Link to the Rudolph Valentino Podcast here:
Rudolph Valentino & The André Daven Hoax
In the interest of providing documentation and truth about André L. Daven and his affiliation with Rudolph Valentino, I recorded a podcast episode which I titled, "Rudolph Valentino & The André Daven Hoax". In this blog, I share further documentation, images and research material along with excerpts from the podcast script. Please view the podcast's accompanying video through this link: https://youtu.be/B-oaxXfm2sQ
At the time of the Valentino's visit to France in 1923, the Champs Élysées Theater was under the direction of Jacques Hébertot. By
the way, it was Hébertot who met Rudy and Natacha at the airport Le Bourget and not Daven
which is alleged. And also Jacques Hébertot who would become a respected
and close friend of both the Valentinos.
As
much of this story takes place in the Champs Élysées Theater, I share a bit
of lore about this theater. The theater was owned and founded by Swedish millionaire
Rolf de Maré in 1919, who established the venue to profile his lover
and partner, the famed actor and dancer Jean Börlin.
By
the fall of 1920, Jacques Hébertot assumed directorial management of
the theater and it was under his direction the theater came to be
known for ambitious cultural productions including ballet
performances, art exhibitions and stage productions. It was in
his position, Jacques Hébertot would greet Rudy and Natacha, act as
their host and embrace them as artists of merit. André Daven was
then working as Hébertot's assistant.
And
this is how Daven found himself, upon the
Valentino's invitation, arriving in New York City on the ocean liner
Aquitania on January 23, 1924.
We
have every reason to presume he was confident he would soon become a
movie star like Rudolph Valentino. Manhattan awaited and he
envisioned all the trappings of Valentino's wild success for himself and a glamorous lifestyle of the rich and
famous. As Jeanne de Recqueville observed , André Daven was granted an
auspicious beginning in the American movie industry when Rudolph
Valentino and Natacha Rambova agreed to act as his sponsors and
mentors. But the reality of Daven's lifestyle in New York was something less
than he imagined.
In André Daven's letter written to
his girlfriend, Yvonne Legeay, he reveals Rudolph and Natacha were paying
him 60$ a week for his appearance in Monsieur Beaucaire and an
extra 50$ a week to do clerical work generated by advertising.
$110.00
a week, even with the rate of exchange, was still not a millionaire's
ransom in New York City at the time. I know it is purported online
that this is just a “theory” I wrote about in Affairs
Valentino, but the salary breakdown was done by Daven himself.
Bear
in mind Valentino paid his staff, working in his home
Falcon Lair in Los Angeles, 30$ to 50$ a week with his
handyman Lou Mahoney being paid $40.00 a week. I cite this to the court records I recovered in the California Court of Appeals case of
Valentino's manager, George Ullman, taken from the court-ordered
Baskerville audit of the Falcon Lair expenses under the heading of, “Salaries, February 1926”.
For
example, Rudy paid his Los Angeles secretary and clerical assistant
Raymond Fager, 60$ a week and his New York secretary Estelle Dick,
$40.00 a week. André Daven was paid a staff's salary with only
slightly more financial prestige than the secretary or the handyman.
It
is well-documented André Daven had expensive taste in clothing and
was accustomed to frequenting the swankiest bars and nightclubs in
Paris to hob nob with the elite. He needed to secure substantial
funding for such a New York City lifestyle to supplement his $110 a
week paycheck from Valentino and Rambova.
And
this brings us to the reason Daven left New York, as Parisian
journalist Michel Duren mentioned, “Daven came back to France quite abruptly”. It was then
Daven lost his sponsorship of the Valentinos; when he sailed from
New York City in June of 1924. This departure date is confirmed by
Daven's own statement in 1926 upon his arrival in New York when he
confirmed upon entry that his last departure from New York was June
of 1924.
The
keepers of the Valentino and Daven hoax claim Daven left
“abruptly” after a lovers quarrel and there would be rumors Daven
left because he was offended having so few scenes in Monsieur
Beaucaire.
It
was also rumored Alla Nazimova commented on Daven's beauty and
this made Natacha Rambova so concerned Daven would upstage Rudolph that she cut
Daven's scenes. In light of what really happened, in my opinion
this appears to be the explanation Daven gave to the press and to
those who asked why he left New York. There was never any
competition between Rudolph Valentino and André Daven and anyone watching Monsieur Beaucaire would recognize this and there is no disputing Rambova's seriousness in the editing of the
film. This had nothing to do with why Daven left NY.
In
an interview Valentino gave with the Los Angeles Times' reporter Alma Whitaker
which I have excerpted several times in our podcast episodes, he
praises Natacha's editing of Monsieur Beaucaire.
I have been and still am accused online of lying during my speech delivered in Turin in 2009 at the International Valentino
conference, or Convegno Valentino, when I revealed for the first time the true reason
why André Daven left New York when he did.
This allegation is made on the Daven Affair blog. It
is stated by the author of this blog in his opening post that the very reason for the blog is to rebuke my account of why Daven left New York City in June of 1924.
In my revelation in 2009, I referenced the 1975 memoir of Valentino's trusted
business manager and close friend, George Ullman who wrote on p. 24
of The S. George Ullman Memoir,
I
add that I cited this source at the time I delivered my speech. This was not surmise or a theory but a direct quote from George Ullman, who was there when Daven left, who paid Valentino's bills and ran his
professional life at the time. Ullman knew about this
situation and revealed the details only in 1975 when as an elderly
gentleman he wrote a memoir of his life and times with Rudolph
Valentino.
I
think in learning much more about Daven's departure, it became clear why this was not mentioned until Ullman finally told the
details of the story in 1975. This was something Valentino did not want to make public.
To
the author of "The Daven Affair blog"... I stand by my source, George
Ullman, in saying André Daven was not a great love, but Valentino's
understudy who borrowed money from his friends without his
benefactor's knowledge and then executed a complete and expensive restoration of his
teeth with the Valentino's dentist and left New York City “abruptly”
without the meekest thank you or goodbye. This is what happened. This is not by any stretch of the imagination, the narrative of a
great love affair.