~Ramon Novarro~
Born: February 6, 1899 in Durango, Mexico Died: October 30, 1968 in North Hollywood, California, USA
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The son of a prosperous Mexican dentist, Ramon Novarro moved to California with his family to
escape the revolution in his country. The family's wealth having been left behind, young Novarro
took on a number of odd jobs, ranging from piano teacher to cabaret singer. He toured vaudeville in
a musical act, picking up extra and bit work in Hollywood. When cast as the lovable scoundrel
Rupert of Hentzau in director Rex Ingram's The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), Novarro scored an
immediate hit, and was promptly built up by the Hollywood press agent brigade as "the New
Valentino." His most famous silent role was as the title character in MGM's mammoth Ben Hur. At
his peak, Novarro earned 5,000 dollars a week, and was receiving tons of fan mail from devoted
female fans. His pleasant speaking voice and above-average singing prowess enabled Novarro to
weather the talkie revolution, but his films -- with notable exceptions like Mata Hari (1932), in which
he was teamed with Greta Garbo -- became increasingly routine. After leaving MGM in 1935, Novarro
appeared in a flop Broadway play, and attempted several movie comebacks. Though wealthy enough
not to need work, Novarro was restless when not before the cameras; he continued accepting
character roles in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe, and produced and directed (but did not star) in the
1936 Mexican production Contra la Coriente. He remained active into the 1960s with good guest-star
appearances on television. Though touted throughout his career as a ladies' man, Novarro was in
fact a homosexual. His gentlemanly discretion in this and all matters earned him the respect of his
fellow workers; it is doubly tragic, then, that the 69-year-old Ramon Novarro was brutally murdered
in his home in the Hollywood Hills.
Biography by Hal Erickson, Allmovie.com




