- Born
- Died
- Place
Roscoe Arbuckle
Roscoe Arbuckle (March 24, 1887 - June 29, 1933), widely known to audiences as “Fatty” Arbuckle, was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd as well as with his nephew, Al St. John. He also mentored Charlie Chaplin, Monty Banks and Bob Hope, and brought vaudeville star Buster Keaton into the movie business. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood at the time.
In one of the earliest Hollywood scandals, Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials between November 1921 and April 1922 for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. Rappe had fallen ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel in September 1921, and died four days later. A friend of Rappe accused Arbuckle of raping and accidentally killing her. The first two trials resulted in hung juries, but the third acquitted Arbuckle. The third jury took the unusual step of giving Arbuckle a written statement of apology for his treatment by the justice system. Despite Arbuckle's acquittal, the scandal largely halted his career and has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian.
As director
Bridge Wives
It's a Cinch
Keep Laughing
Mother's Holiday
Niagara Falls
Moonlight and Cactus
Gigolettes
Anybody's Goat
Hollywood Lights
Hollywood Luck
The Lure of Hollywood
Queenie of Hollywood
Marriage Rows
Pete and Repeat
Ex-Plumber
The Back Page
That's My Line
Beach Pajamas
Up Pops the Duke
The Tamale Vendor
Smart Work
Idle Roomers
That's My Meat
One Quiet Night
Take 'em and Shake 'em
Windy Riley Goes Hollywood
Honeymoon Trio
Three Hollywood Girls
Once a Hero
Crashing Hollywood
As actor
A Brave Engineer: Buster Keaton's Last Ride
Wonder Dogs! Canine Stars of the Silent Era (1898-1928)
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection 1917-1923
Looking for Mabel Normand
The Parrott Chase
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Buster Keaton: From Silents to Shorts
So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM
Chaplin Today: The Gold Rush
Murders of Hollywood
Arbuckle & Keaton, Volume One
Arbuckle & Keaton, Volume Two
The Casting Couch
The Chaplin Puzzle
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Crazy Days
Days of Thrills and Laughter
When Comedy Was King
Happy Times and Jolly Moments
Buzzin' Around
In the Dough
How've You Bean?
Close Relations
Tomalio
Hey, Pop!
Stars of Yesterday
Listen Lena
Character Studies
My Stars