THE RELEVANT QUEER: Ramon Novarro, Actor, Screen Idol & Latin Lover

“Here in Hollywood, the people who are struggling are happy; it is only those who have achieved that are discontented.”

TRQ: Ramon Novarro, Born February 6, 1899

Actor on stage, screen and television, matinee idol Ramon Novarro was born on February 6, 1899. His career spanned fifty years, and he often starred as a “Latin Lover” in Hollywood’s silent films. Androgynous and almost too beautiful to be taken seriously by critics, Novarro often played the romantic lead and modelled in semi-nude photo shoots. As a result, he emerged as a sex symbol following the death of legendary screen idol Rudolph Valentino.

José Ramón Gil Samaniego was born to a prestigious and politically influential family in Durango City in Mexico. Novarro was a cousin of actors Dolores del Rio and Andrea Palma. Fleeing the Mexican Revolution, his family moved to Los Angeles in 1913. By 1917, Novarro was taking minor roles in silent films and performing in Vaudeville. On the side, he worked as a singing waiter.

Rex Ingram, who directed Valentino in The Four Housemen of the Apocalypse (1921), discovered Novarro, suggested his name change, and worked to promote his reputation as the next screen idol. Novarro started a relationship with Harry Partch, a composer working as an usher at the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Ingram directed Novarro in several films in 1922, including The Prisoner of Zenda and Trifling Women. He also started a relationship with journalist Herbert Howe, who worked as his publicist. By 1923 Novarro appeared in larger roles, the first being his successful role in Scaramouche (1923).

In notoriously revealing wardrobe, Novarro established his idol status for his title character role in Ben-Hur (1925). He had turned to fitness guru Sylvia of Hollywood to prepare for the role that earned him a place among Hollywood’s elite. Novarro honed his talent for Ernst Lubitsch’s The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), ranked as one of his better performances. In 1928 he starred alongside Joan Crawford in Across to Singapore.

“Here in Hollywood, the people who are struggling are happy; it is only those who have achieved that are discontented.”

— Ramon Novarro

Novarro transitioned into talking roles with appearances in Devil-May-Care (1929). He acted alongside Dorothy Janis in The Pagan (1929), Greta Garbo in Mata Hari (1931), Myrna Loy in The Barbarian (1933) and Lupe Vélez in Laughing Boy (1934). By 1937 Novarro had aged out of his idol roles and his film career came mostly to an end.

Novarro’s homosexuality was an open secret in Hollywood. For years he had hired prostitutes for sex through an agency. On October 30, 1968, brothers Paul and Tom Ferguson attained his number from the agency and called him to offer their sexual services. Novarro invited them to his home in Laurel Canyon, unaware that they had intended to rob him.

The brothers tortured Novarro for hours, trying to find out where in the house he had hidden his money. Beaten until he choked on his own blood, Novarro died of asphyxiation. The brothers fled his home with the $20 they found in his bathrobe pocket.

The brothers were convicted of murder. Both received life sentences for their hate crime, which exposed Novarro’s sexuality to the public. Because of the rampant homophobia of the times, one brother served only 6 years, and the other served only 9 years. While the brothers were in prison, women sent them fan mail, Truman Capote interviewed them for television, and writers wrote novels about them. Years later, they were arrested for other crimes.

Novarro is buried in East Los Angeles. His murder has been referenced in The Sopranos, Joan Didion’s The White Album, and playwright Pavlos Matesis’s The Ghost of Mr. Ramon Novarro (1973).

About the Authors

Troy Wise is currently a PhD student at UAL Central St Martins and teaches fashion and graphic design at London College of Contemporary Arts. His background is in marketing and is founder and co-editor of Image Amplified. He lives in, and is continually fascinated by, the city of London.

Rick Guzman earned his most recent MA at UAL Central St Martins in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries. He currently holds two MA’s and an MBA in the New Media, Journalism and International Business fields. Co-editor at Image Amplified since its start, he lives in London, is fascinated by history and is motivated by continuing to learn and explore.

*

Sources:

Golden Globes

GLBTQ Archive

Lambda Literary

Ellenberger, Allan R. (2009). Ramon Novarro: A Biography of the Silent Film Idol, 1899–1968; with a Filmography. McFarland. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-0-7864-4676-6.