Jean Acker(1893-1978)
- Actress
Jean Acker was born in 1893 on a farm in Trenton, NJ, and was named Harriet.
Her father was part Cherokee and her mother was Irish, and they had
separated when she was young. Jean attended school at St. Mary's
Seminary in Springfield, NJ. Her acting career began in
vaudeville and stock-company drama before she moved in front of the
cameras.
In 1919 she came to California and negotiated a
$200-a-week contract with a movie studio based on the
strength of her relationship with her lover, the famed star
Alla Nazimova. Within a few months she
started another relationship with a younger, less established actress,
Grace Darmond. In the midst of this love
triangle she met the struggling actor
Rudolph Valentino at a party, and they
became friends. After a two-month courtship, he asked her to marry him
and she accepted. On November 6, 1919, they married, and on their
wedding night she locked him out. She wept, claiming she made a mistake
and later departed to Grace Darmond's
apartment. Valentino tried to reconcile with her but to no avail, and
the marriage ended in divorce two years later when Valentino was a
major star and Acker's star was waning.
Newspapers had a field day when Valentino was charged with bigamy, as he
hadn't waited long enough to marry his second wife, talented set
and costume designer Natacha Rambova.
Acker sued for the legal right to call herself "Mrs. Rudolph
Valentino," and Valentino remained angry at her for several years.
However, they rekindled their friendship a few months before his death
in 1926. She was one of the last people who saw him alive, and she
attended his funeral with her mother. Soon after he died, she wrote and
published a popular song about him, "We Will Meet at the End of the
Trail."
She played bit parts in films, usually uncredited, until the early
1950s. She and her companion Chloe Carter owned a Beverly Hills
building where Patricia Neal lived
for several years. She died in 1978 at the age of 85. She and
her companion Carter are now buried side by side in Holy Cross
Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.
Her father was part Cherokee and her mother was Irish, and they had
separated when she was young. Jean attended school at St. Mary's
Seminary in Springfield, NJ. Her acting career began in
vaudeville and stock-company drama before she moved in front of the
cameras.
In 1919 she came to California and negotiated a
$200-a-week contract with a movie studio based on the
strength of her relationship with her lover, the famed star
Alla Nazimova. Within a few months she
started another relationship with a younger, less established actress,
Grace Darmond. In the midst of this love
triangle she met the struggling actor
Rudolph Valentino at a party, and they
became friends. After a two-month courtship, he asked her to marry him
and she accepted. On November 6, 1919, they married, and on their
wedding night she locked him out. She wept, claiming she made a mistake
and later departed to Grace Darmond's
apartment. Valentino tried to reconcile with her but to no avail, and
the marriage ended in divorce two years later when Valentino was a
major star and Acker's star was waning.
Newspapers had a field day when Valentino was charged with bigamy, as he
hadn't waited long enough to marry his second wife, talented set
and costume designer Natacha Rambova.
Acker sued for the legal right to call herself "Mrs. Rudolph
Valentino," and Valentino remained angry at her for several years.
However, they rekindled their friendship a few months before his death
in 1926. She was one of the last people who saw him alive, and she
attended his funeral with her mother. Soon after he died, she wrote and
published a popular song about him, "We Will Meet at the End of the
Trail."
She played bit parts in films, usually uncredited, until the early
1950s. She and her companion Chloe Carter owned a Beverly Hills
building where Patricia Neal lived
for several years. She died in 1978 at the age of 85. She and
her companion Carter are now buried side by side in Holy Cross
Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.