son, though, Jack was chasing every chorus girl on Broadway. By 1916, Blanca wanted a divorce and discovered that one of her husband & rsquo;s mistresses was the dance partner of Rodolfo Guglielmi, a professional tango dancer. Blanca cultivated the young performer, and the ambitious Italian gave evidence on her behalf in divorce court. Furious, de Saulles had Guglielmi arrested on trumped-up vice charges, tarnishing the dancer & rsquo;s reputation. Then, one sweltering August night when it looked like de Saulles wasn & rsquo;t going to share custody of their son, Blanca shot him dead. Her family hired the best defense lawyer, who savaged de Saulles & rsquo;s reputation and painted Blanca as a saint. During the & ldquo;most sensational trial of the decade, & rdquo; millions devoured the details of how the high-society marriage had unraveled. Guglielmi, who had already fled to California to avoid poisonous publicity, changed his name to Rudolph Valentino and became Hollywood history The Flower of the Andes An American in Paris The wayward husband The man from Italy When Blanca met the Signor Enter Ms. Sawyer "Revenge should have no bounds" "It had to be done" Let the battle commence The funeral Indictment Someone's lying Amnesia Blanca takes the stand "Flatter him to death" The medical evidence The hypothetical question The verdict A courtroom Bernhardt. Chronicles how, before changing his name and becoming a Hollywood icon, Rudolph Valentino was involved in a couple's messy divorce -- which ultimately ended in death