Since their marriage, Roscoe and Minta Durfee had been bound physically, spiritually, and legally. Despite the assertions of divorce, remarriage, and a second divorce, it is possible that there was only one marriage and no divorce. Long after Roscoe's death in 1933, Minta continued to refer to herself as Minta D. Arbuckle, and since her death on 9 September 1975, the tablet on her crypt at Forest Lawn reads: Minta D. Arbuckle, 1889 to 1975.
A very bitter and vengeful Araminta Estelle Durfee Arbuckle had planned to divorce Roscoe but may never have legally pursued it. She did remain loyal to him, a fixture at his side during the sensational trials, and once she was even shot at as she entered the courthouse. Minta's mother, who became like a surrogate mother to Roscoe throughout the marriage, too, remained at his side during all three trials.
Before hearing the news of her husband's alleged criminal activities, Minta and Roscoe had been living separate and apart, he in California, she in New York. She remained by his side, believing his innocence after he swore to her that he had nothing to do with any of it. The problem with Roscoe since the trials and the loss of his good name and career became difficult for Minta in that he appeared more distant, hopeless, and finding some comfort in drink. He had much on his mind and his thoughts could not readily focus on any sign of hope which made him a troublesome companion. Roscoe had become a shadow of his former self. Minta might have either feigned a divorce, or planned it and then decided not to go through with it. What is most apparent is the "settlement" she claimed to have never received, insinuating that Roscoe purposely defaulted on payments to her at a time when, in fact, he had lost everything as a result of three exhausting and financially draining trials, the loss of his million dollar career, and was having to resort to the help of friends for monetary and emotional support. Could Minta's resentment of Roscoe have been the result of Roscoe's marriage to actress Doris Deane on 16 May 1925 not long after she claimed divorce? On 11 September 1928, Minta D. Arbuckle sent a scathing letter to Roscoe wherein she informed him of the following:
"...Since your present difficulties with your wife [Deane] I have now made an examination which leads to one conclusion: you have defrauded me many thousands of dollars through unfair and deceitful methods. You at the time of making the last settlement, the first of the year, concealed for the purpose of defrauding me, the amount of your assets, forcing me, without funds, to take what I thought was the only hope of recovering anything. The debts I owed, the lawyers fees, and expenses left me without hardly sufficient to live decently on. You said you were forced to mortgage your home to pay the amount of the paltry settlement, after I have sacrificed my share of your fortune and property we bought with our earnings when youngsters."
The following quote suggests that it was, then, Minta who defrauded Roscoe by enforcing a "paltry settlement" while his finances were marginalized, and by claiming a divorce, and a contract for same, that Roscoe was not privy to.
"I have just been informed that the Paris divorce I secured is illegal and can be set aside. I am taking steps to have this done if the lawyers which I have now employed tell me to go ahead. Remember you were not in Paris when the decree was granted. This will leave you still married to me."
Since Minta continued on until her death to refer to herself as Mrs. Roscoe Arbuckle, was the divorce finalized and, if so, and that being the case, it would deem Roscoe's two succeeding marriages null and void. For decades after Roscoe's death, Minta Durfee Arbuckle continued to speak highly of him, even asserting that if she could have, she would have married the same man. Minta Durfee Arbuckle never remarried.
Let's take a look back at the original Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Arbuckle, as referenced by quotes both from Minta and from Roscoe's half-brother, Clyde, as told to and revealed in the book by author, David Yallop, entitled The Day the Laughter Stopped.
Roscoe and Minta met as both were performing in 1908 at the Byde A Wyle Theater on the Pike in Long Beach. Roscoe had previously signed with the Elwood Tabloid Musical Company in San Franciso which would take him from there to points south in California. With the company he performed illustrated songs with a voice so entrancing that the audience would keep silent in order to hear Roscoe sing. Minta was also at the theater performing there as a chorus girl.
One evening after rehearsals, Minta stood outside the theater waiting for the trolley while fussing with a rather large piece of luggage. She was tiny, and as described by the author: "stood under five foot tall and weighed less than one hundred pounds. Her auburn hair when unpinned cascaded to her waist."
Minta, on being interviewed by the author, recounted her first meeting with Roscoe:
"Sitting opposite me was this great big blond boy. As sharp as a new pin. Brown suit. Blue bow tie. Blue eyes. When he took off his hat, his hair was pure gold. I didn't pay any attention to him, just glanced over and thought, 'What a clean looking young man.' You must remember this was my first time away from home. I was determined to be very proper about everything. I struggled with my suitcase when we reached our destination. The young man rose, and doffing his hat, said, 'I would be very glad to take your suitcase off for you.' I said, 'I beg your pardon. I don't like blonds and I don't like fat men. I would be very happy if you keep your hands off my suitcase.' The young man blushed bright red to the roots of his hair as I stormed down the staircase of the streetcar."
It wasn't long before Minta realized her mistake. A man with the most beautiful voice ringing loudly from the stage, no microphone, caught her attention as she congregated with the other chorus girls in the wings, she, and the audience, mesmerized by the young singer who, as it turned out, was the very man whose kind advances Minta had, only recently, angrily and rudely rebuffed. Roscoe sang "When You Were Sweet Sixteen," a sing-a-long, however, the audience did not sing along for they wanted to hear this enchanting voice that filled the theater and, afterward, earned a standing ovation. From that moment Minta thought of the young man differently, even becoming smitten with him, though she would not let on...at first.
Minta Durfee was seventeen years old in 1908. Roscoe was nineteen. While the entire cast appeared on stage to take their bows at the finale of the show, Roscoe sought to stand beside Minta where he quietly asked her: "Can I walk you home?" She snapped back at him: "How dare you!" When Roscoe asked what he had done, Minta's tone changed. "How dare you be in such a small company as this with such a gorgeous voice and with so much talent! What's the matter with you? I don't want to talk to you or ever speak to you again."
From that point, love blossomed, although Minta continued to fight the feelings. She found Roscoe Arbuckle to be "the most unconceited human being that ever lived."
They went for walks; they talked and seemed to delight in each other's company. However, when Roscoe opened up to Minta that he was very much in love with her, she shrugged it off, then told Roscoe that it was "goodbye."
From David Yallop: "Roscoe stopped walking, and holding her in his arms, spoke quietly, 'Well, you can't say goodbye to me. You're the first person in the world who ever believed in me. What do you mean you are going to say goodbye to me?'
"That evening before the show, they walked by the sea" where Roscoe soon suggested 'Let's go by the pier.' Walking there, he calmly told her: 'I am in love with you, and I want to marry you.' Minta replied that she could not marry him, that she was too young to marry. "They walked to the end of the pier. Roscoe asked intently, 'are you going to marry me or not?' Certainty had deserted her. 'Roscoe, I don't know.' He picked her up in his arms and, standing at the edge of the pier, holding her out over the water, said, 'You are either going to say yes or no or I'll drop you into the water. Do you love me or don't you love me. I love you and adore you.'" Still above the water, dangling, she told him she loved him. "Are you going to marry me?" "Yes, of course I am, dear."
On 6 August 1908, Araminta Estelle Durfee became Mrs. Roscoe Arbuckle, and their union took them far and wide across the Vaudeville circuit until, eventually, success brought them, as a pair, to the Keystone Studios in 1913, and the rest is history.
Roscoe and Minty, as he affectionately called her, were very happy and inseparable until conflicting desires; he wanting to stay in California, and she in New York, brought about a separation in 1925.
For Roscoe, Minta was his first love, and for Minta, Roscoe was her everlasting love. No children were born of the marriage. They had, at least, three or four dogs, including Luke, the film star, given to Roscoe by Minta. It has been put down to rumor that Roscoe was impotent. Whether true or not, none of his marriages produced children. It is true, however, that Minta Durfee Arbuckle spent the remainder of her life reminiscing about her husband, Roscoe. She never got over the wonderful and decent human being that he was.
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