Jean Acker

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title: "Jean Acker" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1893-births", "1978-deaths", "american-film-actresses", "american-silent-film-actresses", "american-vaudeville-performers", "catholics-from-new-jersey", "burials-at-holy-cross-cemetery,-culver-city", "american-lesbian-actresses", "lesbian-christians", "lgbtq-people-from-new-jersey", "actresses-from-trenton,-new-jersey", "20th-century-american-actresses", "rudolph-valentino", "people-from-lewistown,-pennsylvania", "20th-century-american-lgbtq-people", "actresses-from-pennsylvania"] description: "American actress (1892–1978)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Acker" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress (1892–1978) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Jean Acker
image	Jean Acker 1923.jpg
caption	Acker in 1923
birthname	Harriet Ackers
birth_date
birth_place	Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
othername	Harriet Guglielmi
Mrs. Rudolph Valentino
occupation	Actress
yearsactive	1913–1955
spouse
domesticpartner	Grace Darmond (1918–1923)
Chloe Carter (1923–1978)
resting_place	Holy Cross Cemetery
::

| name = Jean Acker | image = Jean Acker 1923.jpg | caption = Acker in 1923 | birthname = Harriet Ackers | birth_date = | birth_place = Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | othername = Harriet Guglielmi Mrs. Rudolph Valentino | occupation = Actress | yearsactive = 1913–1955 | spouse = | domesticpartner = Grace Darmond (1918–1923) Chloe Carter (1923–1978) | resting_place = Holy Cross Cemetery

Jean Acker (born Harriet Ackers; October 23, 1892 – August 16, 1978) was an American actress. Best known for her brief marriage to screen idol Rudolph Valentino, Acker's career began in the silent film era and extended into the 1950s.

Early life and career

Jean Acker was born Harriet Ackers on October 23, 1892 in Trenton, New Jersey to Joseph and Margaret Ackers. The 1900 census indicates an 1891 birthdate, and other sources have suggested an 1893 birthdate. However, her burial plot says 1892. Her mother was Irish and her father part Cherokee. They divorced when she was young.

Her father remarried to Eleanor Bruseren in 1906. They had two sons together, both named Joseph. Their first son died at 4 months old in 1907, and their second son was a stillbirth. Eleanor and Joseph divorced in 1912, and he married a third time to Virginia Erb. Her father managed the Casino Bowling Alley and The Ritz Restaurant, and later owned the Boston Shoe Store on Valley Street. He also managed several bowling alleys in the Philadelphia area.

In 1906, the family moved to Lewistown. Growing up on a farm, Ackers became an expert horsewoman. She attended St. Mary's Seminary in Springfield, New Jersey for a time.

In a 1913, Acker remarked, "On Sundays I answer to the name of Miss Jean Acker, and weekdays I'm just Billie." She claimed to have been born in St. Louis to Spanish parent. At the time, she was a little-known performer who had worked in vaudeville and stock-company theater before joining Sigmund Lubin's motion picture operation in Philadelphia and later moving on to the Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP) studio in New York.

She performed in vaudeville until she moved to California in 1919. After arriving in Hollywood, Acker became the protégée and lover of Alla Nazimova, an 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 on-screen appearance in the 1955 film How to Be Very, Very Popular, opposite Betty Grable.

Personal life

Marriage to Rudolph Valentino

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Film_actress_Jean_Acker_(SAYRE_1006).jpg" caption="Checkers]]'' (1919)"] ::

After meeting and befriending the then-unknown Italian actor Rudolph Valentino at a party, they entered a two-month courtship and married at the home of film producer Maxwell Karger in Hollywood on November 5, 1919. Acker soon regretted the marriage and reportedly locked Valentino out of their hotel room on their wedding night. Following their separation on their wedding night, Valentino sought a reconciliation and wrote a letter to Acker urging her to return. The couple briefly reunited after meeting at a party the next month and spent one night together on December 5, but Acker left him again the next day. Asked why she could not live with her husband, Acker reportedly said, "He's impossible, he's dictatorial."

Valentino continued to pursue Acker while she was on location in Lone Pine, California, filming The Roundup in 1920. Although she attempted to prevent his visit—while allowing her lover Grace Darmond to see her—Valentino wired ahead announcing his arrival. By the time he reached Lone Pine, however, Acker had already left. He confronted her at Darmond's Los Angeles apartment, where the two got into a heated argument, and Acker informed him that she intended to seek a Reno divorce.

After Valentino secured leading roles in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and Camille, Acker filed a maintenance suit in January 1921, alleging that Valentino had deserted her following his rise to success. At the time, Acker claimed she was ill with stomach ulcers, unable to work, and burdened with debts totaling $2,500. An agreement between their attorneys provided for temporary payments of $50, which Acker later alleged were not maintained. Valentino denied her allegations and filed a cross-complaint seeking a divorce on the grounds that Acker had deserted him. Acker testified that Valentino's fame had altered him, stating, "He deserted me. He was nothing when I married and when he arrived he lost interest in me." She said that she didn't want a divorce and that she was his soulmate. Valentino said that a financial settlement was the motive for her action. "Her telegrams and letters were filled with sweetness, but her words were bitter... Work has forced me to go my way, though I have always wished for her happiness." The court ultimately ruled in favor of Valentino on January 10, 1922, granting the divorce and denying Acker a decree and separate maintenance. However, Valentino agreed to cover her medical expenses and pay temporary alimony of $175 per month. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Rudolph_Valentino_wake_Jean_Acker_1926.jpg" caption="Acker (on the right) paying respects to Valentino, accompanied by her mother, Martha Acker, and her sister, Edith Acker, in 1926"] ::

Under U.S. law in 1919, American women who married non-citizens automatically lost their United States citizenship, and as a result, Acker forfeited her nationality upon marriage. She did not regain her American citizenship until 1922, after changes to the law under the Cable Act and three years after her divorce.

In 1922, Valentino did not wait the requisite period for their divorce to be finalized before marrying his second wife, Natacha Rambova, in Mexico, and was charged with bigamy when the couple returned to the United States. In 1923, Acker sued Valentino for the legal right to call herself Mrs. Rudolph Valentino. Valentino was angry with her for several years, but they mended their friendship in 1926 after his second divorce. Following his death, Acker wrote a popular song about him called "We Will Meet at the End of the Trail".

In the 1977 film Valentino a character loosely based on Acker is played by Carol Kane. In the credits, the character is simply called Starlet.

Relationships

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Jean_Acker_1_-_Nov_1922_Photoplay.jpg" caption="Acker photographed by [[James Abbe]] in ''[[Photoplay]]'', November 1922"] ::

Russian actress Alla Nazimova included Acker in what was dubbed the Sewing Circle, a group of actresses forced to conceal the fact that they were lesbian or bisexual. Acker was involved with Canadian actress Grace Darmond during her relationship to Valentino.

After her divorce from Valentino, Acker was engaged to Marquis Luis de Bezan y Sandoval of Spain. Then, she was in the news over her relationship with Rahmin Bey. In 1930, after she lost her fortune in the 1929 stock market crash, she sued William Delahanty, claiming that he agreed to pay her $18,400 per year if she gave up her film career. The married politician denied that he made such a promise but admitted that he spent thousands of dollars on Acker.

Acker met Chloe Carter (June 21, 1903 – October 28, 1993), a former Ziegfeld Follies girl, who was the first wife of film composer Harry Ruby. Acker remained with Carter for the rest of her life. The couple owned an apartment building together in Beverly Hills.

Death

Acker died of natural causes in 1978 at the age of 85, and is buried next to Carter at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Legacy

Although not born in the Central Pennsylvania town of Lewistown, Jean Acker is considered a local celebrity. Her face dominates an outdoor mural titled "Mifflin County Movie History" and is located on Monument Square in Downtown Lewistown. The mural was painted in 2012 by Dwight Kirkland of Blackleaf Studio, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania.

Filmography

::data[format=table title="Jean Acker filmography"]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)	1913	1913	1913	1913	1914	1915	1919	1919	1919	1919	1920	1920	1920	1920	1921	1921	1921	1921	1922	1923	1925	1926	1927	1933	1934	1935	1935	1936	1937	1939	1940	1942	1945	1945	1945	1946	1947	1948	1951	1952	1955
The Man Outside	Helen Lattimore	Short
Lost film
In a Woman's Power	Marcelle – the Wife	Lost film
Bob's Baby	Bob's Cousin	Short
Lost film
The Daredevil Mountaineer		Short
Lost film
The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot	Helen Long	Dramascope Co.
Lost film
Are You a Mason?		Alternative title: The Joiner
Famous Players Film Company
Lost film
Never Say Quit	Vamp	Fox Film
Lost film
Checkers	Pert Barlow	Fox Film
Lost film
Lombardi, Ltd.	Daisy	Metro Pictures
The Blue Bandanna	Ruth Yancy	Jesse D. Hampton Productions
Lost film
The Ladder of Lies	Dora Leroy	Famous Players–Lasky Corp.
Lost film
An Arabian Knight	Zorah	Haworth Pictures Corp.
Lost film
Help Wanted – Male	Ethel	Jesse D. Hampton Productions
Lost film
The Round-Up	Polly Hope	Famous Players–Lasky Corp.
See My Lawyer	Betty Gardner	Christie Film Company
Lost film
Brewster's Millions	Barbara Drew	Famous Players–Lasky Corp.
Lost film
Wealth	Estelle Rolland	Famous Players–Lasky Corp.
Lost film
The Kiss	Isabella Chavez	Universal Pictures
Lost film
Her Own Money	Ruth Alden	Famous Players–Lasky Corp.
Lost film
The Woman in Chains	Felicia Coudret	Credited as Mrs. Rudolph Valentino
Amalgamated Producing Corp.
Braveheart	Sky-Arrow	Cinema Corp. of America
The Ace of Cads		Rumored to be cast, but no show
Famous Players–Lasky Corp.
Lost film
The Nest	Belle Madison	Excellent Pictures Corp.
No Marriage Ties	Adrienne's Maid	Listed in pre-production notes only
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen	Friend of Miss Fane	Uncredited
Paramount Pictures
The Lone Wolf Returns	Unknown	Billed as Jean Acker Valentino
Columbia Pictures
It's in the Air		Rumored to be cast, but no show
MGM
San Francisco		Rumored to be cast, but no show
MGM
Vogues of 1938	Extra	Uncredited
Good Girls Go to Paris	Bit Part	Uncredited
My Favorite Wife	Postponed case witness	Uncredited
RKO Pictures
Obliging Young Lady	Cousin	Uncredited
RKO Pictures
The Thin Man Goes Home	Tart	Uncredited
MGM
The Stork Club	Saleslady	DeSylva Productions, Inc.
Spellbound	Matron	Selznick International Pictures
It's a Wonderful Life	Townswoman	Uncredited
Liberty Films
The Peril of Pauline	Switchboard operator	Uncredited
Paramount
Isn't It Romantic?	Townswoman	Uncredited
Paramount
The Mating Season	Party guest	Uncredited
Paramount
Something to Live For	Wife	Uncredited
Paramount
How to Be Very, Very Popular	Minor Role	Rumored to be cast, but no show
20th Century Fox
::

References

References

1. [https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4119911_00327?usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&pId=80123580 ancestry.com]
2. (2009). "The Silent Cinema in Song, 1896–1929: An Illustrated History and Catalog of Songs Inspired by the Movies and Stars, with a List of Recordings". McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.
3. (1999). "Silent Films, 1877–1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies". McFarland.
4. "U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current - Ancestry.com".
5. Leider, Emily Wortis. (2004). "Dark lover: The Life and death of Rudolph Valentino". Farrar and Faber.
6. (December 2025). "Join Ancestry®".
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10. [https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4384893_00350?pid=80020372&backurl=http://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/80020372:6061&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true ancestry.com]
11. Leider, Emily Wortis. (2004). "Dark Lover: The Life and death of Rudolph Valentino". Farrar and Faber.
12. (1913-08-10). "Miss Jean Acker". San Antonio Light.
13. (1913-08-10). "Jean Acker On Stage". The Cleveland Leader.
14. (1920-02-08). "Jean Acker Wedded at Karger Party". Oakland Tribune.
15. (1919-11-06). "Photoplay Actress Marries On A Dare". The Los Angeles Times.
16. (1919-11-21). "Movie Star In A Romance Off Screen". Akron Evening Times.
17. Donnelley, Paul. (2005). "Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries". Omnibus Press.
18. (1921-05-16). "Started Out With Love. Now Says it Fled When Success Came.". The Los Angeles Times.
19. (1921-11-14). "Romance Shattered at Alter". San Francisco Chronicle.
20. (1921-12-12). "Divorce Star? Nay, Says Wife". The San Francisco Examiner.
21. (1922-01-10). "Jean Acker, Film Star, Divorced; Denied Alimony". Oakland Tribune.
22. (1922-01-29). "In Granting Valentino Divorce From Trenton Actress, Judge Flays Peevish, Selfish Wives". The Times.
23. Madsen, Axel. (2002). "The Sewing Circle: Sappho's Leading Ladies". Kensington Books.
24. Newman, Ben-Allah. (2004). "Rudolph Valentino His Romantic Life and Death: His Romantic Life and Death". Kessinger Publishing.
25. Briggs, Joe Bob. (2005). "Profoundly Erotic: Sexy Movies that Changed History". Universe.
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30. Shearer, Stephen Michael. (2006). "Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life". University Press of Kentucky.
31. Donnelley, Paul. (2005). "Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries". Omnibus Press.
32. Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 325). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
33. "The $5,000,000 Counterfeiting Plot".
34. "Are You a Mason?".
35. "Never Say Quit".
36. "Checkers".
37. "Lombardi, Ltd.".
38. "The Blue Bandanna".
39. "The Ladder of Lies".
40. "An Arabian Knight".
41. "Help Wanted – Male".
42. "The Round-Up".
43. (1921). "See My Lawyer".
44. "Brewster's Millions".
45. "Wealth".
46. "The Kiss".
47. "Her Own Money".
48. "The Woman in Chains".
49. (1925). "Braveheart (1925)".
50. "The Ace of Cads".
51. "The Nest".
52. "No Marriage Ties".
53. "Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen".
54. "The Lone Wolf Returns".
55. "It's in the Air".
56. "San Francisco".
57. "My Favorite Wife".
58. "Obliging Young Lady".
59. "The Thin Man Goes Home".
60. "The Stork Club".
61. "Spellbound (Motion picture : 1945)".
62. "It's a Wonderful Life".
63. "The Peril of Pauline".
64. "Townswoman".
65. "The Mating Season".
66. "Something to Live For".
67. "How to Be Very, Very Popular".

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