The "ladies in black" were out in force at a Hollywood graveyard this weekend to pay tribute to one of the greatest sex symbols of all time. Rudolph Valentino may have died of a perforated ulcer on August 23 1926 but he is still able to pack them in at the Hollywood Forever cemetery.
No film star's death caused greater hysteria than Valentino's at the age of 31 and the height of his fame. For years afterwards a mysterious woman clad in black laid a wreath of flowers at his crypt, refusing to identify herself.
Later many different women claimed to be the original lady in black, ranging from the actress Pola Negri to Ditra Flame, who claimed to be a childhood friend, and Estrellita Del Regil, a movie extra.
The anniversary has now become an opportunity for a variety of ladies in black to compete in expressions of grief - usually of the cheerfully camp kind. Some are cross-dressers and a few have even claimed to be carrying Valentino's child.
At this year's event there was not only a lady in black, Carrie Bible, a movie historian, but a black lady in white, Diane Whitmore, who said she had come dressed as a bride "because I hope it will start another tradition".
Ms Bible said that as a sickly child in Fort Worth, Texas, she had watched lots of old films on television. "I didn't go out much so I saw a lot of silent movies and I've been completely in love with them since I was a child."
The memorial ceremony was introduced by Tyler Cassity, the savvy new young owner of Hollywood Forever, which was a crumbling cemetery until three years ago when he spotted its potential as the place with the highest concentration of dead movie stars in the world.
Since then he has offered resting places close to the stars and brought the Valentino memorial back to prominence. He is an adviser to Six Feet Under, the award-winning television series about a funeral home.
More than 200 Valenteenies packed the building to hear eulogies to their hero. Jimmy Bangley, one of the speakers, said: "He was not called the world's greatest lover for nothing ... Have you heard of bedroom eyes? I think all great sex symbols have a sadness in their eyes and he was the greatest sex symbol of the movies."
Susan Compo, a novelist, gave a reading about the ladies in black; her reward was a permanent space in the crypt at a future unspecified date.
One of those present, a former ballet dancer in his fifties, Quentin de Chalfont, said that he had bought a double burial space near Valentino for when he died.
"Spending eternity in Hollywood is not such a bad idea when you consider the alternatives," he said. He would say only that the space had cost "four figures".
A Hollywood Forever executive, Noelle Potvin, said spaces close to Valentino were still available from $1,800 to $8,000, depending on size and prominence.
