At the hospital, Rappe's companion at the party, Bambina Maude Delmont, told a doctor that Arbuckle had raped her friend. Her organs had been destroyed and it was now impossible to test for pregnancy. Fatty Arbuckle's mug shot. Delmont was touring the country giving one-woman shows as, "The woman who signed the murder charge against Arbuckle", and lecturing on the evils of Hollywood. Film Comedian, Central Figure in Coast Tragedy in 1921, Long Barred From Screen. Newspapers across the country went wild. Courtroom trials are rarely cut and dry. The poor man was completely framed for the murder of Vriginia Rappe. With the scandal as front-page news on almost every newspaper, it was difficult to get an unbiased jury. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, signing a contract in 1920 with Paramount Pictures for $1,000,000 a year (equivalent to $13,527,000 in 2021). [37] After a brief reconciliation, Durfee again filed for divorce, this time while in Paris, in December 1924. But then Rappe uttered the words that would damn the star: "He did this to me.". [25], Arbuckle's trial was a major media event. [57] However, the project was shelved. Fatty Arbuckle Follies (Silent) -- Volume 1 Various 16 DVD 5 offers from $3.68 The Vitaphone Comedy Collection Volume One - Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle/Shemp Howard (1932-1934) George B. Seitz 36 DVD 14 offers from $19.98 Charley Chase At Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume Four: 1929 Charley Chase 23 DVD 9 offers from $18.80 Though the newspapers of the day reveled in the gory, rumored details, juries found little evidence that Arbuckle was in any way connected with her death. He didn't like his nickname and asked friends to call him "Roscoe." Like many comedians, he came out of a. [45] On June 21, 1932, Roscoe married Addie Oakley Dukes McPhail (later Addie Oakley Sheldon, 19052003) in Erie, Pennsylvania. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/fatty-arbuckle-scandal-1779625. Fatty Arbuckle's suite. . After Arbuckle was arrested, the San Francisco D.A., one Matthew Brady, a man who wanted to be governor of California, pursued the case with a vengeance. Arbuckle, Fatty Crime--California--San Francisco Herald-Examiner Collection photographs Arbuckle, Roscoe,1887-1933 Rappe, Virginia,1896-1921 . [46], In 1932, Arbuckle signed a contract with Warner Bros. to star under his own name in a series of six two-reel comedies, to be filmed at the Vitaphone studios in Brooklyn, New York. Fatty Arbuckle Nome completo Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle Outros nomes Fatty Arbuckle, William Goodrich Nascimento 24 de marode 1887 Smith Center, Kansas, Estados Unidos Nacionalidade norte-americano Morte 29 de junhode 1933 (46 anos) Nova Iorque, Estados Unidos Ocupao Ator, comediante, diretore roteirista Atividade 1904at 1933 Cnjuge During closing statements, McNab reviewed how flawed the case was against Arbuckle from the very start and how Brady fell for the outlandish charges of Delmont, whom McNab described as "the complaining witness who never witnessed". He arranged bail after nearly three weeks in jail. In the newspapers, Arbuckle was assumed guilty and Virginia Rappe was an innocent, young girl. To calm Rappe down, they placed her in a bathtub of cool water. For years, Arbuckle had trouble finding work. For this trial, the jury deliberated for only a couple of minutes and came back with a verdict of not guilty. Because the first trial ended with a hung jury, Arbuckle was tried again. By 1930, Arbuckle sold his interest and it became known as George Olsen's Plantation Caf, later The Plantation Trailer Court and then Foreman Phillips County Barn Dance. About the collections in Calisphere. In their deal, Keaton promised to give him 35% of the Buster Keaton Comedies Co. profits. [17], In 1914, Paramount Pictures made the then unheard-of offer of US$1,000 a day plus twenty-five percent of all profits and complete artistic control to make movies with Arbuckle and Normand. This film was loosely based on the misconceptions surrounding the Arbuckle scandal, yet it bears almost no resemblance to the documented facts of the case. [19][20] Following his recovery, Arbuckle started his own film company, Comique, in partnership with Joseph Schenck. During cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Leo Friedman aggressively grilled Arbuckle over the fact that he refused to call a doctor when he found Rappe sick, and argued that he refused to do so because he knew of Rappe's illness and saw a perfect opportunity to rape and kill her. Arbuckle was later acquitted by. Rooms 1219 and 1221 were for them, and room 1220 was to be used for a party room. The same evidence was presented, but this time one of the witnesses, Zey Prevon, testified that Brady had forced her to lie. Rappe suffered from chronic urinary tract infections,[23] a condition that liquor irritated dramatically. Publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst gleefully noted that the scandal had sold more papers than the sinking of the Lusitania. By the time Arbuckle went to trial for manslaughter, his public reputation was already ruined. Public feeling was so negative that Durfee was later shot at while entering the courthouse. We like the whole world to look upon America as the place where every man gets a square deal. Around 3 o'clock, Arbuckle retired from the party in order to get dressed to go sight-seeing with a friend. 168 Fatty Arbuckle Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images All News Archival Browse 168 fatty arbuckle stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. While Hubbard offered explanations on her vote whenever challenged, Kilkenny remained silent and quickly faded from the media spotlight after the trial ended. There was a focus on large portions served on 13-inch plates. Doing odd jobs around the place in exchange for room and board, author Stuart Oderman reports that Roscoe liked to sing, which caught the attention of the hotel's musician, Pansy Jones. [7] Arbuckle enjoyed performing and continued on until his mother's death in 1898, when he was 11. [58] Like Farley, comedians John Belushi and John Candy also considered playing Arbuckle, but each of them died before a biopic was made. [32], The second trial began January 11, 1922, with a new jury, but with the same legal defense and prosecution as well as the same presiding judge. He was often heckled in the street. Virginia Caroline Rappe ( / rpe /; July 7, 1891 - September 9, 1921) [2] was an American model and silent film actress. The jury saw this as an admission of guilt and deadlocked in a 10 to 2 vote for conviction. Allegedly, during the party, Rappe made several drunkenly statements such as, Arbuckle did it and He hurt me. [28][29], The prosecutor, San Francisco District Attorney Matthew Brady, an intensely ambitious man who planned to run for governor, made public pronouncements of Arbuckle's guilt and pressured witnesses to make false statements. On September 5, 1921, Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle, known as Fatty, a known comedian, actor, director and screen writer, and two others rented three rooms in the St. Francis Hotel. After three manslaughter trials, Arbuckle was formally acquitted; his acquittal in the third trial was accompanied by an unprecedented statement of apology from the jury stating, in part, that, "Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. He later worked as a film director under the pseudonym William Goodrich. [4][5] He weighed in excess of 13 pounds (5.9kg) at birth and his father believed that he was illegitimate, as both parents had slim builds. He had recently signed a deal with Paramount Pictures for a whopping $1 million (about $13 million today), an unheard-of sum at the time. Search instead in Creative? Funnyman FATTY ARBUCKLE was the biggest thing in Hollywood literally but when he was accused of the heinous rape and murder of a notorious party girl his adoring public wanted him strung up! After hearing testimony from one of the party guests, Zey Prevon, that Rappe told her "Roscoe hurt me" on her deathbed, the judge decided that Arbuckle could be charged with first-degree murder. After over two weeks of testimony with sixty prosecution and defense witnesses, including eighteen doctors who testified about Rappe's illness, the defense rested. The movies were so lucrative and popular that in 1918 they offered Arbuckle a three-year, $3million contract (equivalent to about $54,000,000 in 2021 dollars[15]). "Everyone had believed the stars were covered in fairy dust. To celebrate just having finished three pictures at the same time and to celebrate his new contract with Paramount, Arbuckle and a couple of friends drove up from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Saturday, September 3, 1921, for some Labor Day weekend revelry. Arbuckle was one of the most famous actors in world at the time, second only to Charlie Chaplin. The three checked into three rooms at the St. Francis Hotel: 1219 for Arbuckle and Fishback to share, 1221 for Sherman, and 1220 designated as a party room. Paramount had just signed a giant $1 million ($13 million in today's money) deal with Fatty,. 15,645 were here. Then, one by one, the 12-person jury plus the two jury alternates walked up to Arbuckle's defense table, where they shook his hand and/or embraced and personally apologized to him. His widow Addie requested that his body be cremated, as that was Arbuckle's wish. https://www.thoughtco.com/fatty-arbuckle-scandal-1779625 (accessed March 4, 2023). Because alcohol was consumed at the party, Arbuckle was forced to plead guilty to one count of violating the Volstead Act and had to pay a $500 fine. He also said: "The American nation prides itself upon its spirit of fair play. In 1921, Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle was the highest-paid actor in the world. [39], Arbuckle tried returning to filmmaking, but industry resistance to distributing his pictures continued to linger after his acquittal. . [59], In April and May 2006, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City mounted a 56-film, month-long retrospective of all of Arbuckle's known surviving work, running the entire series twice. Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials between November 1921 and April 1922 for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. The first two cases ended in hung juries. [citation needed]. Roscoe Arbuckle, the youngest of nine children, reportedly weighed 16 pounds at birth in Smith Center, Kansas on March 24, 1887. [26], Among the more visible directorial projects under the Goodrich pseudonym was the Eddie Cantor feature Special Delivery (1927), which was released by Paramount and co-starred William Powell and Jobyna Ralston. [6], Arbuckle was nearly two when his family moved to Santa Ana, California. [14] Witnesses also testified that Rappe had previously suffered from venereal disease, so there were allegations that her death was brought on by her health rather than by an assault.[13]. What happened in the following ten minutes is disputed. Skully after being charged with the murder of Virginia Rappe, San Francisco, 1921. Video'Trump or bust' - grassroots Republicans are still loyal, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry. They were on the twelfth floor in a suite that contained rooms 1219, 1220, and 1221 (room 1220 was the sitting room). She, along with Maude Delmont and Al Semnacher went to a party thrown by Arbuckle on Labor Day 1921. For Fatty Arbuckle's American Diners, see, However, according to the Motion Picture Studio Directory for 1919 and 1921, Arbuckle began his screen career with Keystone in 1913 as an extra for $3 a day (equivalent to approximately $82 in 2021 dollars, Last edited on 14 February 2023, at 13:48, Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America, List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars, "Fatty The Skinny on the Fatty Arbuckle Trial", "Fatty Arbuckle and the Death of Virginia Rappe", "Year: 1900; Census Place: Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California; Roll: 111; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0077; FHL microfilm: 1240111", "Roscoe Arbuckle | American actor and director | Britannica", "Roscoe Always Jolly But Weak: Stepmother", "Dies in His Sleep. It was like floating in the arms of a huge doughnutreally delightful. The trial began November 14, 1921, in the city courthouse in San Francisco. Although Arbuckle was never tried for sexual assault, this notion has endured, largely because of how the trial was reported at the time. Roscoe Arbuckle in FATTY'S WILD RIDE TUESDAY Geo. Meanwhile, although Arbuckles lawyers showed that the autopsy had concluded that there were no marks of violence on the body, no signs that the girl had been attacked in any way and various witnesses corroborated the actors version of events, it took three trials before Arbuckle was acquitted after the first ended with hung juries. It was then that she was taken to a hospital where doctors originally thought she had alcohol poisoning from the bootleg liquor. At the behest of Adolph Zukor, president of Famous Players-Lasky, his films were banned by motion picture industry censor Will H. Hays[1] after the trial, and he was publicly ostracized. [64], NOFX's 2012 album Self Entitled has a song called I, Fatty about Arbuckle. Arbuckle's rehabilitation was finally complete when Warner Bros offered him a feature-film contract in 1933. Today we continue with the ruination of Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle, circa 1921. At a raucous, three-day party in September 1921, a young starlet became severely ill and died four days later. [3] Virginia was then raised by her grandmother. [citation needed], Arbuckle was a talented singer. Author David Yallop cites Arbuckle's father's full name as William Goodrich Arbuckle as the inspiration behind the alias. One of the rooms occupied by Arbuckle and his guests in the days after the infamous party. He saw the crook emerging from the wings and somersaulted into the orchestra pit in obvious panic. Succumbs at 46 After He and Wife Had Celebrated Their First Wedding Anniversary", "Minta Durfee, actress, 85, Dies; Former Wife of Fatty Arbuckle", "Home Video: Arbuckle Shorts, Fresh and Frisky", "The death of an actress in San Francisco. Now that illusion was shattered and studio bosses were terrified it would destroy Hollywood itself.". Read about our approach to external linking. The main prosecution witness, Zey Prevon, had escaped house arrest and left the country. The Day the Laughter Stopped by David Yallop and Frame-Up! Addie McPhail, a former Hollywood actress who became the third and last wife of scandal-plagued silent-film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, has died. His family moved to California when he was one year old. He eventually began directing under the name William B. Goodrich (similar to the name his friend Buster Keaton suggested -- Will B. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. These six short films constitute the only recordings of Arbuckle's voice. Although Comique produced some of the best short pictures of the silent era, Arbuckle transferred his controlling interest in the company to Buster Keaton in 1918 and accepted Paramount's $3million offer to make up to 18 feature films over three years. The couple eventually became engaged and lived together, but in the United States Census of 1920, the young actress is listed as a "Boarder" in Lehrman's home in Los Angeles. It was alleged that Rappe had died as a result of a violent sexual assault by Arbuckle. He would appear in several more Selig shorts before signing with Universal Studios in 1913. 1921. He just sat in his director's chair like a dead man. He was 46 years old. And hidden gems. But at the hospital, Delmont told police that Rappe had been raped by Arbuckle at the party and on September 11, 1921, the comedian was arrested. Some claimed that the overweight Arbuckle had damaged Rappes liver by crushing her while trying to have sex with her, while others offered up increasingly outrageous stories consisting of various depravities supposedly carried out by the actor. She died four days later on September 9 from a ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis. After five days and over forty hours of deliberation, the jury returned on February 3, deadlocked with a 102 majority in favour of conviction, resulting in another mistrial. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. In the summer of 1921, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was on top of the world. With others looking after Rappe, Arbuckle left for the sight-seeing tour and then drove back to Los Angeles. Perhaps even more than the specific charges of rape and murder, Arbuckle became a symbol of Hollywood's immorality. [6], Arbuckle disliked his screen nickname. Evidence can be lost, witnesses change their stories, and criminals can lie, making cases very difficult to decide. But overnight, the roly-poly buffoon adored by children across America was public enemy number one, and people were spitting in his face outside court. One of Arbuckle's feature-length films known to survive is Leap Year, which Paramount declined to release in the U.S. owing to the scandal. Norgard said he refused to give him the key. [3], The scandal and trials had greatly damaged Arbuckle's popularity among the general public. [citation needed], Before his death in 1997, comedian Chris Farley expressed interest in starring as Arbuckle in a biography film. Arbuckle researcher Joan Myers describes the political climate and the media attention to the presence of women on juries (which had only been legal for four years at the time) and how Arbuckle's defense immediately singled out Hubbard as a villain; Myers also records Hubbard's account of the jury foreman August Fritze's attempts to bully her into changing her vote to 'not guilty'. Jennifer Rosenberg is a historian and writer who specializes in 20th-century history. Arbuckle appeared alongside Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, and Jackie Coogan. Any trauma in the abdominal area could have caused the rupture. The next day he signed a contract with Warner Bros. to star in a feature-length film. Arbuckle and friends checked into the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Mack Sennett, when recounting his first meeting with Arbuckle, noted that he "skipped up the stairs as lightly as Fred Astaire" and that he "without warning went into a feather light step, clapped his hands and did a backward somersault as graceful as a girl tumbler". On Eve of his Comeback. During the carousing, a 30-year-old aspiring actress named Virginia Rappe was found seriously ill in room 1219 and was examined by the hotel doctor, who concluded her symptoms were mostly caused by intoxication and gave her morphine to calm her. [10] She was buried at Hollywood Cemetery (now Hollywood Forever Cemetery). Though as Fatty Arbuckle was taking the world by storm with his movie career, a new face was just beginning to make the rounds in Hollywood. Mugshot of Fatty Arbuckle. At some point, Arbuckle and Rappe ended up together in a bedroom from where, a few minutes later, her screams were heard. [11], The exact events of the party remain unclear, with witnesses relating numerous versions of what happened. "This was the guy who discovered Buster Keaton; who helped mentor Charlie Chaplin," says Arbuckle biographer Stuart Oderman. Ultimately, the judge found no evidence of rape. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s. He appeared sporadically in Selig one-reelers until 1913, moved briefly to Universal Pictures, and became a star in producer-director Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops comedies. When he was a teenager, Arbuckle traveled the West Coast on the vaudeville circuit. Virginia Rappe had had many abortions in the past and was believed to have had one a few days before the party. It also didnt help Delmonts credibility that shed sent telegrams to attorneys saying WE HAVE ROSCOE ARBUCKLE IN A HOLE HERE CHANCE TO MAKE SOME MONEY OUT OF HIM.. 'Fatty' Arbuckle in silent film Coney Island, from 1917. In Good Company While at Universal, Arbuckle worked under comedy pioneer Mack Sennett. . "[21], On September 5, 1921, Arbuckle took a break from his hectic film schedule and, despite suffering from second-degree burns to both buttocks from an on-set accident, drove to San Francisco with two friends, Lowell Sherman and Fred Fishback. On April 18, 1922, six days after Arbuckle's acquittal, Hays banned him from ever working in U.S. movies again. [53] In this film, James Coco portrays a heavy-set silent film comedian named Jolly Grimm whose career is on the skids, but who is desperately planning a comeback. It was determined that Rappe had died from a ruptured bladder. Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection. Paramount Pictures had paid him an unprecedented $3 million over three years to star in 18 silent films, and he'd just. "The "Fatty" Arbuckle Scandal." He was one of the all-time greats.". He suffered a heart attack later that night and died in his sleep. Web. Arbuckle allegedly co-directed scenes in Keaton's Sherlock Jr. (1924), but it is unclear how much of this footage remained in the film's final cut. Farley's film was signed with Vince Vaughn as his co-star. Nicknamed Madame Black, Delmont already had a reputation for procuring girls for Hollywood parties, using those girls to instigate scandalous acts, and then blackmailing celebrities anxious to keep those acts quiet. "[15] Nevertheless, Arbuckle's reputation and career were ruined because of the scandal. However, since many of Lehrman's films are lost, the exact number of roles she performed for him cannot be determined. The Eureka High girls' baseball team was in contention to win the title in 1923, following . [9], The circumstances of Rappe's death in 1921 became a Hollywood scandal and were covered widely and sensationalized by the media of the time. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Even today, publications re-examining the scandal often come to completely different conclusions regarding Fatty Arbuckles guilt or innocence. "Scandal hits industry," blared a Sept. 16, 1921, Variety. [2] Hays lifted the ban within a year, but Arbuckle only worked sparingly through the 1920s. McPhail, whose most recent . Arbuckle told them - it was a story he always stuck to - that he had gone to use the bathroom where he found Rappe in a drunken faint on the floor. The first Arbuckle trial began on November 1921 and charged Arbuckle with manslaughter. McNab took an aggressive defense, completely tearing apart the prosecution's case with long and aggressive examination and cross-examination of each witness. Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle surrenders to Detective J.D. It was on 5 September 1921, that Arbuckle ended up at a party in a luxury suite on the 12th floor of the St Francis, after taking a break from a hectic filming schedule. William Randolph Hearst's nationwide newspaper chain exploited the situation with exaggerated and sensationalized stories. [6] This film was not released until 1920, when Balshofer recut it and released it under the title An Adventuress, and later in 1922, after Rappe's death, as The Isle of Love.[7]. When he was a teenager, Arbuckle traveled the West Coast on the vaudeville circuit. Between 1924 and 1932, Arbuckle directed a number of comedy shorts under the pseudonym for Educational Pictures, which featured lesser-known comics of the day. Hubbard's husband was a lawyer who did business with the D.A. [36] They had been separated since 1921, though Durfee always claimed he was the nicest man in the world and they were still friends. It was a double tragedy.". Though Hays lifted the ban in December of the same year, the damage was done -- Arbuckle's career had been destroyed. The second trial also discredited some major evidence such as the identification of Arbuckle's fingerprints on the hotel bedroom door: Heinrich took back his earlier testimony from the first trial and testified that the fingerprint evidence was likely faked. Raquel Welch portrays his mistress, who ultimately goads him into shooting her. Arbuckle's father had always treated him harshly[8] and now refused to support him, so he got work doing odd jobs in a hotel. [55], In the Gumby movie entitled Gumby: The Movie, the supporting character Fatbuckle is an affectionate reference to Arbuckle. Fatty Arbuckle got his first break while working at the hotel. 'Fatty' Arbuckle in silent film The Waiters' Ball, from 1916. [citation needed], Arbuckle and Dan Coombs, one of Culver City's first mayors, re-opened the Plantation Club near the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios on Washington Boulevard as Roscoe Arbuckle's Plantation Caf on August 2, 1928. She never took the stand. [3], Roscoe Arbuckle was born on March 24, 1887, in Smith Center, Kansas, one of nine children of Mary E. Gordon and William Goodrich Arbuckle. The public was angry and they were using Arbuckle as a target. He soon became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. Durfee starred in many early comedy films, often with Arbuckle. [30] At the beginning of the trial Arbuckle told his already-estranged wife, Minta Durfee, that he did not harm Rappe; she believed him and appeared regularly in the courtroom to support him. At least Arbuckle didn't have to deal with Twitter.". [66], Arbuckle is referred to in a nonsensical fashion in "Have You Seen Me? in the United Kingdom, the British Board of Film Censors cited the ten-year-old scandal and refused to grant an exhibition certificate. Buster Keaton is said to have been in the courtroom and provided important evidence to prove Arbuckle's innocence; Delmont was involved in prostitution, extortion, and blackmail. At this point all those present thought Rappe was just very drunk, including the hotel doctors. In his testimony, Arbuckle denied he had any knowledge of Rappe's illness. Arbuckle was fond of the "pie in the face", a comedy clich that has come to symbolize silent-film-era comedy itself. Fatty Arbuckle was born "Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle" in 1887. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. But it was such an amazing thing for me to come in to make this broken-down picture, and to find my director was the great Roscoe Arbuckle. And as for the events of September 5, 1921, the accounts of the night vary wildly. Best remembered for the scandal surrounding the death of an aspiring actress that ended his career, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was actually one of early Hollywood's biggest stars even before the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton earned a similar stature. In 1921, Arbuckle signed a three-year contract with Paramount for $1 millionan unheard-of amount at the time, even in Hollywood. [29], In November 1923, Minta Durfee filed for divorce from Arbuckle, charging grounds of desertion. His family moved to Santa Ana when he was about two, and with his mother's encouragement, he began to act and sing on stage. His chief accuser, Bambina Maude Delmont, was a convicted criminal who had admitted plotting to extort money from him. [65], The 2020 remake of Perry Mason features a minor character named Chubby Carmichael who is based on Arbuckle. Truly exotic conditions, such as tuberculous cystitis weren't mentioned during the three trials. The conflicting accounts, tabloid exaggerations, and general furor surrounding the crime that ended Arbuckles acting career make it difficult to determine what actually happened that fateful day. With no concern for prejudicing the trial, the sensationalist "yellow journalism" Press churned out lurid stories of Tinseltown's depravity alongside coverage of the case. In 1919, Rappe began a relationship with director/producer Henry Lehrman. Arbuckle hated the nickname "Fatty" and insisted that his friends and acquaintances always address him by his real first name, Roscoe. [3], Arbuckle's attorneys later concentrated their attention on one woman named Helen Hubbard, who had told jurors that she would vote guilty "until hell freezes over". The Vitaphone shorts were very successful in America,[46] although when Warner Bros. attempted to release the first one (Hey, Pop!) ThoughtCo, Sep. 2, 2021, thoughtco.com/fatty-arbuckle-scandal-1779625. [13] Subsequent witnesses testified that Rappe had for some time suffered from cystitis, a condition which could have been aggravated by consuming alcohol. In his testimony, Arbuckle claimed that Rappe (whom he testified he had known for five or six years) came into the party room (1220) around noon that day, and that sometime afterward he went to his room (1219) to change clothes after Mae Taub, daughter-in-law of Billy Sunday, asked him for a ride into town.