This Paranormal Life - #297 Rudolph Valentino's Cursed Ring - The Ring That Killed Hollywood's Stars

Episode Date: January 10, 2023

We've covered a lot of cursed objects on this podcast before - cursed cars, cursed dolls, even cursed ancient Egyptian mummies, but this week we're diving back in time to the 1990's, to investigate an object that claimed the lives of some of Hollywood's brightest stars... We're talking about The Cursed Ring of Rudolph Valentino.This Paranormal Life is sponsored by BetterHelp.Go to betterhelp.com/paranormallife to get started today using code "paranormallife".Support us on Patreon.com/ThisParanormalLife to get access to weekly bonus episodes!Buy Official TPL Merch! - thisparanormallife.com/storeFollow us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTubeJoin our Secret Society Facebook CommunityIntro music by www.purple-planet.comResearch by Amy GrisdaleEdited by Louis Blatherwick Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is coffee actually an ancient magic elixir? If a demon possesses you, does it pay rent? All of these questions you can find the answer to on This Paranormal Life! Hello one and all and welcome to This Paranormal Life, the comedy paranormal podcast where every week myself, Rory Powers, professional paranormal investigator slash model slash uh race car driver

slash hunk of the year slash slash you gotta know it makes it less believable if you take so long to come up with it's okay not being a multi-hyphenate listen bro i think there's too many multi-hyphenates in this world i think sometimes we need specialists like okay if i'm going in for surgery do i really want my surgeon to be a surgeon slash influencer slash race car driver no i'd rather he focuses on one thing that makes sense because right now it probably would be best if i was just good at podcasting i don't have to be because i felt like we lost you for a second when you were getting into your like model brain yeah you were like oh like am i on a shoot like oh i need

to think about that but like no you are live the the mic is on yeah we're going now the only thing is is now i'm now i'm slash nervous i'm slash nervous slash sad a little bit because i feel like the wind's taking out of my sails. Slash, I'm deflated. It feels like you can just win yourself into whatever you want to be by just saying you're slash something. So let's say you're slash confident. Let's say you're slash competent. Let's say you're slash... I'm slash

competent. I'm slash sad. I'm slash angry. I'm slash tired, to be honest with you. Some of these slashes need to be kept as an internal dialogue, I do think think i think this sets a new record for us podcasting where this is the quickest we've both ever gone from being unconscious to in the studio podcasting we're really not on our kind of early riser shit it is 10 a.m it's a pretty respectable time yeah but did we get up an hour ago sure yes sure uh can you hear it in our voices absolutely it is minus two degrees outside and i'm drinking an iced coffee as well

because i'm trying to let the cold activate my my system in in the kind of way it would uh make boys into men when the spartans threw their children into the forest. Is that what they did? I think so. They did something with them. I do like this logic, though. You know, they say that, you know, keep a notepad by your bed so that if you wake up in the middle of the night in that dreamlike state, you can just jot down pure creativity.

Yeah. So I would love to see what kind of nonsense we're going to capture on this podcast by being asleep mere minutes ago. Yeah, we're going to capture on this podcast by being asleep mere minutes ago. Yeah, we're basically lying by our bedsides, getting asleep in the same bed. You should know that by now. We're like the bananas in pajamas. Or maybe it's like Wallace and Gromit style.

The alarm goes off, the bed tilts at a 90 degree angle. We slide down the side and into podcast chairs ready to go. And we are ready to go folks, because as much as we love to joke and hang out and chat at the start of the episode, today we have an intense, terrifying paranormal case to investigate. That's right, Kit. Today's episode is all about another cursed object. Something that we've covered before on the podcast. Cursed objects. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if these are a listener favorite. I kind of have a warm place in my heart for some of our cursed item episodes.

It feels like they maybe don't come along quite as often as, I don't know, say cryptids. Yeah. They're often quite meaty cases. Yeah. say cryptids. Yeah. They're often quite meaty cases. Yeah. And they range from, you know, a wide variety of just being a sarcophagus found in ancient Egypt times, a race car owned by James Dean. So there's a huge variety of cursed objects. But today we're investigating a new one, a first. Now, you could look back at some of those previous cursed episodes and say, A first.

Now, you could look back at some of those previous Cursed episodes and say, sure, is there a good track record of yeses as to the cases being actually paranormal? Pretty debatable. But today's a new day. It's a fresh day. It's a fresh thing we're investigating. We don't know if it's going to be a yes or no. That's part of the fun of the podcast.

Do we, though? So without further ado, let's dive into today's episode. But first, a quick word from our sponsors. Today's story takes us back to 1920s San Francisco. Ooh, I like this. I like this. One of the greatest cities on earth. And this is 1920. I mean, I'm not a historian, but that feels like peak curse time. Doesn't feel like within 30 years of that, you know, they were like, they were digging up Tutankhamun. People still wore giant cursed jewels. Technology had advanced just far enough to f*** about and not yet far enough to find

out. So a lot of people were just doing shit they shouldn't have been doing and were just about to feel the consequences. Yeah, you're right. I mean, we were deep, obviously, in the kind of modern age of industrial shit, but people also still believed in magic. Yeah. Unlike today. A dangerous time to be alive. A dangerous overlap of the existence of machine guns and magic. The silent movie business was booming and the bright lights of the existence of machine guns and magic. The silent movie business was booming, and the bright lights of the industry were beginning to shine.

But of course, one star in particular was shining brighter than any other was. And that was Rudolph Valentino. He was one of the most famous silent movie actors in Hollywood at the time. He'd moved from Italy a few years previously and was a household name by 1915, all thanks to his dashing good looks. Fans knew him as the Latin Lover, and viewers across the country swooned whenever he appeared on screen. But little did he know that his impeccable style would lead him down a dangerous path. A cursed path. How could that possibly be? Is he like f***ing Dorian Gray? He's like

killing virgins to attain his youth? Is that what he did? That's pretty dark. No, I think it was just he had a painting in his attic or something. Okay. Oh yeah, that's right. Yeah. You're about to find out, Kit. You're about to find out. One day, Valentino himself was wandering around downtown San Francisco, doing a little shopping in his free time. He wasn't on the lookout for anything in particular, but it wasn't long before something caught his eye.

A gold tiger's eye ring. So he headed into the store to talk to the shopkeeper. Hello, my friend. You have an item I wish to purchase. Mr. Valentino, it's an honor to have you in my store. Any item you want is ready for sale. I'd like the ring in the window. I'm afraid it's not for sale but you just trust me sir you do not want the ring in the window for its price is more than what

you may be willing to pay don't put it in the window don't put it in the window if it's not for sale okay fine do you have anything else for sale that's it actually now that i think about it we should close goodbye mr valentino man they just don't make shops like that like they used to yeah i would love to have that conversation with someone i don't think we're rich enough to ever go into a shop that just has like six things six random things it's like a ring, a washing machine, an old rocking horse. And it's like, the rocking horse costs 150 grand and I'm afraid it's not for sale. What is this shop then? What is this? And what is the point of it? I mean, this is a real thing. And I'm sure this still happens in San Francisco that everybody knows if you go into a shop, the general rule is the more items available for sale, the more that shop is not for rich people.

Yeah. The less items, the richer you have to be to set foot in there. Yeah. If you walk into a store and it's just a podium with a f***ing cashew nut on it, walk out because that nut is worth a year's salary. Yeah. They scanned your credit cards somehow at the door. Just by walking in, you now owe them. You're in the hole.

It's $30 a minute to look at the nut. All right, I'm just going to leave then. I'm just going to leave. The shop owner went on to tell Valentino the legend behind this piece of jewelry that he referred to as the Ring of Destiny. For sure don't name it something that sexy either, if it ain't for sale.

Like, what is his endgame here? You wouldn't possibly want that ring, Valentino. It was sculpted in the mines of Ethiopia by ancient artisans. I just want it more. Stop telling me about it. The last guy who owned it died in a boob avalanche. I want the ring now. Oh, this thing, the ring of infinite wealth and money. I mean, maybe there's some reverse psychology going on. We haven't established it yet. Yeah. Maybe the point is, is that sure, this ring is valuable,

but it comes at a cost. It comes at a price. Aside from the name, the ring of destiny, the ring's origins were pretty unclear. Its previous owners were unknown, but one thing was clear. Whoever possessed the ring became cursed. But even with the sternest warnings, Valentino knew what he wanted and he wasn't leaving without it. So the shopkeeper reluctantly handed over the ring for a very high price. I feel like the shopkeeper really won in this transaction. Yeah. But I mean, this makes sense. Like, you know, a guy like Valentino doesn't take no for an answer.

The most surefire way to get a hot and rich celebrity enticed is to say, in a world where you can have whatever you want, you can have this. And he's like, but I must. For sure. I must have it. And when you can afford everything, you don't just want expensive jewelry.

You want cursed jewelry. Jewelry that has like magic points added to it. So this is a sexy offer. I also love the fact that the owner is like, it's like this ring, the cost of it is more than just money. But if you want to buy it, also money, a lot of money. It's true.

He said the cost may be more than you're willing to pay. But you're absolutely right, Rory. We're out of our minds if we don't think Justin Bieber is somewhere in the Congo right now, bartering with like voodoo practitioners to get the most dank, cursed jewelry. I heard Drake has a monkey skull. I heard he has a monkey skull. Oh, that's absolutely Drake shit. A hundred percent.

I think he drinks his coffee out of it in the morning and it is for sure cursed. I actually have a picture of the ring here if you want to see it. I would love to see it. I'm going to say, you know, not quite my vibe, but I could see if you're a fancy movie star, you might want to have this on your person.

It looks pretty sick. Ooh, yeah, I know what you mean. Not exactly what I was expecting. Obviously... It doesn't look very extravagant. It looks pretty chill. Yeah, I think obviously it's just, it is just we live in a different age, isn't it?

It definitely has a 20s flair about it. But yeah, I think the fact remains that me and you are not jewelers. We don't know what we're looking at, really. I'm sure it's very special. But yeah, it looks like a doorknob covered in metal. Well, I'd maybe hold your tongue, brother, because those who are rude to the ring don't end up doing too well in life. So next time you say that it looks like a doorknob or a piece of shit slapped onto a gold band, then maybe think twice.

Your words, not mine. Valentino fell in love with the ring. He was wearing it 24-7 with every outfit he owned. So much so that when he was cast in his next leading role, he demanded that the ring be part of his wardrobe in every single scene he was in. Yeah, that's a tough ask. And the studio agreed. It's Rudolph Valentino, for God's sake.

If the guy wants to wear a leather thong in every scene, you let him. He's an A-list God. I mean, surely not. I mean, yeah, God love them. This was the days before CGI. I mean, I'm sure this kind of thing happens all the time in 2022, where they're just like, look, Daniel Craig is loving bandanas

at the moment. We're just going to have to get the budget to green screen it out. Like, I don't know what to tell you. When the time for the premiere came around, Rudolph couldn't wait to hear that he'd knocked another movie out of the park. But as soon as the press flooded out of the cinemas, the response was not exactly what he was expecting. Hmm. My God, that was a piece of crap. How can anything be that bad? We should kill him! Keep an eye on that last guy.

I don't know what paper, what paper does he even work for? Let me tell you, I've seen a few movies where I feel like I need to kill someone afterwards. I don't want to name the movie specifically, but it's Dune. All right. Well, I won't stand for it. You'll have to get through me first before you get to Timotei. The film turned out to be Valentino's first ever critical and commercial flop, almost destroying his career. But what had changed? Was it his acting his performance of course not

there was only one explanation the warning of the shopkeeper echoed in his ears you do not want the ring in the window for its price may be more than you are wanting to pay uh i've never had the words of anyone echo through me. You know, this seems to be a common thing in a lot of paranormal stories is remembering a warning. But it's not like I have at one point at a bar taken a shot of Jägerbaum. And while it's in my mouth, I hear the words of my father being like, don't do it. Jägerbaum makes you ill, Rory. To warn me about it. Maybe I wasn't warned enough in my life about things. Valentino knew immediately that this was the curse of the Ring of Destiny. He ripped the ring from his hand, getting ready to throw it into the garbage.

But it was so beautiful, he couldn't just throw it away. Maybe it was just a coincidence. So he held onto the ring for now, storing it safely in his home. That is a tough one because even if it wasn't really the curse of the ring, you know, as soon as that idea is in your head, it's hard to look at it the same way again. But you're not just going to throw the thing away. I agree, but uh... If this iPad turned out to be cursed,

if I bought this iPad, left the store, and a bird shits in my mouth, I'm not just going to put the ipad in the bin you know i need a few more birds to shit on me before i i destroy this thing that maybe was a bad analogy i really can't fault the logic i'm just i think i think it's just a complete statement and we better just not address it it was just saying. I think I'm so disturbed by the concept of a bird shitting in your mouth. A bird almost shit on me yesterday. It missed me by literally inches. Have you got got got before? Oh, I got got, brother.

I've been got multiple times. Yeah. I'm a walking statue to these sons of bitches. It's just target practice. What about you? You ever been pooped on? Yeah, only really badly one time whenever I was like 10.

And it was just, I only remember it so vividly because it was a direct hit. It was an Obama era drone strike on my noggin. I was just covered. It was like straight to the shower. Do not collect 200.

Do not pass go. Where are we talking? Back of the head, front of the head? Top of the head. Straight down like cracking an egg. Just like cracking an egg on someone comically. Yeah. Mine was more like a napalm spray when I got hit.

So it kind of like trailed all down the back. Yeah, it was a nasty one. Now that you're saying it, that does sound worse. Yeah. Because it hits your clothes and stuff. Yeah, all my backpack completely destroyed. Oh, mate. I threw that backpack in the bin, let me tell you. But it wasn't expensive.

What I'm trying to say is I don't judge Valentino for not throwing away this ring just yet. Every actor has a flop, you know? It happens in everyone's career. So to throw away an expensive, beautiful ring, the ring of destiny, just because one bad movie came out. No, I'm holding on to it too. Rory, if me or you threw one of our possessions away, every time we made a dud episode of this paranormal life, we'd be homeless. I'd be sitting here in just socks and underwear. Months went by, and although his ego had taken a bit of a hit his reputation as a hollywood actor was still intact and after laying low for a while it wasn't

long before his agent was already calling on the phone hey rudolph good news i got another movie lined up for you and this one is a guaranteed hit there's nothing that could tank this one man This one is a guaranteed hit. There's nothing that could tank this one, man. Nothing. I dare you. It was one movie. Don't talk to me as if I'm cursed, as if I'm the problem,

as if I'm the biggest Hollywood star in the world. So, shut it. Rudolph took the role, excited to be back on the big screen. And his manager was right. The production went smoothly, Valentino was great, and the movie received moderate success. He was back, baby! After the movie was, of course, the nationwide press tour, and Valentino was going to make sure that he was looking his best. So he threw open his wardrobe and gazed upon his luxurious collection of clothes. But as he ran his hands over the soft fabric,

he felt a bulge in the breast pocket of one jacket. As soon as he felt it, he knew exactly what it was. The ring. When he took it out, he was as chomped by it as ever. Why did he stop wearing it again? Some silly curse? I mean, this thing is gorgeous. It can't just stay buried in the wardrobe.

This is me picking my iPad out of the bin. Why did I throw this thing in here? Cause a bird shit in my mouth? I mean, come on. This is Schmeagle crouching on the foothills of Mount Mordor. Me can't just

leave it here. Why did me stop wearing it? It's so beautiful. There is a bit of Lord of the Rings, isn't this? Yeah, you're like, what are you going to do? Throw it away? Yes. If the Lord of the Rings trilogy taught us anything,

absolutely throw it in a furnace. You should have thrown it away. There's lots more rings out there. Not like the Ring of Destiny kit. So Valentino slipped it back on, keen to start fresh with the ring in the success of his new movie. But the press tour was cut short. Only hours after his arrival on the East Coast, Rudolph Valentino dropped to the ground. He was rushed to hospital and taken straight up to the operating theater.

The doctors prepared to remove his appendix, which is what they assumed was the source of the problem, but discovered it was perfectly fine. When they explored a little further, they found that Rudolph's body was riddled with ulcers. His health continued to decline rapidly until one morning, Rudolph Valentino never woke up. He sounded like he died pretty young then. Oh, this is a good time in the production to obviously repeat the line of the shopkeeper. You do not want the ring in the window, window, window, for its price may be more than you're wanting to pay.

All right. Yeah, we heard it the first and second times. And then, gong, the sound of a grandfather clock. Gong. And maybe the ring hitting the floor. You can do this all at once, by the way. You don't need to talk to us about it. This is the shopkeeper just bored talking to himself.

Yeah, that'd be cool. Like a grandfather clock. Dong. Yeah, I can see it now. Or you just like hear it while he's passing away. It may be more than you're wanting to pay. Pay. The doctor's like, who let him in here? Does anyone know who this man is? He's just, he's just like sipping on a milkshake. My grandmother's very ill down the hall. Valentino's fans were heartbroken. The nation mourned as his new movie,

The Son of Sheik, became a huge hit. But he would be remembered for more than just his movies. Rudolph Valentino would officially become known as the first victim of the cursed ring of destiny. Wow. Okay, so seems to be not a spoiler to say that this ring is going to go on to do great things. First of many. Yes. Many, many more. I looked down at Rory's hands. There's a f***ing shiny doorknob on his finger. Oh no.

Put it on. But before we hear about the remaining victims of the cursed ring, how about a quick word from today's sponsors? A few weeks after Rudolph's funeral, the family gathered around to hear the reading of the will. To my mother, I leave my entire fortune. To my father, I leave my various properties around the world. And to Miss Pola, love of my life,

I leave whichever one of my belongings her heart desires. Pola was touched that she was allowed to choose her inheritance. And of course, she selected her partner's most prized possession, the tiger's eye ring. Gramps can keep the

f***ing ring. Give me one of the houses. Give me one of the fortunes. Yeah, it's one of those things. I could pick anything. I'll take the house. The house has been given already. All right. So not anything then?

The car was handed down to his second niece. So a very, whatever's left. Whatever's left. I have a lucky dip. The fleet of cars goes to my mother. What's a 90-year- old going to do with the sports car? What's a 90 year? I need the sports car. You knew it was my favorite car. Sorry, I'm getting animated. Yeah, I don't know how upset you can get at the reading of a will. I think it's kind

of unprofessional. But apparently she was very happy with owning the tiger's eye. It was too big for her dainty little fingers to wear, but she did keep it on her person at all times because she knew how important it had been to Rudolph. But within a matter of weeks, something strange happened. Pola started to become ill. She was getting weaker by the day, barely strong enough to get out of bed. Surely this couldn't actually be the ring. Valentino had mentioned that it was cursed, but could it really be affecting her health so dramatically? I was hoping that when you said she became ill, it was in a kind of little way

and not sick. Not sick in a kind of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 way, but dying. This is impacting her health. Okay. That's as black and white as I can say. And not the health of her street cred, to be clear. Whether or not she believed in the curse, Pola wasn't ready to take the chance. Unsure of what to do with it, she

decided to give it to a friend of hers called Russ Colombo. In 1934, Russ Columbo was at the peak of his career with hit songs all across the radio. He'd actually been often described by the press as Radio's Valentino due to his resemblance to the late actor. So it made sense that he would wear the ring, and he did. But Russ was about to learn that curses aren't to be taken lightly. One day while wearing the ring, Columbo visited his friend, photographer Lansing Brown, having drinks and relaxing in his library. He slipped on the ring and his vocal cords all snapped in unison. It's great to see you in good health, Russ. It's great to see you in good health, Russ. Good indeed.

Although, maybe not for long. I'm wearing Valentino's ring, you see. There's a rumor going around that it might be cursed. Well, you know what they call a ring that takes a man's life from him? A wedding ring. Now, come on. Check out my dangerous collection of antique firearms. They're so old, even the slightest tremor could set one of them off accidentally.

In fact, this one here I keep loaded just in case I... Three days after owning the ring, Columbo was shot dead. That is not on the ring. Even the ring, if it could talk right now, I'd be like, nah, I don't claim that like no i don't claim that one i don't claim that one brother that's on you i'm just chilling here your friend straight up shot you dead i'm gonna keep it 100 with you like i did have plans for your demise but this was way sooner than i anticipated uh this is a true story he was accidentally shot by his friend while admiring a collection of antique firearms insane isn't it while admiring a collection of antique loaded firearms yeah

terrible idea jesus christ that's like saying they unfortunately passed away while admiring the inside of a shark's mouth you were admiring an antique collection of landmines. It's gonna happen, ring or no ring. Oh, Jesus. Now all of a sudden, Pola's going back to another funeral, and the ring's gotta be given to someone. And at this point, it doesn't matter if this ring is made of gold and jewels. She ain't taking it back.

So she gave it away to a friend of Russ Columbo's, a man named Joe Casino. All right, quick tangent. Sure. I think there's a huge missed opportunity here, and I don't mean to sound like a serial killer or an insane person, but what we have access to right now is a real-life death note. Like, if you established that this thing is legit, stop gifting it to your friends. I seem to remember we are in the run-up to the Second World War,

not that they knew it was coming. Hold on to it and gift it to Adolf himself. How about that? Gift it to someone who deserves to go. I know what you mean. It seems weird to think that this ring is genuinely cursed and yet continue to give it to all of your loved ones. Maybe Bola is warning them. He's like, hey, this is Valentino's ring. You remember him. Probably don't wear it to all of your loved ones. Maybe Pola is warning

them. It's like, Hey, this is Valentino's ring. You remember him? Probably. I love them. Maybe don't wear it. I barely wore it and I still got ill as shit. Um, Columbo's dead by the way. I don't know if you knew that Columbo shot in the head, uh, wearing the ring. Um, so you can have it, but at your own risk. Yeah. And I think we're going to find out that people who are now starting to inherit the ring are getting a little bit smarter with it. Okay. For example, Joe Cassino figured out that two people had worn the ring and two people had died. And he wasn't about to be number three.

So instead of wearing the ring, he locked it up in a glass case in his house. And that's where it remained, stored away safely in the shadows. In fact, it wasn't until years later that the ring was even found again. While rummaging through some old boxes in his house, Joe discovered it still in the case. Oh yeah, the old cursed ring. I guess I was pretty silly to get caught up in that whole thing. Ah, what the hell, let's try you on. Oh, Jesus. He started wearing the antique ring, receiving compliments left, right, and center. But really, he should have been looking left, right, and center while driving. Oh, no. Because after only a few weeks of wearing the ring,

his car was hit by a truck. Killing Joe instantly. You know, I'm not saying I don't believe in the curse of the ring. What I do think is that people with names that are this cool are not long for this world. Right. Rudolph Valentino, Russ Colombo, Joe Casino.

These are not people who live to see retirement. Yeah. You think James Dean was long for this world? I don't know. James Dean is a pretty basic name. I would have thought, but you are right. You rarely see a 91 year old dude called like Fireball Max.

Yeah. Like Fireball Max died when he was 14 yeah i've got a sports bet on axel rose dying any day now because with that rose are you kidding me how did you make it out of kindergarten well the ring didn't fall too far from the tree it was then passed down to joe's brotherino. Still a pretty cool name. Now, Del didn't believe in the curse, but he also didn't want to wear the damn thing, so he put it on display in his house, showing it off like some sort of forbidden treasure. But it didn't stay there long.

One fateful night, a robber broke their way into Del Casino's house. Luckily, there was a witness to the crime, and the police were called out immediately, reaching the house before the thief could escape. Alright, come out with your hands up. We have you surrounded. Before the burglar could even do as he was told, a shot was fired from the police barricade. Who the f- Who was that? According to the stories, the shot came from an officer at the scene who claimed the safety was on and his finger wasn't even on the trigger.

The gun just went off. And that he swore he only drank half a glass of whiskey at the bar before he was called out to that operation. Hey, we already know that this ring can activate guns via magic is it so crazy to believe it activated this officer's gun to shoot without him even pulling the trigger i don't know man if you have enough guns pointed at people like bad things are gonna happen like if all this had taken place in i don't know france somewhere where there i'm guessing weren't any guns happened like what would what would the ring have done i guess what i'm saying is the ring activates tasers people people were making life very easy for the ring

yeah yeah they it's like it's crazy the ring burned down my house. I mean, I was holding lit matches, but the ring made me trip over, throw the matches into a giant pile of dry logs, and the entire house went up in flames. After this, it's like the ring was then passed down to Alligator Jones, known for wrestling swamp monsters in his free time, but he didn't own it long. He was eaten by an alligator it's like we

know he was it was imminent ring or no ring he was going to die these people are living dangerous lives yes i will admit a robber getting shot leaving a house he's broken into not the craziest thing but kind of crazy that in the man's pocket of all the things he stole from the house was valentino's ring i know what you're saying yeah i mean we're gonna assume that this is not this robber's first rodeo so yeah kind of cool that the night he took the ring was the last night of his life and once again the ring has claimed the soul of another uh if you i think this is time for me to maybe do the clip again echo the clip the voice of the shopkeeper we all remember it's all echoing in our heads at this point the right

i can't find it in the script so i'm just gonna have to recall it from memory oh you don't want that one buddy that one's gonna cost you don't need to do it i believe it was the price of that ring may be greater than that that that you're willing to pay. That doesn't sound right. I think there was more. It was closer than what you said, which was, you don't want that one, buddy. No, no, I think it didn't.

Is that what he said? You don't want that one, buddy. That shit'll get you. It wasn't that it. That shit'll get you, get you, get you. Sure. Let's move on. Okay.

I think that was it. The ring was then returned to Del, who quite frankly at this point wanted nothing to do with it. So once again... Yeah, a police officer just picks it up off the ground, off the guy who's been shot to bits, just dusts it on his uniform like an apple. He's like, oh, there you go, Del.

No way, no way. The officer's like, all right, I guess I'll have it. Puts it on. An eagle comes, takes him away. Ah! The ring drops to the ground. No one touch it! No one touch the ring.

The ring was once again locked away, along with a handful of Rudolph Valentino's clothes and other memorabilia. And that's where it stayed. Until Del received a call years later. Del, it's your buddy Edward Small, movie producer, in case you forgot. We're in the middle of casting a lead role in this Rudolph Valentino biopic. Listen, I remember you got a box of his old shit. Would you mind if we borrowed it? That shit would really help get these kids into character.

Would you mind if we borrowed it? That shit would really help get these kids into character. Del was hesitant. The ring had already claimed many lives. God knows how many more it had claimed before even Rudolph got it. But against his better judgment, he sent the box to his buddy in the mail. The actor playing Valentino in the film was named Jack Dunn. The producers dressed him head to toe in one of Valentino's old outfits. And of course, the outfit was not complete without the addition of one tiger eye ring. We are about 10 minutes away from looking at a portrait of Abraham Lincoln and seeing that he was wearing the ring the night he was assassinated.

It's pretty crazy. This is one thing I do love about this story is because the origin of the ring is so unknown. It's like I just said, we don't even know how many people died before Valentino got the ring. He's just the first person on record that died with the ring. That thing could have been passed down from medieval king to ancient pharaoh all across the land enacting curses and suffering upon those who wear it i agree but i'm gonna need to see some receipts on that so if we could just dive into the history of the ring this is it there aren't any because uh well i don't know if you get to just assume that then it was owned by i think you said egyptian pharaoh. We don't know. And ancient kings of old.

It's hard to write receipts when you've croaked, Kit. All right? And a lot of these guys croaked. Jack Dunn barely made it 10 days. He was diagnosed with an extremely rare blood disease they think he got from handling a dead rabbit on a hunting trip. Or Kit. Did he get a rare blood curse

disease from man handling an ancient ring? I don't know. It sounds like more likely the former. He's handling dead animals. So you'd rather risk your life handling a dead rabbit? Wait, that's the one that I don't

want you to do. So you'd rather touch a harmless little bunny than put on a cursed ring? You just said risk your life, so you know it's risking my life. I'm just saying, I've touched a lot of rabbits before. Why?

The bunny burgers. I told you about this. Oh, yeah. Forget I asked. I make, produce, sell, and deal with the lawsuits around Bunny Burgers, a product that I have created. The last job on that list takes up most of the time these days.

I'm just saying, for this to come out of nowhere, right when he's about to get his big break, pretty suspicious. Well, I do agree that he doesn't have a cool name, so he wasn't destined to die young. The ring was once again returned to Del, but this time he was going to make sure no one would ever suffer the wrath of this cursed ring again. So he decided to hide the ring, keeping its location secret from everyone else in his life. The location was noted in his will, and after he died, it was sent to a bank vault deep underneath the streets of Los Angeles.

Just put it in a bin. It doesn't work! A child will find it and put it on his finger! No, it won't. Just throw it in the sea. Just throw it in the sea. Why don't I just buy a bird to shit in my mouth now, if you won't destroy the ring? You need to let the

iPad analogy go. It's not the same as an iPad. An iPad has functions. It improves your life in some discernible way. This is just an ugly ring. Did you learn nothing from Lord of the Rings? The trilogy? You can't just put the ring

in a cave. You can't just throw it in the bottom of a lake. Because a little f***ing weasel man will spend his life trying to get it but someone will find it a man will find it at least it's not your problem at that point that's true i don't want it sitting in my bank vault yeah but it doesn't seem to except for the burgle burgle reese uh it doesn't seem to be affecting people if you don't wear it you're kind of you're kind of in the clear yeah the burglaries

will get you you imagine if gandalf came to the shire found out about the ring and he was like bro you better toss that in a lake you better throw that in the bin you can't let the dark lord find that he's gonna find it you gotta deal with it and they found a way to deal with it which is burying it underground in an ancient vault what's so crazy about that the bank was robbed twice what do you mean twice it was robbed two times but did they steal the ring two times the second time the second time they got it and yeah the thieves were shot dead as they tried to escape. You know, I'll hand it to the San Francisco police in this situation. I don't know if you should.

I'm not saying that you should just shoot all criminals, but there seems to be a hundred percent prosecution rate in this case alone. No thieves are getting away with anything. The ring was then recovered, put back into the vault, but a short while later, a mysterious fire broke out inside. After it had been extinguished, the bank employees surveyed the damage and took inventory. There was only one item unaccounted for.

The ring. And it has never been seen since. Thank God, to be honest. Thank God. That is interesting, though. Yeah. So where is it? No one knows to this day.

That was the last time it was ever seen was in this vault. The fire broke out. And then when all the items were recovered and the fire died down, the ring was gone. So maybe it did burn up in the fire. Not the fiery pits of Mordor, but this literal fire. Or someone managed to actually take it and not get shot. Right, one of the firemen, Bilbo Baggins style, just his eyes flared up when he saw it and then he just tucked it away in his pocket

and they were like, hey, what is it, Greg? Oh, nothing, nothing. Sorry, I'm not feeling so well. I think I need to go home. it away in his pocket and they were like hey what is it greg oh nothing nothing sorry uh i'm not feeling so well i think i need to go home he just spends the rest of the night just looking at the ring and playing with it i don't want like we've seen a picture of the ring it didn't do anything to me in the moment but you're right maybe maybe being in the presence of this thing it just activates something inside of you the ring has remained missing to this day. Many have searched for it over the years, but as I said, it's been gone since the 40s.

There are groups of quote, ring hunters that claim the ghost of Rudolph Valentino still wanders around various LA restaurants, Paramount Studios, and his own grave, LA restaurants, Paramount Studios, and his own grave, possibly still looking for the ring that took his life. Which I really like that idea. You know, we often say that a popular reason for a ghost remaining on earth and wandering around is because they have some unfinished business here. So their soul can't be laid to rest. If he loved the ring that much and now it's gone missing and he doesn't know where it is, maybe that's what he's here doing, wandering the earth, looking for it. Do you think that would line up with any of our other cursed artifacts we've talked about over the years? Yeah, this is a good time to talk about them. Probably the most similar one

that we've investigated in a case before is Jamesames dean's car little bastard uh the car that he died in it was then passed down to a number of different people and many of them passed away not even by driving the car because it was repurposed right like someone some car got the wheels or the or the radio taken apart yeah and then that crashed the car then just like fell off the back of a truck. There's a lot of crazy shit that happened. And that was a great episode. So we have seen this sort of thing before.

Iconic piece of Hollywood history cursing the people who possess it. I think the thing that is deeply troubling to me and that I wish we could get to the bottom of is why it's cursed. Where did it come from you know i in the perfect world we would have a diagram of an aztec pyramid where there's just a little hole in the wall where this stone used to be yeah no i i love your idea of like looking back at old timey pictures and realizing that the ring has been at every one of the world's biggest battles. But it's like the worst. It's got the worst track record ever. If you look back at pictures of the loser of every great war, they're all wearing this ring. Yeah. Yeah. On the last day

of the American Civil War, the Confederate general, he's like, I know what'll give me the luck that I need today. My favorite ring. Slips it on, gets shot in the head. I like to think it was old enough that it was first put on by like a velociraptor. Like the next day they just look up and a meteorite's coming straight towards Earth.

That was the first smiting of the ring's curse. Yeah, a pretty extreme one coming straight towards Earth. That was the first smiting of the ring's curse. Yeah, a pretty extreme one to kick things off. And that is the end of the story. The ring remains missing, and those are the known victims of Rudolph Valentino's cursed ring of destiny. It's a great story and a great curse, clearly.

I think my takeaway is I hope for as long as I live that I never see it beyond the JPEG that you sent me earlier. I think the question remains like all our curse cases we've ever covered is it's unlike cryptids. It's unlike UFOs where we're looking for physical evidence.

With curses, it always comes down to is it a coincidence or is it like statistically significant yeah all the bad things because you know let's say if we look at you know tutankhamun and that curse you know that's the big argument yes lots of people who were involved in tutankhamun sure did die but then actually really if you tease out the, you realize it's over a really long period of time. There's no real through line to all the different ways that people died. And so there's a strong argument to say that it's purely coincidental.

What do you think about this one? Is it all happening close enough together and weird enough circumstances for it to really be a curse? Yeah, some of these deaths definitely stand out more than others. I mean, half of them are just robbers being shot for trying to steal the ring. It's not like some Final Destination shit where someone drops a piano off a building

and they got crushed randomly while walking home. It's thieves being killed by police officers because they have broken into a house and they've tried to steal the ring. And maybe that's why this story feels so convincing in the first place is because i don't know if we've really had that before like the concept of an a-list star that can do no wrong his career suddenly going south that feels very like interesting and believable like because actors sports people people who perform they really do believe in these kind of

omens you know there's a reason you can't say Macbeth in a theater or you say break a leg to people because they're superstitious yeah especially performers um so it makes sense that a lot of them took it seriously and a lot of them should have taken it more seriously because as we said it's crazy enough that uh valentino passed away with the ring but then also for them to go to colombo another famous performer who then sure did get shot by a friend uh not exactly a mysterious illness or some sort of mummy's curse he was looking down the barrel of presumably a gun and it went off but then also handed down to another upcoming actor

who passed away in a lot more mysterious circumstances i almost wish we didn't include so many crime shootings that kind of takes a bit of the romance away where it's like i guess you could say the ring claimed those lives but also the police claimed them mostly yeah there's a degree to which any small item of high value is going to inspire chaos you know crime people people fighting and risking their lives for it i'm not someone who necessarily believes in cursed objects like this i'd probably wear the ring if it was found and it was sort of like a sword in the stone thing like who's brave enough to wear the ring looking at the rings you're wearing right now i mean i'm i have to it arguably would fit in i think it would look pretty good the only time i've ever

had an object that i ever thought was cursed or lucky was growing up as a kid i think i talked about on the podcast before i had a lucky marble for a brief period of time. I had a lucky marble. Then I lost it. Which kind of, you know, you could beg to ask the question if you lose the lucky marble, was it really that lucky? Because it wasn't lucky enough to stay on my person.

I lost the marble, and the next day I started this paranormal life. The rest is history. Alright, I don't think we need to dance around it anymore. It's time to come down on conclusions today. Kit, I know evidence is a little bit lacking, aka I don't have the ring with me, but what are your thoughts today on the case of Rudolph Valentino's cursed ring? Love the scene. Love the setting. love the story. Clearly a very interesting curse case and a quintessential one at that. A bunch of people all struck down all with one common thread, this bloody ring.

There's something quite romantic about it, isn't it? Like a cursed ring. Of course. Sounds like something from Dungeons and Dragons. It's great. That being said, I think we're missing two key things. One being a bit more of a through line of maybe the effects of this cursed ring, as you say, ideally involving less gang and crime related shootings. But maybe more crucially is, you know, here in this paranormal life, we love a motive. We love the backstory. Why is it cursed? I mean, it's not to say that there isn't a story there, but we just don't know what it is. Where did the stone come from? What terrible thing befell the person who created it or what witch or wizard created this ring, cursing it for all

existence? Because right now we've just got a dope looking ring that bad things happen to people who owned it. And that is too close to coincidence for me. Yeah, we don't even know. I mean, the shopkeeper is the one that had it, but I think even he had very limited information on the ring and the history of the ring. So we're not at any point going to ever figure out what the backstory of this thing was. And I think you're right. I think without that, there's just too big a piece of the puzzle missing to to truly and confidently say that we know this thing is paranormal. Because as we said, a lot of these deaths are just thieves getting shot and people kind of being silly. So, you know, I did flip flop with this one a little bit, even as I was researching it.

But I think ultimately today, the curse spring of destiny is going to be a no from me. I think it's a double no today. Damn it! And I feel like a party pooper. I do. I do for that one. I'm sure this is a popular case. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, I couldn't believe that we hadn't covered this one yet. As soon as I started researching the story, I think I got to the second death and i was like okay this is worth covering yeah hell yeah we got enough on our plate and then when death five six and seven rolled around i was thinking we have to make this a two-parter yeah wow what a story though i hope you guys had as much fun listening to that one as I did presenting it and learning about it. Thank you to Amy Grisdell for assisting with the research and Louis Blatherwick for editing this week's podcast. Thanks, guys. You know, our listeners right now, Rory, might be

thinking, God damn, I enjoyed that episode. And I don't know if I can wait until next week. Well, I hate to tell them that there's a ton there's a ton a glorious back catalog of this paranormal life kind of extra stuff out there but the price may be higher than what they are willing to pay nice dude nailed it i don't think that was exactly the line because i think he said something like this shit is gonna cost you buddy i think that's what it was he didn't and also i just thought it'd be a funny like segue just keep it accurate though if you're gonna do the segue if you're gonna take my case if you're gonna take my case and then try and present it at the end it's just that if you get the words right if we if we rewind the podcast to listen i promise

you that's not the line the point is the point is that well now i'm in a bad mood now i'm in a foul little mood and i don't feel like talking about the patreon and all of its juicy bonus content that's fine it's just okay we'll move on from that quote i'll just say that much like the ring sure the episodes over on patreon.com forward slash this part of my life are beautiful beyond belief uh and and are dazzling and and impressive i never said dazzling i never said dazzling in the script you're you're telling the story inaccurately and i think that's muddying the waters because because all right it doesn't matter because it doesn't matter i will i'll quit making any segue of any kind then patreon.com forward slash this part of my life

to get well flare it up a bit buddy you can at least mention the ring at least mention the theme of the podcast a little bit don't just save atrion just there's like other episodes on there um about other curses if you want some more if you want some more episodes on curses if you enjoyed this one and want to relive that kind of flavor too broad you got to mention the ring you got to be more specific than that all right uh maybe you enjoyed the tale of rudolf valentino and his ring and want to relive uh maybe some other kind of golden era of hollywood cases uh yeah we did a bonus episode all about the wizard of oz's creation and the strange circumstances

surrounding it another pretty cool bonus episode that is true yeah that is true but this was the silent movie era this was the silent movie era and you're talking about the golden era of Hollywood so I said make it relevant and talk about the ring but don't mess with the story you're so grumpy

you're so grumpy about this I'm getting stressed guys I'm so sorry I'm so sorry But don't mess with the story. You're so grumpy. You're so grumpy about this. I'm getting stressed. I'm getting stressed, guys. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You tell the good people what you want them to know in whatever words you see fit. Okay.

Yeah. Okay. So head on over to patreon.com forward slash just paranormal life. Take a look at the tears. Well, I'll warn you now, folks. The price might be not might might in fact be more than you are willing to pay that's really close enough for me i think that was pretty i think that nailed it uh head on over patreon.com forward slash this paranormal life for all the sexy not cursed extra goodies and on the 20 tier and, we'll curse whoever you want. Yeah, or whatever you want.

You want to buy a gift for a, wink, wink, friend? A good friend? Wink, wink. You want to get them something special? Oh, we can make them something real special. Now you're making it sound like we're going to kill them. I never said kill. All I know is I have a collection of antique firearms

that with the slightest shake will go off uh if that is a gift you would like to give to a friend or a colleague or let's face it an enemy uh get in touch that is feather touch boom at gmail.com of course guys if you are on the 20 and up to here we'd love to give you a little shout out at the end of the podcast. So let's do it right now. Thanks to Gabe Guglielmina. Oh yeah, with a name like Gabe, you better be counting your days, brother.

Oh yeah. You're living fast, dying young, and turning the head of every hot babe in the Hollywood circuit. Gabe has a cursed ring pop. That's how young he's going to die. Thanks to Jack Feist. God, a lot of cool name SOBs in the Patreon today. What do you think Jack Feist does for a living?

I think he's a feisty one. That's what I think. Jack's a feisty one. Even when you have to be pretty calm and collected, when you have to be like pretty calm and like collected, you know, when you have to like just hold a baby. Yeah, not the time to be feisty. Yeah, don't be feisty with the baby, Jack. Thanks to J-Mo.

J-Mo sells potatoes, walks around all over the land harvesting them from fields. Not their own fields. Not their own fields. No, of course not. It's sort of like kind of illegal. It is illegal. Don't try and greenwash it. But all I know

is I get a great deal on my chips. So I ain't complaining. Thanks to Dan Walker. Dan Walker, the professional stalker. If you just want to freak someone out in your life, if you just want to Freak someone out in your life If you just want to freak them out It's almost like a private detective type situation

But he'll just stalk them So it's not They're not detecting anything No, it is harassment, it is illegal Get a new job, Dan Get a new job immediately, go steal some potatoes But what else rhymes with your name? That's the problem

Talker? Yeah, that's pretty good, thanks to Blair Buse Get a new job immediately. Go steal some potatoes. But what else rhymes with your name? That's the problem. Talker? Thanks to Blair. Yeah, that's pretty good. Thanks to Blair Buse. Blair Buse is about to blow a fuse. Uh-oh. You got to be careful when you're around Blair. Give me the baby.

Give me the baby, Blair. Yeah, do not hold the baby. Not a time to be holding a baby. You could be like, would you like some ice cream, Blair? And they're like, yes. Do you have any hot ice cream? They're like, I don't you have any hot ice cream? I don't want to send you off.

I don't want to make you freak out. But ice cream, by definition, is... You're asking for something unreasonable. It's like, are you going to tell me it's cold? Are you going to tell me it's cold? You're really going to give me it? Thanks to Cath Mile. Cath Mile can run a fast mile. We're talking running an entire mile in just under 47 minutes that's not fast that's not fast

no you would you would actually that's not normally that would be you would be able to run about six miles in that kind of time okay so all right well i thought maybe because i can't run a single mile i thought maybe that was impressive that they could. I think it's even pretty slow for walking, I'll be honest. All right. All right, Cath. Well, maybe we both need to work on our cardio a little bit. Thanks to Drayton Bates.

Drayton Bates is no mates. It sounds cruel, but I've been telling Drayton for years. He used to quit it with the ring thing. Like as soon as he strikes up conversation with someone or has something in common with someone, he's like, ha ha, oh yeah, nice to meet you, dude. This ring, do you want to put on the ring? Yeah.

And they're like, whoa, where's this coming from? Because he thinks he could pass it on. Yeah. Like he hasn't been got yet. So he's like, just someone else, take it quick. Get rid of the ring and then you can just befriend these people with no agenda. Yeah. Like he hasn't been got yet so he's like just someone else take it quick. Get rid of the ring and then you can just befriend these people

with no agenda. Yeah. Thanks to Agnes Jacobson. Agnes actually was also on holiday in San Francisco not that long ago and was convinced

by a boutique seller to spend a bad amount of money on a cursed ring just because they're into that kind of thing. Yikes. You think Rudolph Valentino had it bad? Getting cursed and dying?

It's pretty bad. Agnes bought a plastic mood ring. I saw it and I was like, how could you? You got scammed. Like, it's probably a good thing because now you're not cursed, but like,

Yeah, yeah. You're out a lot of money. Do you remember mood rings? They were sick. Are they going to come back of money do you remember mood rings they were they were sick are they gonna come back in do you think maybe they are we should search on tiktok see what the kids are up to hit us up agnes what was that store you went to in san fran thanks to simon m simon m of course redacting his last name just in case it's so cool that the universe will be out to get him. Yeah, what is it, Monster?

Simon Monster or Maximus? That's smart, keeping it a secret. Thanks to Hamster A Dentist. I don't know if this is a dentist for hamsters or a hamster that somehow became a credited orthodontist. Either way, I need braces. Yeah, and I don't have a lot of cash.

I don't have a lot of cash, but I got a lot of seeds. If the prices are as small as the goddamn dental physician themselves, count me in. Thanks to Austin T. Littleton. You can't hide your middle name from us, Austin. We all know it's Austin Tyrannosaurus Rex Littleton. That's right. You're not long for this, world brother. No, no, no.

Ring or no ring, you're gonna die. Just drink some Jack Daniels and let it ride, baby. Thanks to Terry Drew. I get that Terry drew, but like that's cool and all, but like stop telling me Terry drew and tell me like what they drew. What did Terry draw? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Like, cause like, what do you mean? Terry drew. It's like, yeah, I get it. I get it. He drew, he drew. Show me, show, don't tell.

Yeah. Um, we do need a cartographer for the paranormal commune. So Terry, if you are good at drawing, get in touch. We basically just need someone to draw a skull on a piece of paper. Thanks to Stephanie Woodall. Stephanie Woodall likes to whittle. That's right. They will whittle you anything that you want. They actually work in a little boutique in Savannah, Georgia. Oh, right.

It's a store that carves Christmas ornaments. Oh, that's nice. It's really nice. They whittle down wood into Christmas ornaments for trees. Working alongside elderly gentlemen called Mr. Jackson. Okay. Yeah. So if you need any Christmas ornaments carved,

Stephanie Woodall can whdle all of your needs Stephanie I'll be honest I don't know how you do it just get some earplugs or like put in a good audio book or something but just don't listen to that guy thanks to Travis Wormwood Travis you're gonna live to 103

bro be proud look at my long ass name I i'm not in the axl rose camp brother you and kit are gonna be playing chair yeah playing checkers in the old folks home at 150 and i'll be i'll be i'll have yeah we'll be memorializing we'll be thinking back to uh when we were 40 years old that was as far as rory's making it. Thanks to Aaron and Matthew May. Again, like, I get it. Like, they may. But, like, what may they do?

What may they do? I think that's their second name in this case. I think May is their second name. No, it's like Aaron and Matthew May. It's like an incomplete sentence on the screen. I don't think it is because those are names we've been reading off the list. They may leave.

They may arrive. Like, what may they do? May you move on? I may not. may they rest in peace with a name that cool that's all i'm saying thanks lastly today to chris linder chris we really need you in the commune because uh we both need you to lender us some money and launder us some money really both anything you could do to help yeah we need to lend your coin and lend your muscles in the mines so thank you to everyone that we shouted out and thank you to everyone who tuned in for this week's episode of this paranormal life believe it or not

we are now officially caught up on shout outs yeah Yeah, my God. Thank you for sticking with us. We had quite a lot to get through with our big Patreon relaunch earlier this year. But yeah, the shout out section should be a lot shorter going forward. Very true. So thank you guys for bearing with us. And thank you for listening to this week's episode

of This Paranormal Life. I hope you had a blast. If you have a ring, a necklace, anything expensive, worth a lot of money that you think might be cursed, don't risk it, folks. Yeah, I agree. Send it to us here at This Paranormal Life. We will scan the object. And safely dispose of it.

Right. Either on our person, because we are curse-proof to a certain degree, or in a box in my wardrobe. Send your cursed items, expensive ones only, as I said, expensive ones only, over to us here and we will investigate it. I will safely dispose of it in cash converters. For those of you on Patreon, we'll see you on Friday for the after party.

But for the rest of you, we will see you next Tuesday for another Paranormal Tale!