Virginia Rappe

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Virginia Rappe

Virginia Rappe (pronounced [ɹʌpeɪ]) (July 7, 1891 - September 9, 1921) was an American silent film actress. She was allegedly raped by Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, dying days after the incident occurred, although the details of the event are unclear, due to conflicting eyewitness accounts. Roscoe Arbuckle was later acquitted.

1 Career
2 Death
3 Burial
4 Timeline
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Career

At age fourteen she began working as a commercial and art model in Chicago. In 1916 she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in silent films. She was hired by Fred Balshofer in early 1917 and was given a prominent role in Fred Balshofer's Paradise Garden opposite popular screen star Harold Lockwood. Balshofer hired her again the next year to co-star with drag performer Julian Eltinge and newcomer Rudolph Valentino in "Over the Rhine." This film was not released until 1920 when Balshofer recut it and released it under the title An Adventuress.

In 1919, she began a relationship with director/producer Henry Lehrman; the two eventually became engaged. She appeared in at least four films for Lehrman: "His Musical Sneeze," "A Twilight Baby," "Punch of the Irish," and "A Game Lady." Many of Lehrman's films are lost; it is possible she may have had additional roles with him but no supporting evidence survives.

[edit] Death

The circumstances of Rappe's death in 1921 became a Hollywood scandal and were published widely by the media of the time. During a party held on Labor Day, September 5, 1921 in Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's suite at the San Francis Hotel in San Francisco, California, Rappe became ill. She died on September 9, 1921, four days later. The official cause of her death was peritonitis caused by a ruptured bladder.

The exact events of that infamous party are still unclear, with witnesses relating numerous versions of what happened. It was alleged that she died as a result of a violent sexual assault by Fatty Arbuckle. Rumor has it that Arbuckle had used a coca-cola bottle on Rappe in an attempt at unnatural penetration. Other rumors circulated that Rappe died of injuries resulting from an earlier botched illegal abortion or complications from gonorrhea.

After three murder trials, Arbuckle was formally acquitted of any charges, although his reputation and career were permanently ruined.

Arbuckle's case has been examined by scholars and historians over the years and is still speculated about today, although a number of detailed books about this case such as David Yallop's The Day the Laughter Stopped: The True Story Of Fatty Arbuckle (1976) and Andy Edmonds' Frame Up! The Untold Story Of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (1993) have expressed their opinions that Arbuckle was innocent.