Roscoe Arbuckle Essay, Research Paper

Roscoe Arbuckle was born in Kansas on March 24, 1887. At birth Roscoe

weighed an amazing 14 pounds, thus his nickname Fatty . He is named after the Republican politician, Roscoe Conkling. In the fall of 1887, his family moved to Santa Anna, California.

In 1899, Mary Arbuckle, Fatty s mother died. After his mother s death, his father abandoned him. Roscoe began making a living by doing little jobs in a hotel in San Jose. While he was at work in the kitchen, he would sing. One day while on the job a lady who was a singer in the hotel heard him. She took him to a theater in the neighborhood where he won at the amateur night. David Grauman, a showman, saw Roscoe there and soon Roscoe was in Vaudeville with his own singing and dancing career.

In 1904, Fatty began touring the American West Coast when he joined the Pantages. He appeared in his first movie, Ben s Kid in 1909. He was so embarrassed that he didn t tell anyone about it. In the same year, he fell in love with a singer named Minta Durfee whom he married shortly after.

In 1913, Fatty wanted to try his luck at Keystone. He was lucky by doing it at the right time because Mack Sennett s lead comic, Fred Mace, had just left the studio for more money. Roscoe was hired immediately along with his wife. His nephew was hired also against Fatty s will. In April, 1913, The Gangsters made a beginning and fatty quickly became one of the most popular figures at Keystone. In A Noise from the Deep , Fatty became the first film comedian to be hit with a pie.

In early 1914, a man by the name of Charles Spencer Chaplin was hired to replace comedian Ford Sterling. Chaplin decided to borrow Fatty s pants and became popular overnight as the Little Tramp . Shortly after Chaplin s arrival, Fatty became the first of the silent comedians to direct his own film. His first was Barnyard Flirtations.

When Chaplin left, Fatty was teamed with Mabel Normand. They created the Fatty and Mabel series which lasted through 1916. It brought millions in profit. When Mabel caught Sennett, the producer and her lover, with another woman, she left the studio. Roscoe then moved to east New Jersey along with his wife, nephew, and dog, Luke, who was being paid $150 a week. By the end of 1916, Sennet was going to sell Keystone so Roscoe began an independent production. At the same time Roscoe divorced Minta.

Towards the end of 1916, Fatty got a deal he couldn t refuse. Joseph Schenk offered him $1000 a day, 25% of the profits, and complete creative control of his films. With the making of the Comique films, Fatty became as popular as Chaplin. Films like Coney Island , Out West , The Bellboy , Goodnight Nurse! , The Sheriff , Back Stage , and The Garage , were what made him the most popular.

In 1919, Joseph Schenk moved Fatty to features something no other slapstick comedian could do. Even better was Paramount s offering of a million dollar a year contract. Roscoe gave up the Comique to Buster Keaton and signed with Paramount. Fatty starred in nine features. He was working so hard that he decided he needed a vacation. He took a three day vacation to San Fransisco which was the biggest mistake of his life.

On September 5, 1921, a party was held on the twelfth floor suite that Fatty was staying in. Three rooms were used. One of the guests was an actress named Virginia Rappe who had already had five abortions. She also got thrown off the Keystone because of venereal disease. Along with her came Bambina Maude Delmont whom had at least fifty counts of extortion, bigamy, fraud, and racketeering. He was also known as a professional correspondent for blackmailers.

Fatty invited no one to the party. In fact, he was concerned that he might lose his reputation, because these people were here. He left the party and entered his bedroom to change clothes. When entering the adjoining bedroom, he found Rappe passed out on the floor. Fatty helped her up and put her on the bed. He left and when he returned with others, Rappe was screaming with pain. The hotel management was called and Fatty helped her to room 1227 where he left and went sightseeing with a friend.

Four days later Rappe died of peritonitis. It was brought on by the rupture of her Fallopian tubes, complicated by pus accumulation in the tubes from gonorrhea. Maude Delmont had a different reason for the death and filed charges against Fatty saying that Fatty raped her. Later that day, Fatty was arrested for murder.

This led to a heyday for the press who criticized Fatty. As far as the public was concerned, he was guilty. The judge; however, reduced the charge of murder to manslaughter. When Fatty testified, District Attorney Bradey failed to

shake him. Medical experts agreed that Rappe had died of a ruptured bladder and acute peritonitis.

On December 4th, a hung jury found 10 – 2 for acquittal. Fatty was tried again and did not testify on his behalf. This time the verdict was 10 – 2 for conviction. There was a third trial in which Fatty did testify again and this time he was found innocent.

After the trial, Roscoe found himself unemployed as an actor. He was also in debt from lawyer s fees. His friends helped him out of debt and gave him a trip to the Orient to help him forget about the trial. In 1923, when Fatty returned, he directed Sherlock Jr. Shortly into production, Fatty was removed because of the stress. In 1925, Fatty married Doris Deane. They divorced in 1928.

Fatty began to use an alias, William Goodrich, after his dad, to direct comedies. He opened The Plantation Club, but it was closed shortly due to the Depression. On the tenth anniversary of the scandal, Motion Picture Magazine wrote Doesn t Fatty Arbuckle Deserve a Break? The fans demanded that Fatty return.

In 1932, Fatty signed to star in six, two reel, short comedies by Jack Warner. He also married Addie McPhail. On June 28th, Fatty finished the last film and based on their success, he was signed by Warner Brothers to make a feature length film. On June 29, 1933, Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle died from heart failure. Some believe it to be a broken heart.