Born in Chicago in 1891, Virginia Rappe was raised by her grandmother after her mother died when Rappe was 11. At 14, Rappe started to work as a commercial and art model. After she moved to San Francisco in 1916 to pursue her career as an artist’s model, she met and became engaged to Robert Moscovitz. He was killed in a streetcar accident, and she moved to Los Angeles in 1917. There, director Ford Balshofer hired her for a role in Paradise Garden and then rehired her to appear with Julian Ettinger (an early drag performer) and Rudolph Valentino in Over the Rhine. For her part, Rappe was awarded the title of “Best Dressed Girl in Photos.” The film was released under a different title, An Adventuress. In 1922, after Rappe died the film was re-released as The Isle of Love.
Source: (Wikimedia/colorized).
She started a relationship with Henry Lehrman, an actor and director in 1919. They got engaged and were living together, although the 1920 census indicates she was a boarder. During their time together, she was in at least four of his films.
The Night Of The Party
Source: (Strictly Vintage Hollywood/colorized).
On September 25, 1921, Rappe attended a party at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Despite the fact that Prohibition was in full swing, the alcohol was flowing. That night, she was briefly in the same hotel room as Fatty Arbuckle. At that time, Arbuckle was the highest-paid actor in the world, but his career would come to an end after that night.
Arbuckle And Rappe Were Alone Together
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At some point, Rappe and Arbuckle ended up in the same room. Maude Delmont, one of the partygoers, claimed that Arbuckle forced Rappe into his room as he said, “I’ve waited for you five years and now I’ve got you.” Thirty minutes later, Delmont heard screams and knocked on the door. Arbuckle opened the door to reveal Rappe naked on the bed, in obvious pain. According to Delmont, Rappe gasped “Arbuckle did it!” and was taken to another hotel room.
The Facts Of The Case
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According to Arbuckle, when he went into the hotel room bathroom, Rappe was vomiting on the floor, and he helped her onto the bed. However, his story changed a little over time. After they summoned the hotel doctor who found that Rappe was just really drunk, they took her elsewhere so she could sleep it off. However, her condition did not improve three days later, so she was taken to a hospital. Doctors thought she had alcohol poisoning after drinking bootleg alcohol, but on September 9, 1921, she died from peritonitis after her bladder ruptured caused by a pre-existing condition. At the hospital, Delmont claimed Arbuckle had raped Rappe, and Arbuckle was arrested on September 11. Those were the facts, but things got more complicated at Arbuckle’s trials, all three of them.
Evidence To Support Arbuckle's Innocence
Source: (Wikipedia/colorized).
Rappe had a reputation as a party girl, and a newspaper called her an “amateur call-girl…who used to get drunk at parties and start to tear her clothes off.” Others pointed to her bladder condition, which, when exacerbated by alcohol, would cause her discomfort and lead her to take her clothes off to find relief.
The main witness, Delmont, never appeared on the stand, since her testimony would not hold up. She had a reputation for bringing girls to Hollywood parties, who would then instigate scandalous acts. Delmont, who was nicknamed “Madame Black,” would then blackmail celebrities to keep the stories quiet. She also had sent telegrams to her lawyers, stating, “We have Arbuckle in a hole here chance to make some money out of him.” Without Delmont’s testimony, there was no evidence to corroborate the accusations; there “were no marks of violence on the body, no signs that the girl had been attacked in any way,” and witnesses supported Arbuckle’s account of what happened. The doctor who treated her said that she said Arbuckle did not try to sexually assault her, but that was dismissed as hearsay.
Arbuckle Was Acquitted But His Career Was Over
Fatty Arbuckle's mug shot. Source: (Pinterest).
The newspapers had a field day. According to some, Arbuckle, who was quite overweight, damaged her liver while raping her, while others accused him of other outrageous, depraved acts. With the competition between papers to see who could publish the most obscene rumors, William Randolph Hearst said that the scandal had “sold more papers than the sinking of the Lusitania.” Arbuckle appeared before a jury three times; the first two trials ended with a hung jury. During those trials, Arbuckle did not want damning evidence to be presented about Rappe as he wanted to protect the dead. By the third trial, financially devastated, Arbuckle would allow it; in this trial, he was acquitted. However, the damage was done. He never appeared onscreen again, and his films were pulled from theaters. He did find some work as a director, but by his death after a heart attack in 1933 at the age of 46, he still had not restored his reputation.
