An actor, reporter, artist, and general man about town in 1920s Gay Paree, André Daven bore a striking resemblance to Rudolph Valentino, whom he reportedly interviewed in Paris in 1923. Valentino brought the youngster to Hollywood, where he played Duc de Nemours in Monsieur Beaucaire (1924). In his later years, Daven became a co-director (with the Swedish Ralph de Maré) of the Theatre des Champs-Elysées and a film producer of some note. His often cited sexual relationship with Valentino remains pure speculation, the "evidence" resting mainly on hearsay and the typically florid prose of the Italian star's most likely ghostwritten "autobiography." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
