Paramount Pictures had paid him an unprecedented $3 million over three years to star in 18 silent films, and he'd just. Delmont was never actually called to the stand because prosecutors knew her testimony would never hold up in court due to her ever-changing stories. A friend of Rappe accused Arbuckle of raping and accidentally killing her. In 1919, Rappe began a relationship with director/producer Henry Lehrman. On Eve of his Comeback. One of Arbuckle's feature-length films known to survive is Leap Year, which Paramount declined to release in the U.S. owing to the scandal. The main prosecution witness, Zey Prevon, had escaped house arrest and left the country. Roscoe Arbuckle, the youngest of nine children, reportedly weighed 16 pounds at birth in Smith Center, Kansas on March 24, 1887. [51], Neil Sedaka references Arbuckle, along with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy in his 1971 song "Silent Movies", as heard on his Emergence album. However, Arbuckle was still unable to secure work as an actor. Arbuckle hated the nickname "Fatty" and insisted that his friends and acquaintances always address him by his real first name, Roscoe. About the collections in Calisphere. Roscoe Arbuckle in FATTY'S WILD RIDE TUESDAY Geo. Arbuckle's rehabilitation was finally complete when Warner Bros offered him a feature-film contract in 1933. Despite his popularity, no future Arbuckle films were to be released, the letter stated. His stage name was Fatty Arbuckle, and he was a big, graceful actor with acrobatic ingenuity and a befuddled. The case against the silent movies' king of slapstick would be Tinseltown's first major scandal. After being called, Arthur Beardslee, the hotel doctor, concluded that her condition was a result of intoxication. 's office,[31] and expressed surprise that she was not challenged when selected for the jury pool. Arbuckle greeted visitors in his pajamas and though this was during Prohibition, large quantities of liquor werebeing drunk. He didn't like his nickname and asked friends to call him "Roscoe." Like many comedians, he came out of a. Arbuckle was fond of the "pie in the face", a comedy clich that has come to symbolize silent-film-era comedy itself. The restaurant was named after Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, one of the most successful silent film actors in the 1910s. 15,645 were here. [12] Delmont had a police record for extortion, prostitution and blackmail. Additionally, the jury wrote an apology to Arbuckle: Being acquitted was not the end to Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's problems. For this trial, the jury deliberated for only a couple of minutes and came back with a verdict of not guilty. Perhaps even more than the specific charges of rape and murder, Arbuckle became a symbol of Hollywood's immorality. It was determined that Rappe had died from a ruptured bladder. The defense was so convinced of an acquittal that Arbuckle was not called to testify. But nine decades on, the mystery remains: why did Virginia Rappe die? He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. His early influence on American slapstick comedy is widely recognised. A family trip to the cinema shortly after Prohibition takes effect. [40] The same year, in Photoplay's August issue, James R. Quirk wrote: "I would like to see Roscoe Arbuckle make a comeback to the screen." But then Rappe uttered the words that would damn the star: "He did this to me.". There she met dress designer Robert Moscovitz and they became engaged, but shortly afterward he was killed in a streetcar accident, and Rappe moved to Los Angeles. Addie McPhail, a former Hollywood actress who became the third and last wife of scandal-plagued silent-film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, has died. The next day he signed a contract with Warner Bros. to star in a feature-length film. One of the rooms occupied by Arbuckle and his guests in the days after the infamous party. "[27] Buster Keaton reportedly did make one public statement in support of Arbuckle's innocence, a decision which earned him a mild reprimand from the studio where he worked. He was finally able to return to acting, making short two-reel comedies in 193233 for Warner Bros. Arbuckle died in his sleep of a heart attack in 1933 at age 46, reportedly on the day that he signed a contract with Warner Bros. to make a feature film. On December 4, 1921, the jury returned five days later deadlocked after nearly forty-four hours of deliberation with a 102 not guilty verdict, and a mistrial was declared. [32], The second trial began January 11, 1922, with a new jury, but with the same legal defense and prosecution as well as the same presiding judge. In early 1917, she was hired by director Fred Balshofer and given a prominent role in his film Paradise Garden, opposite screen star Harold Lockwood. He had also requested that all showings and bookings of Arbuckle films be canceled, and exhibitors complied. In the newspapers, Arbuckle was assumed guilty and Virginia Rappe was an innocent, young girl. Truly exotic conditions, such as tuberculous cystitis weren't mentioned during the three trials. He had merely carried her to the bed and she had fallen off, insisted Arbuckle. Arbuckle became the main act and the group took their show on tour. According to party guest Maude Delmont, after a few drinks, Arbuckle strong-armed Virginia Rappe into his room with the sinister utterance Ive waited for you five years, and now Ive got you. After 30 minutes or so, Delmont became concerned upon hearing screams from behind the closed door of Arbuckles room and started knocking. [4][5] He weighed in excess of 13 pounds (5.9kg) at birth and his father believed that he was illegitimate, as both parents had slim builds. 1977. Arbuckle was one of the most famous actors in world at the time, second only to Charlie Chaplin. Arbuckle, whose real name was Roscoe, had allegedly locked Rappe in a room and crushed her with his 19 stone body weight and raped her. He stood trial 3 times and it destroyed his reputation and also his. The role: Fatty Arbuckle In 1997, Chris Farley began planning his first dramatic film, a biopic about silent film star Fatty Arbuckle, a heavyset actor who was falsely accused of. With others looking after Rappe, Arbuckle left for the sight-seeing tour and then drove back to Los Angeles. Despite Arbuckle's acquittal, the scandal has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian. [64], NOFX's 2012 album Self Entitled has a song called I, Fatty about Arbuckle. McNab was furthermore able to get Nurse Hultson to admit that the rupture of Rappe's bladder could very well have been a result of cancer, and that the bruises on her body could also have been a result of the heavy jewelry she was wearing that evening. He discovered Buster Keaton and Bob Hope. [19][20] Following his recovery, Arbuckle started his own film company, Comique, in partnership with Joseph Schenck. Newspapers went wild with the story: popular silent-screen comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle had killed Virginia Rappe with his weight while savagely raping her. While Hubbard offered explanations on her vote whenever challenged, Kilkenny remained silent and quickly faded from the media spotlight after the trial ended. [3] Arbuckle hired as his lead defense counsel Gavin McNab, a competent local attorney. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. His widow Addie requested that his body be cremated, as that was Arbuckle's wish. Film actor William S. Hart, who had never met or worked with Arbuckle, made a number of damaging public statements in which he presumed that Arbuckle was guilty. [14] Witnesses also testified that Rappe had previously suffered from venereal disease, so there were allegations that her death was brought on by her health rather than by an assault.[13]. The jury began deliberations April 12 and took only six minutes to return with a unanimous not-guilty verdict; five of those minutes were spent writing a formal statement of apology to Arbuckle for putting him through the ordeal, a dramatic move in American justice. Arbuckle and Fischbach then took her to room 1227 and called the hotel manager and doctor. "[41], Eventually, Arbuckle worked as a director under the pseudonym "William Goodrich". The poor man was completely framed for the murder of Vriginia Rappe. [36] They had been separated since 1921, though Durfee always claimed he was the nicest man in the world and they were still friends. The Fatty Arbuckle Trial: The Injustice of the Century . Arbuckle however, testified that he had gone into his bathroom and found Rappe already there on the floor, vomiting. The first two cases ended in hung juries. He had recently signed a deal with Paramount Pictures for a whopping $1 million (about $13 million today), an unheard-of sum at the time. The public was angry and they were using Arbuckle as a target. Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle surrenders to Detective J.D. Tuesday, August 20, 2019. Jury Nullification: Definition and Examples, Charles Manson and the Tate and LaBianca Murders, How Conservative Hollywood Became a Liberal Town, Profile of Death Row Inmate Brenda Andrew, Overview of the Jury Trial Stage of a Criminal Case, Profile of Husband Killer Kelly Gissendaner, Murder of Helen Jewett, Media Sensation of 1836, B.A., History, University of California at Davis. In the words of his first wife, "Roscoe only seemed to find solace and comfort in a bottle". Although Arbuckle was able to keep his leg, he was prescribed morphine against the pain; he would later be accused of being addicted to it. [3] The defense had also obtained a letter from Delmont admitting to a plan to extort payment from Arbuckle. [29], In November 1923, Minta Durfee filed for divorce from Arbuckle, charging grounds of desertion. [citation needed], Arbuckle was a talented singer. It was like floating in the arms of a huge doughnutreally delightful. He also mentored Charlie Chaplin, Monty Banks and Bob Hope, and brought vaudeville star Buster Keaton into the movie business. In the summer of 1921, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was on top of the world. And as for the events of September 5, 1921, the accounts of the night vary wildly. We like the whole world to look upon America as the place where every man gets a square deal. "This was the guy who discovered Buster Keaton; who helped mentor Charlie Chaplin," says Arbuckle biographer Stuart Oderman. The scandal that followed her death had nothing to do with the fame, or lack of it, of the pretty actress - it was her link to the man who was known as "America's Funnyman . Director: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. The grand jury yesterday evening indicted Roscoe Arbuckle on a charge of manslaughter. Arbuckle discouraged anyone from addressing him as "Fatty" off-screen, and when they did so his usual response was, "I've got a name, you know. 237K views 1 year ago In 1921 Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle was charged with the murder of a young actress called Virginia Rappe. Probably assuming Rappe would simply sleep it off, Arbuckle drove Taub into town. "Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915," database, FamilySearch (, Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 02:12, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7WC-F8M, "The Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920", "Sausalito News 12 November 1921 California Digital Newspaper Collection", "Fatty Arbuckle and the Death of Virginia Rappe", Crime Library Article on the Rappe/Arbuckle case, Film researcher discusses the Fatty Arbuckle trial, Allan Ellenberger blog entry on Virginia Rappe, 'Fatty' Arbuckle and Hollywood's first scandal, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virginia_Rappe&oldid=1140848504, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 02:12. It was then that she was taken to a hospital where doctors originally thought she had alcohol poisoning from the bootleg liquor. He was 46. Another partygoer soon accused Fatty Arbuckle of raping and killing her and he was tried three different times for those crimes. plus-circle Add Review. He soon became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. Although Comique produced some of the best short pictures of the silent era, Arbuckle transferred his controlling interest in the company to Buster Keaton in 1918 and accepted Paramount's $3million offer to make up to 18 feature films over three years. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/fatty-arbuckle-scandal-1779625. Fatty Arbuckle began his film career the Selig Polyscope Company. Among the guests was Virginia Rappe, a 30-year-old struggling actress who suffered from chronic cystitis, a bladder inflammation. At least Arbuckle didn't have to deal with Twitter.". The papers went wild with thestory. Arbuckle wrote the story for a Keaton short called Day Dreams (1922). Rooms 1219 and 1221 were for them, and room 1220 was to be used for a party room. [33] It was eventually released in Europe. [3], By the time of Arbuckle's third trial, his films had been banned, and newspapers had been filled for the past seven months with stories of Hollywood orgies, murder, and sexual perversion. Rappe was not hospitalized until two days after the incident.[3]. Web. [3], Arbuckle's attorneys later concentrated their attention on one woman named Helen Hubbard, who had told jurors that she would vote guilty "until hell freezes over".