10 Actors Whose Careers Never Rebounded

There will, one day, be a bio-pic about the life of silent era comedian, actor and screenwriter Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Fantasty casting begins now.

Arbuckle mentored a young Charlie Chaplin, worked hard at perfecting his own work as the loutish figure. Interestingly, Arbuckle was extremely self-conscious about his weight. Silent-era director Mack Sennett recalls, upon meeting the vaudevillian comic, that he skipped up the steps "as lightly as Fred Astaire" and he refused bits that focused on his rotund form as a cheap laugh.

In 1921, Arbuckle was arrested under the suspicion of rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. After three trials - two hung juries - friend Buster Keaton testified in his defense and the jury issued him a letter of apology.

In the aftermath, however, his reputation in Hollywood was rancid. No studio would take him on, and much of his earlier work was ordered destroyed for archival history. He tried to make a return under the psuedonymn William B. Goodrich, working behind the camera this time for stars like Keaton and Eddie Cantor.

As the silent era was transitioning to talkies, it appeared Hollywood was ready to accept Arbuckle once again. Warner Bros. had just finished shooting the two of six two-reelers with the actor. The next day, he signed a contract for a feature length film and went out with friends to celebrate.

But time, alcoholism and irony caught up with Arbuckle. He suffered a fatal heart attack that very night on June 28, 1933. According to witnesses, when signing the contract, he said, "This is the best day of my life."