This day in history ~ September 11th, 1921.

Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle was born in 1887 in Kansas and began his career as a vaudeville performer.  His big break came in 1913 when he began appearing in Mack Sennett’s famous comedies the ‘Keystone Cops’, in which he developed his trademark routines that included comedic pratfalls and pie-throwing.

Arbuckle & Buster Keaton.  Image source

He started writing and directing films in 1917, often working with the biggest actors of the day such as Buster Keaton.  Two years later he signed a $1 million a year deal with Paramount Pictures, a huge sum at that time.

In September 1921, at the height of his career, Arbuckle and two male friends checked into the St Francis hotel in San Francisco.  They hosted a party in their room and one of their guests, Virginia Rappe, became ill and died several days later of peritonitis caused by a ruptured bladder.  Maude Delmont, also present at the party, claimed Arbuckle had raped the dead girl and caused the injuries that killed her.

Fatty Arbuckle's mugshot.  Image source

On September 11, Arbuckle was arrested causing a massive scandal in Hollywood.  He was heavily condemned in the press and despite his claims of innocence, his films were boycotted by many former fans.  The San Francisco district attorney was determined to prosecute the actor despite Delmont turning out to be an unreliable witness and an ex convict; other witnesses later revealed they had been intimidated into giving false testimony by the prosecution.

Arbuckle was eventually found not guilty after two mistrials by a jury who even saw fit to issue him with an apology.   However despite his innocence, his career never fully recovered.  His was banned by the industry for a while and later attempted a come back, directing several films under the name William B Goodrich but with limited success.  He struggled with alcoholism for the remainder of his life and died of heart failure aged 46, in New York.