Valdeo - Dancer Baby Onesie

Interpretative dancer Valdeo Lord Parker often billed as Mme. Valdeo or Valdeo, first broke into show business in 1916 after winning a Chicago beauty contest that subsequently led to her being cast in a religious, morality play. At that time, she claimed that her full name was Valdeo de Coriche and that she was of Castilian and Southern descent. Her mother ran an acting/spiritualist school under the fake name, Countess Adrienne de Coriche.

The Countess, it seems, often served as Valdeo's manager and publicist while posing as Valdeo's older sister. Both of them craved (and competed) for stardom, often, by creating fake publicity stunts and fabricating their credentials.

According to Valdeo's publicity, she was a world-famous dancer for the Chicago Grand Opera Company, a Ziegfeld showgirl, an early silent film player, and a student of Russian dance star Anna Pavlova. All of these claims are either untrue or greatly exaggerated.

In 1921, a newspaper outed Mme. Valde...

My name is Craig Owens, a photographer/blogger for the popular Facebook Page "Bizarre Los Angeles" and the author of the book, "Haunted by History Vol. 1," separating the facts and legends of eight historic, haunted hotels in Southern California. I have always been in love with Old Hollywood. I love it for its glamour, its style, its mythology and its decadence, which always seems to be bubbling just below its surface. I'm a firm believer that its history should not be forgotten even if its architecture and carbon footprints are slowly being replaced.