Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing Information
Biography
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Allan R. Ellenberger collection on Ramon
Novarro
Dates: circa
1900-2002.
Bulk Dates: 1922-1968.
Collection number: Coll2008-050
Creator:
Ellenberger, Allan R.,
1956-
Collection Size: 9 archive cartons + 1 shoebox +
1 oversize box 4.0 linear feet
Repository:
ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Los Angeles, California 90007
Abstract: Correspondence, drafts, research notes,
photographs, audiotaped interviews, newspaper and film magazine clippings,
videotapes, and miscellaneous graphic materials produced and collected by Allan
R. Ellenberger in the course of researching his biography of film actor and
silent screen romantic idol Ramon Novarro (1899-1968), published in 1999 as
Ramon Novarro; A Biography of the Silent Film
Idol, 1899-1968; With a Filmography
.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access
restrictions.
Publication Rights
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in
writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner.
Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in
the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant
copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for
all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Allan R. Ellenberger collection on Ramon Novarro, Coll2008-050, ONE
National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Acquisition Information
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
Processing Information
Formerly boxes 103-354, 103-355, and 103-359. Collection processed by
Michael P. Palmer,
August 20, 2008.
Processing this collection has been funded
by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.
Biography
Ramon Novarro was born Jose Ramon Gil Samaniego in Durango, Mexico, on
February 6, 1899, the second son of a wealthy dentist. He evidenced an interest
in acting and singing early in his life, and in 1915, with the grudging consent
of his parents, moved to Los Angeles with his brother Mariano to pursue a music
career. To support himself, he took jobs as a model and singing waiter. In 1917
he broke into films as an extra; he further developed his acting skills with a
stint in vaudeville. The first film in which he received billing was
Mr. Barnes of New York, directed by Victor
Schertzinger and released in June 1922; however, the role that launched his
career was the character of Rupert of Hentzau in
The Prisoner of Zenda, directed by Rex
Ingram and released in July 1922. Ingram, who had first directed Novarro as an
extra in the 1921 film
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which
starred Rudolph Valentino, became Novarro's mentor, directing him in his next
three next films: the romantic drama
Trifling Women (1922), the melodrama
Where the Pavement Ends (1923), and the
historical romance
Scaramouche (1923). By the end of 1922,
Novarro's studio, Metro (later to become Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), was touting
Novarro as the next Valentino. Novarro reached the pinnacle of his career in
the title role in the monumental production of
Ben-Hur, directed by Fred Niblo and released
on December 30, 1925, although he gave a better performance the following year
in Ernst Lubitsch's
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. With
Valentino's death in 1926, Novarro became the leading romantic idol of
Hollywood silent films, although his fame never quite matched that of his
predecessor. Although Novarro had a high-pitched speaking voice, his career
survived the transition to sound, and his later films increasingly took
advantage of his musical training and pleasant singing voice. He also worked
behind the camera, directing the Spanish and French versions of
Call of the Flesh (1930) in which he also
starred. Novarro continued playing romantic leads into the early 1930s,
starring opposite Greta Garbo in
Mata Hari (1931), Myrna Loy in
The Barbarian (1933), and Jeanette MacDonald
in
The Cat and the Fiddle (1934). Age began to
take its toll, however, despite his desperate attempt to look youthful in his
early talkies. He left Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935, and later became a parody
of his earlier self in such films as
The Sheik Steps Out (1937). His last
starring role in an English-language film was in
A Desperate Adventure (1938). He starred in
two foreign-language films, in 1940 and 1944, and between 1949 and 1960
appeared in character parts in five films. In the 1950s and 1960s, he also
appeared in character parts in several television series, including
Walt Disney Presents (1958),
Combat (1964 and 1965),
Dr. Kildare (1964),
Bonanza (1965),
The Wild Wild West (1967), and
High Chaparral (1968). He also appeared in
theater, including ten performances of
A Royal Exchange, at His Majesty's Theatre,
London, in 1935, and two preview performances of
Infidel Caesar, on Broadway, in 1962.
Novarro was less pretentious than Valentino, and the natural style to
his acting distinguished him from other young actors. Contemporary critics
praised the ease and charm of his performances. Novarro's homosexuality,
although zealously guarded from the film-going public (which was treated to
rumors linking Novarro romantically to both Greta Garbo and Myrna Loy), was a
fairly open secret in Hollywood. Although his boyish looks did not adversely
affect the critical estimation of his talent during his heyday as a star,
retrospectively some film historians find him almost too beautiful to be taken
seriously, and he has consequently been perceived as a decidedly effeminate
performer. Indeed, Novarro's homosexuality and androgynous beauty have
profoundly affected the estimation of his talent by some critics, who argue
that his sexuality influenced his acting style.
On October 31, 1968, Novarro was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home,
beaten to death by one of two hustlers who had come to his house the previous
evening.
Sources:
1. Allan R. Ellenberger,
Ramon Novarro; A Biography of the Silent Film
Idol, 1899-1968; With a Filmography
(Jefferson, NC, 1999).
2. André Soares,
Beyond Paradise; The Life of Ramon
Novarro
(New York, 2002).
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection consists of correspondence, drafts, research notes,
photographs, audiotaped interviews, newspaper and film magazine clippings,
videotapes, and miscellaneous graphic materials produced and collected by Allan
R. Ellenberger in the course of researching his biography of film actor and
silent screen romantic idol Ramon Novarro (1899-1968), published in 1999 as
Ramon Novarro; A Biography of the Silent Film Idol,
1899-1968; With a Filmography
. The materials include original and
photocopy correspondence with several of Novarro's family and friends,
including his brother José and his early dance-partner Lina Basquette;
audiotapes of interviews with family and friends, including his brother and his
co-star Anita Page; copies of his death certificate, autopsy, and will; and an
incomplete eyewitness account by Jim Kepner of the trial of his accused
murderers. The documents also include extensive chronological and subject files
with photocopies of, and original clippings from, Los Angeles newspapers, film
magazines, and secondary sources detailing his rise to fame in the 1920s, each
of his films, his slide to obscurity in the 1930s and 1940s, his attempted
comeback in film and television in the 1950s and 1960s, and his brutal murder
and the subsequent trial of his accused murderers in 1968 and 1969. The
photographs include contemporary prints of studio publicity shots and film
stills, as well as scans of personal and family photographs. The collection
also contains videotapes of several of Novarro's films and television
appearances, as well as a small collection of graphics, several fan magazines
from 1919 to 1941, and sheet music for three songs Novarro sang in his
films.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Gay motion picture actors--Biography
Motion picture actors and actresses--United
States--Biography
Novarro, Ramon,
1899-1968