A Sad Clown

It only took six minutes for the jury to make a decision, a remarkable thing when you consider the emotion of the trial and the alleged crime that was committed. For a jury to come back so quickly, it must have had a firm mind collectively about what had occured. This jury did. They knew the immensity of what they were about to say. The whole world was waiting. So, on this day in April, 1922, the foremen of the jury read the decision: not guilty. And, after he read this, a very strange thing happened. The jury read an apology, in open court, to the defendant. They were apologizing to the man sitting at the defense table for all that he had been through these last months. The unfairness and the public condemnation. The smearing by the press and the unforgiving public. The jury was not responsible for any of these actions. But, they, as decent human beings, felt like it needed to be said. The defendant, universally admired for his physical comedy, did what all sad clowns do....... He cried..... Roscoe Arbuckle was born huge. Coming into the world on March 24, 1887, he checked in at a healthy 13 pounds. Both of his parents were very skinny people, which made his father, a very cruel man, to declare that young Roscoe was not his. In fact, the name given to the child, Roscoe, was a personal swipe at a politician that the father despised, Roscoe Conkling. The mother was loving, however, to the baby. Unfortunately, The birth of such a big child turned out to be eventually fatal to the mother. She suffered from recurring health problems in young Roscoe's childhood, and, would die 12 years later..... As a child, Roscoe was very talented. A big showoff. He loved to sing and dance and seemed to have a natural ability to draw people to him. He was naturally shy---- a lifelong affliction---- so, performing, with his mother's encouragement, got him out of his shell and he made friends easily. He was such a natural, that at the age of 8, he was performing locally in talent shows. After his mother's death at 12 years old, the father, true to his harsh form treatment of his son, refused to support Roscoe. The boy, now a hefty teenager, was left to fend for himself and got odd jobs around his hometown of Santa Ana, California. He still performed in talent shows, always winning the audiences over with his fine voice and dancing. For a big teenager, Roscoe was quite agile onstage. Soon, as a young man, he would find his way into vaudeville and perform in various shows on the West Coast. By the age of 21, Roscoe had himself a solid living going, being a popular performer traveling the country doing his comedy. His specialty was physical schtick, juggling, falling down, using his face to grab the laughs. He was piling up good contacts in show business and eventually, Hollywood came calling. In 1909, he started making silent films [there were no other types of films back then. This was pre-sound] and found his way into the legendary Keystone Cops comedies. By his early twenties, Roscoe had grown to a huge weight, over the 300 pounds mark. It was around this time that he was given his nickname in movies that he loathed. The studio and its producers added the name ''Fatty'' to his given name. For the rest of his life, he had to live with the name Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle......Throughout the first dozen years of the 1900's, Roscoe Arbuckle steadily climbed the ladder of success in show business. He still appeared with the Keystone Cops in their enormously successful comedies. He also married, in 1908, to Minta Durfee. By 1914, Paramount came calling for his services. He and his frequent co-star, Mabel Normand, signed with the studio for big money, eventually, reaching $3 million dollars a year, an extraordinary sum for those times. Roscoe Arbuckle became a box office sensation, drawing in crowds by the millions and amassing a legion of dedicated fans. He was the John Candy of his day, beloved by all masses for his comedy and the sad face of a fat man. His weight, by 1916, had gotten so out of hand, that he developed an infection so severe that it was thought that he might lose his leg to amputation. He kept his leg and lost nearly a hundred pounds, rounding out around a still-hefty 260 pounds. Sadly, probably because of his infection, he developed an addiction to morphine and alcohol...... Although the public still called him ''Fatty'' Arbuckle, Roscoe enjoyed the attention and money that fame brought him. Women were also attracted by his stardom. They flocked around him and his glamour. For a shy, unwanted fat child, the attentions of the fairer sex must have gratified him. He was still shy, but alcohol helped overcome his shyness. He drank plenty, even with the strict Prohibition law in place. Roscoe liked to have a good time, anytime, with anybody, anywhere. And, so on September 5, 1921 in San Francisco, Roscoe and his friends decided to throw a wing-ding of a party...... Roscoe holed up in the St. Francis Hotel. He had two male friends with him, Lowell Sherman and Fred Fischbach. The three checked into three rooms, one of which, Room 120, was designated the party room. Coming along with the three rounders were several women invited to the party. You could call them ''loose women'' or hookers, depending on your viewpoint. But, all of those present liked to party, especially, during the restriction of alcohol because of Prohibition. Bathtub gin and other illegally smuggled items for the experienced juicer were plentiful. Soon, all of the party guests were getting drunk and randy with their libidos. But, a problem soon developed with one of the guests. Her name was Virginia Rappe, who claimed to be an aspiring actress. This was later to be proved to be untrue. However, at the party, Ms. Rappe was discovered to be seriously ill in one of the adjacent rooms to the party. The hotel doctor examined her and determined that her abdominal pain was caused by alcohol intoxication and shot some morphine into her to calm her........ Virginia Rappe was bad news. She was the type of person that all show business people seem to attract. The groupie leech that goes after the stars fame and wallet. She had a reputation as a party girl, someone who overdrank so much that she was a danger to be around. She suffered from chronic crystitis, a condition that needs a body to practice clean living. Certainly, alcohol and crystitis do not mix. In fact, booze could leave her in severe distress and pain. She developed a reputation for getting hammered at parties and tearing her clothes off from the resulting physical pain. She also, by several accounts, had several abortions in the span of just a few years. Rumor had it that she had recently had a recent abortion---- it was illegal, therefore, it was performed in a back room, sleazy place----- and her insides were still recovering from that. So, for two days after the party, she was in extreme pain with all of her ailments, compounded by her reckless drinking. After the second day, Virginia Rappe was rushed to the local hospital.......At the hospital, Rappe's friend who was also at the party, Bambina Delmont, told the attending physicians that Virginia had been raped at the party. Delmont named the famous comedian Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle as the culprit. The doctors examined Rappe for signs of rape but found no evidence that this had occured. The next day, while still in the hospital, Virginia Rappe died from peritonitis, caused by a ruptured bladder. Delmont told the police that Arbuckle had raped Rappe at the party and the police determined that, because Arbuckle was so obese, his body caused Rappe's bladder to rupture. Rappe's ''manager'', Al Semnacker, joined the accusation train and said that Arbuckle used a big piece of ice to simulate sex with Rappe, therebye, causing her internal injuries. In time, the ice would be embellished by urban legend into Arbuckle raping Rappe with a coke bottle......... Roscoe Arbuckle was arrested by the police on suspicion of rape and possible manslaughter. He steadfastly denied all of the charges, as did witnesses at the party. With the exception of Bambina Delmont, all of the partygoers supported Arbuckle's contention that there was no rape of Rappe. The ice that was supposedly used was in fact used. But, it was used by Arbuckle to rub on Rappe's stomach to try to ease her internal pain before the doctor was called. The people at the party attested to this vigorously. But, the police chose to believe the Delmont story more than the majority of eyewitnesses. Roscoe Arbuckle would be facing a trial....... The affects on the reputation and the career of Roscoe Arbuckle were swift and furious. The establishment came down hard on him. Immediately, overnight, this beloved comic was transformed into a predatory rapist and murderer. The newspapers, true to form, never let the facts interfere with a juicy story. Arbuckle was portrayed as a drunken lecher who prayed on innocent young girls, getting them drunk and taking advantage of them. Arbuckle, of course, was not like this at all, for he still retained his childhood shyness and awkwardness around women. But, yellow journalism, led by the despicable William Randolph Hearst and his chain of scandal sheets, went after Arbuckle with moral indignation. Soon, Arbuckle's career stopped dead in the water. Morality groups called for his execution, even before a trial started. Hollywood turned its back on him, with his pictures being banned now from playing. Despite public support from big stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Arbuckle was instantly blackballed in the industry he helped make rich. In the blink of an eye, Roscoe Arbuckle became Public Enemy Number 1........ Now that the lid was off and it was open season to go after the famous comedian Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle, the politicians came running hard to join the circus of the public lynching of a celebrity. San Francisco District Attorney Matthew Brady, who never saw a headline he couldn't exploit for his own purposes, publicly condemned Arbuckle. He also, by historical accounts, pressured witnesses, from the party and the hospital, to lie. Brady first zeroed in on the friend of Virginia Rappe, Bambina Delmont, during the indictment hearing. He planned to use this woman, who had a proven history of racketeering, bigamy, fraud, and extortion, to be his chief witness. The fact she was the only one at the party that contended that Arbuckle raped Rappe was the clincher. But, the defense had a trump card to play against Delmont. They had obtained a letter from Delmont admitting to a plan to extort money from Arbuckle. Brady, defeated after hearing this, decided that Delmont would not testify. The judge in the indictment hearing found no evidence of rape but he decided to go ahead with charges against Arbuckle. Why? Because one of the guests at the party, Zey Prevon, said that Rappe told her on her deathbed that ''Roscoe hurt me''. Incredibly, despite no evidence of rape and the testimony of the other witnesses, Roscoe Arbuckle was charged with first degree murder. It would later be reduced to a charge of manslaughter......There were three trials in total. The first trial consisted of prosecutor Brady bringing forth witnesses to testify against Arbuckle. All of the witnesses were shot down by the defense, showing the jury that their testimony was not credible, and, in some cases, perjury. The most affecting moment of the two week trial came with the testimony of Roscoe Arbuckle. What he basically said was the truth: he did not rape or harm Virginia Rappe at all. Arbuckle said he came across Rappe vomiting in the bathroom. She told him that she felt ill and asked to lie down. He carried her, in full view of other partygoers, to the bedroom and put her on the bed. He left the room to go talk to a few guests about helping her when he heard her having violent convultions on the floor. To calm her, the guests and him put her in the bathtub to cool her off. Then, Arbuckle called the hotel doctor who examined her and deducted she was just drunk and shot her up with morphine [the doctor was never investigated in this case for misdiagnosing Rappe. He should have been]. That was the last time Arbuckle saw Rappe. During his cross-examination by the prosecution, Arbuckle refused to buckle under the heat, no matter what was thrown at him in accusations. He left the witness stand a proud and honest man. On December 4, 1921, the jury, after deliberating for five days, came back deadlocked in its verdict. The jury leaned 10-2, not guilty. A mistrial was declared........ The second trial followed the first one almost verbatim. The prosecution put up questionable witnesses and the defense shot them down. One crucial difference was that Arbuckle never testified in his own defense. This made the jury suspicious and they came back again deadlocked, this time leaning towards a guilty verdict..... By the third and final trial, the defense finally found a jury who could agree. Roscoe Arbuckle testified this time and told the straight truth again. On April 12, 1922, this jury came in after just being out six minutes---- five of those minutes were spent writing a formal apology to Roscoe Arbuckle....... The apology stated: ''Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was only our plain duty to give him this exoneration under the evidence, for there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. We wish him success and hope the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women, who have sat listening to the evidence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame.''....... The jury did not legally need to do this. They did this because they saw how an innocent man was crucified in the public forum....... Roscoe Arbuckle would keep this statement from the jury the rest of his life. It must have given him a little comfort to know that there was some good that came from his fellow citizens during this time...... Because Virginia Rappe's organs were destroyed, it was not possible to finally determine what killed her. Many believe that he bladder ruptured because of her most recent abortion..... Roscoe Arbuckle was exonerated in the court of law but not in the public court. He was still a pariah in the industry that made him famous----and that he made tons of money for. His films were banned by the censors, who did not give a damn that this man was wrongly framed. You would think Hollywood would have rushed to his arms in forgiveness and embraced him. This was not the case. His first marriage crumbled, soon followed by a second marriage, as the years went on. Both of his ex-wives spoke fondly of him, saying he was a very nice man. Eventually, he would find work as a director under an pseudonym name, William Goodrich, directing minor comedies. Those who worked with him during this period report that he was a kind but sad man, completely brokenhearted. His spirit and joy in living life was gone. All that remained was the ghost of a once-great comic who did nothing wrong....... By 1932, after years of being shunned by the industry, Hollywood, finally, was ready to give Roscoe Arbuckle another chance. Warner Brothers signed a contract with him to make six, two-reel comedies. These films were the first time the public heard his voice on film. The comedies were very successful. He finished filming the last of the two-reel films on June 28, 1933. The next day, he signed with Warners again, but to make a full length motion picture. That night, he went out with some friends to celebrate his new deal and to celebrate the first anniversary of his third marriage. He exclaimed, ''This is the best night of my life!!''...... Later on that night, in his sleep, he suffered a heart attack and died. He was 46........ Today, Roscoe ''Fatty'' Arbuckle is forgotten. When he is mentioned by film lovers, it is because of the hotel scandal that ruined his life. Typically, people do not know the facts of the case and focus in on the urban legend of him raping Virginia Rappe with a coke bottle. That nothing happened that night eludes those who just want the juicy gossip. The press crucified this man, along with some self-appointed judges of public moral code, and he was finished in a blink of an eye...... Of course, those condemners never were called out for their actions. It is much easier to pick on a man who was called ''Fatty''........