The composograph of Rudy's 'last photo.' This was actually another man's corpse with Rudy's head copy/pasted onto the head portion. It was released before Rudy was even embalmed.
From George Ullman's 1975 memoir:
*********************************************************************************************************
"Now, despite the anguish which I suffered, I had to undertake the harsh duties connected with death.
I first phoned The Frank Campbell Undertakers and requested that someone come to the hospital to see me. Then I went down to the room where the now somewhat bored newsmen were assembled and without any preamble simply extended my arms and said, 'He's dead!'
The effect was like that of a bomb shell. The men and women almost catapulted from their chairs and rushed to get to phones anywhere they could be found. I believe that the impact of the unexpected announcement upon them resulted in the banner headlines which appeared that afternoon and next day in every newspaper in the U.S. and foreign countries.
I was standing on the steps of the hospital waiting for the man from Frank Campbell funeral parlor to arrive when Mr. Schenck came to me and said, 'George, this might not be the right time to say this but I'd be happy to have you join my organization, if you would consider it.' While I hadn't had time to think of my own future activities, I had received no fewer than thirty-three offers of positions in as many varied industries. But I liked Mr. Schenck and his rough exterior and I said to him, 'Yes! I would be glad to be associated with you and as soon as I possibly can after I have completed my work for Valentino.' I mention this here because of Mr. Schenck's later behavior.
I knew at this time that I had an enormous task ahead of me after Rudy had been laid to rest. Mr. Schenck actually offered me a job with him supposing that I would hypothecate Rudy's percentage of the two last pictures in return for his offer. He sent a man to see me in my office after I had begun to work on the estate, who obligingly suggested that I arrange with the court to sell Rudy's share to Schenck for a comparatively small price. Of course I wouldn't agree to this and Schenck's agreement for my services never materialized.
Now, Mr. Campbell himself appeared and commenced selling his coffins. I told him that I would discuss that with him at his office but that I wanted to arrange to have Rudy's body removed as quickly and as quietly as possible to his establishment. Within thirty minutes his men arrived and I watched them place poor Rudy's body in a large wicker basket and into the rear elevator to the street."
"I went to Frank Campbell's office and he very seriously tried to have me order a silver coffin costing $30,000. It was only proper, said he, that a man of such distinction should have the finest casket available. I didn't agree, but finally chose one which was priced at $4000, probably four times its true value. Here I must dispute other reports by writers who contend that Mr. Campbell did not want any money for the funeral expenses. That is incorrect and untrue.
Of course I cabled Alberto in Italy and phoned Pola Negri in Hollywood. She had been giving interviews in Hollywood to reporters avowing her great loss and grief upon Rudy's death. I knew that I should not have Rudy's body moved from Campbell's until the brother arrived.
I had arranged for the harrowing experience of allowing the public to view Rudy in his coffin at Campbell's. It is now an almost unbelievable segment of my life in the days the public were first admitted. I thought that I had anticipated eventualities by having a dozen New York foot policemen under a sergeant and several policemen on horseback near Campbell's entrance when the first group of visitors arrived at about 7 o'clock in the morning."
"But the crowd quickly grew to almost riot proportions and more and more police had to be called upon to try to keep order. The lines extended five blocks north of the
Campbell's entrance and a drizzle or rain had begun to fall. This did not discourage the mob and there was a great deal of pushing and shoving along the line.
It was extremely difficult to keep some semblance of order inside the Campbell establishment and I was constantly concerned lest someone might desecrate the body of Valentino in the Gold Room.
I had been coming and going by a hidden side entrance of the building and late in the evening, when I was walking along the line of people waiting for their turn to reach the entrance, I saw several men and women selling hot dogs and other food and trinkets every fifty feet or so. I went to Mr. Campbell and told him to close the doors now and not to admit any more viewers. Outside the crowd then became really unruly! They crowded against the two policemen on their mounts and shoved them against the large plate glass window of Campbell's until it broke. The horses, becoming frightened, jumped about and injured quite a few in the crowd."
Photo taken from inside Frank Campbell's Funeral Church looking outside the plate glass window that was subsequently broken by the crowds.
"Around the world, newspapers reported several suicides by young women, many holding pictures of Valentino in their hands or the walls in their homes covered with newspapers photographs of Rudy in various costumes. I am sure that this was greatly exaggerated, but it provided sensational reading for the public.
I received word that Alberto, Rudy's brother was sailing and would arrive in about a week. He had never met Mr. Schenck or any other important person in this country but out of respect for Rudy's family I didn't want to arrange for funeral services until Alberto arrived. I did, however, try to arrange for the mass at the St. Patrick's cathedral, the largest and best-known Catholic church in New York, but they refused to permit this, giving the reason that Rudy's life had not been exemplary, that he had been divorced and lived in sin! So I again approached Father Leonard at the St. Malachy's church, who, without any hesitations, agreed to conduct the mass for Rudy and to co-operate fully with our arrangements."
*********************************************************************************************************
Right off the bat in this portion of his 1975 memoir, George admits that he feels very 'put upon' in having to make the arrangements for Rudy, since he is, essentially, overwhelmed. Yet he bravely soldiers on and takes a bribe. Who from? Well, Frankie Campbell and his publicity man, that's who! Rudolph Valentino's funeral mass was just another publicity stunt. Read all the books, they each tell it a little different, but the message is all the same.
Rather than do the ethical, moral, not to mention classy thing and inform those close to Rudy, first, he could have at least managed to send the cable and phoned others close to Rudy before he told the rest of the media. But no, Ullman couldn't wait to have at all that luscious publicity. And he even admits that he was responsible (and I'm sorry, I feel like he is almost boasting about it) for the quick publicity. He sounds proud, not sorry he did it that way. He, and he alone, was responsible. The only other person who did anything about it was Rudy ... and all he had to do was die.
Then he tells us about Joseph Schenck's offer of a job, and Rudy just recently passed on. Whether or not this actually happened is still up for speculation. Even Schenck, worm that he was, would probably not have been heartless enough to put this in writing so soon after Rudy's death, if nothing else out of respect for his wife, who had a great deal of love for Rudy. I find it suspect. George then goes on to let us know he has had a load of offers. Was this since Rudy got sick? Or had he been fielding offers before ...? There had been rumblings that Rudy was going to fire Ullman ... and keep Luther Mahoney. Rudy was that upset with Ullman. In fact, one of the first things Ullman did was inform Lew that he would be terminated as soon as they arrived back in California at Falcon Lair.
Of course, they could have just been rumors. The only one who could have fired Lew was Rudy or the next of kin who would own Falcon Lair and George knew it. After Rudy died, George should have been glad that Lew was there in California to handle Falcon Lair and all the animals. Lew could have walked off the job at any time, but he didn't out of allegiance to Rudy. He had no such allegiance to George Ullman. No love there, at all, from either side.
Both Mahoney and Ullman were envious of each other for basically the same reason. The difference? Lew Mahoney had a key to Rudy's safe ... Ullman did not. So, who was really the most trusted, there? I think that answer is clear. No one knew the grounds of Falcon Lair and its needs better than Luther Mahoney, and Lew had one thing Ullman definitely did not ... Natacha's trust. Ullman may have been privy to some of the business dealings that Lew had nothing to do with, but that all ended quickly on August 13, 1926 before the 'last kiss.' To be fair, I cannot say that Lew Mahoney was entirely truthful on the stand on court, either.
Although I have gone over some of the details of these days already in other blog entries, I do want to mention here that before the public viewing, there was an actress by the name of Eva Miller hired to portray a 'mourner.' She played her part well, and there were many photos taken of her on that day. I've chosen to post this one, although I have others. This one turned out the best, IMO, and is not a composograph.
This is actually Rudy's body as it appeared before the photographers from the newspapers were able to take their pictures (before it went into the casket) as opposed to the one at the top of this blog that was created in the 'lab' of the newspaper office:
In addition, there was also an incident when some men who claimed to be members of the Fascista League showed up insisting that Benito Mussolini had sent them to stand as honor guard by Rudy's casket. George and Frankie Campbell (who were almost certainly aware of this publicity stunt, but feigned innocence, at the time) let the men do their thing and even let them lay a black wreath on Rudy's casket. The Anti-Fascists Group in New York got involved and a message was sent to Mussolini who became angry and sent HIS message back informing them in no uncertain terms that he had nothing to do with this action.
Although Rudy was under glass by this time after the crowds had done their damage, he still looked pretty undone ...
There were other incidents that also went on, but nothing that really concerned George directly, so I'll skip those for the purposes of this blog post. It seems to me that I have already covered those last August.
Here I shall post a video that is probably the most complete one I have seen about that frenetic visitation time for Rudy; the absolute craziness that followed his death in New York. I'll warn those who have not seen it, though. It is a little horrifying in that 'I-see-an-accident-and-I-know-I-shouldn't-look-but-I-can't-help-it' kind of way:
However, by the day of the actual funeral mass, you can see by the following video things were much calmer and the crowd more well-behaved. After all, there was no corpse to view any longer. I still, to this day, question why this service could not have waited just one more day so Alberto could have attended. After all, the coffin had not been permanently sealed at that point because Albert had not arrived yet, so I see no reason they could not have let him be at the funeral mass other than Ullman's selfishness. Well, I'm sure Frank Campbell had something to do with it, as well.
It has been speculated that the City of New York was anxious for Rudy's body to be shipped on to California, but I still think that Alberto should have been present for the funeral mass.
The following video is another one that seems to be very popular on YouTube. I included it because it seems to kind of 'go along' with the others I've posted in this blog post.
Back to George's 1970s memoir:
*********************************************************************************************************
"Alberto arrived on September 1st and I again obtained permission from the Harbor Master to meet the 'Homeric' in mid-harbor by getting there in a tugboat.:
Left to right ... Frank Mennillo (who was also there to greet Alberto, as I believe Mennillo was present the entire time Rudy was ill) Alberto Guglielmi and George Ullman on the 'Homeric' on September 1, 1926.
"When I got to the upper deck, Alberto rushed to meet me. He said, 'I am so very sorry. I will take his place.' This jolted me, of course, for several reasons.
Alberto had practically no resemblance at all to Rudy and, in fact, was not physically, nor in any other manner qualified to ever be considered for any screen appearance. I said this to him because I was so affronted by his egotism, but he either didn't understand me or didn't want to, for his next questions to me there on the deck of the 'Homeric' were, 'How big is the estate?' Up to this time I hadn't thought of anything other than that Rudy should have a decent burial, so I turned away from Alberto saying, 'I haven't any idea.'
In a taxicab we rode to Campbell's funeral parlor and I escorted Alberto to the room where they had taken Rudy's body. Alberto just looked at Rudy briefly and was ready to depart.
The nest day Pola Negri arrived by train from Hollywood. Mrs. Ullman and I met her and her secretary at the station and escorted them to Campbell's where she just briefly looked at Rudy's body and attempted to faint, but here weren't any reporters or cameramen around at this time.
Somewhere, probably in The Ambassador Hotel, a man approached Pola and said that he had been appointed by the Campbell establishment to be available to her if she should require medical attention. He gave his name as Dr. Sterling Wyman and later on she introduced him to me as her physician. Neither his bearing or her conversation marked him as a professional man but I didn't question him then because I had many more important matters to attend to.
It is amusing to relate the identity of this 'Dr. Wyman' and his unusual gift of mimicry. I shall do so in a later chapter.
The day of the church service arrived. Pola with her secretary, Miss Hein, rode to the church with Mrs. Ullman and myself. There at the curb, near the entrance was a hospital ambulance brought there, I was told, by Pola Negri's 'physician' who said he feared that his patient might have to be hospitalized because of the emotional strain."
(L to R) Unidentified man, George Ullman, Pola Negri, unidentified man
George Ullman escorts Pola Negri as 'Dr.' Wyman looks on
Bee Ullman and George Ullman escort Pola Negri after funeral, Wyman in the background looking on.
"The poor overtaxed police officers again performed almost miraculous feats in keeping the curious and morbid crowd away from the church and keeping lanes open for the invited congregation. The services were beautifully conducted by Father Leonard and there were no unusual incidents during the time in church."
"The return trip to Hollywood was quickly arranged. Only Pola and Miss Hein, her secretary; James Quirk, the editor of Photoplay magazine and a good friend to both Rudy and myself; Alberto; and Mrs. Ullman and I were on this special train, which had a baggage section where Rudy's coffin was placed. There was also a space for a cook and steward and small kitc
hen. Grief-stricken Pola ate like a starved person. She said that emotion made her hungry.
The train made frequent stops at depots across the country. Often there were large crowds gathered quietly; men removed their hats and many touched the sides of the train in reverence. Flowers were delivered to the steward who placed them near the coffin. Pola often stood in the vestibule and appeared almost to faint. James Quirk became annoyed after a few of these exhibitions and said to her, after looking at a small gathering at one of the depots, 'Not enough people to faint for. You might as well stay here!'
But I must return to some events before we entrained for Hollywood. An Italian from Brooklyn got in touch with Alberto and said that he was sure that Rudy had been murdered. Alberto with some help, got in touch with the precinct police sergeant who relayed the message to the New York District Attorney. He phoned me at The Ambassador Hotel and read to me the statement Alberto had made and asked me, 'What about it?: I simply suggested that he speak with Dr. Meeker who performed the surgery on Rudy and to ask for the complete medical report. He thanked me and that was the last I heard from him.
Of course there were many publicity seekers with conjectures and reports which some newspapers allowed to appear in various of their editions, but there were no other official inquiries.
Just to record the actual report from the Dr. Meeker, here is his letter describing the surgery he performed:
Mr. S. George Ullman,
Hotel Ambassador,
New York
Dear Mr. Ullman:
I examined Rudolph Valentino for the first time at 5:15 P.M. August 22nd, 1926 [note from Cindy ... someone has inserted this date on the report incorrectly and it is obvious in reading the report, Meeker examined Rudy on August 16, not the 22nd] at the Polyclinic Hospital. He was suffering great pain, had moderate rise of temperature, a very rapid pulse, a board-like rigidity of the entire abdominal wall and presented the picture of a rapidly spreading vicious peritonitis. A diagnosis of probably perforated gastric ulcer was made although other possibilities could not be excluded at this advanced stage. I urged immediate operation as his only chance for life.
Operation Findings:
The abdominal cavity contained a large amount of fluid and food particles. All the viscera were coated with a greenish- gray film. A round hole 1 cm. in diameter was seen in the anterior wall of the stomach, 3 cm. from the pylorus and 2 cm. below the lesser curvature. There was no walling off by natural processes and fluid was still coming through the opening. The tissue of the stomach for 1 1/2 cm. immediately surrounding the perforation was necrotic. The appendix was acutely inflamed from a secondary infection, turned on itself and so fixed by a plastic exudate at its tip and by an old band at its mid point as to constrict the terminal illeum.
Procedure:
Median vertical incision over right rectus. All possible fluid and foreign particles removed by suction apparatus. Necrotic tissue around mar of ulcer excised, the edges of the opening were approximated by mattress sutures through all coats except the mucosa. A portion of the lesser omentum was stitched with fine linen over this suture line. This was in turn reinforced by a portion of greater omentum over it. A rubber drainage tube was stitched in pace with fine catgut. The appendix was removed because it was constricting the gut otherwise it would not have been touched at this time. A second drainage tube was placed in the right illiac fossa and the abdominal wound closed. The patient was placed in bed in position most favorable for gravity drainage. He was in profound shock when put on the operating table with a pulse of 140. This condition did not change appreciably during the operation.
Progress:
There was a steady improvement up to the 5th day. Abdominal drainage ceased on the 3rd day. On the morning of the 6th day the patient had a slight chill, complained of severe pain in upper left abdomen and left chest. An area of pleurisy was detected, this rapidly extended, scattered areas of pneumonia developed in the left lung. On the 6th day there was a marked involvement of the valves of the heart. The patient died about noon on the 8th day overwhelmed by the sepsis. The above is a true account of the last illness of Rudolph Valentino as observed by me.
August 28th, 1926 (Signed) Harold D. Meeker
(THE ABOVE MEDICAL REPORT WAS SENT TO GEORGE ULLMAN FROM RUDOLPH VALENTINO'S ATTENDING SURGEON, DR. MEEKER)
(Note from Cindy: I copied this report from the 'S. George Ullman Memoir.' It is possible that when the author recopied this report, the incorrect date of August 22, 1926 was inserted as the date Meeker claims he saw Rudy for the first time.)
"By this time I had begun to suspect 'Dr. S. Wyman' and asked a reporter friend to check his background I would not permit Wyman to accompany us to Hollywood, even though Miss Negri requested it. I was hardly surprised when, shortly after my return to Hollywood, I read dispatches quoting New York papers. In the New York Times the headline sated, 'Dr. Wyman exposed as ex-convict,' 'Man Who Took Active Part In Valentino Rites Identified As Impersonator,' 'Wyman Served Term For Wearing Naval Uniform As Escort To Princess Fatima At White House.' Further, the papers reported that 'Dr.' Wyman had graduated from public school #18 and E. High School in Brooklyn. He had received a degree in political science from a small college in Charleston, North Carolina. He then enrolled in a 'diploma factory' in Washington where he bought a medical degree for $25. The Dean and President of this institute had later been sent to a Federal penitentiary for using the mails to defraud!
Wyman repeatedly alleged that I was his close friend, which of course, was untrue. Pola Negri introduced him to me when she arrived in New York for the funeral.
Not many months later Sterling Wyman was shot to death during a robbery attempt in the lobby of a small hotel in New York City where he was employed as a night clerk.
On the train bearing Rudy's body (and the few of us in another section) I worked on the plans for the next grim event, the funeral service in the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills and the placing of the casket in a crypt in the Hollywood Cemetery.
June Mathis, the famous scenarist and long-time Rudy's mentor, had, in a telegram to me while I was still in New York, offered one of her family crypts in the Hollywood Cemetery as a temporary place to keep Rudy's coffin until we could make other arrangements.
Invitations to the church services had been mailed by my secretary at my request to the many people who composed the Hollywood professionals. Due to this foresight, very few incidents occurred that the competent Beverly Hills police didn't promptly control. The services were brief and solemn and then the coffin was brought to the Hollywood Cemetery where Rudy rests even to this day."
*********************************************************************************************************
Beginning at the top of Ullman's words in this section, it seems that Ullman greeted Alberto with a chip on his shoulder from the get-go. It is difficult to say why Alberto said the things he did ... IF he did. It could have been grief (we all grieve differently) and it is was no secret that Rudy and Alberto were not on the best of terms when Alberto and his family were staying with Rudy at Falcon Lair so recently. For George to be so rude to Alberto was uncalled for, IMO.
George seems to be put off by both Alberto's reaction to seeing Rudy's body and also to Pola's seeing Rudy's body. 'Briefly' is the word he uses in describing their reactions to the visits. George may as well said 'uninterested,' because that is the way his descriptions of the visits come across.
The 'poor over-worked police officers' do not appear to be so overworked in the second and third videos I posted above when they are doing their job and monitoring the well-behaved crowds on the day of the funeral mass. I believe George was exaggerating, here.
There were definitely incidents within the church during the service in New York ... 'Texas' Guinan was asked to leave the building because of her histrionics, whereas Pola Negri, Jean Acker and Claire Bloom, among others, sobbed loudly ... fainted ... and made scenes but were allowed to remain at the funeral service. I think it was more a matter of who were the 'important' people. The press was finally also asked to leave the building.
In describing the return trip to Hollywood, Ullman does not mention that he was sympathetic to Pola yet gave her the impression that he was somewhat inclined to believe her story about being engaged to Rudy, even though he had witnessed volatile conversations between the two on the telephone while Rudy was in New York and Pola was in Los Angeles. However, Alberto did not, at least not until later on after Rudy had been buried.
George does not mention the Italian musicians who greeted the train to play Italian songs for Rudy. He does not mention the publicity stunt, which was in poor taste, when he passed off the bucket of melted ice as tears from the fans along the train route.
On September 6, the train finally reached California. In Alhambra (outside Los Angeles, at Boulevard Park and Alhambra Avenue) the hearse from the California funeral home met the train. Rudy's casket was loaded into that hearse at a small station along the Santa Pacific Railroad in El Sereno, a small neighborhood in the northeast section of Los Angeles.
On September 7, 1926, a second invitation-only funeral mass was held in Los Angeles at 'The Chapel of the Good Shepherd.' A plane provided by Rudy's employees dropped rose petals over the procession as it carried Rudy's body to the cemetery.
Invitation to Beverly Hills funeral in California
Newspaper clipping showing funeral at 'The Chapel of the Good Shepherd' in Beverly Hills
Airplane dropping rose petals over processional in Beverly Hills
So ended the life and burial of the Lover of Lovers, and so begins the next chapter of George Ullman's life. As we have seen, Joseph Schenck was slinking around behind the scenes (and sometimes front and center) all during Rudy's Hollywood career. Now, the battle was between Ullman and Alberto, but Schenck would be very much involved.
Darkmum
THANK YOU FOR READING MY NEWEST POST!
IF YOU THINK YOUR FAMILY/FRIENDS WOULD FIND THIS INFORMATION USEFUL,
IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL IF THEY WOULD SIGN UP & JOIN US!