Rare Glass Slide, Post Valentino's Death

This is a rare glass slide with an image of Valentino from the film, A Sainted Devil. This had to be a very offensive message to his family, fellow actors, and his fans. The slide reads:

My Friends and Admirers

I want you to know I am dead only in body. It now lies in a places belonging to a person not yet dead.

When death takes that friend my body again will be moved and in another generation it will find a final resting place in the potters field. So I wish to take this opportunity to beg my friends in Hollywood to buy for me a final resting place and attend to it as soon as possible, then I will be happy.

I wish to have it known I was murdered by a jealous woman because I would not consent to her divorcing her husband and marrying me. I wish my friend Ulman to be in charge of the money for my final resting place, because he is honest; not my Brother or Sister as they only love me for my money as do some women of the silent pictures, who try to make people think I was in love with them, when they know I did not care for their company.

I am

Rudolph Valentino


After Valentino's death there were many rumors about his death, one of the many rumors was that he was poisoned by a jealous husband, this slide suggests a jealous wife. Regarding his brother and sister, I know of no ill feeling he had toward them. During this time there was talk about where to bury Valentino, originally it was to be in Italy; however he ended up in one of June Mathis's crypts. The slide also makes mention of his business manager George Ullman; however, Ulman, with one l, is misspelled.

The part that bothers me the most is that the slide attempts to speak for Valentino after his death, it seems a disrespectful act so soon after his death. I am unsure about the source of this slide. It could have been something created by the movie studios, George Ullman, or possibly a local theatre owner, I am unsure. I have never come across another one of these slides, this is a great example of a random Valentino item.