Sunday, January 26, 2014

Ramón Novarro & Jose Caraballo

In the early 1930s, as Novarro's career at MGM was coming to an end, he went on frequent dancing and singing tours with his sister, Carmen, to South America.  Compared to his later lacklustre films, these tours were a smashing success as he was still a first-ranked star throughout most of Latin America.  While in Buenos Aires, he met Jose Caraballo.

Caraballo was an olympian, swimming for Argentina at the 1932 games in Los Angeles.  After they met, Caraballo returned with Novarro to the U.S. and took up residence with him at Novarro's family home in Gramercy Park.  His stay did not last long.  Although Novarro extended his family every luxury and acted as the breadwinner for them all, he pushed the envelope of acceptance by bringing Caraballo home.  His family could not reconcile a conservative attitude toward sexuality with the presence of his young lover under the same roof.  In a short time Novarro's family spoke up and insisted Caraballo leave.

Here they are on a beach, sometime in the early 30s, most likely in California.  Novarro has a paternalistic smile on his face.  Caraballo seems to be loving every minute of it.  I don't know the name of the dog :)

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Saturday, January 11, 2014