Rudolph Valentino, Silent Films Sexiest Man Ever...

just happened to watch this movie on TCM lately and though it really didn't follow Rudolph Valentino's life story, I still enjoyed Anthony Dexter in the role.

Anthony Dexter looked like Valentino at certain angles, especially while dancing the Tango, but his perfect English and diction ruined it for me...  I'm sure the real Valentino spoke with broken English and was a little more rough.  I did however, love the costumes and Valentino style.  

I was thrilled to see this close up of an invitation from Valentino, including the address of the Villa Valentino in Whitley Heights.  The real Villa, however, was actually located at 6776 Wedgewood Place, Whitley Heights.

Valentino was one of the first residents to build a Mediterranean Villa in Whitley Heights. Probably soon after making the Sheik and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in 1921.

Seen here at the Villa Valentino, is my great uncle Tom Lyle Williams, founder of the Maybelline Company, with his lifetime partner, Emery Shaver.  Tom Lyle bought the Villa after Valentino's death in 1926.

The magnificent statue ASPIRATION, overlooked the pool at the Villa...in honor of Rudolph Valentino.

I also loved the close up of this Preview Card, with a comment about Valentino's film, the Sheik... having the most thrilling love scenes ever seen on the screen.

Here is Anthony Dexter as the Sheik in the 1951 film.

and here is Rudolph Valentino as the Sheik,in the 1921 film.  There is no comparison in the passion and
 sexuality Valentino exudes on camera.

The real Rudolph Valentino, still gets hearts thumping

The real Rudolph Valentino dancing the Tango on the real 1921 film, "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

As you can see the real Rudolph Valentino, remains the all time smoldering Latin Lover.

Want see more posts on Valentino and the Villa Valentino?  Go to SEARCH THIS BlOG on the right side of the page and type in the words.  

Hollywood Royalty, Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambovia's home was purchased by Maybelline founder Tom Lyle Williams and his partner Emery Shaver in the 1930's.

After Rudolph Valentino died in 1926, two of his homes in the Hollywood hills went up for sale. 

One, the famous 4,700 square foot, Falcon Lair, home of Valentino and Natacha Rambova in Benedict Canyon

  

Rudolph Valentino at his home in Whitley Heights.

and the other in the Whitley Heights section of the Hollywood hills. Valentino lived in this house while he and his fiancee were building Falcon Lair.

Tom Lyle Williams and Emery Shaver on the
 Balcony of the Villa Valentino.

Tom Lyle and Emery with TL's 1934 Packard Victoria
 at the Villa Valentino.

After Valentino’s untimely death, Tom Lyle and Emery rented than bought the home in Whitley Heights...named it The Villa Valentino and concentrated on Maybelline's Advertising...

while brother, Vice President Noel James Williams ran the business at hand for the Maybelline Company in Chicago.

Picture of Tom Lyle Williams from the article
 in Drug Topics Magazine, 1929.

In May of 1929 in one of the few article written about Tom Lyle’s life and his success story came out in a cosmetic journal called the drug topics and portrayed a young entrepreneur’s genius in advertising.

This fascinating period of Hollywood history is featured in The Maybelline Story... buy a signed copy today...

Want to read more on The Villa Valentino, chick here 

Hollywood - the perfect place to blend in - during, the 1930s.

Tom Lyle and Emery stood out too much in Gangland Chicago, during the Depression. 

My father, Bill Williams with his mother, Evelyn, his uncle Tom Lyle and Emery Shaver in Chicago, 1934.

Tom Lyle's father TJ, concerned about young Bill's safety, asked Tom Lyle and Emery to leave Chicago and move to Hollywood, where they might blend in better.  He worried that the flashy car and fancy clothes, fostered too much attention and endangered the child they were often seen with. 

TL took his father's advise and moved to Whitley Heights in the Hollywood Hills, and bought the Villa Valentino.  The next year, Preston, Evelyn and Bill followed.

Read all about it, in The Maybelline Story and don't forget, the book makes great Holiday gifts.

Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis - Hollywood Royalty!

Comedian, Harold Lloyd and his leading Lady, on and off screen, Mildred Davis -known for having the longest  marriage in Hollywood.

Between 1919 and 1923, Lloyd and Davis made 14 films together.  She retired from Hollywood after their marriage, to raise a family.

One of the first residents of Whitley Heights, The Lloyd's remained friends with Tom Lyle Williams, also a Whitley Heights resident and automobile enthusiast.  Here is Harold and Mildred in 1924 with their new Buick.

Mildred Davis caught Tom Lyle's eye, when she appeared with Harold Lloyd, in the 1921 Silent Film, Grandma's Boy.  He was struck by her large, beautiful eyes and asked her to endorse Maybelline, shortly before her retirement.                                             

Mildred Davis endorses Maybelline in the early 1920's.

Stunning Maybelline Eyes.  Tom Lyle, used an illustration of Mildred Davis eyes inside Maybelline's, little red box.

Harold Lloyd ranks alongside Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton as one of the most popular and influential film comedians of the silent film era.  He is best known for his "Glasses Character", a resourceful, success-seeking go-getter who was perfectly in tune with 1920's.            

Lloyd's films frequently contained "thrill sequences" of extended chase scenes and daredevil physical feats, for which he is best remembered today.

Read more about sweetheart, Mildred Davis in The Maybelline Story!  Buy a signed copy from the author, Sharrie Williams at http://www.maybellinestory.com/.

Whitley Heights, Paradise during Hollywood's silent film era.

  Off of Camrose south of the Hollywood Bowl.

Before there was Beverly Hills, during the silent film days, Whitley Heights was where the famous stars of Hollywood lived. Francis X. Bushman had a large, opulent house, with the first swimming pool built in the  
area and Rudolph Valentino lived off Wedgwood Place.   
 

Villa Valentino, 6776 Wedgewood Place, Whitley Heights, built in 1922, this was the site of the home Valentino shared with Natacha Rambova in upscale Whitley Heights just north of Hollywood. In 1951 the state of California paid Tom Lyle Williams, $90,000, intending to demolish it to make way for the Hollywood Freeway. The foundation of the home survives and can still be seen from the freeway.The foundation to the home is still visible from the freeway.

 During the Jazz Age, life was a party, and Whitley Heights was Party Central for the Hollywood set.

 Issue: Issue Spring 2010 Whitley Heights click here.

By: DH
Traveling along Franklin Avenue, the east/west thoroughfare north of Hollywood Blvd., you might not notice the most historic enclave of 1920s residences from the Golden Era of silent films and speakeasies, aka The Roaring Twenties, rising above Franklin Avenue. And roar they did in those days of high living, laughter and a new industry that seemed to have no bounds. Ethel Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, Marion Davies, W.C. Fields, Harold Lloyd, Carole Lombard, Rudolph Valentino and many others lived and held legendary parties that marked an era and the early Hollywood film industry.

Today the Hollywood Freeway runs through what was once the toast of the Hollywood, in it's Heyday. 

 Before the Hollywood Freeway took Whitley Heights, it was an oasis,of gorgeous landscaping and Italian architecture.

 The arrow points to Tom Lyle Williams, Villa Valentino, in 1935.

 Tom Lyle remodeled the Villa Valentino in 1937.

Tom Lyle Williams on the left, followed by his sister Mabel, her husband Chet Hewes, and his sister Eva and her husband Ches Haines.  Notice the statue, Aspiration in the background.

Read more about Tom Lyle Williams and his love affair with the Villa Valentino, in The Maybelline Story, buy a signed copy today at www.maybelliestory.com. 

Old Hollywood means, The Maybelline Story.

              

California

Whitley Heights

Gorgeous men

Glamor

                                                            Beauty

Packard, Convertibles

Valentino

Fashion

                                           Tom Lyle Williams

                                              and Maybelline.


If you love old Hollywood, with it's style, glamor and Panache, you have to get a signed copy of The Maybelline Story at http://www.maybellinestory.com/.

Rudolph Valentino's Aspiration, sets the tone for positive thinking.

Rudolph Valentino's Aspiration, still inspires the Williams family to always look up.

Here is a picture of my father Bill Williams with his cousin Noel A. standing next to Aspiration.

Aspiration (Rudolph Valentino)

1930. Roger Noble Burnham. Marble and bronze statue, 36' x 16' x 16. De Longpre Park, 1350 North Cherokee Street, Hollywood, California. Plaque reads: Erected in memory of Rudolph Valentino, 1895-1926. Presented by his friends and admirers from every walk of life in all parts of the world in appreciation of the happiness brought to them by his cinema portrayals.

The Villa Valentino, with Aspiration overlooking the pool.  Bottom right, Bill, Tom Lyle and Evelyn Williams.

Aspiration at the Villa Valentino, Tom Lyle's home in the Hollywood Hills.  I believe Tom Lyle, was a major contributor, paying for the statue to be set in De Longpre Park, in 1930.  He bought the Villa, placed a copy of Aspiration in a fountain and called his home, The Villa Valentino.   Aspiration is still in our family and we love his inspiration to aspire up and never look down.