Stan Laurel once remarked that Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd always seemed to get bigger budgets to produce their films during the comedy heyday of the 1920s. That might have been so, but Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy produced bigger laughs and lasted longer in the minds of the public. And not just in Hollywood or other English speaking countries; the popularity of Laurel and Hardy enveloped virtually the entire globe. Whilst this was not a surprise during the days they were producing silent films, their popularity showed no sign of diminishing with the advent of talkies. Immensely popular as Laurel & Hardy in the English speaking world, their reputation was enhanced as El Gordo y El Flaco for the Spanish speaking audiences, Helan and Halvan in Sweden, Flip e Flap in Poland, Dikke and Dunne in Holland and Dick und Doof in Germany. They were even popular in China in the days before the Communists, but their image remained adorning a building long after Mao Tse Tung came to power; perhaps even he, like Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin and Josip Tito was a fan!
For almost twenty years Laurel & Hardy churned out a succession of hit films, even though their initial pairing was arrived at by accident and attempts were made near the end of their film career to split them up. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy prospered when working in tandem and were adamant they would not be divided, irrespective of efforts to drive a wedge between them. Individually they were supremely talented, Stan Laurel the master craftsman who created many of their routines, and Oliver Hardy an exceptionally talented actor, yet it was in tandem that they achieved lasting worldwide fame. Even more bizarrely, they owed their linking and eventual success to a leg of lamb!
This book provides a snapshot biography of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. From Stan’s humble origins and being brought up by his grandmother through to his debut in vaudeville in Britain. It covers Ollie’s start in military college, then as a singer before becoming a jobbing actor. And eventually, the two gravitated towards each other, initially by luck and circumstances, before eventually becoming the greatest comedy team of all time.
For almost twenty years Laurel & Hardy churned out a succession of hit films, even though their initial pairing was arrived at by accident and attempts were made near the end of their film career to split them up. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy prospered when working in tandem and were adamant they would not be divided, irrespective of efforts to drive a wedge between them. Individually they were supremely talented, Stan Laurel the master craftsman who created many of their routines, and Oliver Hardy an exceptionally talented actor, yet it was in tandem that they achieved lasting worldwide fame. Even more bizarrely, they owed their linking and eventual success to a leg of lamb!
This book provides a snapshot biography of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. From Stan’s humble origins and being brought up by his grandmother through to his debut in vaudeville in Britain. It covers Ollie’s start in military college, then as a singer before becoming a jobbing actor. And eventually, the two gravitated towards each other, initially by luck and circumstances, before eventually becoming the greatest comedy team of all time.
