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Minta Durfee
Born	Araminta Estelle Durfee October 1, 1889(1889-10-01) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 9, 1975 (aged 85) Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Other name(s)	Minta Durfee Arbuckle
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1913–1971
Spouse(s)	Roscoe Arbuckle (1908-1925)

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. This was 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, 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 Mabel Normand who was a close friend of hers. She spoke fondly of her until her own death.^[1]

Durfee was a regular performer on television, appearing 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 her later life Durfee began to give lectures on silent film and hold 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 where she could.^[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

• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
• Mickey (1918)
• The Other Man (1916)
• His Wife's Mistakes (1916)
• Bright Lights (1916)
• Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915)
• A Village Scandal (1915)
• Fickle Fatty's Fall (1915)
• Court House Crooks (1915)
• When Love Took Wings (1915)
• Fatty's Faithful Fido (1915)
• Fatty's Chance Acquaintance (1915)
• Fatty's Reckless Fling (1915)
• Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition (1915)
• Mabel, Fatty and the Law (1915)
• Fatty and Minnie He-Haw (1914)
• Fatty's Magic Pants (1914)
• Leading Lizzie Astray (1914)
• Fatty's Wine Party (1914)
• Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)
• An Incompetent Hero (1914)
• Lovers' Post Office (1914)
• Fatty Again (1914)
• Fatty's Debut (1914)
• Lover's Luck (1914)
• The Masquerader (1914)
• The Rounders (1914)
• His New Profession (1914)
• Fatty's Gift (1914)
• Those Happy Days (1914)
• The Sky Pirate (1914)
• Fatty's Finish (1914)
• Fatty and the Heiress (1914)
• The Knockout (1914)
• The Alarm (1914)
• The Water Dog (1914)
• A Suspended Ordeal (1914)
• Caught in a Cabaret (1914)
• Where Hazel Met the Villain (1914)
• Twenty Minutes of Love (1914)
• The Star Boarder (1914)
• Cruel, Cruel Love (1914)
• Tango Tangles (1914)
• Rebecca's Wedding Day (1914)
• A Flirt's Mistake (1914)
• The Under-Sheriff (1914)
• A Misplaced Foot (1914)
• Fatty's Flirtation (1913)
• Fatty Joins the Force (1913)
• Wine (1913)
• Fatty at San Diego (1913)
• A Quiet Little Wedding (1913)
• Fatty's Day Off (1913)

References

External links

• Minta Durfee at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Minta Durfee
• Find A Grave Memorial