|
|
Stage Name |
Birth Name |
| Natacha
Rambova |
Winifred
Kimball Shaughnessy (Hudnut) |
--
Natacha's name seems to be of some controversy. Natacha's mother,
Winifred Kimball was of the prominent Mormon Kimball family, who
gave birth to Natacha out of wedlock and because of this, at least
four men later vying for claim of fatherhood. However, soon after
her birth, Winifred Sr. did marry Michael Shaughnessy and was
said to have adopted little Natacha, so her legal name that she
used was either Winifred Kimball or Winifred Kimball-Shaughnessy
depending on her whimsy. (It has been reported of late that
Shaughnessy was actually her biological father thru her birth
certificate, but this does not prove biological birth).
--
Natacha's mother would later marry Richard Hudnut when Natacha
was a teenager. Richard did not adopt Natacha legally but endearingly
referred to her as his daughter.
His will is said to have stated Winifred Jr. as his adopted daughter.
|
-
Winifred jr. later used the Stage Name of Natacha Rambova and
was said to be a lesbian, only marrying for convenience. Her marriage
to Rudolph
Valentino (1923) was said to have never been conceived, and
she and the then famous silent film star/ director
"Alla Nazimova" (Salome
fame) were said to be lovers for several years (far longer
than either of her marriages lasted). However this seems to
be a rumor, possibly started by Valentino rather than fact. It
is reported today that she was extremely heterosexual, promiscuous,
and only had affairs with extremely dashing men. (As a side
note: her sexual orientation, is really not of any importance.
Historically, no one can really know for sure about another without
factual documentation, sometimes they themselves are not sure
what their orientation is, plus, alot of things are Staged for
publicity and can be very hard to figure many years later).
-
Valentino
and Natacha in 1923, went on a dance tour. The tour was to advertise
"Mineralava Beauty Clay", which included eighty-eight
city beauty contestants. Through Natacha's efforts to shape his
publicity, Valentino signed a contract excluding her from work
on his pictures, she fled and divorced him. It has also been said
in the book "Madame Valentino", that Theodore Kosloff
was the first to have seduced her.
Rambova's
mother's sister-in-law was Elsie de Wolfe, the world's first interior
decorator, who took on Rambova's mother as her partner. Natacha
designed her own ballet costumes, and later became a successful
costume designer for Cecil B. De Mille, later designed Rudolph
Valentino's image, costumes, and sets, and then became a writer/director.
-
Rambova went on to become a playwright, an actress, and a spiritualist,
with her huge labors in Egyptology winning praise. She died at
the age of 69, of scleroderma, a disease that dried up her inner
organs. |