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Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Birthday: 1887-03-22 | Place of Birth: Smith Center, Kansas, USA

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2015
Looking for Mabel Normand

as    Self (archive footage)

2003
Murders of Hollywood

as    Self (archive footage)

2003
Chaplin Today: The Gold Rush

as    Self (archive footage)

2001
Arbuckle & Keaton, Volume One

as    Various

1992
The Chaplin Puzzle

as    (archive footage)

1981
Leap Year

as    Stanley Piper

1962
Crazy Days

as    Various (archive footage) (uncredited)

1961
Days of Thrills and Laughter

as    Self (archive footage)

1960
When Comedy Was King

as    edited from 'Fatty & Mabel Adrift' (archive footage)

1933
Buzzin' Around

as    Cornelius

1933
In the Dough

as    Slim

1933
Tomalio

as    Wilbur

1933
Close Relations

as    Wilbur Wart

1932
Hey, Pop!

as    Fatty

1931
Stars of Yesterday

as    Self

1927
Listen Lena

as    Fat man with strategically covered face (unconfirmed)

1927
Character Studies

as    Self (uncredited)

1926
My Stars

as    Mailman (uncredited)

1925
Go West

as    Woman in Department Store (uncredited)

1921
Gasoline Gus

as    Gasoline Gus

1921
Brewster's Millions

as    Monte Brewster

1920
The Life of the Party

as    Algernon Leary (as Roscoe Arbuckle)

1920
The Garage

as    Mechanic / Fireman

1920
The Round-Up

as    Slim Hoover

1919
The Hayseed

as    Mailman

1919
Back Stage

as    Stagehand