The new short film "DayDreams of Rudolph Valentino" (with Russian actor Vladislav Kozlov as Rudolph Valentino) was presented at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on August 23, 2006, marking the 80th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino's death.

He is responsible for bringing the Argentine Tango to America, first performing the famous dance in his film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), and later in a successful American national dance tour with his wife, Natacha Rambova, who, like Valentine himself, was once a professional dancer.

After Valentino's death, his family announced that his body would lie in an open casket in order to be seen by his fans. However, the family was worried that grief-stricken fans might rush the casket and damage the body, so they had a sculptor fashion a lifelike wax dummy and that was the "body" exhibited in the casket. Valentino's real body was kept hidden in another room in the funeral home.

Had an Irish Wolfhound named "Centaur Pendragon" and a Great Dane named 'Kabar'.

Worked as a dishwasher, gigolo, and petty thief before starring in The Son of the Sheik (1926).

Uncle of sound engineer Jean G. Valentino.

Valentino and Jean Acker had one of the shortest celebrity marriages on record - six hours. After courting for just a few days, they impulsively married November 5 1919, but Jean locked him out of their hotel room later that night after a spat. They separated, and their divorce was finalized in 1922. Ironically, after their divorce, they became good friends.

Ranked #80 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]

At the height of his popularity, Valentino went on a brief sojurn in his native Italy to visit friends and family and, in general, to get a much-needed rest. When he returned to Hollywood, friends asked him if he'd been mobbed by fans while on vacation. Valentino said no, explaining that, "over there, I look like every other Italian fellow on the street."

He was half French and half Italian

For many years on the anniversary of Valentino's death, a mysterious woman, dressed all in black, was seen laying a wreath of flowers on his grave. Her identity was never established.

He was voted the 32nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Pictured on one of ten 29¢ US commemorative postage stamps celebrating stars of the silent screen, issued 27 April 1994. Designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, this set of stamps also honored Clara Bow, Charles Chaplin, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Zasu Pitts, Harold Lloyd, Theda Bara, Buster Keaton, and the Keystone Kops.

Is mentioned in the The Bangles hit song (written by Prince) "Manic Monday".

A portion of Irving Boulevard in Hollywood, California, was renamed Rudolph Valentino Street in 1978.

For many years on the anniversary of Valentino`s death, a mysterious woman, dressed all in black, was seen laying a wreath of flowers on his grave.

Considered to be the first male sex symbol of the cinema during the silent era.

In 1923 he recorded two songs for Brunswick Records. You can hear his heavily accented voice to this day.

Following his untimely death, a bogus, composite photograph of Valentino ascending up to heaven was released for sale, and was snatched up by his legion of fans.

At the time of his death, Valentino was severely in debt, and his heirs could not afford a burial plot for him. June Mathis, screenwriter of Rudy`s hit films The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) and Blood and Sand (1922), graciously agreed to temporarily loan him a space in her family crypt at Hollywood Park Cemetery so he could be interred upon his body`s arrival in Los Angeles following a coast-to-coast funeral train ride from New York. Valentino`s body remains in that "borrowed" crypt, interestingly next to Mathis to this day.

A few months before Valentino`s death, a Chicago newspaper columnist attacked his masculinity in print, referring to him as a "pink powder puff." A lawsuit was pending when Valentino was fatally stricken. One of his last questions to his doctor was, "Well, doctor, and do I now act like a `pink powder puff`?" His doctor reportedly replied, "No, sir. You have been very brave. Braver than most."

Was paired with Nita Naldi in four movies: Blood and Sand (1922), A Sainted Devil (1924), The Hooded Falcon (1924) and Cobra (1925).

In the 1930s, Sheik Condoms, named after his most famous role, were introduced and feature Valentino`s silhouette on the packaging for years.

Published a thin volume of sentimental poetry titled "Day Dreams" in 1923. The book sold hundreds of thousands of copies.