ThoughtCo. The first two trials . While much attention was paid to Hubbard after the trial, some former jury members told reporters that they believed that Arbuckle was indeed guilty, but not beyond a reasonable doubt. Virginia Rappe died the following day from peritonitis, caused by a ruptured bladder. "The "Fatty" Arbuckle Scandal." Allegedly, during the party, Rappe made several drunkenly statements such as, Arbuckle did it and He hurt me. Arbuckle was arrested for first-degree murder, which according to California laws at the time, included the charge of rape. However, his father no longer encouraged his acting when his mother passed away. Delmont later made a statement incriminating Arbuckle to the police in an attempt to extort money from Arbuckle's attorneys. For years, Arbuckle had trouble finding work. Arbuckle was fond of the "pie in the face", a comedy clich that has come to symbolize silent-film-era comedy itself. Fatty Arbuckle's mug shot. Are you sure Roscoe Arbuckle is getting one today? During cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Leo Friedman aggressively grilled Arbuckle over the fact that he refused to call a doctor when he found Rappe sick, and argued that he refused to do so because he knew of Rappe's illness and saw a perfect opportunity to rape and kill her. He moved gracefully, threw pies, and humorously tumbled. Arbuckle later wrote a premise for a film parodying Hart as a thief, bully, and wife beater, which Keaton purchased from him. "Roscoe Arbuckle." 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. Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was born in Kansas in 1887. [45] On June 21, 1932, Roscoe married Addie Oakley Dukes McPhail (later Addie Oakley Sheldon, 19052003) in Erie, Pennsylvania. She died four days later on September 9 from a ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis. [9], The circumstances of Rappe's death in 1921 became a Hollywood scandal and were covered widely and sensationalized by the media of the time. Perhaps even more than the specific charges of rape and murder, Arbuckle became a symbol of Hollywood's immorality. HE was one of Hollywood's biggest stars and adored by millions. Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection. The main prosecution witness, Zey Prevon, had escaped house arrest and left the country. Despite Arbuckle's acquittal, the scandal has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian. Video'Trump or bust' - grassroots Republicans are still loyal, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry. In his room, Arbuckle discovered Rappe in the bathroom vomiting into the toilet. His early influence on American slapstick comedy is widely recognised. [29], In November 1923, Minta Durfee filed for divorce from Arbuckle, charging grounds of desertion. [11], On August 6, 1908, Arbuckle married Minta Durfee (18891975), the daughter of Charles Warren Durfee and Flora Adkins. Will H. Hays, who served as the head of the newly formed Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) censor board, cited Arbuckle as an example of the poor morals in Hollywood. Newspapers went wild with the story: popular silent-screen comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle had killed Virginia Rappe with his weight while savagely raping her. He saw the crook emerging from the wings and somersaulted into the orchestra pit in obvious panic. Silent-film comedian Al St. John (Arbuckle's nephew) and actors Lionel Stander and Shemp Howard appeared with Arbuckle. 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. Arbuckle researcher Joan Myers describes the political climate and the media attention to the presence of women on juries (which had only been legal for four years at the time) and how Arbuckle's defense immediately singled out Hubbard as a villain; Myers also records Hubbard's account of the jury foreman August Fritze's attempts to bully her into changing her vote to 'not guilty'. [citation needed], This article is about the actor Roscoe Arbuckle. The third trial began March 13, 1922, and this time the defense took no chances. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Party guests tried a number of strange treatments, including covering Rappe with ice, but she still wasn't getting any better. [38] Arbuckle married Doris Deane on May 16, 1925. They were on the twelfth floor in a suite that contained rooms 1219, 1220, and 1221 (room 1220 was the sitting room). By 1930, Arbuckle sold his interest and it became known as George Olsen's Plantation Caf, later The Plantation Trailer Court and then Foreman Phillips County Barn Dance. [citation needed], The 2021 French graphic novel Fatty: le premier roi d'Hollywood, by Nadar and Julien Frey, portrays the period from Arbuckle's early days in Hollywood to his death. After five days and over forty hours of deliberation, the jury returned on February 3, deadlocked with a 102 majority in favour of conviction, resulting in another mistrial. William Randolph Hearst's nationwide newspaper chain exploited the situation with exaggerated and sensationalized stories. The second trial also discredited some major evidence such as the identification of Arbuckle's fingerprints on the hotel bedroom door: Heinrich took back his earlier testimony from the first trial and testified that the fingerprint evidence was likely faked. Who Was Fatty Arbuckle? At the hospital, Rappe's companion at the party, Bambina Maude Delmont, told a doctor that Arbuckle had raped her friend. Eventually, the hotel staff was contacted and Rappe was taken to another room to rest. [citation needed], Some experts later concluded that Rappe's bladder might also have ruptured as a result of an abortion she might have had a short time before the fateful party. His first part was with the Webster-Brown stock company. [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". Delmont was touring the country giving one-woman shows as, "The woman who signed the murder charge against Arbuckle", and lecturing on the evils of Hollywood. Arbuckle hated the nickname "Fatty" and insisted that his friends and acquaintances always address him by his real first name, Roscoe. It was to star Chris Kattan and Preston Lacy. [12][13] They made a strange couple, as Minta was short and petite while Arbuckle tipped the scales at 300lbs. [49], Many of Arbuckle's films, including the feature Life of the Party (1920), survive only as worn prints with foreign-language inter-titles. "He had magical comic timing. The birth was traumatic for Mary and resulted in chronic health problems that contributed to her death eleven years later. Working mostly in bit parts, Rappe died after attending a party with actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who was accused of manslaughter and rape in connection with her death, though he was ultimately acquitted of both charges. And though she didn't improve, she wasn't taken to the hospital for three days because most people who visited her considered her condition to be caused by liquor. The main character in the story is Dashiell Hammett, a Pinkerton detective in San Francisco at the time of the trials. But at the hospital, Delmont told police that Rappe had been raped by Arbuckle at the party and on September 11, 1921, the comedian was arrested. Although Arbuckle is unsuccessfully brought to trial on three separate occasions, the legal fees drive him to poverty and public disapproval drives his once booming reputation down the drain. For Tinseltown, of course, the show went on - it survived the Arbuckle affair, just like it has weathered many other scandals since then. Mississippi-based Arbuckle historian David Pearson says the star was the inspiration to many overweight comics, such as John Belushi, Benny Hill, John Candy and Chris Farley. [11] He was 46. Some articles stated Arbuckle had crushed Rappe with his weight, while others said he had raped her with a foreign object (the papers went into graphic details). Keaton co-wrote, directed and starred in the picture; consequently, Hart refused to speak to Keaton for many years. Dr. Beardslee admitted that Rappe had never mentioned being assaulted while he was treating her. It was on 5 September 1921, that Arbuckle ended up at a party in a luxury suite on the 12th floor of the St Francis, after taking a break from a hectic filming schedule. She, along with Maude Delmont and Al Semnacher went to a party thrown by Arbuckle on Labor Day 1921. After over two weeks of testimony with sixty prosecution and defense witnesses, including eighteen doctors who testified about Rappe's illness, the defense rested. Roscoe Arbuckle in FATTY'S WILD RIDE TUESDAY Geo. "[15] Nevertheless, Arbuckle's reputation and career were ruined because of the scandal. [55], In the Gumby movie entitled Gumby: The Movie, the supporting character Fatbuckle is an affectionate reference to Arbuckle. The jury was hung with a 10 to 2 vote for acquittal. "Fatty Arbuckle was known to have one of the biggest cellars, which meant he had all of this alcohol at his disposal," says Mann. The jury statement as read by the jury foreman stated: Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. The poor man was completely framed for the murder of Vriginia Rappe. [26], Brady's first witnesses during the trial included Betty Campbell, a model, who attended the party and testified that she saw Arbuckle with a smile on his face hours after the alleged rape occurred; Grace Hultson, a local hospital nurse who testified it was very likely that Arbuckle raped Rappe and bruised her body in the process; and Dr. Edward Heinrich, a local criminologist who claimed that the fingerprints on the door to the hallway proved that Rappe had tried to flee, but that Arbuckle had stopped her by putting his hand over hers. [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]. But the first two trials ended with hung juries and the third ended with an acquittal. [19][20] Following his recovery, Arbuckle started his own film company, Comique, in partnership with Joseph Schenck. Arbuckle's lawyers found physicians in San Francisco for authority and physicians in Chicago who would state for the record that they treated or may have treated Virginia Rappe between 1908 and 1914. 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. Norgard said he refused to give him the key. Arbuckle denied any wrongdoing. In his testimony, Arbuckle denied he had any knowledge of Rappe's illness. The couple eventually became engaged and lived together, but in the United States Census of 1920, the young actress is listed as a "Boarder" in Lehrman's home in Los Angeles. He stood trial 3 times and it destroyed his reputation and also his. Fatty Arbuckle's was modelled on American diners, and had a retro Hollywood theme. On April 18, 1922, Will Hays, the president of the new organization, banned Arbuckle from filmmaking. Fatty Arbuckles night club in Coventry 3rd December 20011 of 4. His comedies are noted as rollicking and fast-paced, have many chase scenes, and feature sight gags. had grocery-store gags reminiscent of Arbuckle's 1917 short The Butcher Boy, with vaudeville comic Fritz Hubert as his assistant, dressed like Buster Keaton. [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." After it was signed, he reputedly said: "This is the best day of my life.". Arbuckle calmly maintained that he never physically hurt or sexually assaulted Rappe in any way during the party, and he also stated that he never made any inappropriate sexual advances against any woman in his life. Nevertheless, the controversy surrounding his possible guilt and the case as a whole continues on. Rosenberg, Jennifer. And hidden gems. "A grave injustice has been done.". Arbuckle and friends checked into the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (/rbkl/; March 24, 1887 June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Another witness who testified during the first trial, a former Culver Studios security guard named Jesse Norgard, testified that Arbuckle had once shown up at the studio and offered him a cash bribe in exchange for the key to Rappe's dressing room. [28][29], The prosecutor, San Francisco District Attorney Matthew Brady, an intensely ambitious man who planned to run for governor, made public pronouncements of Arbuckle's guilt and pressured witnesses to make false statements. No one seems to remember the comedic genius of Fatty Arbuckle. [citation needed], Arbuckle and Dan Coombs, one of Culver City's first mayors, re-opened the Plantation Club near the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios on Washington Boulevard as Roscoe Arbuckle's Plantation Caf on August 2, 1928. Then, one by one, the 12-person jury plus the two jury alternates walked up to Arbuckle's defense table, where they shook his hand and/or embraced and personally apologized to him. Mugshot of Fatty Arbuckle. [6] This film was not released until 1920, when Balshofer recut it and released it under the title An Adventuress, and later in 1922, after Rappe's death, as The Isle of Love.[7]. The restaurant was named after Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, one of the most successful silent film actors in the 1910s. 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 . [61] The 1963 novel Scandal in Eden by Garet Rogers[62] is a fictionalized version of the Arbuckle scandal. Paramount Pictures had paid him an unprecedented $3 million over three years to star in 18 silent films, and he'd just. [37] After a brief reconciliation, Durfee again filed for divorce, this time while in Paris, in December 1924. Hubbard's husband was a lawyer who did business with the D.A. Virginia Rappe was born in Chicago in 1891 to Mabel Rapp, who died when Virginia was 11. [3], Roscoe Arbuckle was born on March 24, 1887, in Smith Center, Kansas, one of nine children of Mary E. Gordon and William Goodrich Arbuckle. A family trip to the cinema shortly after Prohibition takes effect. In one of the first major Hollywood scandals, the beloved and overweight film star "Fatty" Arbuckle is accused of raping and murdering Virginia Rappe. The conflicting accounts, tabloid exaggerations, and general furor surrounding the crime that ended Arbuckles acting career make it difficult to determine what actually happened that fateful day. [3], Most exhibitors still declined to show Arbuckle's films, several of which now have no copies known to have survived intact. About the collections in Calisphere. Courtroom trials are rarely cut and dry. It was then that she was taken to a hospital where doctors originally thought she had alcohol poisoning from the bootleg liquor. . With others looking after Rappe, Arbuckle left for the sight-seeing tour and then drove back to Los Angeles. [3], On November 28, Arbuckle testified as the defense's final witness. 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. Now that illusion was shattered and studio bosses were terrified it would destroy Hollywood itself.". From then until 1913, Roscoe was on the stage, performing as an . He directed most of his output from 1914 and onwards. Guests to San Francisco's Westin St Francis Hotel still ask to see the room where an infamous bootleg-booze-soused party took place 90 years ago. Further, in contrast to the first trial, Rappe's history of promiscuity and heavy drinking was detailed. But by this time, the scandal had so devastated Arbuckles career that the jury who acquitted him felt obliged to read an apologetic statement that concluded with We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame.. [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. The Fatty Arbuckle trial was marked by little strong evidence and dominated by unpre dictable testimony. To celebrate just having finished three pictures at the same time and to celebrate his new contract with Paramount, Arbuckle and a couple of friends drove up from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Saturday, September 3, 1921, for some Labor Day weekend revelry.
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