The Fatty Arbuckle case (1962)

Arbuckle weighed 16 pounds at birth in Kansas 34 years before. He never lost the over-normal poundage. He had been called "Fatty" almost from the beginning— back to when he played a pickaninny at the age of eight in a San Jose vaudeville house. For a fat man and one who drank too much, he was exceptionally healthy. At a studio insurance examination covered by the press he announced, "Late hours and lots of noisy parties keeps me in the pink." He did have insomnia, and his estranged wife, Minta Dunfee, would often send him sleep remedies. These apparently had no effect He and Minta, though separated, were good friends. Under a separation agreement, Arbuckle paid his good friend $500 a month. At this point in his career Arbuckle had about one hundred two-reel comedies in the vault and close to 40 feature pictures. He had a studio named for him in Culver City, the city that is now the home of the behemoth, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The rotund actor had such close friends as Buster Keaton, Marion Davies, Eddie Cantor and George Arliss. He was well liked because of an almost compulsive need to please. He distributed expensive presents (such as gold watches and luxurious sweaters) to people who worked with him on the set. He owned six cars. Five of them were housed in two garages. The sixth was custom-built at a cost of $25,000. A toilet-like disposal, similar to the toilets you find in the compartments of modem trains, was built into the rear seat Arbuckle liked to drink and he liked to drive. It was a luxury and a convenience for him. And not less in importance, a conversation piece. His home on West Adams Boulevard ( a slum neighborhood today) was said to be worth $250,000. Arbuckle lived there alone except for one deaf male servant. When friends pointed out that a servant who couldn't hear instructions or the doorbell was rather useless, Arbuckle said he thought it was funny. Many framed pictures of 11