Reading Rudolph Valentino's Final World

One hundred years after the death of Rudolph Valentino, the story of his final months remains obscured by legend and rumor.

Drawing upon decades of archival research by Renato Floris and Evelyn Zumaya Floris, Reading Rudolph Valentino's Final World presents ten illustrated folios examining the people, places, documents and events which surrounded the actor during the last year of his life.

From a contested will and family claims to financial realities, the making and release of The Son of the Sheik, to the myths which arose after Valentino's death, each folio combines rare images and documentary evidence, inviting readers to step inside Valentino's final world and examine the surviving record for themselves.

Evelyn Zumaya Floris is an author, historian and independent scholar whose work focuses on the cultural legacy of silent film icon Rudolph Valentino. For more than two decades, she has researched Valentino's life, the legal and financial controversies surrounding his estate and the suppressed archival materials which shape his historical narrative. Her previous books include, Affairs Valentino, Affairs Valentino Legacy Edition, The Affairs Valentino Companion Guide, Astral Affairs Rambova and Norma: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino's Beauty Queen. Working alongside her late husband and collaborator Renato Floris, she has built one of the most comprehensive private archives on Valentino and his manager George Ullman. Floris is known for her meticulous documentation, fearless investigative approach and unwavering commitment to historical truth. She publishes widely on the Valentino era through books, blogs and digital archives and her work has sparked international interest for its revelations about narrative control, celebrity culture and the power dynamics within collector communities.

Renato Floris (1946-2023) was an accomplished translator, editor, and independent publisher whose work played a central role in the modern preservation of Rudolph Valentino history. Fluent in multiple languages, he translated several cornerstone Valentino-era texts, including the serialized fan-magazine memoir "My Private Diary" into Italian; Baltasar Cue's 1927 Spanish biography "El Verdadero Rudolph Valentino" (which he brought into English as "The True Rudolph Valentino"); and Jeanne de Recqueville's seminal French study "Rudolph Valentino."Across two decades, Renato translated countless archival articles, legal documents, and rare period sources, making primary material accessible to English-language readers for the first time. As CEO of his publishing company, Viale Industria Pubblicazioni, he shepherded numerous Valentino-related works into print with his meticulous editorial force, design integrity and historical fidelity. His contribution to Valentino scholarship remains immeasurable.