Ramon Novarro isn't a widely recognized name these days. The son of a wealthy Mexican family who fled the country during the Mexican Revolution, he was uprooted from Mexico City and soon found himself in Los Angeles, California.
He quickly decided that he wanted to join the city's then nascent industry- motion pictures. His handsome looks led to bit parts in silent pictures. He befriended two big name stars of the time- Rex Ingram and Alice Terry, who pushed him to the studios as another "Latin Lover" like Rudolph Valentino. Louis B. Mayer signed Mr. Novarro to MGM and he soon began "competing" with Valentino for roles. When Valentino tragically died at a young age, it seemed like nothing could stop Ramon.
While he booked his biggest role up to that point- the lead in the 1925 version of Ben Hur, it was his secret life that seemingly held him back. Mr. Novarro was gay in a time period in which that particular sexual orientation was stigmatized. Still, Ramon was making a staggering (for the time period) $100,000 per picture. Louis B. Mayer, who feared that Ramon's box office pull would end if his fans discovered his secret, pleaded with Ramon to marry a woman to silence the murmurs among the Hollywood elite. Ramon refused and MGM chose not to renew his contract. Ramon only found work sporadically after that time. When rumors of him being a communist started to surface, his film career was over.
Luckily for Ramon, he was a great investor and he didn't really need to work any more. He chose to retire in style, living in an expensive mansion in Los Angeles' famed Laurel Canyon. Sadly, he was murdered by two hustlers in 1968.
