Ramón Novarro (né Jose Ramón Gil Samaniego) was a Mexican film actor and one of the leading male sex symbols of the 1920s. He was also homosexual. Like every other gay movie star of the era, his sexuality was kept clandestine. By the late 1960s, his fame had waned, but his reputation as a grandee of bygone Hollywood remained. As with many gay men in similar circumstances, he made regular use of the services of male hustlers. On October 30, 1968, two of those hustlers found his number through an agency, offered their services, came to his home, shared drinks and sex, and then proceeded to beat Novarro to death. They were in search of $5,000 rumored to be hidden in the house.