Smart career moves

There's Cher, there's Oprah, there's Valentino--what there isn't is a lot of people who are easily identifiably one name. Today, May 6, is the 113th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino's birth. He was one of  the most popular stars of the silent era and his name is recognized 81 years after his death. It's difficult to know if Valentino would have survived in talkies, many better actors didn't, but when he died he was still perched precariously at pinnacle of success. A messy divorce, questions about his sexuality, and mixed box office returns were nipping at Valentino's heels. Had he lived even a few years. he may have died forgotten. But something like 100,000 people turned out at the Valentino funeral, re-releases of his films still found an audience in the 1930s, long after movies talked, and some of us still tune in when a Valentino movie pops up on TCM. Of course, Valentino was the first. Darkly handsome, there was an undeniable sexuality about him that moved beyond the camera. But best of all, like Princess Diana and James Dean, he died young, at the top of his game and full of promise. So he never aged, his career never withered, and the public never turned on him. Dying young was a good career move as others have discovered!