Ramon Novarro
Calvary Cemetery
Silent film star Ramon Novarro was a
dashing and popular leading man, but his film career has unfortunately been
overshadowed by his violent death.
Novarro was the son of a prosperous Mexican dentist, but his
family left the country at the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in
1910 and settled in Los Angeles. Novarro worked several jobs, including
grocery clerk, singing waiter, piano teacher, usher in a movie house,
and busboy at the elegant Alexandria Hotel, where he met a young dancer
named Rodolfo Guglielmi, later known as Rudolph Valentino. During this time,
Novarro also worked as a film extra. His first screen appearance was a
small part in "Joan the Woman" (1916), directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
But Novarro's big break happened when his friend, Rudolph
Valentino, set the screen on fire in "The Sheik" (1921), and film fans fell
in love with Valentino's slick black hair, smoldering eyes and swarthy
sensuality. Almost immediately, every studio needed a "Latin lover,"
and Novarro fit the bill. Navarro's first starring roles were in "The
In addition to playing the sexy leading man roles in
high-adventure films, Novarro also tried his hand at light comedy and romantic
roles, including "The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" (1927) with Norma Shearer,
"Across to Singapore" (1928) with Joan Crawford, and "Forbidden Hours" (1928)
with Renée Adorée. Novarro was one of the few silent film stars who successfully
made the transition to "talkies," and he starred in several musicals, including
"In Gay Madrid" (1930) and "Call of the Flesh (1930), both co-starring Dorothy Jordan.
Novarro continued to make adventures, musicals and comedies through
the early 1930s, co-starring with some of the top actresses in Hollywood, including
"Mata Hari" (1931) with Greta Garbo, "The Son-Daughter" (1932) with Helen Hayes,
"The Barbarian" (1933) with Myrna Loy, "The Cat and the Fiddle" (1934) with
Jeanette MacDonald, and "Laughing Boy" (1934) with Lupe Velez. By the end of the
1930s, however, Novarro had been replaced by the next wave of romantic leading men,
and he retired from films. He made a brief comeback with a small role in
"We Were Strangers" (1949), starring John Garfield and Jennifer Jones. In the
1960s, Novarro had moved to the small screen, making guest appearances on such
television series as "Combat!," "Rawhide," "Bonanza" and "Dr. Kildare."
Unfortunately, Novarro's career has been somewhat overshadowed
by his violent murder. Though Novarro had been a big-screen sex symbol who could
apparently have any women he wanted, in his later years he was known to hire the
services of male prostitutes. In 1968, two teenage brothers, Paul and Tom Ferguson,
heard a rumor that Novarro had $5,000 in cash hidden in his house, so they decided
to rob him. The brothers went to Novarro's home, pretending to be interested in
a sexual encounter. They drank with Novarro, then brutally beat the 69-year-old
actor to death before ransacking his home in an unsuccessful search for the money.
Both brothers were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, but were
paroled after serving only seven years.
Novarro was born José Ramón Samaniegos on Feb. 6, 1899, in Durango,
Mexico. He died on Oct. 31, 1968, in Los Angeles, CA.
1899 - 1968
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