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Photographs of Jack Salvatori, the British Valentino
(March 21, 2010)photo courtesy of Ray Holland
Jack Salvatori, possibly in the United States
On having received an envelope mailed to Berkeley, California from Cornwall, England with photographs of the Italo-British filmmaker and actor, Giovanni “Jack” Salvatori.
In August 2009 I wrote a blog post on the film Umanità (Cinecittà’s Refugees and the Italian American Who Filmed Them), a rare visual document about war refugees living at Cinecittà in the 1940s, and Jack Salvatori, the relatively obscure director who made the film.
Since that post I have communicated with Salvatori’s son, Ray Holland, first via a comment on my post and later through email.
Holland has shared much biographical insight about Salvatori—who was not, as I had assumed precisely Italian AMERICAN, but rather born of an Italian father and a British mother.
He spent most of his life in England and Italy, and fought in both World Wars
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Underage, 16 year old Salvatori, in the Bedfordshire Regiment
Inscription reads: With Kind & Sincere Thoughts/Giovanni S/October (?) '17 (?) circa 1917 (courtesy of Ray Holland) |
He eventually also came to the U.S. to work in Hollywood and had small parts in, for instance, Henry King’s 1949 film Princes of Foxes starring Tyrone Powers and Orson Welles (which was mostly filmed in Italy).
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| On the set of Princes of Foxes. Salvatori, in period costume, dressed as a nobleman’s servant. According to Holland, Salvatori appears early on in the film, taking a goblet from the character played by Orson Welles. (courtesy of Ray Holland) |
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| Salvatori in Cricklewood, London, 1948 (courtesy of Ray Holland) |
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| Portrait of Salvatori, taken for a West End London Theater, 1920s (courtesy of Ray Holland) |
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| A fairground photo "head shot" of Salvatori, possibly from his time in the United States (courtesy of Ray Holland) |
