Paul Valentine

Paul Valentine, born William Daixel on March 23, 1919 in New York City, was an American actor whose career spanned the golden age of film noir and the rise of television. He grew up in Manhattan, attended P.S. 40 and the Central Commercial High School, and entered the world of performance at the tender age of fourteen when he joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Early on he adopted the exotic stage names Val Valentinoff and Vladimir Valentinov, dancing with the Fokine Ballet and the Mordkin Ballet, experiences that honed his poise and stage presence. His Broadway debut came in 1937 with the production Virginia, and over the next decade he built a reputation in theatre, night clubs, and television, mastering both dramatic and comic timing. In 1944 he met the famed burlesque star Lili St. Cyr, choreographed her act, and the pair married in Tijuana in 1946, a union that merged his classical training with her dazzling strip‑tease persona; the marriage ended in 1949. Valentine made his film debut in the 1947 classic Out of the Past, playing Joe, and went on to appear in such titles as House of Strangers (1949) and Love Happy (1949). His versatile talent kept him working through the 1950s and 60s on series like Naked City and Armstrong Circle Theatre, and he continued to lend his character‑actor skills to productions up until his penultimate role in the 1984 remake of Out of the Past.

Beyond the screen, Valentine’s personal life was as colorful as his career. After his divorce from Lili St. Cyr, he married Flevur Ali Khan in 1952, a partnership that endured until his death. He also had a noted relationship with legendary dancer Sally Rand, evidencing his deep ties to the dance community. Valentine passed away in Los Angeles on January 27, 2006, at the age of 86, and was laid to rest at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. His legacy endures through a filmography that captures the transition from classic Hollywood noir to modern television, and through the lasting impression he left on both the dance and acting worlds.