Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd. He mentored Charlie Chaplin and discovered Buster Keaton and Bob Hope. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s, and soon became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, signing a contract in 1920 with Paramount Pictures for US$1 million .
Between November 1921 and April 1922, Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for the rape and manslaughter of young film actress Virginia Rappe. Rappe had suddenly fallen ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on September 5, 1921; she died four days later. Arbuckle was accused by Rappe's dubious acquaintance of raping and accidentally killing Rappe. After the first two trials, which resulted in hung juries, Arbuckle was acquitted in the third trial and received a formal written statement of apology from the jury.
Despite Arbuckle's acquittal, the scandal ruined his career and even today, has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian. Following the trials, his films were banned and he was publicly ostracized. Although the ban on his films was lifted within a year, Arbuckle only worked sparingly through the 1920s. He later worked as a film director under the pseudonym William Goodrich. He was finally able to return to acting in 1932, making short two-reel comedies for Warner Bros.
Arbuckle died in his sleep of a heart attack in 1933 at the age of 46, reportedly on the same day he signed a contract with Warner Bros. to make a feature film.
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24. March 1887 – 29. June 1933
