Natacha Rambova might have risen to fame during the “silent era” of Hollywood film, but her life of drama and scandal gave folks lots to talk about.
1. It Started Early
Rambova’s life started just as turbulently as it ultimately ended. Born Winifred Shaughnessy in Utah in 1897, her mother came from a pretty high profile family in the Mormon church. If you know anything about their religious history, you’ll know they didn’t have the best rep. That might explain her early family dysfunction.
Irving Chidnoff, Wikimedia Commons
2. She Had A Rough Childhood
Her father, a devout Catholic, originally baptized her in his own faith. Her mother re-baptized her later on, but the two faced much larger issues. Rambova’s dad drank way too much, and topped that off with a terrible gambling habit. When her mother finally decided to leave him, she added on to the instability with another drastic decision—and young Natacha was right at the center of it.
Russell Ball, Wikimedia Commons
3. They Sent Her Away
When Rambova’s mother moved on to her second husband, she decided to send her young daughter away to boarding school. As you probably guessed, things didn’t go well. She rebelled against every form of authority there, and they eventually kicked her out. Just a few years later, though, she landed on another dream to throw her life behind.
Bain News Service, Wikimedia Commons
4. She Wanted The Spotlight
Reportedly, Natacha Rambova decided she wanted to be a ballerina after she saw Swan Lake for the first time. Against her parents’ wishes, she decided to pursue ballet seriously, hoping to turn it into a lifelong career. But when she headed to New York City to study the art under a well-known Russian choreographer, her plans took an unexpected turn.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
5. She Caught His Eye
Photos reveal Rambova to be both slender and beautiful, but she bore one characteristic that interfered with her prima ballerina dreams. At 5’8” tall, she appeared too tall to be a traditional ballerina. But her instructor, 32-year-old Theodore Kosloff, had other ideas—and not just about ballet.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
6. He Changed Her
Not only did Kosloff give Rambova leading parts despite her height, but he supposedly also gave her the name “Natasha Rambova”. Some reports claim she changed her name to mesh more with the Russian ballet scene. Other reports, though, claim Kosloff gave her the name of an ex-girlfriend—which makes the next part of this just that much more creepy.
Motion Picture Magazine, Wikimedia Commons
7. He Fell Hard
Before long, the two became embroiled in a torrid romantic relationship. Kosloff pursued and romanced Natacha despite her very young 17 years of age—and that’s not the worst part. Kosloff also had a wife and baby waiting for him at home. It seems Kosloff bore a questionable reputation even before her. Perhaps that’s why the news made Rambova’s mother go completely ballistic.
8. She Tried
When Rambova’s mother received news of the affair, she first tried to force the couple apart by refusing to pay the fees for her daughter’s training. But when that didn’t work, she went a step further. She reported Kosloff to the authorities and tried to get him permanently kicked out of the country. And what did Rambova do? Something only a teenager a teenager in love would consider…
University of Washington, Wikimedia Commons
9. She Ran Away
Natacha Rambova left with her lover, first escaping to Canada before turning up in Europe. Her mother, now married a third time to a millionaire, hired several investigators to track her down. She absolutely refused to return though, unless her mother agreed to drop the charges. Defeated, her mother ultimately acquiesced—but Rambova probably grew to regret it.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
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10. She Followed Him
When an actor and filmmaker hired Kosloff to do costuming in 1917, Natacha Rambova took off with him to Los Angeles. She became immersed in Hollywood culture as her lover worked as a designer for multiple productions. Even more than that, though, she caught the fashion bug, and started designing herself. That’s when things got even more shady.
Screenland, Inc., Wikimedia Commons
11. He Stole Her Stuff
Reportedly, Kosloff passed off a lot of his work to women designers who worked for him, including Rambova. He’d receive commissions for costume designs, have his “ladies” create the designs, then claim he did the work himself. He got away with it too. That is, until he made the mistake of sending Rambova out on a job all on her own.
University of Washington, Wikimedia Commons
12. She Dazzled
In 1919, Natacha Rambova went to present some designs to multi-hyphenate filmmaker and actress Alla Nazimova on assignment from Kosloff. When Nazimova made some notes on the designs, Rambova got to work right away making the adjustments to the design on the spot. A light bulb went off for the filmmakers, and Rambova’s life changed forever.
Mishkin Studio, Wikimedia Commons
13. She Found Her Place
Alla Nazimova hired her on the spot, offering her a position of power most women didn’t get—art director. She seemed to hit her stride immediately, getting right to work on Nazimova’s films, and landing opportunities to art direct and costume design in other films as well. According to some reports, though, her career wasn’t the only thing heating up.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
14. She Played Both Sides
Nazimova, an artist known for her flamboyance and flair, regularly involved herself romantically with both men and women. With Rambova working so closely with her, people speculated the two got intimate. No one ever explicitly proved this, though. Furthermore, Rambova’s own confirmed chaotic love life probably took up all her time.
Bain News Service, Wikimedia Commons
15. It Didn’t Last
Natacha Rambova stayed with Theodore Kosloff at the start of her growing success, but the cracks in their union soon started to show—especially as Rambova flourished in her career. Unsurprisingly, reports further claim that he didn’t stay faithful either. It pushed Rambova to a dangerous decision.
Photoplay Magazine, Wikimedia Commons
16. She Tried To Go
After she started making her own money, Natacha Rambova decided to leave her older lover for good. Considering their life together, she tried to break up with him civilly, letting him know she was planning to move on. She was in for a brutal surprise. The two broke into a huge argument, and a totally unhinged Kosloff took things one step too far.
Bain News Service, Wikimedia Commons
17. He Took His Shot
In the height of their argument, Kosloff grabbed a rifle and fired it at Rambova, hitting her leg right above the knee. She managed to escape out the window of their home and run to a friend's house for safety. Rattled, shaken, and probably lucky to be alive, she stayed put as her friend managed to patch her up. And what did she do next? Make another horrible decision.
Paramount Pictures, Wikimedia Commons
18. She Went Back
Natacha Rambova ultimately went back to Kosloff, living with him for months after that incident. While most of the sordid details of their turbulent relationship remain private, it isn’t hard to see the questionable dynamic between her and a man over a decade her senior. But luckily for her, something (or should I say, someone) new soon saved her from herself.
19. She Moved On
By the early 1920s, Natacha Rambova finally freed herself of her tempestuous relationship with Theodore Kosloff. She continued to work on films, starting to make a bit of a name for herself. Still working for Nazimova, she met the next man to leave his mark on her love life while on set. It turned out to be everything but love at first sight.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
20. He Wasn’t Her Type
Natacha Rambova brushed shoulders with Hollywood heartthrob Rudolph Valentino several times before they actually hit it off. On the first go, she actually called him “dumb”, and didn’t like him much at all. But as many of these things go, they eventually built a friendship which started to get more than friendly. But Valentino came with some pretty interesting baggage…
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
21. He Had History
The chemistry was building between Natacha Rambova and Rudolph Valentino—but there was just one problem. He was married to an actress, Jean Acker. Yet the marriage didn’t look anything like one might expect. According to multiple reports, his wife preferred to date women, and only married him to conceal this fact. Maybe that explains his whirlwind of a romance with Rambova.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
22. They Moved Quickly
When they finally did get past the friend stage, the romance between Rambova and Valentino burned fast and bright. They bonded over their love of art and difficult childhoods. And before they’d dated for one full year, they decided to move in together. They lived together in a small apartment on Sunset Boulevard, creating quite the unusual love nest.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
23. They Lived In A Zoo
Rambova and Valentino both loved animals, and decided to start an unusual collection of pets in their small home. They reportedly lived with a snake, a monkey, two Great Danes, and even a lion cub. But somewhere among all this excitement, Valentino’s real life came around to bring him and Rambova crashing back to reality.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
24. She Left Him
Finally, Valentino’s wife filed for divorce in 1921. This didn’t come as any surprise, considering the fact that Valentino and Rambova already lived together. In fact, this news likely came as a relief to Valentino, who never had a real relationship with his wife anyway. Perhaps that explains the way he made his next decision without really thinking it through.
Orange County Archives, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
25. They Tied The Knot
To keep things from looking too inappropriate, Valentino and Rambova “separated” until courts finalized his divorce. But once the papers came through, he whisked her away to an exotic little spot in Mexico to make things official. Unfortunately for them both, however, the decision landed Valentino in the last place he expected to be.
Agence de presse Meurisse, Wikimedia Commons
26. They Locked Him Up
Whether they just didn’t take time to look into the details or felt too in love to wait, we may never know for certain. But at the time, laws in California forbade persons from getting married for a year after a divorce—and the consequences were devastating. Shortly after their romantic ceremony, authorities threw Valentino in jail for bigamy.
In retrospect, it was an omen for the unfortunate events to come.
27. Things Got Weird
And in more ways than one. Once Valentino’s friends bailed him out, he and Natacha Rambova waited the year out and got married again. But once they did get back together, things took a bit of a spooky turn. They took a special interest in the spiritual world, and even did frequent seances. More than that, though, their differences started to take center stage.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
28. She Didn’t Want To Settle Down
Natacha Rambova didn’t want to be a regular housewife. Several reports claim the two differed on appropriate gender roles for women. Namely, Valentino expected Rambova to become more of a homemaker, while she wanted nothing of the sort. In fact, her marriage to Valentino only heightened her desire to work. She ended up with more than she bargained for.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
29. She Got What She Wanted
Being connected to Valentino cemented Natacha Rambova as a Hollywood celebrity, and opened up even more opportunities for her to work in film. She officially became Valentino’s manager, and took over his costuming on several occasions. And while they seemed to work well together on the surface, things started to crumble when it came to his career.
Russell Ball, Wikimedia Commons
30. She Did Too Much
Up to that time, Valentino made a name for himself as sort of a “Latin Lover” onscreen. But Rambova nearly destroyed his career. She took more creative liberties when dressing him, causing critics to condemn his more feminine styling. They also criticized his work on film, which seemed to be flopping at every turn. Eventually, fans turned all their blame on the easiest victim…
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
31. They Blamed Her
Fans and production alike unequivocally blamed Valentino’s declining career on his new wife’s influence. Eventually, Valentino got the chance to sign with another production studio, who reportedly only booked him with the agreement that Natacha Rambova never came to set. But perhaps the issues between them came from somewhere much deeper.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
32. They Faked It
Rumors about the nature of their marriage persisted then and continue into the accounts of their lives today. According to some reports, they never actually consummated the marriage. These sources claim they both used the marriage to disguise their more taboo romantic preferences. One particular story, though, seems to totally debunk that theory.
International Newsreel, Wikimedia Commons
33. They Kept It Hot
One Hollywood cinematographer, Paul Ivano, was a houseguest of Valentino and Rambova—and what he claimed to have seen shocked him to his core. He said he once saw the couple in the act. According to him, the couple engaged so vigorously that Rambova actually fainted. You can do with that story what you will. But whether or not that actually happened, their relationship eventually went to pieces.
United Artists, Wikimedia Commons
34. Things Fell Apart
In 1925, the two separated and officially filed for divorce. She left Valentino, but she didn’t have any intentions of leaving Hollywood. In fact, she soon landed on a very new opportunity. She found herself set to star in a film titled Do Clothes Make the Woman? She took it on with her usual gusto—but she was in for a surprise.
Nazimova Productions, Wikimedia Commons
35. She Flopped
Not only did critics hate the film, but production actually bamboozled Natacha Rambova completely. Despite her divorce proceedings, they billed her as “Mrs. Valentino” in order to draw viewers. And they didn’t stop there. They changed the title of the film without her knowing, to the very taunting When Love Grows Cold. This spelled her very last job in film in any capacity, but even worse lurked on the horizon.
Film Booking Offices of America, Wikimedia Commons
36. She Lost Him
Just a few months after her film debut, Valentino became extremely ill. Despite their estrangement, he requested the company of his ex-wife while in the depths of his despair. But there was a cruel twist. Tragically, Rambova wasn’t in the country, and couldn’t make it back fast enough. The news of his passing completely broke her heart…but there was more to it than that.
37. He Screwed Her In The End
Before he was on his deathbed—likely, in the middle of their acrimonious divorce—Valentino had updated his will. Well, after he passed on, Rambova found out that he’d left her a disturbing gift...a single dollar bill. Ouch.
Rambova didn’t let the incident embitter her towards her ex—if anything, she mourned him, and their tempestuous romance even more.
39. She Took It Hard
Natacha Rambova literally locked herself away in a room when she found out she lost Valentino. Divorce or no divorce, she seemed to grieve his loss deeply, refusing to leave her room for three days. When she finally did come out, she tried to arrange for his burial in her family crypt. His family refused, but she still couldn’t let him go.
Paperhaus, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
39. She Stayed In Touch
After Valentino’s passing, Rambova claimed to make contact with him through the spirit world. She deepened her practices in the occult even more, and seemingly found herself making peace with him in the astral plane. Back in the physical world, though, she needed something solid to hold on to. She tried a little bit of everything.
40. She Did Her Thing
In the years after she lost Valentino, Natacha Rambova dabbled in several moderately successful endeavors. She wrote plays and memoirs, often inspired by her romance with Valentino, and even opened a small boutique. But the dawn of the 1930s brought about the Great Depression, and with it, another huge life change.
Bain News Service, Wikimedia Commons
41. She Started Over
In what seems to be a recurring trend for her, Natacha Rambova decided to leave the United States in 1931 to avoid the effects of the economic downturn. She settled on a life in Europe, first going to Paris then moving to Spain. While in Spain, she built quite a reputation for herself as a socialite and art seller. She got down to another old habit, too.
Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons
42. She Fell Again
Less than a year after her move, she found herself in another whirlwind of a romantic relationship. This time, she hooked up with a Spanish nobleman, Alvaro de Urzaiz. Interestingly enough, he reportedly looked a bit like Valentino. Perhaps that helps explain the way she rushed into marriage again—and again paid for it later on.
Film Booking Offices of America, Wikimedia Commons
43. It Didn’t Last
Alvaro de Urzaiz and Rambona stayed married for only a few years. Some reports say they parted ways because she didn’t want to have children, but others insist they parted ways over Rambova disagreeing with her new husband’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War. Either way, though the marriage didn’t last, one experience that took place during their union did.
44. It Called To Her
In 1936, Natacha Rambova toured Egypt for the very first time. While there, she found herself overwhelmed with emotion, and often wept. By her own account, she felt deeply connected to the mythology and history of the place, almost as if she’d been there before. It became the defining characteristic of the rest of her natural (or unnatural) life.
45. She Did A Deep Dive
Natacha Rambova spent the rest of her days totally enamored with Egypt. She latched onto the idea that she lived a past life there, and took it upon herself to research the mythology and religion of the country. She took it so seriously, that she basically recreated her entire personality around this duty—and perhaps very intentionally so.
Maurice Goldberg, Wikimedia Commons
46. She Changed Her Image
Rambova purposefully stopped bringing up Valentino or her connection to Hollywood in her day-to-day dealings. Instead, she morphed into more of a scholar as she continued to research, write, and even collect artifacts from Egypt. And as unbelievable as it may seem, she ultimately earned the respect she probably craved her whole life.
47. They Supported Her
In her later years, Natacha Rambova made many trips back to Egypt to continue her studies. She contributed to books and academic journals, and even received grants to help fund her research. Seemingly finally settled in the state of her life, she continued her work diligently, until life got in the way one more time.
48. Things Caught Up With Her
Although it’s not completely confirmed, several reports claim that Rambova struggled with an eating disorder for most of her life. Allegedly, this contributed to the development of the disease scleroderma. The illness affected her throat, making it even more difficult for her to eat. But that didn’t turn out to be the only thing keeping her from getting her calories in.
Film Booking Offices of America, Wikimedia Commons
49. She Lost It
Somewhere along the line, Rambova seemed to develop the belief that someone wanted to take her life. The consequences were disastrous. Convinced she was being poisoned, she stopped eating altogether. To be honest, it sounds to me like her investment in otherworldly ways of thinking probably caught up with her. But it made her stop eating altogether, which led to worse issues.
Street & Smith Corp, Wikimedia Commons
50. She Went Crazy
In September 1965, people found her in the worst state they’d ever seen her. She suffered a mental breakdown in a hotel in Manhattan, effectively going into some state of psychosis. When she finally got to the hospital, doctors blamed her malnourishment for her mental health. She didn’t have much longer to suffer, though.
51. She Left Her Mark
Natacha Rambova passed about a year later, ultimately from a heart condition. As whimsical in passing as in life, her family honored her request not to bury her. They cremated her and spread her ashes in a forest. Honestly, if she lives on the way she believed she would in the spirit world, I can only hope her existence there is much more peaceful than her time on earth.
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