Rudolph Valentino’s Cursed Ring

Rudolph Valentino before his death in 1925.

Silent film star Rudolph Valentino purchased a ring while shopping in San Francisco one day. The shopkeeper warned him it was cursed and didn’t want to sell it to him. Valentino insisted and purchased the ring leading to a series of unfortunate incidents and deaths happening to everyone who has owned the ring since.

Who was Rudolph Valentino?

Rudolph Valentino in 1910

Rudolph Valentino was a famous silent film actor active from 1915-1925. He stared in many films such as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik.

Valentino was born in Italy in 1895. He moved to the United States from Italy in 1913 in search of work. He worked a few odd jobs before rising to stardom as a silent film actor due to his striking good looks.

Valentino was known in Hollywood as the “Latin Lover”. He had thousands of female fans who swooned at the sight of him. In spite of this he never found much luck in love saying that the women he loved never loved him and the rest didn’t matter.

Rudolph Valentino’s Cursed Ring

A silver and tiger’s eye ring, similar to Valentino’s cursed ring.

While shopping in San Francisco Valentino came across a stunning silver and tiger’s eye ring and fell in love with it. He asked the shop keeper if he could purchase it only to be refused.

The shopkeeper said the ring was cursed and that terrible things had happened to it’s previous owners. Valentino didn’t care and insisted on buying the ring for a pricey sum.

Valentino wore the ring everyday while filming his new movie “The Young Rajah". The Young Rajah turned out to be Valentino’s first critical and commercial flop. This was the first sign that there was something amiss with the ring.

Valentino decided not to wear the ring for a while after this but eventually put it back on for the premiere of his movie "Son of the Sheik". After this he started wearing the ring again daily.

Just a few weeks later Valentino collapsed outside of his New York apartment and was rushed to hospital. He was initially diagnosed with appendicitis and taken into surgery where it was discovered he actually had several perforated ulcers.

He died not long after the surgery. His thousands of fans were devastated and he was cemented as the first victim of the ring.

Other Victims of Valentino’s Cursed Ring

A painting of Pola Negri wearing the cursed ring.

After Valentino’s death his love at the time Pola Negri was given the choice of anything she wanted from Valentino’s belongings. She chose to take the ring due to it’s beauty and its importance to Valentino.

Not long after receiving the ring Pola became gravely ill. She eventually recovered but decided to give the ring away to her friend Russ Columbo who was said to look just like Valentino. She said the ring was a gift from one Valentino to another.

Just a few days after being given the ring Ross Columbo was accidentally shot and killed by his friend. The ring then went to Columbo’s best friend Joe Casino.

Joe Casino had heard the ring was cursed and was weary enough to keep it locked away in a glass case. After a few years the fear wore off and he decided to start wearing the ring. Just a few weeks after this Joe got into a car accident and was killed when a truck struck his vehicle.

The ring then fell into the hands of Del Casino, Joe’s brother. Del initially didn’t believe in the curse and kept the ring on display in his home. After several years a thief broke into Del’s home and stole the ring. The thief was shot by police while trying to escape. The ring was found in the pocket of the dead thief.

This convinced Del of the curse and he kept the ring locked away until 1938. In 1938 figure skater Jack Dunn was preparing to audition to play the role of Valentino in a biopic of his life. He asked Del Casino if he could borrow the ring and some of Valentino’s clothes for a test screening.

Del reluctantly agreed to this request. Jack Dunn died just 10 days later from tularemia, a rare disease he’d picked up from handling a dead rabbit on a hunting trip.

The ring was returned to Del Casino who kept it hidden until his died of natural causes. His possessions, including the cursed ring, were transferred to a bank vault in Los Angeles.

While the ring was in the vault the bank was robbed twice. On the second occasion the ring was taken by thieves who were shot dead while trying to make their getaway.

The ring was returned to the bank vault where it remained until it went missing during a fire at the bank. The rings whereabouts are currently unknown.

We would suggest being wary of buying any silver and tiger’s eye rings in LA!

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