Jean Acker (born Harriet Ackers; October 23, 1892 – 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.

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Monday, December 27, 2021. 09:30. AM.

Jean Acker - Actress.

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Profile :

Acker photographed by James Abbe, 1920s

Born Harriet Ackers, October 23, 1892, Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.

Died August 16, 1978 (aged 85), Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Resting place Holy Cross Cemetery

Other names Mrs. Rudolph Valentino

Occupation Actress

Years active 1913–1955

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Spouse(s)

1.Rudolph Valentino  -  ?(m. 1919; div. 1923)?

Partner(s)

1.Grace Darmond (1918–1923)

2.Chloe Carter (1923–1978)

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Introduction :

Jean Acker (born Harriet Ackers; October 23, 1892 – 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.

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Early life and career :

Jean Acker was born Harriet Ackers on October 23, 1892 in Trenton, New Jersey to Joseph and Margaret Ackers. The 1900 census indicates an 1891 birthdate,  and other sources have suggested an 1893 birthdate.  However, her burial plot says 1892.  Her parents divorced, and her father remarried to Eleanor Bruseren in 1906. They had two sons together, both named Joseph. Their first son died at 4 months old in 1907, and their second son was a stillbirth.  Eleanor and Joseph divorced in 1912, and he remarried a third time to Virginia Erb. Her father 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. In 1906, the family moved to Lewistown. Growing up on a farm, Ackers became an expert horsewoman. She attended St. Mary's Seminary in Springfield, New Jersey for a time.

She performed in vaudeville until she moved to California in 1919.  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.

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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. The marriage was reportedly never consummated.

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. 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".

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.  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.

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Later life and death :

After divorcing Valentino in 1923, Acker was engaged to Marquis Luis de Bezan y Sandoval of Spain. Then, she was in the news over her relationship with Rahmin Bey. 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.  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. Acker remained with Carter for the rest of her life. The couple owned an apartment building together in Beverly Hills.  Acker died of natural causes in 1978 at the age of 85, and is buried next to Carter at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

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Jean Acker 

BIRTH 23 Oct 1892

Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA

DEATH 16 Aug 1978 (aged 85)

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA

BURIAL

Holy Cross Cemetery

Culver City, Los Angeles County, California, USA  Show Map

PLOT Section N, Plot 542

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MEMORIAL ID 4179 · View Source

Find a Grave Memorial 4179

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4179/jean-acker : accessed 27 December 2021), memorial page for Jean Acker (23 Oct 1892–16 Aug 1978), Find a Grave Memorial ID 4179, citing Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Los Angeles County, California, USA ; Maintained by Find a Grave .

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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.

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Filmography :

Jean Acker filmography :

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)

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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.

1915 Are You a Mason? Alternative title: The Joiner

Famous Players Film Company

1919 Never Say Quit Vamp Fox Film

1919 Checkers Pert Barlow Fox Film

1919 Lombardi, Ltd. Daisy Metro Pictures

1919 The Blue Bandanna Ruth Yancy Jesse D. Hampton Productions

1920 The Ladder of Lies Dora Leroy Famous Players-Lasky Corp.

1920 An Arabian Knight Zorah Haworth Pictures Corp.

1920 Help Wanted - Male Ethel Jesse D. Hampton Productions

1920 The Round-Up Polly Hope Famous Players-Lasky Corp.

1921 See My Lawyer Betty Gardner Christie Film Company

1921 Brewster's Millions Barbara Drew Famous Players-Lasky Corp.

1921 Wealth Estelle Rolland Famous Players-Lasky Corp.

1921 The Kiss Isabella Chavez Universal Pictures

1922 Her Own Money Ruth Alden Famous Players-Lasky Corp.

1923 The Woman in Chains Felicia Coudret Credited as Mrs. Rudolph Valentino

Amalgamated Producing Corp.

1925 Braveheart Sky-Arrow Cinema Corp. of America

1926 The Ace of Cads Rumored to be cast, but no show

Famous Players-Lasky Corp.

1927 The Nest Belle Madison Excellent Pictures Corp.

1933 No Marriage Ties Adrienne's Maid Listed in pre-production notes only

1934 Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen Friend of Miss Fane Uncredited

Paramount Pictures

1935 The Lone Wolf Returns Unknown Billed as Jean Acker Valentino

Columbia Pictures

1935 It's in the Air Rumored to be cast, but no show

MGM

1936 San Francisco Rumored to be cast, but no show

MGM

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

1942 Obliging Young Lady Cousin Uncredited

RKO Pictures

1945 The Thin Man Goes Home Tart Uncredited

MGM

1945 The Stork Club Saleslady DeSylva Productions, Inc.

1945 Spellbound Matron Selznick International Pictures

1946 It's a Wonderful Life Townswoman Uncredited

Liberty Films

1947 The Peril of Pauline Switchboard operator Uncredited

Paramount

1948 Isn't It Romantic? Townswoman Uncredited

Paramount

1951 The Mating Season Party guest Uncredited

Paramount

1952 Something to Live For Wife Uncredited

Paramount

1955 How to Be Very, Very Popular Minor Role Rumored to be cast, but no show

20th Century Fox

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Jean Acker (1893-1978)

Lost star of the silent film era, Jean Acker, passed away on this day in 1978. Despite having her own robust acting career Jean is perhaps best-known as the lavender wife of Hollywood’s first heartthrob, Rudolph Valentino.

Harriet Acker was born on October 23, 1893 in Trenton, New Jersey to a Cherokee father and Irish mother. It is believed that her mother died not long after her birth and Jean, as she would later be known, grew up on her grandparents’ farm. There, she became an expert horsewoman, but was tragically whisked away by her father after he remarried and shipped the family out to Pennsylvania. One upside to her new life was that she caught the acting bug. She began to perform in Vaudeville acts around Pennsylvania before moving to California in 1919 to pursue a film career.

Jean was only 26 when she arrived in Hollywood and she soon became the lover and protégé of the famous actress Alla Nazimova. The relationship opened several doors for her and allowed Jean to sign on to a $200 a week contract with the Fox Film Corporation. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, she would star in over twenty silent films. However, by the 1930s she was only featured in bit parts that largely went uncredited.

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Hollywood legend has it that Jean Acker’s marriage to Rudolph Valentino only lasted for “six hours.” 

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It didn’t take long for Jean’s ambition to bite back. By the end of her first year in Hollywood, she had already entered into a lavender marriage with the gay film star Rudolph Valentino. The two famously met at a Hollywood party in the summer of 1919 and were likely introduced by Jean’s lover, Nazimova. They quickly became friends and were married on November 6, 1919. However, legend has it that Jean immediately regretted the marriage and locked Rudolph out of their hotel room on the night of their wedding. The marriage was reportedly never consummated. Rudolph filed for divorce not long after the fateful honeymoon and he and Jean would remain locked in legal battles for several years.

Jean rode the wave of fame from her marriage to Valentino throughout her life. At one point, she even sued for the right to call herself “Mrs. Rudolph Valentino” though their divorce had long been finalized. As her film career fizzled out, she sought relationships with aristocratic men and politicians who could fund her glamorous lifestyle, such as a Marquis of Spain and an Egyptian sheikh named Rahmin Bey. However, these relationships were economic propositions rather than love matches and Jean continued to pursue relationships with women.

While performing in Vaudeville stages across the U.S., Jean met a former Ziegfeld Follies performer named Chloe Carter. The two would eventually settle down together in Beverly Hills and would remain partners until their deaths. By the end of her life, Mrs. Rudolph Valentino had made peace with her ex-husband and regarded him as a close friend. After her death on August 16, 1978, Jean was buried next to Chloe in Culver City, California.

End.

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