Jean Acker was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 actress with a career dating from the silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 era through the 1950s. She was perhaps best known as the estranged wife of silent film star Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino

Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...

.

Early life and career

Acker was born Harriet Acker in Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...

 where she attended school. She performed in vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 until she moved to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in 1919. After arriving in Hollywood, Acker became the protegee and lover of Alla Nazimova

Alla Nazimova

Alla Nazimova , was a Russian American film and theatre actress, a screenwriter and film producer. She is perhaps best known as simply Nazimova, but also went under the name Alia Nasimoff.-Early life:...

, a film 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 onscreen appearance in the 1955 film How to Be Very, Very Popular, opposite Betty Grable

Betty Grable

Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...

.

Marriage to Valentino

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

Natacha Rambova

Natacha Rambova was an American silent film costume and set designer, artistic director, screenwriter, producer and occasional actress. Later in life she worked as a mildly successful fashion designer and Egyptologist....

, in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and he was charged with bigamy

Bigamy

In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...

 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

Alla Nazimova

Alla Nazimova , was a Russian American film and theatre actress, a screenwriter and film producer. She is perhaps best known as simply Nazimova, but also went under the name Alia Nasimoff.-Early life:...

. Nazimova included Acker in what was dubbed the "Sewing circles

Sewing circles

A group of people, especially women, who meet regularly for the purpose of sewing, often for charitable causes.Sewing circles is a phrase used to describe the underground, closeted lesbian and bisexual film actresses and their relationships in Hollywood, United States, particularly during...

", a group of actors who were forced to conceal the fact that they were lesbian, bisexual, and romantically and sexually attracted to women, thus living secret lives.

Death

After divorcing Valentino in 1923, Acker met Chloe Carter, a former Ziegfeld Follies

Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....

 girl with whom she would remain 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 84, and is buried next to Carter in the Holy Cross Cemetery

Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City

Holy Cross Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles....

 in Culver City, California

Culver City, California

Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...

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Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1913	The Man Outside The Man Outside (1913) The Man Outside is a 1913 Comedy film-Cast:...	Helen Lattimore
1913	In a Woman's Power In a Woman's Power In a Woman's Power is a 1913 Comedy film directed by Herbert Brenon.-Cast:...
1913	Bob's Baby Bob's Baby Bob's Baby is a 1913 Comedy film-Plot:Bob, a typically devoted husband, is told by his wife that the stork has paid a visit to their household; the first time, it turns out to be a puppy; the second time, expecting another canine, he is surprised to find the more traditional offspring.-Cast:...	Bob's Cousin
1913	The Daredevil Mountaineer
1914	The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot is a 1914 Thriller films and directed by Bertram Harrison-Plot:A member of a counterfeiting gang gives a forged note to his daughter. When she spends it on a dress the note ends up in the hands of the secret service, who then bring the entire gang to justice.-Cast:...	Helen Long
1915	Are You a Mason? Are You a Mason? (1915) Are You a Mason? is a 1915 silent comedy film produced by Adolph Zukor and Charles Frohman and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Thomas Heffron and stars John Barrymore in his third feature length film. This film is based on a famous 1901 play by Leo Ditrichstein and...		Alternative title: The Joiner
1919	Never Say Quit Never Say Quit Never Say Quit is a 1919 Comedy film directed by Edward Dillon.-Cast:...	Vamp
1920	The Round-Up	Polly Hope
1921	Brewster's Millions Brewster's Millions (1921 film) Brewster's Millions is a 1921 comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle. It is an adaptation of the novel written by George Barr McCutcheon.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Monte Brewster* Betty Ross Clarke - Peggy* Fred Huntley - Mr. Brewster...	Barbara Drew
1922	Her Own Money	Ruth Alden
1923	The Woman in Chains	Felicia Coudret	Credited as Mrs. Rudolph Valentino
1925	Braveheart	Sky-Arrow
1927	The Nest The Nest (1927 film) The Nest is a 1927 silent drama film directed by William Nigh. It is based on the play Les Noces d'Argent by Paul Géraldy].-Plot:A mother discovers her daughter Susan is marrying an insufferable social-climber. Already being horrified by the idea, she also finds out her son Martin has gone into a...	Belle Madison
1933	No Marriage Ties	Adrienne's Maid	Uncredited
1934	Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen	Friend of Miss Fane	Uncredited
1935	No More Ladies No More Ladies No More Ladies is a 1935 film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and Franchot Tone, directed by Edward H. Griffith and George Cukor. It is based on a play by A.E. Thomas...	Nightclub Extra	Uncredited
1936	San Francisco San Francisco (film) San Francisco is a 1936 musical-drama directed by Woody Van Dyke, based on the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The film, which was the top grossing movie of that year, stars Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy. The then very popular singing of MacDonald helped make this film...
1937	Vogues of 1938 Vogues of 1938 Vogues of 1938 is a 1937 musical film distributed by United Artists, directed by Irving Cummings, written by Bella Spewack and Sam Spewack, and starring by Warner Baxter and Joan Bennett...	Extra	Uncredited
1939	Good Girls Go to Paris	Bit Part	Uncredited
1940	My Favorite Wife My Favorite Wife My Favorite Wife is a 1940 screwball comedy produced and co-written by Leo McCarey and directed by Garson Kanin. The movie stars Irene Dunne as a woman who returns to her husband and children after being shipwrecked on a tropical island for several years, and Cary Grant as her husband...	Postponed case witness	Uncredited
1942	Obliging Young Lady	Cousin	Uncredited
1944	The Thin Man Goes Home The Thin Man Goes Home The Thin Man Goes Home is a 1945 motion picture directed by Richard Thorpe. It is the fifth of the six Thin Man films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Dashiell Hammett's dapper private detective Nick Charles and his wife Nora.-Plot:...	Tart	Uncredited
1945	Spellbound Spellbound (1945 film) Spellbound is a psychological mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1945. It tells the story of the new head of a mental asylum who turns out not to be what he claims. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov and Leo G. Carroll. It is an adaptation by Angus...	Matron	Uncredited
1946	It's a Wonderful Life It's a Wonderful Life It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....		Uncredited
1947	The Peril of Pauline The Perils of Pauline (1947 film) The Perils of Pauline is a 1947 American film directed by George Marshall and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie is a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent film star Pearl White's rise to fame, starring Betty Hutton as White....	Switchboard operator	Uncredited
1948	Isn't It Romantic? Isn't It Romantic? (film) Isn't It Romantic? is a 1948 film from Paramount Pictures, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Veronica Lake and Billy De Wolfe. Although it takes its title from a 1932 song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, it is based on a novel called Gather Ye Rosebuds by Jeannette C...	Townswoman	Uncredited
1951	The Mating Season The Mating Season (film) The Mating Season is a 1951 classic farce with elements of screwball comedy. A film made by Paramount Pictures, it was directed by Mitchell Leisen and produced by Charles Brackett from a screenplay by Charles Brackett, Richard Breen and Walter Reisch, based on the play Maggie by Caesar Dunn...	Party guest	Uncredited
1952	Something to Live For	Wife	Uncredited
1955	How to Be Very, Very Popular How to Be Very, Very Popular How to Be Very, Very Popular is a 1955 comedy film written, produced and directed by Nunnally Johnson and starring Betty Grable in her final film role, and, introduced newcomer, Sheree North to the public.-Plot:...	Undetermined Supporting Role	Uncredited

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