Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was a wildly popular comic of the silent film era. He made millions of dollars for his bosses, and was thanked by being scapegoated in Hollywood's first great scandal.

A popular expression at the turn of the century claimed that “no one loves a fat man.” Arbuckle put that adage to the test and proved it wrong.

In his day, Arbuckle was known and beloved worldwide. A hugely bankable comedy talent, at one point he was the highest-paid film comedian in the world. His fans lovingly referred to him as “The Prince Of Whales” and “The Balloonatic.” Charlie Chaplin was the only contemporary of Arbuckle’s who rivaled his popularity with adults, but with kids, Fatty reigned supreme.

His likeness was used to sell everything from cigarettes to garters. Whether he was in Manhattan or Paris, Arbuckle couldn’t step into a restaurant or off a train without being swarmed by fans who would try to gleefully hoist the 250-300 pound actor onto their shoulders.

A newspaper article from 1919 declared, “Everybody loves Roscoe Arbuckle. Everything a comedian should be is present in ‘Fatty.’ He radiates good nature, cheerfulness and a pleasant day. He has a constant rendezvous with happiness and not even a speaking acquaintance with gloom.”

But despite his involvement with such silent era luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Mack Sennett, Fatty Arbuckle films and revivals are rare today, and most people have only a vague (and usually incorrect) notion of who he is.

That’s because in 1921, when a young actress named Virginia Rappe fell ill and died after attending a party thrown by Arbuckle, the universally adored comedian suddenly found himself at the center of the first great scandal of Hollywood.

When the smoke cleared, his career and name were ruined. To this day, most people mistakenly think Arbuckle was a murderer or a letch. He was neither.

The ensuing scandal would obliterate his career and name, and shake the motion picture industry to its core. The myth of how a drunken Fatty Arbuckle killed Virginia Rappe by raping her with a Coke bottle would spread across the country like wildfire and instantly transform Arbuckle's image from one of America's squeaky-clean, beloved comedy star into that of a bloated, sex-crazed monster. To this day, his name is remembered more commonly as a footnote to the decrepit underside of Hollywood than as an influential character of its golden era.

But there's an often overlooked fact about the scandal that's just a little less provocative than the sleazy myth of drunken excess and power run amok --Arbuckle didn't do it! That's right, not only was Roscoe Arbuckle completely innocent of the crime, no crime had taken place!

Get the whole story by reading the feature article in Barracuda #3!