The King of Comedy (film)
The King of Comedy is a 1983 American satirical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis and Sandra Bernhard. Written by Paul D. Zimmerman, the focuses on themes including celebrity worship. 20th Century Fox released the film on February 18,1983, in the United States, the film began shooting in New York on June 1,1981, to avoid clashing with a forthcoming writers strike, and opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1983. Rupert Pupkin, an autograph hound, is an aspiring. After meeting Jerry Langford, a comedian and talk show host. He attempts to book a spot on the show but is rebuffed by Langfords staff. Along the way, Rupert indulges in elaborate and obsessive fantasies in which he and Langford are colleagues, hoping to impress, Rupert invites a date, Rita, to accompany him when he decides to show up uninvited at Langfords country home. When Langford returns to his house from a round, he finds Rupert. Angered, he launches into a tirade against Rupert, telling him that his act is mediocre.
While Jerry yells at him, Rupert continues trying to stay on his good graces, when the straight approach does not work, Rupert hatches a kidnapping plot with the help of Masha, a fellow stalker similarly obsessed with Langford. As ransom, Rupert demands that he be given the spot on that evenings Jerry Langford Show. The network brass and the FBI agree to his demands, between the taping of the show and the broadcast, Masha has her dream date with Langford, who is duct-taped to a chair in her parents Manhattan townhouse. Jerry convinces her to him and he manages to escape. Ruperts stand-up routine is well received by the audience, in his act, he describes his troubled life while simultaneously laughing at his circumstances. Rupert closes by confessing to the audience that he kidnapped Jerry Langford in order to break into show business. The audience laughs, believing it to be part of his act, Rupert responds by saying, Tomorrow youll know I wasnt kidding and youll all think Im crazy. But I figure it this way, better to be king for a night, the movie closes with a news report of Ruperts release from prison, set to a montage of storefronts stocking his long awaited autobiography, King For a Night.
He appears as The Jerry Langford Show director, assuring Tony Randall that his cue cards are funny, Scorseses mother Catherine Scorsese plays Pupkins mother
Tootsie
The film tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to adopt a new identity as a woman in order to land a job. The film was adapted by Larry Gelbart, Barry Levinson, Elaine May and Murray Schisgal from the story by Gelbart, Michael Dorsey is a respected but perfectionist actor. Nobody in New York wants to him anymore because he is difficult to work with. In desperation, and as a result of his agent telling him no one will hire you, he dresses as a woman, auditions as Dorothy Michaels. Michael takes the job as a way to raise $8,000 to produce a play, written by his roommate Jeff Slater and to star Sandy, titled Return to Love Canal. Michael plays his character as a feisty, feminist administrator, which surprises the other actors and his character quickly becomes a television sensation. When Sandy catches Michael in her bedroom half undressed, he covers up by professing he wants to have sex with her and they have sex despite his better judgment about her self-esteem issues.
Michael believes Sandy is too fragile to handle the truth about him winning the part. Their relationship, combined with his deception, complicates his now-busy schedule, exacerbating matters further, he is attracted to one of his co-stars, Julie Nichols, a single mother in an unhealthy relationship with the shows amoral, sexist director, Ron Carlisle. At a party, when Michael approaches Julie with a line that she had previously told Dorothy she would be receptive towards. Meanwhile, Dorothy has her own admirers to contend with, older cast member John Van Horn, John apologizes for intruding and leaves. The tipping point comes when, due to Dorothys popularity, the producers want to extend her contract for another year. Michael finds a way to extricate himself. Sandy and Les, who are all watching at home, react with the level of shock as the cast. The one exception is Jeff, who was aware of his roommates dual role and remarks, the revelation allows everybody a more-or-less graceful way out. Julie, however, is so outraged that she slugs him in the stomach in front of the cast once the cameras have stopped rolling before storming off, some weeks later, Michael is moving forward with producing Jeffs play.
He awkwardly makes peace with Les in a bar, and Les shows tentative support for Michaels attraction to Julie, Michael waits for Julie outside the studio. Julie resists talking but finally admits she misses Dorothy, Michael confesses, I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man
Police Academy (film)
Police Academy is a 1984 comedy film directed by Hugh Wilson, and starring Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, and G. W. It grossed approximately $146 million worldwide and spawned six more films in the Police Academy series, not everyone in the police force is happy about the new changes. Carey Mahoney is a man who has repeatedly gotten himself in trouble with the law when standing up to arrogant people. Mahoney is forced to join the force as an alternative to jail, a proposal by Captain Reed who has been lenient on Mahoney because of knowing his father. Mahoney reluctantly agrees to this, deciding that he will get thrown out as a loophole. However, the chief of police, Henry Hurst, outraged by the Mayors lowered requirements, lieutenant Thaddeus Harris, who trains the cadets, agrees with the plan and employs tactics to make their lives as miserable as possible so that they do in fact quit. However, Commandant Lassard is the one who doesnt agree with both Harris and Hursts schemes. He wants to give the new cadets a chance, Harris is implied to be seeking Lassards place as the leader of the academy.
Harris asks for the help of two cadets he takes a liking to, Copeland and Blankes, to him of any improper conduct done by the other cadets. Harris appoints them as leaders to help him force these cadets to quit. Mahoney tries several schemes to get out but eventually he has a change of heart and decides to stay for good, having fallen in love with another cadet. At Lt. Harris request and Copeland try to learn where a party, organized by Mahoney, is going to be held. Mahoneys party turns out to be relatively sedate, at night, Martin tries to sneak into the womens bunk for some fun, as he always does, but is caught by Sgt. He is pulled into a room by Callahan and she throws him on the bed, pounces on him, the next day, after a voice training exercise, Martin confides to Mahoney that he had fallen in love with Sgt. Callahan and that he speaks with a fake Spanish accent in order to get girls, Mahoney helps Hightower prepare for a critical driving test. They go for a drive the night before the exam by stealing cadet Copelands car.
They are chased by the police for crashing into another car and speeding, after he passes the driving test, Hightower is very thankful to Mahoney. This leads Harris to promptly eject Hightower from the academy, much to Mahoney, shortly after this and Barbara are having lunch in the cafeteria and talking about Hightowers expulsion
Dr. Strangelove
The film was directed, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, stars Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and features Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, and Slim Pickens, production took place in the United Kingdom. The film is based on Peter Georges thriller novel Red Alert. The story concerns an unhinged United States Air Force general who orders a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. It follows the President of the United States, his advisers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and it separately follows the crew of one B-52 bomber as they try to deliver their payload. Dr. Strangelove is widely regarded as one of cinemas greatest comedies, in 1989, the United States Library of Congress included it in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It was listed as three on AFIs 100 Years.100 Laughs list. United States Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper is commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, the 843rd is currently in-flight on airborne alert, two hours from their targets inside Russia.
General Ripper orders his executive officer, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake of the UK Royal Air Force, Ripper issues Wing Attack Plan R to the patrolling aircraft, one of which is commanded by Major T. J. King Kong. Mandrake discovers that no war order has been issued by the Pentagon and tries to stop Ripper, Ripper tells Mandrake that he believes the Soviets have been using fluoridation of United States water supplies to pollute the precious bodily fluids of Americans. Mandrake now realizes that Ripper is insane. C, Muffley orders the Army chief to storm the base and arrest General Ripper. Turgidson attempts to convince Muffley to let the attack continue, instead, he brings Soviet ambassador Alexei de Sadeski into the War Room, to telephone Soviet premier Dimitri Kissov on the hot line. Muffley warns the Premier of the attack and offers to reveal the planes positions. The device cannot be dismantled or untriggered, as it is programmed to explode if any attempt is made. When the Presidents wheelchair-bound scientific advisor, former-Nazi Dr.
Meanwhile, United States Army forces arrive at Burpelson, still sealed by Rippers order, Ripper kills himself, while Mandrake identifies Rippers CRM code from his desk blotter and relays this code to the Pentagon. Using the recall code, SAC successfully recalls all of the aircraft except one, Muffley discloses the planes target to help the Soviets find it, but Major Kong, his fuel dwindling, has selected a closer target. As the plane approaches the new target, the crew is unable to open the bomb bay doors. Major Kong enters the bay and repairs the broken electric wiring
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank Buster Keaton was an American actor, producer and stunt performer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a stoic, deadpan expression. His career declined afterward with a loss of his artistic independence when he was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He recovered in the 1940s, and revived his career to a degree as a comic performer for the rest of his life. Many of Keatons films from the 1920s, such as Sherlock Jr, the General, and The Cameraman, remain highly regarded, with the second of these three widely viewed as his masterpiece. Among its strongest admirers was Orson Welles, who stated that The General was cinemas highest achievement in comedy, Keaton was recognized as the seventh-greatest film director by Entertainment Weekly, and in 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 21st greatest male star of classic Hollywood cinema. Keaton was born into a family in Piqua, Kansas. He was named Joseph to continue a tradition on his fathers side and Frank for his maternal grandfather, Keaton changed his middle name to Francis.
His father was Joseph Hallie Joe Keaton, who owned a traveling show with Harry Houdini called the Mohawk Indian Medicine Company, according to a frequently repeated story, which may be apocryphal, Keaton acquired the nickname Buster at about 18 months of age. Keaton told interviewer Fletcher Markle that Houdini was present one day when the young Keaton took a tumble down a flight of stairs without injury. After the infant sat up and shook off his experience, Houdini remarked, according to Keaton, in those days, the word buster was used to refer to a spill or a fall that had the potential to produce injury. After this, it was Keatons father who began to use the nickname to refer to the youngster, Keaton retold the anecdote over the years, including a 1964 interview with the CBCs Telescope. At the age of three, Keaton began performing with his parents in The Three Keatons and he first appeared on stage in 1899 in Wilmington, Delaware. The act was mainly a comedy sketch, Myra played the saxophone to one side, while Joe and Buster performed on center stage.
The young Keaton would goad his father by disobeying him, a suitcase handle was sewn into Keatons clothing to aid with the constant tossing. The act evolved as Keaton learned to take trick falls safely and this knockabout style of comedy led to accusations of child abuse, and occasionally, arrest. However, Buster Keaton was always able to show the authorities that he had no bruises or broken bones. He was eventually billed as The Little Boy Who Cant Be Damaged, decades later, Keaton said that he was never hurt by his father and that the falls and physical comedy were a matter of proper technical execution
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres.
He wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son.
At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
William Haines
Charles William Billy Haines, known professionally as William Haines, was an American film actor and interior designer. Haines was discovered by a talent scout and signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1922 and his career gained momentum when he was loaned out to Columbia Pictures where he received favorable reviews for his role in The Midnight Express. Haines returned to MGM and was cast in the 1926 film Brown of Harvard, the role solidified his screen persona as a wisecracking, arrogant leading man. By the end of the 1920s, Haines had appeared in a string of films and was a popular box office draw. His career was cut short by the 1930s due to his refusal to deny his homosexuality, Haines quit acting in 1935 and started a successful interior design business with his life partner Jimmie Shields, and was supported by friends in Hollywood. Haines died of cancer in December 1973 at the age of 73. Haines was born on January 2,1900 in Staunton, the child of George Adam Haines, a cigar maker. Two older siblings died in infancy and he had four younger siblings, born in 1902, born in 1907, George, Jr.
born in 1908, and Henry, born in 1917. He was baptized at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton at the age of eight and he became fascinated with stage performance and motion pictures at an early age, spending hours watching early silent films in the local theatres. Haines ran away home at the age of 14, accompanied by an unidentified young man whom Haines referred to as his boyfriend. The pair went first to Richmond and to Hopewell, which had a reputation for immorality and his boyfriend got jobs working at the local DuPont factory, producing nitrocellulose for $50 a week. To supplement their income, the opened a dance hall. His parents, frantic over his disappearance, tracked him through the police to Hopewell, Haines did not return home with them, remaining instead in Hopewell and sending money back home to help support the family. The couple remained in Hopewell until most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1915, Haines moved to New York City. It is unclear whether his boyfriend accompanied him, following the bankruptcy of the family business and the mental breakdown of George, Sr.
the family moved to Richmond in 1916. Haines returned home in 1917 to help support them, with his father recovered and employed, Haines returned to New York City in 1919, settling into the burgeoning gay community of Greenwich Village. He worked a variety of jobs and was for a time the man of an older woman before becoming a model. Talent scout Bijou Fernandez discovered Haines as part of the Samuel Goldwyn Companys New Faces of 1922 contest and he traveled to Hollywood with fellow contest winner Eleanor Boardman in March of that year
Airplane!
Airplane. is a 1980 American satirical parody film directed and written by David and Jerry Zucker as well as Jim Abrahams, and produced by Jon Davison. It stars Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty and features Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lorna Patterson. The film is a parody of the film genre, particularly the 1957 Paramount film Zero Hour. from which it borrows the plot. The film is known for its use of humor and its fast-paced slapstick comedy, including visual and verbal puns. Airplane. was a critical and financial success, grossing over $83 million in North America against a budget of $3.5 million, in the years since its release, the films reputation has grown substantially. The film was ranked sixth on Bravos 100 Funniest Movies, in a 2007 survey by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, it was judged the second greatest comedy film of all time, after Monty Pythons Life of Brian. In 2008, Airplane. was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, in 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
Ex-fighter pilot and taxi driver Ted Striker became traumatized during the War, as a result, he is unable to hold a responsible job. His wartime girlfriend, Elaine Dickinson, now a flight attendant, Striker nervously boards a Boeing 707 from Los Angeles to Chicago on which she is serving, hoping to win her back, but she rebuffs him. After dinner is served, many of the passengers fall ill, the cockpit crew, including pilot Clarence Oveur and co-pilot Roger Murdock, have been affected, leaving no one to fly the plane. Rumack convinces Striker to fly the plane, though Striker feels unable to handle the pressure, mcCroskey knows that he must get someone else to help take the plane down and calls Rex Kramer, Strikers commanding officer in the war. Despite their hostile relationship, he is the best choice to instruct Striker, as the plane nears Chicago, Striker is overcome by stress but regains confidence after a pep talk from Dr. Rumack. With Kramers advice, Striker is able to land the plane safely with minor injuries to some passengers.
Strikers courage rekindles Elaines love for him, and the two share a kiss, both wave farewell to Otto as he takes off in the evacuated plane after inflating a female companion. Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker, wrote Airplane, while they were performing with the Kentucky Fried Theatre, a successful small theatre they founded in 1971. To obtain material for routines, they routinely recorded late night television and reviewed the tapes primarily to pull the commercials. Abrahams described Zero Hour. as the version of Airplane. It was the first film script they wrote, completed around 1975, the script originally stayed close to the dialog and plot of Zero Hour. as ZAZ recognized they did not have a sufficient understanding of film at the time to structure a proper script
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the name Eadweard Muybridge, believing it to be the original Anglo-Saxon form of his name, at age 20, he emigrated to America, first to New York, as a bookseller, and to San Francisco. He returned to England in 1861, and took up photography, learning the wet-plate collodion process. He went back to San Francisco in 1867, and in 1868 his large photographs of Yosemite Valley made him world-famous, in 1874 he shot and killed Major Harry Larkyns, his wifes lover, but was acquitted in a jury trial on the grounds of justifiable homicide. He travelled for more than a year in Central America on an expedition in 1875. He spent much of his years giving lectures and demonstrations of his photography and early motion picture sequences, travelling back to England. He edited and published compilations of his work, which greatly influenced visual artists and he returned to his native England permanently in 1894, and in 1904, the Kingston Museum, containing a collection of his equipment, was opened in his hometown.
Edward James Muggeridge was born and raised in England, Muggeridge changed his name several times, starting with Muggridge. In 1855, in the United States, he used the surname Muygridge, after he returned from Britain to the United States in 1867, he used the surname Muybridge. In addition, he used the pseudonym Helios to sign many of his photographs and he used this as the name of his studio and made it the middle name for his only son, Florado Helios Muybridge, born in 1874. While travelling on an expedition in the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America in 1875. After an 1882 trip to England, he changed the spelling of his first name to Eadweard and he used Eadweard Muybridge for the rest of his career, but his gravestone carries his name as Eadweard Maybridge. Muybridge was born in Kingston upon Thames, in the county of Surrey in England, on 9 April 1830 to John and Susanna Muggeridge, he had three brothers. His father was a grain and coal merchant, with spaces on the ground floor of their house adjacent to the River Thames at No.30 High Street.
After his father died in 1843, his mother carried on the business and his cousin Norman Selfe who grew up in Kingston upon Thames moved to Australia and, following a family tradition, became a renowned engineer. Edwards younger brother George born in 1833 is found living with his Uncle Samuel in 1851 after the death of his Father in 1843 which establishes the lineage of Edward James Muggeridge. He started a career as a agent for the London Printing and Publishing Company. At the time, the city was booming, with 40 bookstores, nearly 60 hotels, in his life, he wrote about having spent time in New Orleans and New York City during his early years in the United States
Film genre
A film genre is a motion picture category based on similarities in either the narrative elements or the emotional response to the film. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism, the basic genres include fiction and documentary, from which subgenres have emerged, such as docufiction and docudrama. Other subgenres include the courtroom and trial-focused drama known as the legal drama, types of fiction which may seem unrelated can be combined to form hybrid subgenres, such as the melding of horror and comedy in the Evil Dead films. Other popular combinations are the comedy and the action comedy film. Films can be classified by the setting, topic, format, the setting is the environment where the story and action takes place. The theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around, the mood is the emotional tone of the film. Format refers to the way the film was shot or the manner of presentation, additional ways of categorizing film genres is by the target audience or by type of production.
American film historian Janet Staiger states that the genre of a film can be defined in four ways, the idealist method judges films by predetermined standards. The empirical method identifies the genre of a film by comparing it to a list of films already deemed to fall within a certain genre, the apriori method uses common generic elements which are identified in advance. The social conventions method of identifying the genre of a film is based on the cultural consensus within society. Martin Loop contends that Hollywood films are not pure genres, because most Hollywood movies blend the love-oriented plot of the genre with other genres. Many films cross into multiple genres, film theorist Robert Stam challenged whether genres really exist, or whether they are merely made up by critics. Stam has questioned whether genres really out there in the world or are they really the construction of analysts, as well, he has asked whether there is a. finite taxonomy of genres or are they in principle infinite.
And whether genres are. timeless essences ephemeral, time-bound entities, Stam has asked whether genre analysis should aim at being descriptive or prescriptive. While some genres are based on content, other are borrowed from literature or from other media. Some are performer-based or budget-based, while others are based on status, racial identity, location. Many genres have built-in audiences and corresponding publications that support them, for example, horror films have a well-established fanbase that reads horror magazines such as Fangoria. Films that are difficult to categorize into a genre are often less successful, as such, film genres are useful in the areas of marketing, film criticism and the analysis of consumption
Film
A film, called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens.
The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, sets, production, actors, storyboards, much terminology used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène.
Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides
Roscoe Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling Fatty Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios and he mentored Charlie Chaplin and discovered Buster Keaton and Bob Hope. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s, between November 1921 and April 1922, Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. Rappe had fallen ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco in September 1921, Arbuckle was accused by Rappes acquaintance of raping and accidentally killing Rappe. After the first two trials, which resulted in hung juries, Arbuckle was acquitted in the third trial, despite Arbuckles acquittal, the scandal has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian. Following the trials, his films were banned and he was publicly ostracized, although the ban on his films was lifted within a year, Arbuckle only worked sparingly through the 1920s.
He worked as a director under the alias William Goodrich. He was finally able to return to acting, making short comedies in 1932 for Warner Bros. He died in his sleep of an attack in 1933 at age 46. Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle was born on March 24,1887 in Smith Center, one of nine children of Mary E. Mollie Gordon and William Goodrich Arbuckle. He weighed in excess of 13 lb at birth and, as both parents had slim builds, his father believed the child was not his, the man named the baby for a politician whom he despised, Republican senator Roscoe Conkling of New York. The birth was traumatic for Mollie and resulted in health problems that contributed to her death 12 years later. When Arbuckle was nearly two his family moved to Santa Ana, Arbuckle had a wonderful singing voice and was extremely agile. At the age of eight, with his mothers encouragement, he first performed on stage with Frank Bacons company during their stopover in Santa Ana, Arbuckle enjoyed performing and continued on until his mothers death in 1899 when he was 12.
His father, who had treated him harshly, now refused to support him. Arbuckle was in the habit of singing while he worked and was overheard by a customer who was a professional singer, the customer invited him to perform in an amateur talent show. The show consisted of the audience judging acts by clapping or jeering with bad acts pulled off the stage by a shepherds crook, Arbuckle sang and did some clowning around, but did not impress the audience. He saw the crook emerge from the wings and to avoid it somersaulted into the pit in obvious panic
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