An actress best known for her death, her controversial demise occurred
the day after being discovered in a hotel bedroom during a party that
involved a large amount of alcohol consumption. Actor Roscoe "Fatty"
Arbuckle was the last person seen with Rappe before she was found
seriously injured. After her death, Arbuckle went through a murder
trial and retrials before being found not guilty. The trials severely
damaged the reputations of both Arbuckle and Rappe, and Arbuckle's
career never recovered from the scandal.
Following her untimely death, movie theatres across the country presented her films, advertising them as starring the victim of a sensational Hollywood murder.
By September 17, 1921, the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America Association had prohibited all of her films in order to prevent exploiting her death.
The Labor Day party that she attended where she died, took place in the suite of rooms 1219, 1220 and 1221 of the St. Francis Hotel, overlooking San Francisco's Union Square.
Recently discovered documents prove Virginia Rappe's birth date as July 7, 1891.
Engaged to director/producer Henry Lehrman at the time of her untimely death.