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Jennifer's 20th Century History Blog

By Jennifer Rosenberg, About.com Guide to 20th Century History since 1997

The "Fatty" Arbuckle Scandal

Saturday August 7, 2004
At a raucous, three-day party in 1921, a young starlet became severely ill and died four days later. Newspapers went wild with the story: popular silent-screen comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle had killed Virginia Rappe with his weight while savagely raping her. Though the newspapers of the day reveled in the gory, rumored details, juries found little evidence that Arbuckle was in any way connected with her death. What happened at that party and why was the public so ready to believe "Fatty" was guilty? Learn more about the "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal.

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