Minta Durfee
| Minta Durfee | |
|---|---|
|
Cover of Photoplay, December, 1915 | |
| Born |
Araminta Estelle Durfee October 1, 1889 Los Angeles, California |
| Died |
September 9, 1975 (aged 85) Woodland Hills, California |
| Other names | Minta Durfee Arbuckle |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1913–1971 |
| Spouse(s) |
Roscoe Arbuckle (m. 1908–1925; divorced) |
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 her close friend Mabel Normand throughout Normand's many public scandals, and she spoke fondly of her until her own death.[1]
A regular performer on television, Durfee appeared 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
- Fatty's Day Off (1913)
- A Quiet Little Wedding (1913)
- Fatty at San Diego (1913)
- Wine (1913)
- Fatty Joins the Force (1913)
- Fatty's Flirtation (1913)
- A Misplaced Foot (1914)
- The Under-Sheriff (1914)
- A Flirt's Mistake (1914)
- Rebecca's Wedding Day (1914)
- Tango Tangles (1914)
- Cruel, Cruel Love (1914)
- The Star Boarder (1914)
- Twenty Minutes of Love (1914)
- Where Hazel Met the Villain (1914)
- Caught in a Cabaret (1914)
- A Suspended Ordeal (1914)
- The Water Dog (1914)
- The Alarm (1914)
- The Knockout (1914)
- Fatty and the Heiress (1914)
- Fatty's Finish (1914)
- The Sky Pirate (1914)
- Those Happy Days (1914)
- Fatty's Gift (1914)
- His New Profession (1914)
- The Rounders (1914)
- The Masquerader (1914)
- Lover's Luck (1914)
- Fatty's Debut (1914)
- Fatty Again (1914)
- Lovers' Post Office (1914)
- An Incompetent Hero (1914)
- Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) as Crook's Girlfriend in "A Thief's Fate" (uncredited)
- Fatty's Wine Party (1914)
- Leading Lizzie Astray (1914)
- Fatty's Magic Pants (1914)
- Fatty and Minnie He-Haw (1914)
- Mabel, Fatty and the Law (1915)
- Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition (1915)
- Fatty's Reckless Fling (1915)
- Fatty's Chance Acquaintance (1915)
- Fatty's Faithful Fido (1915)
- When Love Took Wings (1915)
- Court House Crooks (1915)
- Fickle Fatty's Fall (1915)
- A Village Scandal (1915)
- Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915)
- The Masquerader (1914)
- Bright Lights (1916)
- His Wife's Mistakes (1916)
- The Other Man (1916)
- Mickey (1918)
- How Green Was My Valley (1941) (uncredited)
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) as a crowd extra watching the fire escape rescue (uncredited)
- Savage Intruder (1970)
References
- 1 2 3 Schneider, Don; Normand, Stephen (July 21, 1974). "Excerpts of Interview with Minta Durfee Arbuckle". Retrieved 2015-11-15.
- ↑ "Minta Durfee, Actress, 85, Dies; Former Wife of Fatty Arbuckle". New York Times. September 12, 1975. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- ↑ Del Olmo, Frank (September 12, 1975). "Fatty Arbuckle's First Wife Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
External links
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