The True Rudolph Valentino

Fictionalized versions of Rudolph Valentino's life circulated even before his death, fueled in part by studio publicity. During the early months of 1926, Valentino set out to correct the record, collaborating with Spanish journalist Baltasar Fernández Cué on what was intended to be an authorized autobiography.

Cué was granted rare access to Valentino's private world and became a close observer of the star's final months. Before departing for New York, Valentino entrusted him with personal letters and documents, expecting to return and complete the work. His sudden death left the project unfinished.

Determined to fulfill Valentino's wish, Cué completed The True Rudolph Valentino from his firsthand experiences and materials, offering a vivid and intimate account of the actor's life, relationships, and final days. Although still reflecting elements of the mythology Valentino sought to dispel, the work was published in Spanish in 1927 in serialized format in fan magazine, Cine-Mundial.

Presented for the first time in English, Renato Floris' translation of the autobiography Rudolph Valentino intended to write, restores this rare and revealing work to the historical record, accompanied by reproductions of the original Cine-Mundial illustrations.

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.