Virginia Rappe
Virginia Rappe | |
---|---|
Born | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | July 7, 1895
Died | September 9, 1921 San Francisco, California, U.S. | (aged 26)
Cause of death | Ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis |
Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
Other names | Virginia Rappae |
Years active | 1909–1921 |
Partner(s) | Robert Moscovitz (1916–1916, his death) Henry Lehrman (1919–1921) |
Virginia Caroline Rappe (/rəˈpeɪ/; July 7, 1895 – September 9, 1921) was an American model and silent film actress. Working mostly in small bit parts, Rappe died after attending a party with actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who was accused of manslaughter in connection with her death, though he was ultimately exonerated.
Early life and career[]
Virginia Rappe was born in Chicago, daughter of Mabel Rappe, who died when Virginia was 11. Virginia was then raised by her grandmother.[1][2] At age 14, she began working as a commercial and art model.[3]
In 1916, Rappe relocated to San Francisco to pursue her career as an artist's model, where she met dress designer Robert Moscovitz, to whom she became engaged. However, shortly after the engagement, Moscovitz was killed in a streetcar accident, whereupon Rappe moved to Los Angeles. In early 1917, she was hired by director Fred Balshofer and given a prominent role in his film Paradise Garden, opposite screen star Harold Lockwood. Balshofer then hired her again to costar with early drag performer Julian Eltinge and newcomer Rudolph Valentino in Over the Rhine, for which she was awarded the title of "Best Dressed Girl in Pictures".[3] This film was not released until 1920, when Balshofer recut it and released it under the title An Adventuress, and later in 1922, after Rappe's death, as The Isle of Love.
In 1919, Rappe began a relationship with director/producer Henry Lehrman. The couple eventually became engaged and lived together, although in the United States Census of 1920, the young actress is listed simply as a "Boarder" in Lehrman's home in Los Angeles.[4] Rappe appeared in at least four films for Lehrman: His Musical Sneeze, A Twilight Baby, Punch of the Irish and A Game Lady. However, since many of Lehrman's films are lost, the exact number of roles she performed for him cannot be determined.
Following Rappe's death, rumors arose, supposedly to besmirch her character, that she had given birth to a child in Chicago in 1918 and that the child was given to foster care. These rumors were proven false by autopsy.[5]
Death[]
The circumstances of Rappe's death in 1921 became a Hollywood scandal and were covered widely (and sensationalized) by the media of the time. During a party held on Labor Day, September 5, 1921, in Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's suite at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, Rappe allegedly suffered a trauma. She died four days later on September 9 from a ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis.[6] She was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.[7]
The exact events of the party remain unclear, with witnesses relating numerous versions of what happened. It was alleged that Rappe had died as a result of a violent sexual assault by Arbuckle. Arbuckle's accuser, Bambina Maude Delmont, had accompanied Rappe to the party; she had first met Rappe only a few days earlier.[8] Delmont had a police record for extortion, prostitution and blackmail.[9] Subsequent witnesses testified that Rappe had for some time suffered from cystitis, a condition which could have been aggravated by consuming alcohol.[10] Witnesses also testified that Rappe had previously suffered from venereal disease, so there were allegations that her death was brought on by her health rather than by an assault.[9]
After three manslaughter trials, Arbuckle was formally acquitted; his acquittal in the third trial was accompanied by an unprecedented statement of apology from the jury stating, in part, that, "Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him… there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime."[11] Nevertheless, Arbuckle's reputation and career were ruined because of the scandal.
Filmography[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1916 | The Foolish Virgin | Salesgirl | Uncredited bit part | [12] |
1917 | Paradise Garden | Marcia Van Wyck | Lost film | [12] |
1918 | Wild Women and Tame Lions | Lost film; allegedly uncredited | ||
1919 | His Musical Sneeze | |||
1920 | A Twilight Baby | |||
1920 | An Adventuress | Vanette | Reissued in 1922, severely re-edited, as The Isle of Love | |
1920 | The Kick in High Life | Uncredited | ||
1920 | Wet and Warmer | Undetermined role | Uncredited | |
1921 | The Punch of the Irish | The Object Of Attention | ||
1921 | A Game Lady | Undetermined role |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Miller, Blair (1995). American Silent Film Comedies: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Persons, Studios, and Terminology. McFarland & Co. p. 207. ISBN 0-89950-929-0.
- ^ Ellis & Ellis 2005, p. 445.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Ellis & Ellis 2005, p. [page needed].
- ^ "The Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920", City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, enumeration date January 10, 1920. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ "Sausalito News 12 November 1921 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- ^ Meade, Marion (1997). Buster Keaton: Cut To the Chase. Da Capo Press. p. 121. ISBN 0-306-80802-1.
- ^ Lawson, Kristan; Rufus, Anneli (2000). California Babylon. Macmillan. p. 46. ISBN 0-312-26385-6.
- ^ Hallett 2013, p. 196.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Noe, Denise. "Fatty Arbuckle and the Death of Virginia Rappe". crimelibrary.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- ^ "Virginia Blamed Lover, says nurse". Ludington Daily News. San Francisco, CA. September 13, 1921. p. 1.
- ^ Chermak, Steven M.; Bailey, Frankie Y. (2007). Crimes and Trials of the Century. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-313-34110-6.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Hallett 2013, p. 182.
Sources[]
- Ellis, Chris; Ellis, Julie (2005). The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murder: Murder Played Out In The Spotlight Of Maximum Publicity. Constable & Robertson. ISBN 1-84529-154-9.
- Hallett, Hilary (2013). Go West, Young Women!: The Rise of Early Hollywood. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-27408-2.
Further reading[]
- Merritt, Greg (2013). Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-613-74792-6.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virginia Rappe. |
- Works by or about Virginia Rappe at Internet Archive
- Virginia Rappe at IMDb
- Virginia Rappe Home-Page (in German)
- Crime Library Article on the Rappe/Arbuckle case at the Wayback Machine (archived February 10, 2015)
- Film researcher discusses the Fatty Arbuckle trial
- Watch His Musical Sneeze at the Danish Film Institute website
- Allan Ellenberger blog entry on Virginia Rappe at the Wayback Machine (archived December 1, 2008)
- 'Fatty' Arbuckle and Hollywood's first scandal
- 1895 births
- 1921 deaths
- 20th-century American actresses
- Actresses from Chicago
- Actresses from New York City
- American female models
- American film actresses
- American silent film actresses
- Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
- Deaths from peritonitis
- Unsolved deaths