On this day, February 6, 1899, film star Ramon Novarro was born.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Dr. Buzz has the date wrong. Wikipedia says Novarro was born on February 6, 1899.

Film star of the 1920s & 30s,Ramon Novarro was #BornOnThisDay, Feb. 5, 1899. In 1968 Novarro (age 69)was beaten to death by 2 brothers Paul & Tom Ferguson,(age 22 & 17)who phoned him, posing as prostitutes to enter, & steal, robbing him of 20 dollars. #RIP #GoneTooSoon #truecrime

Link to tweet

His Wikipedia entry goes into an extended description of his homicide.

Ramon Novarro



Novarro, c.?1934

Born: José Ramón Gil Samaniego; February 6, 1899; Durango City, Durango, Mexico
Died: October 30, 1968 (aged 69); North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death: Asphyxiation (murdered)
Resting place: Calvary Cemetery

José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box office attractions of the 1920s and early 1930s. Novarro was promoted by MGM as a "Latin lover" and became known as a sex symbol after the death of Rudolph Valentino. He is recognized as the first Latin American actor to succeed in Hollywood.

{snip}

Murder

Novarro was murdered on October 30, 1968, by brothers Paul and Tom Ferguson, aged 22 and 17, who called him and offered their sexual services. He had in the past hired prostitutes from an agency to come to his Laurel Canyon home for sex, and the Fergusons obtained Novarro's telephone number from a previous guest.

According to the prosecution in the murder case, the two young men believed that a large sum of money was hidden in Novarro's house. The prosecution accused the brothers of torturing Novarro for several hours to force him to reveal where the (non-existent) money was hidden. They left the house with $20 they took from his bathrobe pocket. Novarro died as a result of asphyxiation, having choked to death on his own blood after being beaten. The two perpetrators were caught and sentenced to long prison terms, but released on parole in the mid-1970s. Both were later re-arrested for unrelated crimes for which they served longer prison terms than for the murder of Novarro. In a 1998 interview, Paul Ferguson finally assumed the blame for Novarro's death. Tom Ferguson died of suicide on March 6, 2005. Paul Ferguson died in 2018, while serving out a 60-year sentence for rape in Missouri.

Novarro is buried in Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, California.

Novarro's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6350 Hollywood Boulevard.

In popular culture



Image of Ramón Novarro.

Novarro's murder served as the basis for the short story by Charles Bukowski titled "The Murder of Ramon Vasquez", as well as for the song "Tango," by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, recorded by Peggy Lee on her Mirrors album.

{snip}

Sun Feb 5, 2023: On February 6, 1899, film star Ramon Novarro was born.

Well, this is awkward. Wikipedia says that he was born on February 6, 1899. I've already posted this, so I'll leave it up.

Sun Feb 6, 2022: On February 5, 1899, Ramon Novarro was born.

[fernlady]

1. Ben Hur (1925)

Ramon Novarro was excellent in the silent version of Ben Hur (1925) as the titular character, with Francis X. Bushman as Messala. I urge everyone to see it in a theater with live accompaniment for the full experience.

I much prefer the silent version to the 1959 version, in which Charleton Heston plays himself.

[hunter]

2. My grandma and her sister partied with him in the 'twenties when they were young and wild.

I imagine his studio bosses and publicists fully approved of his scandalous behavior -- a woman on each arm, and sisters too!

It was all part of the show.