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Roscoe Arbuckle

Acting

Roscoe Arbuckle

Mar 22, 1887 – Jun 29, 1933244 titles 244 movies · 0 TV
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IMDb

Biography

Roscoe Arbuckle (March 24, 1887 - June 29, 1933), widely known to audiences as “Fatty” Arbuckle, was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd as well as with his nephew, Al St. John. He also mentored Charlie Chaplin, Monty Banks and Bob Hope, and brought vaudeville star Buster Keaton into the movie business. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood at the time. In one of the earliest Hollywood scandals, Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials between November 1921 and April 1922 for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. Rappe had fallen ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel in September 1921, and died four days later. A friend of Rappe accused Arbuckle of raping and accidentally killing her. The first two trials resulted in hung juries, but the third acquitted Arbuckle. The third jury took the unusual step of giving Arbuckle a written statement of apology for his treatment by the justice system. Despite Arbuckle's acquittal, the scandal largely halted his career and has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian.

Also known as

'Fatty' Arbuckle · Fatty Arbuckle · Roscoe Arbuckle · William Goodrich · William B. Goodrich · روسكو آرباكل · רוסקו ארבוקל · ロスコー・アーバックル · 로스코 아버클 · Роско «Фатти» Арбэкль · Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle · Роско Арбакль · Роско Арбэкль

Born

Mar 22, 1887 – Jun 29, 1933

Smith Center, Kansas, USA

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Photos

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Roles across career

Titles counted once; a person can act and direct on the same film (roles merged).

190

Acting credits

133

Directing

34

Writing

0

Other crew

Most critically rated

Highest TMDB score (min 100 votes)

Most commercially successful

Highest TMDB vote count (attention / reach proxy; not box office)

Career timeline

By release / first air year · movie & TV merged

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1909 3 title(s)

1910 1 title(s)

1912 1 title(s)

1913 39 title(s)

1914 53 title(s)

1915 23 title(s)

1916 7 title(s)

1917 8 title(s)

1918 7 title(s)

1919 7 title(s)

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1921 6 title(s)

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1931 21 title(s)

1932 11 title(s)

1933 5 title(s)

1943 1 title(s)

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1962 1 title(s)

1988 1 title(s)

1992 1 title(s)

1995 2 title(s)

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2025 1 title(s)

2026 1 title(s)