Minta Durfee

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 17. 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, but his career was destroyed and he received few job offers. Durfee and Arbuckle divorced in 1925. Durfee in her later years said 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." Durfee was an avid defender of her close friend Mabel Normand throughout Normand's many public scandals.

A regular performer on television, Durfee appeared on such shows as Noah's Ark (1956). She had minor roles in motion pictures including How Green Was My Valley (1941), Naughty Marietta (1935), Rose-Marie (1936), It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964), and Savage Intruder (1970).

In later life, Durfee gave lectures on silent film and held retrospectives on her and her former husband's pictures. She was surprised and excited by the renewed interest in silent film.

Durfee died in Woodland Hills, California, at the Motion Picture Country Home in 1975. She suffered from a heart ailment.

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• His Sister's Kids (1913, Short) (uncredited){{cite web|url= https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/54736%7C113681/minta-durfee#filmography|title=Minta Durfee Filmography| publisher=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=March 13, 2020|archive-date=October 19, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151019001348/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/54736%7C113681/Minta-Durfee/filmography.html|url-status=live}}
• Fatty's Day Off (1913, Short)
• A Quiet Little Wedding (1913, Short) as Fatty's fiancée
• Fatty at San Diego (1913, Short) as Girl at the carnival
• Wine (1913, Short) as Diner's sweetheart
• Fatty Joins the Force (1913, Short) (uncredited)
• Fatty's Flirtation (1913, Short) as Minta
• Ambrose's First Falsehood (1914, Short) (uncredited)
• A Misplaced Foot (1914, Short)
• The Under-Sheriff (1914, Short) as The Sheriff's Wife
• A Flirt's Mistake (1914, Short) (uncredited)
• Rebecca's Wedding Day (1914, Short) as Wedding guest (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Making a Living (1914, Short) as Girl (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Tango Tangles (1914, Short) as Guest
• Cruel, Cruel Love (1914, Short) as The Lady
• The Star Boarder (1914, Short) as Landlady
• Twenty Minutes of Love (1914, Short) as Edgar's girl
• Where Hazel Met the Villain (1914, Short)
• Caught in a Cabaret (1914, Short) as Cabaret patron / Girl in park (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• A Suspended Ordeal (1914, Short)
• The Water Dog (1914, Short) as Nursemaid
• The Alarm (1914, Short)
• The Knockout (1914, Short) as Pug's sweetheart (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Fatty and the Heiress (1914, Short)
• Fatty's Finish (1914, Short)
• The Sky Pirate (1914, Short)
• Those Happy Days (1914, Short)
• Fatty's Gift (1914, Short) as Fatty's Wife
• The Masquerader (1914, Short) as leading lady
• His New Profession (1914, Short)
• The Rounders (1914, Short) as Fatty's wife
• Lover's Luck (1914, Short) as The Girl
• Fatty's Debut (1914, Short)
• Fatty Again (1914, Short) as Proprietor's daughter
• Lovers' Post Office (1914, Short) as Fatty's sweetheart
• An Incompetent Hero (1914, Short) as Neighbor's maid
• Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) as Maid (uncredited)
• Fatty's Wine Party (1914, Short) as in a minor role (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Leading Lizzie Astray (1914, Short) as Lizzie, the farm boy's fiancée
• Fatty's Magic Pants (1914, Short) as Fatty's sweetheart
• Fatty and Minnie He-Haw (1914, Short) as Minta
• Dirty Work in a Laundry (1915, Short) (uncredited)
• A Bird's a Bird (1915, Short) (uncredited)
• Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition (1915, Short) as Jealous husband's wife (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Mabel, Fatty and the Law (1915, Short) as Flirty wife
• Fatty's Reckless Fling (1915, Short) as Neighbor's wife
• Fatty's Faithful Fido (1915, Short) (uncredited)
• Fatty's Chance Acquaintance (1915, Short) as Pickpocket's girlfriend
• That Little Band of Gold (1915, short)
• Fatty's Faithful Fido (1915, Short) as Fatty's sweetheart
• When Love Took Wings (1915, Short)
• Court House Crooks (1915, Short) as Judge's wife
• Dirty Work in a Laundry (1915)
• Fickle Fatty's Fall (1915, Short) as Fatty's wife
• Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915, Short) as Sam Bernard's leading lady
• Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition (1915, Short) (uncredited)
• Bright Lights (1916, Short) in a minor role (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• His Wife's Mistakes (1916, Short)
• The Other Man (1916, Short)
• The Cabaret (1918)
• Mickey (1918) as Elsie Drake
• Skinner's Dress Suit (1926) as Party guest (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Naughty Marietta (1935) in minor role (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• The Man with Nine Lives (1940) (uncredited)
• Glamour for Sale (1940) as Matron (uncredited)
• Rollin' Home to Texas (1940) (uncredited)
• The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) as Customer (uncredited)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941) in a minor role (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• The Miracle Kid (1941) as Pheney
• The Man Who Returned to Life (1942) as Mrs. Tuller (uncredited)
• Blondie for Victory (1942) as Housewife (uncredited)
• The Chance of a Lifetime (1943) (uncredited)
• Eve Knew Her Apples (1945) as Landlady (uncredited)
• The Son of Rusty (1947) as Townswoman (uncredited){{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FUzc4If3M8gC&q=dwayne+hickman+rusty&pg=PA282|title=Columbia Pictures Movie Series, 1926-1955: The Harry Cohn Years|first=Gene |last=Blottner|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2011|isbn=978-0786433537|page=282}}
• My Dog Rusty (1948) as Mrs. Laura Foley (uncredited)Blottner, p. 283.
• How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955) as Older woman (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Artists and Models (1955) as Dancer (uncredited)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1956) as an extra (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Hollywood or Bust (1956) as Miss Pettywood (uncredited)
• The Buster Keaton Story (1957) as Boarder (uncredited)
• An Affair to Remember (1957) as Ship passenger (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) as Scrubwoman (uncredited)
• The Big Fisherman (1959) in a minor role (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Beloved Infidel (1959) (uncredited)
• My Six Loves (1963) as Woman at auction (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963){{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NvmcAwAAQBAJ&q=it%27s+a+MAD%2C+MAD%2C+MAD%2C+MAD+WORLD+%2B%22durfee%22&pg=PA500|chapter=Minta Dufee|title=Mack Sennett's Fun Factory|year=2009|first=Brent E. |last=Walker|publisher=McFarland & Co.|isbn=978-0786436101|page=500}} as Woman in crowd (uncredited)
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) as Denver party guest (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Caprice (1967) as Agent (uncredited){{cn|date=March 2020}}
• Savage Intruder (1970) as Guest
• Willard (1971) (uncredited)
• What's the Matter with Helen? (1971) as Old lady (uncredited)
• The Steagle (1971) as Old lady (uncredited)
• Portnoy's Complaint (1972) as Elevator lady

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{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/mn/hp/minta1.html |title=Excerpts of Interview with Minta Durfee Arbuckle |last1=Schneider |first1=Don |last2=Normand |first2=Stephen |date=July 21, 1974 |access-date=2015-11-15}}

{{cite news |title=Minta Durfee, Actress, 85, Dies; Former Wife of Fatty Arbuckle |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C11FA3D5B157493C0A81782D85F418785F9 |newspaper=New York Times |date=September 12, 1975 |accessdate=2008-07-03 }}

{{cite news |first=Frank |last=Del Olmo |title=Fatty Arbuckle's First Wife Dies |url=https://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 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927160448/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 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 27, 2008 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 12, 1975 |accessdate=2008-07-03}}

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• {{IMDb name|id=0244030|name=Minta Durfee}}
• {{Find a Grave|20279}}

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Category:1889 births

Category:1975 deaths

Category:American film actresses

Category:American silent film actresses

Category:Actresses from Los Angeles

Category:20th-century American actresses