Rodolph Valentino (1895-1926). Legendary Screen Idol. His death at age 31 caused a national panic which resulted in several suicides. Very Rare Document Signed, associated with the bigamy scandal that rocked his career, being a promissory note to his first wife for $5,000, dated May 1, 1922, payable on May 15, 1922, drawn on the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles, measuring approximately 8 in. by 3.5 in. Boldly signed with his full rare Italian signature: "Rodolfoh Valentino".

Known as the 'Great Lover,' Valentino was certainly the most widely known, if not most famous actor of the Silent Screen era. His leading ladies generally agreed that, offscreen, he was indeed like a brother, playful and protective. Neither of the wives he chose came very close to being a madonna or a vamp. His first marriage to the actress Jean Acker, a lesbian who had been a lover of the redoubtable Alla Nazimova, was a sort of slapstick one-reeler, probably unconsummated. As Nazimova wrote to the actress Edith Luckett (Nancy Reagan’s mother) about the manipulative bride, “It was the worst thing she had done on top of all the other worst things she has done.” That marriage would prove costly to Valentino. His attachment to his second wife, Natacha Rambova (born Winifred Shaughnessy, in Salt Lake City), went deeper. She was a noted ballet dancer and costume designer, and the influence she exerted on his career quickly made her unpopular with Rudy’s friends and fans.

In the process of changing wives, Valentino managed to get himself arrested for bigamy. An interlocutory divorce from Jean Acker was granted on March 4, 1922. Acker was awarded a one time only alimony payment of $12,000. Under California law, the divorce is set to become final one year later.However, while vacationing in Palm Springs, Rudy eloped with Natasha Rambova. They crossed the border and married in Mexicali, Mexico on May 13, 1922, before the dissolution of his marriage to Acker became final. When he returned on May 21, 1922, he was summoned on charges of bigamy, jailed, and subsequently fined $10,000. This promissory note, a partial alimony payment to Acker, ironically, was issued just twelve days before the elopement with Rambova, but was not payable until two days after his new marriage. Valentino was paying one wife off while marrying another, and the scandal rocked his career. Document shows normal aging and handling, single fold down center, accompanied with an 8 in. by 10 in. black and white portrait of Valentino. In fine condition. $3,950.