At the time of his death he survived by his large extended friends and family. In his early years, Laurel spent much time living with his maternal grandmother, Sarah Metcalfe. It was around this time that Laurel met Mae Dahlberg. The play, starring Holland as Laurel, was taken on tour of the UK in 2014 until June 2015.[51]. They did a 4 month tour covering 12 cities starting on the 27th September in Omaha and ending in Buffalo in mid December. Charlotte Mae Dahlberg (Dahlberg was her maiden name) was part of a double act with Stan and claimed that she gave Stan his surname. By 1907 he had been promoted to actor. There followed a number of shorts for Metro, Hal Roach Studios, then Universal, then back to Roach in 1926. ". Those who knew Laurel reported he was absolutely devastated by Hardy's death and never fully recovered from it; his wife told the press that he became physically ill upon hearing that Hardy was dying. In his teens her became an understudy to Charlie Chaplin with the Fred Karno Comedy Company in London, In 1910 the company sailed from Liverpool to America for an engagement .after which Stan stayed in America and 10 years later he met Oliver Hardy when they were cast in a 2 reel film, becoming a well known partnership that was loved all round the world and continues even now (2021} with branches of the 'Sons of the Desert' (their fan club) pretty much all round the world. Way Out West (1937) was the first film to be produced by Stan Laurel. The actor Sir Alec Guinness was a big admirer of him. Billy Wilder planned on doing a film with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the 1950s. Many people over the years have assumed Laurel was a Democrat because he praised President John F. Kennedy in letters which are available to read on the Internet. The Karno troupe broke up in the spring of 1914. [34] He and Illeana separated in 1939 and divorced in 1940, with Illeana surrendering all claim to the Laurel surname on 1 February 1940 in exchange for $6,500. As a result, it was only natural that Laurel also found himself in the entertainment world. [17] Between 1916 and 1918, he teamed up with Alice Cooke and Baldwin Cooke, who became his lifelong friends, to form the Stan Jefferson Trio. Arthur Stanley Jefferson was born in his grandparents' house on 16 June 1890 in Argyle Street, Ulverston, Lancashire,[a] to Arthur J. Jefferson, an actor and theatre manager from Bishop Auckland, and Margaret (ne Metcalfe), an actress from Ulverston. But as the team was planning to get back to work, Hardy had a major stroke on 14 September 1956 and was unable to return to acting. [21] Mobbed wherever they went, Laurel's homecoming to Ulverston took place in May, and the duo were greeted by thousands of fans outside the Coronation Hall. It's shocking of course. Stan made his stage debut at the sage of 7 in 'Lights of London, and at 15 toured Europe on his own as a song and dance act. Man of the Theatre and Father of Stan Laurel (Brewin Books Ltd). Stan's mother Margaret died 1st December 1908 and is buried in grave L203 in Cathcart Cemetary in Glasgow. Roach maintained separate contracts for Laurel and Hardy that expired at different times, so Hardy remained at the studio and was "teamed" with Harry Langdon for the 1939 film Zenobia. His boyhood hero was Dan Leno, considered one of the greatest English music hall comedians. When the films proved very successful, Laurel and Hardy were granted more freedom and gradually added more of their own material. [citation needed] His phone number was also listed in the telephone directory and he would take calls from fans.[26][27]. 8 Dockwray Square, North Shields, which was where Stan and and his family lived for a time, was demolished in the 60's and replaced by flats which were also demolished. [1] He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles.[2]. As Stan was superstitious and his name had 13 letters in it he was more than happy to take up her suggestion of adopting the name of Laurel. That's why Stan's face is fixed in one position for a relatively long time. The trick of Stan lighting his thumb was done by him wearing a false thumb. Oliver Hardy died on 7 August 1957. He and. It's thought that actor Douglas Gordon came up with the gag of Stan Laurel lighting his thumb in the film Way Out West. [24] Laurel had achieved his lifelong dream as a comedian and had been involved in nearly 190 films. They got drunk in Blotto, Scram, Them Thar Hills, The Fixer Uppers and Them Tha Hills. Their first release through MGM was Sugar Daddies (1927) and the first with star billing was From Soup to Nuts (1928). Amongst other performers, Laurel worked briefly alongside Oliver Hardy in the silent film short The Lucky Dog (1921),[8] before the two were a team. [22] The success of the tour led them to spend the next seven years touring the UK and Europe. He would have been in awe and so excited to see how many people are still interested in what he and Oliver did.. By 1926 he'd come to think that his true gift was in writing and directing instead of performing comedy. He still received hefty amounts of fan mail. GRANADA HILLS >> Lois Laurel Hawes, the only surviving child of comedy legend Stan Laurel, of Laurel and Hardy fame, has died at Holy Cross Hospital in Granada Hills following a lengthy. Their first starring feature Pardon Us was released in 1931. As he was a sickly baby she left him there and returned to Bishop to help her husband run his theatres. . In scenes resembling Beatlemania 30 years later, the comedy team were surrounded by screaming crowds everywhere they went. Although they were identified with Bowlers they actually wore more other hats in their many films and when they were on their European tours they eagerly donned the appropriate national hat of the country they were in- Berets in Paris, Tam O Shanter in Scotland .After Ollie's death Stan never publicly wore another Bowler. During the 1930s, Laurel was involved in a dispute with Hal Roach which resulted in the termination of his contract. Laurel's future partner Hardy, however, did appear in three of the shorts directed by Laurel: Yes, Yes, Nanette! Publication date Thursday 19 October 2017. There have been more than 40 versions of Stevenson's classic tale but the one that eclipses them all for ingenuity is Dr Pyckle and Mr Pride (1925) a two reeler in which Stan Laurel creates a brilliant parody of John Barrymore's 1920 performance. Cassidy realised from an early age that her family was different, but it wasnt until she was 18 she understood how much Stan meant to his fans. There is a plaque commemorating the fact, at which time the family were living at 66 Waldron Street, which also has a plaque on it. Stan Laurel, of course, partnered with Oliver Hardy to appear in more than 100 short films and features, including the classics The Music Box (1932), Sons of the Desert (1933), Babes in Toyland (1934) and Way Out West (1937). Yesterday, speaking from her home in California, she revealed plans to visit Scotland this summer to pay tribute to Stans Scots legacy and unveil a new headstone on his mums grave. According to his friends, he never fully recovered from, He was a huge fan of westerns. Stan Laurel spent much of his childhood in Glasgow and his mum, Margaret Jefferson, is buried in Cathcart cemetery on the southside of the city. Prolgue: The Journal of the National Archives, p. 258. On a later trip he remained in the United States, having been cast in a two-reel comedy, Nuts in May (1917) (not released until 1918). Following the film Great Guns they joined The Flying Showboat, a revue that toured the U.S. military bases in the Caribbean for two weeks with John Garfield, Ray Bolger and Chico Marx with The Boys doing the Driving Licence sketch again. Laurel first appeared with his future partner, Oliver Hardy, in The Lucky Dog (1921), which was filmed in 1919 and released in 1921. [39], At his funeral service at Church of the Hills, Buster Keaton said, "Chaplin wasn't the funniest. [43] In 1989, a statue of Laurel was erected in Dockwray Square, North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England, where he lived at No. Stan removed the heels from his shoes while filming. Rare interview with Stan Laurel's daughter Lois from 1987 Eyes On Cinema @RealEOC presents: Eyes On UFOs 150K subscribers Subscribe 3.1K 409K views 4 years ago Lois Laurel interviewed by Thys. Five of their silent films were remade as talkies Love; Em and Weep (1927) as Chickens Come Home (1931), Duck Soup (1927) as Another Fine Mess (1930), Hats Off (1927) as The Music Box (1932) Slipping Wives (1927) as The Fixer Uppers (1935) and Angora Love (1929 as Laughing Gravy (1931). The film would have opened with each of them sleeping in one of the letter O's of the Hollywood sign. During their time in Scotland, the family lived on Buchanan Drive and he went to Rutherglen Academy, now Stonelaw High. Having visited the city on four previous stage tours in minor comedy roles with the Chaplin led Karno troupe this was his visit as a solo vaudeville act aided by Mae Laurel (nee Dahlberg) his common law wife in a skit called 'raffles the Dentist'. Theatrical Debut He'd be filmed with his ears as normal then they'd be held forward with putty or some similar material and the camera restarted. He had two children with his first wife, Lois: a daughter Lois Laurel (1927-2017); and a son, Stanley Robert (May 7, 1930-May 16, 1930), who was born two months prematurely. The English manor-style home at 718 Bedford Dr. in Beverly Hills where he lived in the early 1930s is shown in. Regarding stories of their supposed split in 1940, Stan said that his contract ran out 3 months before Ollies so Stan refused to re-sign until Ollies contract came up for renewal, then they both signed together. Away from work, Laurel admitted to not having many interests due to lack of time to enjoy them. Eventually, the case was dropped and Laurel returned to Roach. ", "Lois Laurel Hawes, Daughter of Stan Laurel, Dies at 89", "Stormy marriage full of off-screen drama for Stan Laurel", "Stan Laurel Dies. In deed Stan's act at the time seems to have been more in line with the Chaplin style of comedy (more precisely the Karno style of comedy) than the type he would perfect in later collaborations with Oliver Hardy. They also appeared in their first feature in one of the revue sequences of The Hollywood Revue of 1929, and the following year they appeared as the comic relief in the lavish all-colour (in Technicolor) musical feature The Rogue Song. McCabe 2005, p. 143. The steps down from the Square to the North Shields Fish Quay were said to have inspired the piano-moving scene in The Music Box. Laurel began his career in music hall, where he developed a number of his standard comic devices, including the bowler hat, the deep comic gravity, and the nonsensical understatement, and developed his skills in pantomime and music hall sketches. (incl. In 1905, the Jefferson family moved to Glasgow to be closer to their business . View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, Olga Healey Stan Laurel. Fortunately the elder Laurel was please with Stan's turn, and no discipline was administered. Laurel was one of several popular British actors in Hollywood who never became a naturalised US citizen. [on his working relationship with Oliver Hardy] There was never any disagreement between us, ever. Laurel first appeared with his future partner. The Daily Times noted 'Laurel was not long ago the understudy for Chaplin and is an expert at the latter's kind of acrobatics' As a paIr Stan and Mae Laurel continued to tour for several years with their vaudeville act (which was eventually renamed 'No Mother to Guide Her') and they returned to Seattle on no fewer than three occasions at the Palace Hip in 1918 and the Pantages in 1919 and 1921. She was supposedly looking through a book and saw a picture of a Roman general with a laurel wreath on his head. did not want to be on screen in his old age,[4] especially without Hardy. A celebration of her . It had been his intention to work primarily as a writer and director. After making his first film Nuts in May, Universal offered him a contract. He would go through the motion of flicking a lighter with his thumb, the camera would be stopped and he would then be fitted with a false thumb with the end filled with padding soaked in lighter fluid. In Buffalo they were given the key to the city. He was 74. (1925), Wandering Papas (1926) and Madame Mystery (1926). As a boy his early education took place at a kindergarten in a house in Dockwray Square, North Shields, near to where his family lived, a private school in Tynemouth College, a boarding school Stan said he thought this was because he was always getting into mischief and trouble at home. Free shipping for many products! [11] It was the music hall from where he drew his standard comic devices, including his bowler hat and nonsensical understatement. He is often thought of as being very short and skinny. [4] Laurel began his film career in 1917 and made his final appearance in 1951. Stan Laurel came from a theatrical family, his father was an actor and theatre manager, and he made his stage debut at the age of 16 at Pickard's Museum, Glasgow. 'Scram is mentioned in "Chickens Come Home", 'The Big Noise' is mentioned in "Great Guns". 8 from 1897 to 1902. and Ollie says the same thing in "Babes in Toyland" and in "On the Wrong Trek" Bonita says "Here's 'another fine mess' you've gotten us into". The film was a disaster, a Franco-Italian co-production titled Atoll K. (The film was entitled Utopia in the US and Robinson Crusoeland in the UK.) Stan was superstitious, and his name had 13 letters in it, so he was more than happy to take up her suggestion of adopting the name of Laurel. He was one of five children. 1929 Stan and Oliver Hardy made their first comic appearance in issue 46 of the American The Realm of Fun and Fiction in December 1929. In his later years, he was arguably the most approachable of all movie stars, keeping his phone number in the phone book, welcoming all sorts of visitors, and responding to his fan mail personally. Brody, Richard. Official Sites, Usually played a childishly innocent man who always looked up to his good friend. The playlet centred on the plight of a burglar who breaks into an apartment only to find it's occupant, a lovely young woman with a toothache, who mistakes him for the dentist she'd sent for earlier. During his retirement years, Stan Laurel was visited at his home in Santa Monica by two fellow comedians and fans. Doctors become involved in Thicker Than Water, County Hospital, .Saps at Sea, Them Thar Hills, Sons of the Desert and Dancing Masters,. [31], Laurel had four wives and married one of them a second time after their divorce. He didn't find out until he met actor Alan Young late in life that their families lived near each other in North Shields, Tynemouth. Ollie was like a brother. From 1937 to 1950 Stan's sister Olga and her husband ran the pub The Plough Inn in Barkston before taking the lease of The Bull Inn at Bottesford The Plough became the home of Stan's father (AJ) following his retirement from the theatre in 1940, AJ died in 1949 and is buried in the local cemetery. To paraphrase, Stan replied, " Those letters are personal between my fans and Me!". King James Grammar School in Bishop Auckland, Durham, was seriously damaged by an arson attack in 2007. He replied "I don't, but I'd much rather be skiing than this". Their films during this period, suffered accordingly. After leaving Hal Roach in 1940 Stan and Ollie performed in a special benefit for the Red Cross in a sketch written by Stan. 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