Minta Durfee

Minta Durfee
Born	Araminta Estelle Durfee October 1, 1889(1889-10-01) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 9, 1975(1975-09-09) (aged 85) Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Other names	Minta Durfee Arbuckle
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1913–1971
Spouse	Roscoe Arbuckle (1908-1925)

Araminta Estelle "Minta" Durfee (October 1, 1889 – September 9, 1975) was an American silent film actress from Los Angeles, California, possibly best known for her role in Mickey (1918).

Biography

She met Roscoe Arbuckle when he was attempting to get started in theater and the two married in August 1908. Durfee entered show business in local companies as a chorus girl at the age of seventeen. She was the first leading lady of Charlie Chaplin.

Durfee and Arbuckle separated in 1921, just prior to a scandal involving the death of starlet Virginia Rappe. There were three trials and finally Arbuckle was acquitted. His career was destroyed and he received few job offers. Durfee and Arbuckle were divorced in 1925. Durfee was quoted in her later years as saying Arbuckle was the most generous human being I've ever met, and if I had to do it all over again, I'd still marry the same man.^[1]

Durfee was an avid defender of Mabel Normand who was a close friend, and spoke fondly of her until her own death.^[1]

Durfee was a regular performer on television, appearing on such shows as Noah's Ark (1956). She had minor roles in motion pictures like How Green Was My Valley (1941), Naughty Marietta (1935), Rose- Marie (1936), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), and It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).

In later life, Durfee gave lectures on silent film and held retrospectives on her and her husband's pictures. She was surprised and excited by the renewed interest in silent film and did her best to help.^[1]

Minta Durfee died in Woodland Hills, California at the Motion Picture Country Home in 1975. She suffered from a heart ailment.^[2][3]

Selected filmography

• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
• Mickey (1918)
• The Other Man (1916)
• His Wife's Mistakes (1916)
• Bright Lights (1916)
• The Masquerader (1914)
• Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915)
• A Village Scandal (1915)
• Fickle Fatty's Fall (1915)
• Court House Crooks (1915)
• When Love Took Wings (1915)
• Fatty's Faithful Fido (1915)
• Fatty's Chance Acquaintance (1915)
• Fatty's Reckless Fling (1915)
• Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition (1915)
• Mabel, Fatty and the Law (1915)
• Fatty and Minnie He-Haw (1914)
• Fatty's Magic Pants (1914)
• Leading Lizzie Astray (1914)
• Fatty's Wine Party (1914)
• Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)
• An Incompetent Hero (1914)
• Lovers' Post Office (1914)
• Fatty Again (1914)
• Fatty's Debut (1914)
• Lover's Luck (1914)
• The Masquerader (1914)
• The Rounders (1914)
• His New Profession (1914)
• Fatty's Gift (1914)
• Those Happy Days (1914)
• The Sky Pirate (1914)
• Fatty's Finish (1914)
• Fatty and the Heiress (1914)
• The Knockout (1914)
• The Alarm (1914)
• The Water Dog (1914)
• A Suspended Ordeal (1914)
• Caught in a Cabaret (1914)
• Where Hazel Met the Villain (1914)
• Twenty Minutes of Love (1914)
• The Star Boarder (1914)
• Cruel, Cruel Love (1914)
• Tango Tangles (1914)
• Rebecca's Wedding Day (1914)
• A Flirt's Mistake (1914)
• The Under-Sheriff (1914)
• A Misplaced Foot (1914)
• Fatty's Flirtation (1913)
• Fatty Joins the Force (1913)
• Wine (1913)
• Fatty at San Diego (1913)
• A Quiet Little Wedding (1913)
• Fatty's Day Off (1913)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Excerpts of Interview with Minta Durfee Arbuckle by Don Schneider and Stephen Normand
2. ^ "Minta Durfee, Actress, 85, Dies; Former Wife of Fatty Arbuckle". New York Times. September 12, 1975. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C11FA3D5B157493C0A81782D85F418785F9. Retrieved 2008-07-03. "Minta Durfee, the actress who was married to Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle and became Charlie Chaplin's first motionpicture leading lady, died Tuesday in Woodland Hills, a Los Angeles suburb." 
3. ^ Del Olmo, Frank (September 12, 1975). "Fatty Arbuckle's First Wife Dies". Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/679361712.html?dids=679361712:679361712&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Sep+11%2C+1975&author=FRANK+DEL+OLMO&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Fatty+Arbuckle%27s+First+Wife+Dies&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2008-07-03. "Former motion picture actress Minta Durfee Arbuckle, first wife of movie comic Roscoe (Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin's first leading lady, has died at 85." 

External links

• Minta Durfee at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Minta Durfee
• Find A Grave Memorial

Persondata
Name	Durfee, Minta
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 1, 1889
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Date of death	September 9, 1975
Place of death	Woodland Hills, California, U.S.