One of the first big stars of Hollywood’s silent era was Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. He was the first star who would get a $1 Million contract and the first of many fat guy actors.
He was also one of the first actors who would scandalize America. It all started on a long weekend trip that Arbuckle took to San Francisco with his friends. The trio stayed in the pricy and famed St. Regis Hotel, reserving three rooms. Their raucous party resulted in a destroyed hotel room and a dead young lady. The dead young lady, Virginia Rappe, was said to be an alcoholic and a loose woman who had been to the abortionist several times. As a result, the doctors and police initially found no reason to arrest anyone. Enter William Randolph Hearst.
Hearst knew that a Hollywood scandal would sell newspapers. Thus, Ms. Rappe was turned into a paragon of virtue who was horrifically violated by the scandalous Hollywood pervert. After pictures of the damaged suite made it into Hearst’s papers and salacious details were splashed across his headlines, the world turned on Fatty.
The outcry was too much to ignore. Fatty was indicted for the murder of Ms. Rappe and lost his reputation and career. After two mistrials, Mr. Arbuckle was acquitted of all charges. Was he completely innocent? Probably not. But he wasn’t exactly guilty either. Cooler heads had already declared Ms. Rappe’s death a tragic, yet reckless accident. The world would still pass judgment on Fatty and his career was pretty much over. He would die of a heart attack, sadly while on the verge of rebuilding his career. Mr. Hearst would find himself with a new template to use for the next scandal and Hollywood would harden itself to prevent the next scandal before it began.
