Jean Acker

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Jean Acker (October 23, 1893 – August 16, 1978) was an American film actress with a career dating from the silent film era through the 1950s, though she was perhaps best known as the estranged wife of silent film star Rudolph Valentino.

Jean Acker

Born Harriet Acker
October 23, 1893(1893-10-23)
Trenton, New Jersey
Died August 16, 1978 (aged 84)
Los Angeles, California
Spouse(s) Rudolph Valentino (1919-1923)

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Acker was born Harriet Acker in Trenton, New Jersey and attended school in New Jersey. She performed in vaudeville until she moved to California in 1919.[1]

Acker, a lesbian, became lovers with Alla Nazimova, a film actress whose clout and contacts enabled Acker to negotiate a $200 per week contract with a movie studio. Acker then also became involved with Grace Darmond,[2] who was younger and a comparative novice in film.

[edit] Career

Jean Acker played bit parts in films until the early 1950s and lived with her lesbian partner Chloe Carter in Beverly Hills in a building they co-owned. She died in 1978 at the age of 84, and is buried next to Carter in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

[edit] Personal life

After meeting and befriending the then-struggling actor Rudolph Valentino at a party, they entered a two-month courtship and married on November 6, 1919. Acker quickly had regrets and locked him out of their hotel bedroom on their wedding night. Acker ran to the apartment of her female lover (Grace Darmond) in tears, and the marriage was reportedly never consummated.

After filing for divorce, Valentino did not wait the requisite period for it to be finalized before marrying his second wife, Natacha Rambova, in Mexico, and he was charged with bigamy when the couple returned to the United States. Acker then sued Valentino for the legal right to call herself "Mrs. Rudolph Valentino," and Valentino remained angry at her for several years. They mended their friendship before his death in 1926, and Acker wrote a popular song about him soon after he died called "We Will Meet at the End of the Trail".

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Leider, Emily W. Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino. New York City, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003. ISBN 0374282390. p. 100.
  2. ^ Grace Darmond

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Acker, Jean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Acker, Harriet
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actress
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Trenton, New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 1978
PLACE OF DEATH Los Angeles, California