PIctured Gilbert Roland, circa 1931
One of the most breathtakingly handsome icons of the silent screen entered the sound era, and while dozens of his luminous counterparts suddenly met the demise of their stardom, he successfully continued his career for decades, and also retained his good looks and virility into old age.
Luis Antonio Damaso Alonso was born Dec. 11, 1905, in Chihuahua, Mexico. His parents, Consuelo and Francisco, raised Luis, the third of six sons, in Juarez, Mexico, where Francisco, who had once been a torero in Spain, owned a bull ring. Little Luis fell in love with the art of bullfighting, and assisted his father at the ring selling cushions, distributing programs, and attending the elegant matadors.
However, the Alonsos rushed to escape the violence of the legendary Pancho Villa, and in 1910 fled across the border to El Paso, Texas. Luis was aroused and enchanted by the magic images of glamorous stars who flickered on a movie screen in his new American town. Later, 14-year-old Luis grabbed three dollars and caught a freight train west to Hollywood, so sure he would fulfill his dream of stardom. There, disillusioned, he worked on Catalina Island as a stevedore unloading boats and, later, in a battery plant and for a lithographer. Soon, his family followed him to live in California.
The popularity of the great Rudolph Valentino enticed hundreds of young men to Hollywood hoping to become the next Latin idol. In 1924, the handsome 19-year-old six-foot Luis Alonso with glistening green eyes and gleaming black hair began to be noticed around town. Though it was never made, Valentino’s wife, Natacha Rambova, chose Luis to play her husband’s valet in The Hooded Falcon, the film script that inspired Valentino to buy a mansion for Natacha, which he named Falcon’s Lair, where he intended to train the large birds. Instead, Luis landed his first small part in The Lady Who Lied (1925) with Nita Naldi. Next, the likeable youth was selected by producer B.P. Schulberg, who would soon make a star of Clara Bow, to appear with Clara alongside fellow extra Clark Gable in The Plastic Age (1925). Schulberg wanted Luis to change his name to John Adams. Luis refused, and chose a combination of the last names of his two favorite screen stars, John Gilbert and Ruth Roland.
It was not long before the promiscuous Clara Bow was having an affair with Gilbert Roland. The two actors were both only 20. By the time Clara made the film It and became a top star, their romance had ended, and Gilbert fell in love with the married Norma Talmadge, who was almost 12 years his senior. Norma’s husband, the short and heavy producer Joseph Schenck, always realized their marriage was one of convenience and career enhancement, and was tolerant of all of Norma’s affairs. Schenck cast Roland with Talmadge in the important role of Armand in Camille (1927). Gilbert also appeared opposite Talmadge in The Dove (1927), and The Woman Disputed (1928). Norma and Schenck separated when Schenck felt the relationship between his wife and Roland was more than just another affair. They divorced in 1933, and Norma married entertainer George Jessel. When Talmadge and Roland premiered together in their first talking picture, New York Nights (1929), Roland’s voice captured the heart of the audience while the glamorous Talmadge was laughed at and ridiculed for her thick Brooklyn accent—it destroyed her career. Norma’s sister Constance wired her sibling, ‘Leave them while you’re looking good, and thank God for the trust funds Momma set up.’ After Norma made a second, failed final attempt in sound film, her affair with Gilbert began to wane.
The craze for Latin men declined in the 1930s, but the likeable and popular Roland carried on in various films, including the enormous hit She Done Him Wrong (1933) with Mae West. Roland’s next two films, Our Betters (1933), and After Tonight (1933) both co-starred his newest love, Constance Bennett. Other films included Thunder Trail (1937) with Marsha Hunt, Gateway (1938) with Don Ameche, Juarez (1939) with Bette Davis, and The Sea Hawk (1940) with Errol Flynn. Roland and Bennett wed Nov. 14, 1940. It was Roland’s first marriage and Bennett’s fourth. They produced two children, but their stormy union ended in 1945.
While many of his contemporaries had grown fat and flabby, Roland was still handsome, trim and fit with the same waistline he had when he was 20 and a physique shaped by playing tennis every day of the year. He continued his career playing twin bothers in a 15-episode serial, The Desert Hawk (1944), and gave the most authentic portrayal of The Cisco Kid in six films between 1946 and 1947. Other excellent film performances include We Were Strangers (1949), The Bullfighter and the Lady (1951) with Robert Stack, My Six Convicts (1952), and The Bad And The Beautiful (1952), with Gloria Grahame, Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas. His beloved role in The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952) led him to forever return to Fatima, where he was invited to participate in the annual October religious services commemorating The Miracle. In 1954 he wed Guillermina Cantu, a union which would last the rest of his life.
More film appearances include The French Line (1954) with Jane Russell, That Lady (1955) with Olivia deHavilland, Bandido (1956) with Robert Mitchum, Around The World In 80 Days (1956) with a cast of thousands, The Midnight Story (1957) with Tony Curtis, The Big Circus (1959) with Rhonda Fleming and Victor Mature, Cheyenne Autumn (1964) with Dolores Del Rio, The Poppy Is Also A Flower (1966) with Rita Hayworth, and The Mark of Zorro (1974) with Ricardo Montalban and Yvonne De Carlo. His final film role was in Any Gun Can Play (1990). Roland also starred in various films in Italy and Spain, and made numerous television appearances.
Gilbert Roland once stated ‘… we say in Spanish that death comes soon enough so why kill yourself crying about it?’
In 1990, I wrote to Gilbert Roland, and in a letter dated Oct. 29, 1990 he replied, in part, ‘My favorite quotation is in Spanish, Que Dios le de mucha vida y mucha felicidad—May God give you much life and much happiness.’
Gilbert Roland was a kind and wonderful man who loved and appreciated his successful, exciting life. He died in Beverly Hills May 15, 1994.
Sources: Hollywood Players The Thirties by James Robert OParish and William T. Leonard, The Movie Stars Story by Robyn Karney, Gilbert Roland Web sites.
Steve Starr is the author of Picture Perfect-Art Deco Photo Frames 1926-1946, published by Rizzoli International Publications, 1991. A designer and an artist, he is the owner of Steve Starr Studios, specializing in original Art Deco photo frames and artifacts and celebrating its 38th anniversary in 2005. Steve Starr’s personal collection of over 950 gorgeous, original Art Deco photo frames is filled with photographic images of Hollywood’s most elegant stars.
Steve Starr’s column, STARRLIGHT, about movie stars of the 1920’s, 1930’s, and 1940’s, appears in various publications, including the Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine and The Windy City Times.
Visit www.SteveStarrStudios.com where you can view many of his framed stars, read STARRLIGHT stories, and enjoy his collection of autographs, letters and photos the collection has received from some of Starr’s favorite luminaries. In person, you can visit the Steve Starr Satellite Studio at the beautiful Ravenswood Antique Mart, 4727 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60640. Phone (773) 271-3700
You may email Steve at sssChicago@ameritech.net. Photo of Steve Starr June 25, 2002 by Albert Aguilar.