Roscoe
Conkling Arbucke was born on March 24, 1887 in Smith Center,
Kansas. His family was a poor one, constantly struggling and
on the move. When baby Roscoe was just one year old they moved
to California. Roscoe would grow into a stocky, overweight
child. The nickname ‘Fatty’ was given him by local
children and was to stick for life. In his late teens Roscoe
began to acquire a name for himself in the entertainment
industry as a singer. In this capacity he was to entertain in
dance halls. His life was changed forever in 1912
when he met
Mack Sennet, the owner of a fledgling movie production company
known as the Keystone Film Company.
In Arbuckle,
Sennet saw the makings of a slap stick comedian. He was soon
featuring Roscoe in his two-reel silent comedies. When Sennet
developed the Keystone Cops, Arbuckle was featured as one of
the mainstays. Arbuckle’s popularity with the audiences was
immediate. He soon had his own headline in the “Fatty and
Mabel” series of films, which co-starred Mack Sennet’s
girlfriend Mabel Normand. He also starred in films with
Charlie Chaplin and with Buster Keaton.
In 1916,
Arbuckle defected to the Paramount Pictures Studios. Here he
was offered the unique privilege of having complete artistic
control over his movies. The Comique Film Corporation was
created to accommodate this. Arbuckle’s movie success
escalated over the next few years. By 1920 he was making seven
reel features. In early 1921 Paramount was so convinced of
Arbuckle’s goldmine potential that they offered him a 3 year
deal at the unheard of rate of $1 million per year.
During the
first eight months of 1921 Roscoe made nine feature films for
Paramount. By September he was in desperate need of a break.
On Labor Day Weekend he decided to take a break in San
Francisco along with a couple of friends. They arrived at the
St. Francis Hotel and immediately ordered whiskey and a
victrola delivered to their room. For the next two days a
period of drinking, partying and alleged debauchery followed.
Sometime during this period the party was joined by a dress
model named Bambina Maude Delmont, an agent named Al Semnacher
and a young actress by the name of Virginia Rappe.
Rappe began to complain about
abdominal pains, and went to the bathroom attached to
Arbuckle's sweet to vomit. From here, the details become
very unclear. One possibility is that Arbuckle found her
in his bathroom, brought her to his bed and
applied ice to her
abdomen. She didn't go to the hospital for three more days and
died that Friday, at the hospital, of a ruptured bladder.
On September
10 Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle was charged with murder.
Immediately the press was all over the story and sensationalized
that Arbuckle had caused the rupture by
crushing Rappe while on top of her. Even more lurid
accounts suggested that Fatty Arbuckle had violated her
Virginia using a champagne bottle. Two
days later voluntary and state mandated bans were imposed on
Arbuckle’s movies. On September 13, a Grand Jury returned an
indictment of manslaughter against Arbuckle.
On November
18 the court case of the century began. Three weeks later the
Judge dismissed the jury after they were unable to come to a
decision. A new trial was set for January, 1922. Again the
jury failed to reach agreement and a mistrial was once again
entered into the records. The third trial began in March,
1922. This time after just six minutes of deliberation the
jury reached agreement. Roscoe Arbuckle was found not guilty
of manslaughter.
As to what
actually happened, many theories abound. Some prevailing
ones are: that the rupture was caused by a failed
abortion; or the cause was a tragic game gone wrong where
Virginia tickled Fatty and his knee accidentally caught her in
the stomach. It is possible even that Rappe died from
complications having to do with syphillis.
Fatty
Arbuckle’s career, however, was over. He was banned from the
screen for a time. On readmittance he was forced to change his
name to get work. In the late Twenties he was getting steady
work as a director. In 1932, he had worked his way back in
front of the camera, but it was too late. Roscoe Arbuckle died
of a heart attack on June 29, 1933. He was 46 years of age.