# Did Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Murder Virginia Rappe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 22, 2001, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904 "2001-04-22T20:54:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/21 "2001-04-24T15:09:24Z")
Well, yes, I did . . . But I assumed Kenneth Anger had faked that one, Coke bottle and all! ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2001, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/22 "2001-04-24T22:28:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Well, yes, I did . . . But I assumed Kenneth Anger had faked that one, Coke bottle and all! \*\* After reading Hollywood Babylon I and II and talking to my professor(Jon Lewis, if you’ve ever heard of him), I really wonder how much fact there is in those two books. It seems that for anything missing sleaze, Anger dumped as much in as he could to give it some ‘flavor.’ Do you think that it could have been his form of revenge for not really being accepted into the Hollywood mainstream? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2001, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/23 "2001-04-25T13:08:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hastur \* > \*\*Do you think that it could have been his form of revenge for not really being accepted into the Hollywood mainstream? \*\* Do you really think a guy could make movies like _Fireworks, Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, Scorpio Rising,_ and _Invocation of My Demon Brother_ and entertain ANY thought of "being accepted into the Hollywood mainstream? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/24 "2001-04-25T13:10:26Z")
“I really wonder how much fact there is in those two books.” —To quote Lillian Hellman (or was it someone else?), “every word in it is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’” I might add that a good many photos are miscaptioned . . . ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2001, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/25 "2001-04-26T14:15:25Z")
Gee, I go to shoot “MTV:Cribs” for a coupla days and all heck breaks loose. Let’s just seen now… Originally Posted by Ukelele Ike > [@](#): > > Yes! The very same Eobraak Valo who was the scourge of 1910s San Francisco…from his vile den in the foul sinks of Chinatown, his long, greasy, grasping fingers reached out into the world of crime, twirling yo-yo strings of blackmail, prostitution, extortion, opium-running, and aggravated mopery! > > It is my conviction that this lecherous monster of the Barbary Coast, this Eobraak Valo, did willingly MURDER poor Virginia as she lay fainting on Arbuckle’s king-sized bed, in order to EAT HER HEART RAW. The hapless Arbuckle was fingered for the crime by anti-Hollywood moral crusaders in a stunning turnaround of justice. Well, you incredible man you. I figured NOBODY could possibly catch that little aside I threw in. I bow before your astonishing acumen. ( Trust me girls, he’s got a hell of an acumen). By the by, did you know that Dr. Eobraak Valo’s descendants now own a highly successful string of meat purveying shoppes in and around San Francisco? They’re called, **Mopery Dopery Doc** 😃 😃 😃 Originally Posted By Sofa King > [@](#): > > So you’re saying that we can rule out Fatty’s known prior dalliances, which were blown out of proportion but extant. And we can ignore persistant rumor regarding his unusual endowment. And we can’t consider the stories which say she was drunkenly retired to his room, whereupon he followed, or was it her room, where he followed? And we can’t consider the possibility that he gave her the pile driver with her unknown (to him) preexisting conditions, and therefore committed involuntary manslaughter, if not murderous rape? Yes. That’s exactly what I am saying. I can’t re-type this entire freaking damned book into the Straight Dope, that’s illegal and my tender hands aren’t up to the task. Nay, Regis Sofa, you must seek out this well wrought tome yourself, and read the truth. The One Truth ( yeahright, like there can be one truth). As for **Eve** and **Ike’s** pitched battle over Coke vs. Pepsi, I have this one small fact JUST RECENTLY unearthed, to add to the mix: the coroner who signed off on Virginia Rappe’s autopsy was one Dr. Sigfried Pepper. 😛 Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/26 "2001-04-27T01:23:16Z")
One of my other favorite topics! King Vidor dug up some pretty good evidence pointing towards Charlotte Shelby. But I read another book (the name is escaping me right now) with equally good evidence that pointed toward a drug dealer. Hm, hm, hm. Me, I’ve always kinda suspected Minter herself. Don’t know why. Just a gut thing. Eve: Where’s the website you mentioned? I’d loooooove to see it! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/27 "2001-04-27T15:58:11Z")
Pers—Prepare to hunker down over your computer and spend the next five years reading more than you ever thgought existed on Wm. Desmond Taylor: [http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/](http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/) Now, anyone for Thelma Todd? Did she commit suicide? Was it an accident? Was she “done in?” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/28 "2001-04-27T16:14:29Z")
Thelma Todd? Hubba hubba! Murdered, definitely. Wasn’t she running dope or laundering money with that restaurant of hers? And I understand that **Doctor Eobraak Valo** had been seen sipping absinthe in the Sidewalk Cafe bar the night the Ice Cream Blonde took gas. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/29 "2001-04-28T00:37:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Pers—Prepare to hunker down over your computer and spend the next five years reading more than you ever thgought existed on Wm. Desmond Taylor: [http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/](http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/) Good Goddess, that thing is HUGE. I thought _I_ had no life. Think I’m going to go pack my picnic basket and surf there for a while, until either a) I run out of food, or b) my eyeballs start bleeding, whichever comes first. [sub]Thelma Todd? Oh yeah, that was foul play. Mob hit, IMHO.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/30 "2001-04-28T01:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*Thelma Todd? Hubba hubba! > Murdered, definitely. Wasn’t she running dope or laundering money with that restaurant of hers? And I understand that **Doctor Eobraak Valo** had been seen sipping absinthe in the Sidewalk Cafe bar the night the Ice Cream Blonde took gas. \*\* Yer darned tootin’ he was, **Uke**. He was pining after his lost love **Thelma Todd**. After all, you know what they say, don’t you? Absinthe Maketh The Heart Grow Fonder 😛 Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![RickRick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@RickRick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickRick)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/31 "2013-07-15T22:03:05Z")
You guys are the best. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/32 "2013-07-15T22:22:06Z")
Amazingly enough, I believe a majority of these “guys” you refer to who posted to this thread twelve years ago are actually still here. Which is probably actually kind of sad for the people involved, but there you go. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/33 "2013-07-15T22:48:50Z")
Huh, a 12 year-old thread with nobody banned. Of course, it’s a relatively short thread. Short like Virginia Rappe’s tragically-ended career AFTER FATTY ARBUCKLE MURDERED HER!!! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/34 "2013-07-15T22:54:44Z")
What’s Fatty Arbuckle done that I haven’t? - Krusty the Clown ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/35 "2013-07-16T01:03:51Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Huh, a 12 year-old thread with nobody banned. No, but sadly there’s at least one deceased member. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/36 "2013-07-16T02:58:43Z")
Maybe… But, only if it took… THE FULL HOUR :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/37 "2013-07-16T15:05:44Z")
These zombie threads are invariably interesting to those of us who were not part of the community when the threads came into being. This one was hilarious. And you can’t say the subject matter is dated, per se in that it was dated at the time of the thread’s creation. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/38 "2013-07-16T16:37:09Z")
> [@Persephone](#): > > Good Goddess, that thing is HUGE. Virginia Rappe’s last words? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904/39 "2013-07-16T20:02:33Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > No, but sadly there’s at least one deceased member. There is a really, really bad Fatty Arbuckle joke in there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-roscoe-fatty-arbuckle-murder-virginia-rappe/62904.md?page=1)