Room 1219: Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood (68 page)

This much is true…
Parents’ and siblings’ ages estimated based on their ages on June 22, 1880, via US Census Bureau,
Tenth Census of the United States, 1880,
population of Pawnee Township, Smith County, KS, sup. dist. 3, enum. dist. 302, June 22, 1880 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1881).

The town in 1883 …
William G. Cutler,
History of the State of Kansas
(Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1883),
www.kancoll.org/books/cutler/
.

“a sod house of the most primitive kind”… Nevada Daily Mail,
September 12, 1921.

Its population had blossomed…
“General Population by City: Orange County, 1860-1900,” OC Almanac,
www.ocalmanac.com/Population/po25.htm
.

Roscoe later said he never felt loved …
Minta Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 13, Minta Durfee Arbuckle Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, CA.

Schoolmates would remember him …
“Nicknamed ‘Fatty’ When Six Years Old,”
Oakland Tribune,
September 13, 1921.

Still, others would recall…
“Grave of Arbuckle’s Mother Is Neglected,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 13, 1921.

Teasing children bestowed on him …
“Nicknamed ‘Fatty’ When Six Years Old.”

“My stage career was thrust upon me …”
“The Solemn Mr. Arbuckle,”
New York Tribune,
May 6, 1917.

Bacon had been a sheepherder…
“Frank Bacon, Actor, Tired Out, Is Dead,”
New York Times,
November 20, 1922.

“For years and years he barnstormed…”
“Frank Bacon, the Creator of ‘Lightnin’,’ Dies,”
New York Herald,
November 20, 1922.

So greasepaint was used to blacken …
Roscoe Arbuckle, interview by Ray Frohman,
Los Angeles Herald,
October 28, 1919.

Hours later, a railroad worker…
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 15—16.

Entering an amateur contest at the local theater …
Ibid., 19—22.

the 1900 census listed…
US Census Bureau,
Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900,
population of Santa Clara, CA, sup. dist. 2, enum. dist. 77, June 9, 1900 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904).

“Whenever a baseball went over the fence …”
“Former ‘Kid Pals’ of Arbuckle Tell of Early Scrapes,”
Evening Independent
(Massillon, OH), September 13, 1921.

dancing jigs or belly-flopping…
“Story of a Farm Boy’s Rise to Film Star,”
New York American,
September 13, 1921.

“He was aggravatingly lazy … “
“Here’s Interesting ‘Cut-Back’ on Life of ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle,”
Evening Independent
(Massillon, OH), September 20, 1921.

“His father used to beat him …”
“Film Comedian Forgets His Two Blind Sisters,”
Oakland Tribune,
September 12, 1921.

In San Francisco two years later …
Susan Saperstein, “Grauman’s Theaters,”
Guidelines: Newsletter for San Francisco City Guides and Sponsors,
www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=200&submitted=TRUE
.

In February 1903 …
Clyde Arbuckle,
Clyde Arbuckle’s History of San Jose
(San Jose, CA: Smith & McKay, 1985), 454.

Between their first public projections …
David Robinson,
From Peep Show to Palace: The Birth of American Film
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), 61.

The Unique has a unique history …
Saperstein, “Grauman’s Theaters.”

the Hotel St. Francis opened its doors …
David Siefkin,
Meet Me at the St. Francis: The First Seventy-Five Years of a Great San Francisco Hotel
(San Francisco: St. Francis Hotel Corp., 1979), 11, 18—21.

Alexander Pantages …
Daniel Statt, “Pantages, Alexander,” HistoryLink.org,
www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=2999
.

“who persuaded me that I had a voice …”
Wil Rex, “Behind the Scenes with Fatty and Mabel,”
Picture-Play,
April 1916, 50.

“taught me several valuable things …”
“Turning Pounds into Laughs Not Arbuckle’s Ideal,”
Sun,
June 17, 1917.

a new woman appeared onstage …
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 23.

Arbuckle turned again to Alexander Pantages …
Ibid., 24.

His rotation of characters …
Eric L. Flom,
Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle: A History of Performances by Hollywood Notables
(Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009), 119—123.

One day, while returning to Long Beach …
Minta Durfee, interview by Don Schneider, July 21, 1974, excerpted at Mabel Normand Home Page,
www.mn-hp.com/minta1.html
; further details from other Durfee interviews.

“I don’t know what got into me”…
Minta Durfee, interview by Walter Wagner, July 4, 1973, in
You Must Remember This
(New York: Putnam, 1975), 31.

“His ability to do everything …”
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 34.

”Willyou marry me?”…
Ibid., 8.

the couple married in the Byde-A-Wyle…
.” Stage Wedding Draws Crowds,”
Los Angeles Times,
August 6, 1908.

Durfee was bedridden …
Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 13.

3. Virginia

Virginia never knew her father …
“Origin of Miss Rappe,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 20, 1921.

“a pretty girl of nineteen”…
“Locked in the Veterans’ Building,”
Chicago Tribune,
December 23, 1892.

“the most dangerous gang of forgers … “
“Forger Pullman Boys’ Friend,”
New York Times,
December 31, 1898.

her “grandmother,” Caroline Rapp …
Nat Schmulowitz, closing statement of third Arbuckle trial, in
Classics of the Bar: Stories of the World’s Great Legal Trials and a Compilation of Forensic Masterpieces,
vol. 8, ed. Alvin V. Sellers (Washington, DC: Washington Law Book, 1942), 38.

Rappe’s “adopted aunt”…
Ibid.

Mabel Rapp’s deathbed wish …
“Adopted Aunt of Actress Denies Operation Rumor,”
Oakland Tribune,
September 12, 1921.

a “rollicking schoolgirl…”
“Friends Defend Miss Rappe,”
New York Tribune,
November 7, 1921.

A 1908 article in the Chicago Tribune…
“Are the Artists’ Models of Chicago More Beautiful Than the Famous Models of Paris?,”
Chicago Tribune,
November 22, 1908.

she entered into a pact…
“Mrs. Arthur Greiner to Re-wed Husband,”
Cedar Rapids Daily Republican,
October 25, 1912.

“attracting considerable attention …”
Ibid.

“Miss Rappe spends most of her time… “
Editorial,
Omaha Exclesior,
September 20, 1913.

Rappe’s advice to young women …
“New Jobs Await Working Women,”
Los Angeles Times,
January 3, 1913.

when only 18 percent of American women …
US Census Bureau,
Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910
(Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1912-14).

the average annual salary for employed men and women …
Ibid.

A front-page news story early in 1914…
“Girls in Pink Bloomers Mystify Ship’s Passengers,”
Fort Wayne News,
January 13, 1914.

“the spider-web hat…”
“‘Won’t You Come into My Parlor?’ Says Spider to Butterflies of Fashion,”
Reno Evening Gazette,
May 18, 1915.

“monoplane hat” …
“Trim Little Craft Is the Monoplane, Is Now Soaring ‘Cross the Fashion Skies,”
Reno Evening Gazette,
May 22, 1915.

“summer muff”…
“With Muffs In Summer Girls Remain Cool,”
Reno Evening Gazette,
May 29, 1915.

”Equal clothes rights with men!… “
“Here’s the Tuxedo Girl, How Do You Like Her?,”
Reno Evening Gazette,
May 10, 1915.

‘“The women of America want world peace’…”
“Peace Hat! And It’s Crownless Too!,”
Reno Evening Gazette,
June 19, 1915.

“a man’s diamond ring… “
“Operated on Rappe Girl, Says Doctor,”
Bakersfield Californian,
March 10, 1922.

“member of an old aristocratic family …”
“Fashion Model to Wed,”
Daily-News Record,
July 31, 1915.

“nice but old enough to be my grandfather”…
“‘Cold and Unresponsive’ Is Men’s Description of Miss Rappe,”
Evening Record,
September 21, 1921.

She struck poses in an Atlanta department store …
“Pretty Victim in Arbuckle Gin-Frolic Remembered as Model in Atlanta Store,”
Atlanta Constitution,
September 13, 1921.

“‘Paradise Garden,’ a seven-part Metro … “
Review of
Paradise Garden, Variety,
October 12, 1917.

“tears her dress in the rear …”
Ibid.

director Henry Lehrman …
Biographical details via Thomas Reeder, “And He That Strives to Touch the Stars: Henry Lehrman and the Fledgling Film Industry,”
Galitzianer,
November 2009, 16-24.

she was listed as “boarder”…
US Census Bureau,
Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920,
population of Los Angeles, CA, precinct 394, January 10, 1920 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1921).

“one of the wealthiest and most beautiful…”
“Wealthy Young Woman to Be Screen Actress,”
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette,
September 21, 1919.

Lehrman released a terse statement…
Anthony Balducci,
Lloyd Hamilton: Poor Boy Comedian of Silent Cinema
(Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009), 77.

Arbuckle said his renting…
“Film Actor on Stand,”
Los Angeles Times,
November 29, 1921.

This lengthy headline and subhead…
“Back to Quakerland!,”
New Castle News,
March 4, 1920.

she won prizes for such …
“Miss Rappe Winning Fame as Screen Star,”
Oakland Tribune,
September 11, 1921.

He signed on to direct four films …
Reeder, “And He That Strives,” 21.

she paid Kate Hardebeck …
“Deny Miss Rappe Ill,”
Los Angeles Times,
April 8, 1922.

“Her chief delight… “
“Lauds Character of Miss Rappe,”
Evening Public Ledger
(Philadelphia, PA), September 13, 1921.

his death certificate lists …
California State Board of Health, standard certificate of death for William Monroe Ritchie, July 8, 1921, state index number 13748.

Semnacher would later claim …
“Blackmail Charged,”
Los Angeles Times,
September 27, 1921.

sandwiches and coffee in vacuum bottles …
“Lauds Character of Miss Rappe.”

Delmont later claimed she brought a pint of whiskey …
“Dead Girl’s Accusation Is Repeated,”
Oakland Tribune,
September 13, 1921.

a “very pleasant time” …
“Adopted Aunt of Actress Denies Operation Rumor.”

4. Sanitarium

the hotel’s house physician, Dr. Arthur Beardslee …
Beardslee’s actions via “Arbuckle’s Aim Short,”
Los Angeles Times,
November 20, 1921.

Rappe said she did not recollect anything…
“Dying Statement of Movie Actress Read by Doctor,”
Atlanta Constitution,
November 26, 1921.

Arbuckle spoke with Al Semnacher…
“Arbuckle Defense Opens; State Rests,”
New York Times,
November 23, 1921.

Arbuckle picked up the $611.13 tab …
“Arbuckle’s Three Day Party Cost Actor $611.13,”
Sacramento Bee,
September 23, 1921.

the steamship Harvard…
Gordon Ghareeb and Martin Cox,
Hollywood to Honolulu: The Story of the Los Angeles Steamship Company
(Palo Alto, CA: Glencannon, 2009), 13-20.

he met on the Paramount lot…
Minta Durfee, unpublished manuscript, unnumbered pages, Minta Durfee Arbuckle Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, CA.

Spreckels came to Rappe’s side …
“Mrs. Spreckels, Jr., Friend of Dead Girl Pays Tribute,”
Oakland Tribune,
September 12, 1921.

“Oh, to think I led…”
“Party Guests Give Evidence Before Coroner,”
Indianapolis Star,
September 13, 1921.

prayed for the comatose woman’s recovery …
“Pastor Wants Facts on Arbuckle Party,”
Oakland Tribune,
September 19, 1921.

5. Hollywood: 1909-12

Key works consulted for early motion picture history: David Robinson,
From Peep Show to Palace: The Birth of American Film
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1996); Robert Sklar,
Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies
(New York: Vintage, 1975); Gordon Hendricks, “The History of the Kinetoscope,” in
The American Film Industry,
ed. Tino Balio (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976).

The actual first…
William M. Drew, “The Prehistory of Hollywood,” Early Hollywood Films and Movie Stars, 2009,
http://william-m-drew.webs.com
/prehistoryofhollywood.htm.

Ben’s Kid, a western …
Andrew A. Erish,
Col. William N. Selig, the Man Who Invented Hollywood
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012), 83.

Arbuckle’s second film, Mrs. Jones’ Birthday …
Ibid.

“The Jones of the picture is a fat fellow … “
Review of
Mrs. Jones’ Birthday, New York Dramatic Mirror,
September 11, 1909.

“My God!…”
Minta Durfee, unpublished manuscript, 81, Minta Durfee Arbuckle Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, CA.