A look Into the world of Old Comedy

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were some of the most hilarious and entertaining vaudeville comedy performers of their time. The pair worked together as a beloved and well sought-after comedy tean from 1931-1945. Together they performed in numerous feature films for Hal Roach Studios, Fox and MGM. During this time,they became well knownduring the '20s to mid '40s for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel always playing the "clumsy and child-like friend of the pompous Hardy."Before the two were ever teamed up as a pair, they both actors had well established film careers. Laurel had appeared in over 50 films while Hardy had been in more than 250 films, and in 1921, they had previously worked together as cast members on the film The Lucky Dog. It was not until 1926, when both had signed contracts with the Hal Roach film studio, that they appeared in a movie short together. Laurel and Hardy soon became a team with their wonderful chemistry, and appeared together in the short film, Putting Pants on Philip. In 1940, they left Hal Roach Studios and then appeared in eight comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where they worked until 1945.

 

Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in Ulverston, England  in 1890 and died in 1965.Oliver Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Georgia in 1892 and died in 1957. As a comedy partner team, they traveled all over the U.S., Ireland and Scotland, performing in vaudeville acts and occasional movie gigs.  Some of their best work includes Way Out West, Block Heads, Sons of the Desert, and Saps at Sea. ( Laurel & Hardy).