Ramón Novarro

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Ramón Novarro

Photo by Carl Van Vechten
Born José Ramón Gil Samaniego
February 6, 1899(1899-02-06)
Durango, Durango, Mexico
Died October 30, 1968 (aged 69)
North Hollywood, CA U.S.
Other name(s) "The New Valentino"
Years active 1917-1965
Spouse(s) Never married

Ramón Novarro (February 2, 1899 - October 30, 1968) was a Mexican actor who achieved fame as a "Latin lover" in silent films.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born José Ramón Gil Samaniego in Durango, Durango, Mexico, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, California, U.S., to escape the Mexican Revolution. A cousin of actress Dolores del Río, he entered films in 1917 playing bit parts, and supplemented his income by working as a singing waiter. His friends, the actor and director Rex Ingram and his wife, the actress Alice Terry, began to promote him as a rival to Rudolph Valentino and Ingram suggested he change his name to "Novarro". From 1923, he began to play more prominent roles. His role in Scaramouche (1923), brought him his first major success.

In 1925, he achieved his greatest success in Ben-Hur, with his revealing costumes causing a sensation, and Novarro was elevated into the Hollywood elite. With Valentino's death in 1926, he became the screen's leading Latin actor, though ranked behind his MGM stablemate, John Gilbert, as a model lover. He was popular as a swashbuckler in action roles, and was also considered one of the great romantic lead actors of his day.

He appeared with Norma Shearer in The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) and appeared with Joan Crawford in Across to Singapore in 1928. A silent still shown occasionally on television is his 1929 The Flying Fleet, an energetic story of early naval aviation. He made his first talking film, starring as a singing French soldier, in Devil-May-Care (1929). He starred with, Greta Garbo in Mata Hari in 1932 and was a qualified success opposite Myrna Loy in The Barbarian (1933).

with Lupe Velez in Laughing Boy (1934)
with Lupe Velez in Laughing Boy (1934)

His star began to fade. When his contract with MGM Studios expired in 1935, the studio did not renew it. Novarro continued to act sporadically, appearing in a couple of films for Republic Pictures, a Mexican religious drama, and a French comedy. Later in the 1940s, he had several small roles in American films. A Broadway tryout was aborted in the 1960s, though Novarro kept busy on television, appearing in The High Chaparral as late as 1968.

At the peak of his success in the late 1920s and early 1930s, he was earning more than US$100,000 per film. He invested some of his income in real estate. After his career ended, he was still able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

There are rumors that MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer tried to coerce Novarro into a "lavender marriage", which he refused. However, some— including Novarro biographer André Soares— assert that there is no evidence that Mayer tried to coerce Novarro into a contractual marriage. Novarro had been troubled all his life as a result of his conflicting views over his Roman Catholic religion and his homosexuality.[1] He was a friend of adventurer and author Richard Halliburton.

Novarro was murdered by two brothers, Tom and Paul Ferguson, whom he had paid to come to his Laurel Canyon home for sex. According to the prosecution in the murder case, the two young men believed that a large sum of money was hidden in Novarro's house. The prosecution accused them of torturing Novarro for several hours to force him to reveal where the nonexistent money was hidden. They left with a mere twenty dollars they took from his bathrobe pocket before fleeing the scene. Novarro allegedly died as a result of asphyxiation, choking to death on his own blood after being brutally beaten and having a dildo shoved down his throat, which was a present from the late Rudolph Valentino. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. The two brothers were later caught and sentenced to long prison terms, but were quickly released on probation. Both were later rearrested for unrelated crimes, for which they served longer terms than for their murder conviction.

Ramón Novarro has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame commemorating his contribution to the Motion Picture industry, at 6350 Hollywood Boulevard.

In late 2005, the Wings Theatre in New York City staged the world premiere of Through a Naked Lens by George Barthel. The play combined fact and fiction to depict Novarro's rise to fame and a relationship with Hollywood journalist Herbert Howe.

Novarro's relationship with Herbert Howe is discussed in two biographies: Allan R. Ellenberger's Ramon Novarro and André Soares's Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro.

[edit] Partial filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Holliday, Peter J, “Novarro, Ramon (1899-1968)”, glbtq.com, <http://www.glbtq.com/arts/novarro_r.html>. Retrieved on 2007-11-01 

[edit] External links

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Persondata
NAME Novarro, Ramón
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Samaniego, José Ramón Gil
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1899-2-6
PLACE OF BIRTH Durango, Durango, Mexico
DATE OF DEATH 1968-10-30
PLACE OF DEATH North Hollywood, CA U.S.