Jean Acker

Jean Acker (born Harriet Ackers; October 23, 1893 – August 16, 1978) was an American actress with a career dating from the silent film era through the 1950s. She was perhaps best known as the estranged wife of silent film star Rudolph Valentino.

Jean Acker
Acker photographed by James Abbe, 1920s
Born	Harriet Ackers October 23, 1893 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	August 16, 1978 (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Mrs. Rudolph Valentino
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1913–1955
Spouse(s)	Rudolph Valentino ​ ​ (m. 1919; div. 1923)​
Partner(s)	Grace Darmond (1918–1923) Chloe Carter (1923–1978)

Early life and career

Jean Acker was born Harriet Ackers on October 23, 1893 in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father was Joseph Ackers, said to be of Cherokee descent. Her mother Margaret (unconfirmed) was Irish. In the 1900 census, Harriet is with Joseph and her grandparents, but no wife of Joseph is listed. In fact, he is reported to be single. Growing up on a farm, she became an expert horsewoman. She attended St. Mary's Seminary in Springfield, New Jersey for a time. Sometime prior to 1907, the family moved to Lewistown, Pennsylvania. In the 1907 Lewistown Directory, Joseph is listed with a wife by the name of Eleanor. When he married Eleanor is not yet known, but it was after 1900 and before the family moved to Lewistown. They were divorced in 1912. Six years later, Joseph married Virginia Erb in Lewistown. He managed the Casino Bowling Alley and The Ritz Restaurant, and later owned the Boston Shoe Store on Valley Street. He also managed several bowling alleys in the Philadelphia area, and it may have been during these visits that Jean was "bitten by the acting bug." She performed in vaudeville until she moved to California in 1919.[1] After arriving in Hollywood, Acker became the protegee and lover of Alla Nazimova, an actress whose clout and contacts enabled Acker to negotiate a $200 per week contract with a movie studio. Acker appeared in numerous films during the 1910s and 1920s, but by the early 1930s, she began appearing in small, mostly uncredited film roles. She made her last on-screen appearance in the 1955 film How to Be Very, Very Popular, opposite Betty Grable.

Marriage to Valentino

Acker in 1923

After meeting and befriending the then-struggling actor Rudolph Valentino at a party, they entered a two-month courtship and married on November 6, 1919. Acker quickly had regrets and locked him out of their hotel bedroom on their wedding night.[2][3] The marriage was reportedly never consummated.[4]

After filing for divorce, Valentino did not wait the requisite period for it to be finalized before marrying his second wife, Natacha Rambova, in Mexico, and he was charged with bigamy when the couple returned to the United States.[5] Acker then sued Valentino for the legal right to call herself Mrs. Rudolph Valentino. Valentino remained angry with her for several years, but they mended their friendship before his death in 1926. Acker wrote a popular song about him soon after he died called "We Will Meet at the End of the Trail".[6][7]

Acker had an affair with the actress Alla Nazimova. Nazimova included Acker in what was dubbed the sewing circles, a group of actresses who were forced to conceal the fact that they were lesbian or bisexual, thus living secret lives.[8] Another of her female lovers was Grace Darmond, with whom she was involved during her relationship with Valentino.

In the 1977 film Valentino a character loosely based on Acker is played by Carol Kane. In the credits, the character is simply called Starlet.

Later life and death

After divorcing Valentino in 1923, Acker was engaged to Marquis Luis de Bezan y Sandoval of Spain.[9] Then, she was in the news over her relationship with Rahmin Bey.[10] In 1930, after she lost her fortune in the 1929 stock market crash, she sued William Delahanty, claiming that he agreed to pay her $18,400 per year if she gave up her film career. The married politician denied that he made such a promise but admitted that he spent thousands of dollars on Acker.[11] Acker met Chloe Carter (June 21, 1903 - October 28, 1993), a former Ziegfeld Follies girl, who was the first wife of film composer Harry Ruby.[12] Acker remained with Carter for the rest of her life. The couple owned an apartment building together in Beverly Hills.[13] Acker died of natural causes in 1978 at the age of 84,[14] and is buried next to Carter in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[15]

Legacy

Although not born in the Central Pennsylvania town of Lewistown, Jean Acker is considered a local celebrity. Her face dominates an outdoor mural titled "Mifflin County Movie History" and is located on Monument Square in Downtown Lewistown. The mural was painted in 2012 by Dwight Kirkland of Blackleaf Studio, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania.

Filmography

Jean Acker filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1913	The Man Outside	Helen Lattimore	Short
1913	In a Woman's Power	Marcelle - the Wife
1913	Bob's Baby	Bob's Cousin	Short
1913	The Daredevil Mountaineer		Short
1914	The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot	Helen Long	Dramascope Co.	[16]
1915	Are You a Mason?		Alternative title: The Joiner Famous Players Film Company	[17]
1919	Never Say Quit	Vamp	Fox Film	[18]
1919	Checkers	Pert Barlow	Fox Film	[19]
1919	Lombardi, Ltd.	Daisy	Metro Pictures	[20]
1919	The Blue Bandanna	Ruth Yancy	Jesse D. Hampton Productions	[21]
1920	The Ladder of Lies	Dora Leroy	Famous Players-Lasky Corp.	[22]
1920	An Arabian Knight	Zorah	Haworth Pictures Corp.	[23]
1920	Help Wanted - Male	Ethel	Jesse D. Hampton Productions	[24]
1920	The Round-Up	Polly Hope	Famous Players-Lasky Corp.	[25]
1921	See My Lawyer	Betty Gardner	Christie Film Company	[26]
1921	Brewster's Millions	Barbara Drew	Famous Players-Lasky Corp.	[27]
1921	Wealth	Estelle Rolland	Famous Players-Lasky Corp.	[28]
1921	The Kiss	Isabella Chavez	Universal Pictures	[29]
1922	Her Own Money	Ruth Alden	Famous Players-Lasky Corp.	[30]
1923	The Woman in Chains	Felicia Coudret	Credited as Mrs. Rudolph Valentino Amalgamated Producing Corp.	[31]
1925	Braveheart	Sky-Arrow	Cinema Corp. of America	[32]
1926	The Ace of Cads		Rumored to be cast, but no show Famous Players-Lasky Corp.	[33]
1927	The Nest	Belle Madison	Excellent Pictures Corp.	[34]
1933	No Marriage Ties	Adrienne's Maid	Listed in pre-production notes only	[35]
1934	Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen	Friend of Miss Fane	Uncredited Paramount Pictures	[36]
1935	The Lone Wolf Returns	Unknown	Billed as Jean Acker Valentino Columbia Pictures	[37]
1935	It's in the Air		Rumored to be cast, but no show MGM	[38]
1936	San Francisco		Rumored to be cast, but no show MGM	[39]
1937	Vogues of 1938	Extra	Uncredited
1939	Good Girls Go to Paris	Bit Part	Uncredited
1940	My Favorite Wife	Postponed case witness	Uncredited RKO Pictures	[40]
1942	Obliging Young Lady	Cousin	Uncredited RKO Pictures	[41]
1945	The Thin Man Goes Home	Tart	Uncredited MGM	[42]
1945	The Stork Club	Saleslady	DeSylva Productions, Inc.	[43]
1945	Spellbound	Matron	Selznick International Pictures	[44]
1946	It's a Wonderful Life	Townswoman	Uncredited Liberty Films	[45]
1947	The Peril of Pauline	Switchboard operator	Uncredited Paramount	[46]
1948	Isn't It Romantic?	Townswoman	Uncredited Paramount	[47]
1951	The Mating Season	Party guest	Uncredited Paramount	[48]
1952	Something to Live For	Wife	Uncredited Paramount	[49]
1955	How to Be Very, Very Popular	Minor Role	Rumored to be cast, but no show 20th Century Fox	[50]

References

1. Leider, Emily W. Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino. New York City, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003. ISBN 0-374-28239-0. p. 100.
2. "Jean Acker of Metro Weds". Motion Picture News. 1919. p. 3774.
3. Donnelley, Paul (2005). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus Press. p. 935. ISBN 1-84449-430-6.
4. Donnelley, Paul (2005). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus Press. p. 7. ISBN 1-84449-430-6.
5. Madsen, Axel (2002). The Sewing Circle: Sappho's Leading Ladies. Kensington Books. p. 103. ISBN 0-7582-0101-X.
6. Newman, Ben-Allah (2004). Rudolph Valentino His Romantic Life and Death: His Romantic Life and Death. Kessinger Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 1-4179-1464-5.
7. Briggs, Joe Bob (2005). Profoundly Erotic: Sexy Movies that Changed History. Universe. p. 30. ISBN 0-7893-1314-6.
8. Jean Acker at Find a Grave
9. "The Evening News - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved December 5, 2013.
10. "The Deseret News - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved December 5, 2013.
11. "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved December 5, 2013.
12. "Rochester Evening Journal - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved December 5, 2013.
13. Shearer, Stephen Michael (2006). Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life. University Press of Kentucky. p. 391. ISBN 0-8131-2391-7.
14. Donnelley, Paul (2005). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus Press. p. 8. ISBN 1-84449-430-6.
15. Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 325). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
16. "The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
17. "Are You a Mason?". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
18. "Never Say Quit". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
19. "Checkers". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
20. "Lombardi, Ltd". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
21. "The Blue Bandanna". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
22. "The Ladder of Lies". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
23. "An Arabian Knight". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
24. "Help Wanted - Male". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
25. "The Round-Up". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
26. "See My Lawyer". UCLA Film and Television Archive. 1921. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
27. "Brewster's Millions". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
28. "Wealth". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
29. "The Kiss". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
30. "Her Own Money". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
31. "The Woman in Chains". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
32. "Braveheart (1925)". UCLA Film and Television Archive. 1925. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
33. "The Ace of Cads". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
34. "The Nest". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
35. "No Marriage Ties". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
36. "Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
37. "The Lone Wolf Returns". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
38. "It's in the Air". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
39. "San Francisco". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
40. "My Favorite Wife". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
41. "Obliging Young Lady". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
42. "The Thin Man Goes Home". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
43. "The Stork Club". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
44. "Spellbound (Motion picture : 1945)". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
45. "It's a Wonderful Life". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
46. "The Peril of Pauline". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
47. "Townswoman". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
48. "The Mating Season". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
49. "Something to Live For". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
50. "How to Be Very, Very Popular". UCLA Film and Television Archive. Retrieved September 27, 2020.

External links

• Jean Acker at IMDb
• Jean Acker at AllMovie
• Jean Acker at Find a Grave