Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle

Born: 24 March 1887, Smith Center, Kansas, USA
Died: 29 June 1933, New York, USA

While stars like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy are instantly recognizable to millions worldwide, Roscoe Arbuckle has been fated in history to become somewhat forgotten. And yet he was a comedic actor, screenwriter and director of considerable talent and at the height of his fame was one of the most famous and highest paid actors in Hollywood. He mentored Charlie Chaplin in his early film years and gave Buster Keaton his big break and was also instrumental in Bob Hopes early career. In fact, Keaton, Chaplin and Harold Lloyd all appeared in supporting roles in his films and he costarred with Mabel Normand.
Roscoe was a large man (at one stage he topped the scales at 300lb) and yet his lightness of foot and agility added a great comedic visual element to his arsenal of talents. He joined Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops and then moved to Paramount to star with Normand. He then set up his own company and met Buster Keaton. He later signed a hugely lucrative contract with Paramount and it looked like the good times would just keep rolling until fate stepped in.
In September 1921 Roscoe Arbuckle (he hated the name Fatty, saying that it was the film characters name not his) hosted a party in a hotel in San Francisco. One of the guests of the party, Virginia Rappe, fell ill and died a few days later and Arbuckle was charged with manslaughter. After 2 trials resulting in hung jury Arbuckle was totally acquitted by a jury who presented him with a written apology as they felt he should never have been sent to trial - Read Wikipedia Article. However, despite the acquittal, Arbuckle was financially ruined due to legal bills. His public perception was ruined and the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America cited the scandals as an example of what was wrong with the film industry and banned Arbuckle from ever working in U.S. films and his back catalogue was not to be publically shown. The ban was eventually lifted but he got very little work throughout the 20's. In 1932 he made 6 shorts for Warner Bros and was contracted to make a feature-length film. Sadly, before filming began he had a heart attack and died. He was just 46 years old.
It is difficult to review Roscoe Arbuckle's life without fixating on the scandal and yet that would be a disservice to his great contribution to silent comedy and he is considered to be one of the great pioneers of comedic film.