Virginia Rappe

Virginia Rappe
Virginia Rappe circa 1920
Born	Virginia Caroline Rapp (1895-07-07)July 7, 1895 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	September 9, 1921(1921-09-09) (aged 26) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Other names	Virginia Rappae
Years active	1916-1921

Virginia Rappe (/rəˈpeɪ/; July 7, 1895 – September 9, 1921) was an American model and silent film actress. She worked mostly in small bit parts, and is best known for her death after attending a party with actor Roscoe Arbuckle, who was accused of complicity in her death though ultimately exonerated.

Virginia Caroline Rapp was born in Chicago to an unwed mother, Mabel Rapp, who died when Virginia was 11. Virginia was then raised by her grandmother in Chicago. At age 14 she began working as a commercial and art model in Chicago.

In 1916 she relocated to San Francisco to pursue her career as an artist's model, where she met dress designer Robert Moscovitz, to whom she became engaged. Shortly after the engagement Moscovitz was killed in a streetcar accident, whereupon she moved to Los Angeles. In early 1917 she was hired by director Fred Balshofer and given a prominent role in his Paradise Garden opposite popular screen star Harold Lockwood. Balshofer then hired her again to costar with early drag performer Julian Eltinge and newcomer Rudolph Valentino in Over the Rhine, for which she was awarded the title of "Best Dressed Girl in Pictures". This film was not released until 1920 when Balshofer recut it and released it under the title An Adventuress and later in 1922 as The Isle of Love.

In 1919, she began a relationship with director/producer Henry Lehrman; the two eventually became engaged. She appeared in at least four films for Lehrman: His Musical Sneeze, A Twilight Baby, Punch of the Irish and A Game Lady. However, because many of Lehrman's films are lost, the exact number of roles she performed for him cannot be known.