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Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer and director, famous as part of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy, whose career stretched from the silent films of the early 20th Century until post-World War II.
Early lifeStan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on the 16 June 1890 in Ulverston, Lancashire in England. His parents, Arthur and Madge (Margaret) Jefferson, were both active in the theatre and Laurel's home life was a happy one. In his early years, he spent much time living with his grandmother Sarah Metcalfe, as his father managed a number of different theatres. Laurel had a natural affinity for the theatre, with his first professional performance on stage at the age of sixteen. In 1910, he joined Fred Karno's troupe of actors, which also included a young Charlie Chaplin. For some time, Laurel acted as Chaplin's understudy. The Karno troupe toured America, and brought both Chaplin and Laurel to the United States for the first time. From 1916 to 1918, he teamed up with Alice and Baldwin Cooke, who become lifelong friends. In 1918, Laurel appeared briefly with Oliver Hardy in a silent movie short The Lucky Dog.
By 1924, Laurel had forsaken his stage career to work full time in films, now under contract with Joe Rock. The contract called for Laurel to make twelve two-reel comedies. The contract also had one unusual stipulation, that Dahlberg was not to appear in any of the films. It was felt that her temperament was hindering his career. In 1925, when she started interfering with Laurel's work, Rock offered her a cash settlement and a one-way ticket back to her native Australia, which she accepted. In 1926, he married his first wife, Lois Nielson. He was also good friends with Jimmy Finlayson before the team of Laurel and Hardy appeared. Laurel and Hardy
Image:RogueSong22.jpg Laurel and Hardy appeared for the first time in color in the The Rogue Song (1930). Laurel went on to join the Hal Roach studio, and began directing films, including a 1926 production called Yes, Yes, Nanette. It was his intention to work primarily as a writer and director, but fate stepped in. In 1927, Oliver Hardy, another member of the Hal Roach Studios Comedy All Star players, was injured in a kitchen mishap and Stan was asked to return to the front of the cameras. Laurel and Hardy began sharing screen time together in Slipping Wives, Duck Soup and With Love and Hisses. It soon became obvious that the two men had a certain comic onscreen chemistry. Roach Studios' supervising director Leo McCarey noticed the audience reaction to the two and had begun intentionally teaming them together, leading to the creation of the Laurel and Hardy series late that year.
Trouble at Roach StudioImage:Laurelandhardychumpatoxford.jpg A promotional still for A Chump At Oxford (1940) During the 1930s, Laurel was involved in a dispute with Hal Roach and ended up having his contract terminated. After undergoing a trial over drunk-driving charges, he counter-sued the Roach studio. Eventually, the case was dropped and Stan returned to Roach. Meanwhile, Laurel had divorced his first wife and married Virginia Ruth Rogers in 1935, whom he divorced to marry his third wife Vera Ivanova Shuvalova ("Illeana") in 1938. However, by 1941, he had once again married Virginia Ruth Rogers. After returning to Roach studios, the first film Laurel and Hardy made was A Chump at Oxford. After that, they made Saps at Sea, which was the last film under Roach's employment. In April 1940, their contract expired. Fox StudiosIn 1939, Laurel and Hardy signed a contract at 20th Century Fox to make one motion picture and nine more over the following five months. During the war years their work became more standardised and less successful. Stan discovered he had diabetes, so he encouraged Oliver Hardy to make two movies without him. In 1946, he divorced Virginia Ruth Rogers and married Ida Kitaeva Raphael. With Ida, he enjoyed a happy marriage until his death. In 1950, Laurel and Hardy were asked to make a film in France. The film, Utopia (also released as Atoll K), was a disaster. The script was poor, and both stars were noticeably ill during the filming. When they returned home, they spent most of their time recovering. In 1952, Laurel and Hardy did another tour of Europe. This tour was very successful and they toured Europe again in 1953. During this tour, Stan fell ill and was unable to perform for several weeks. In May 1954, Oliver Hardy had a heart attack that made them call off the tour. In 1955, they were planning to do a television series, The Fable of Laurel and Hardy, based on children's stories. However, the plans were delayed because Stan suffered a stroke. He recovered and just when he was planning to get back to work, Oliver Hardy had a massive stroke on 15 September 1956. He was paralyzed and stayed in bed for several months unable to speak or move. Hardy's DeathOn 7 August 1957, Oliver Hardy died. Due to his own poor health, Stan did not attend his funeral, stating "Babe would understand". After that, Stan decided he would never act again without his long-time friend, but he did write gags and sketches for fellow comedians. People who knew Laurel said he was absolutely devastated by Hardy's death and never fully recovered. On one occasion following Hardy's passing, a casual fan mistook Laurel for his late partner. "Aren't you Oliver Hardy?" the fan asked. Laurel obliged, claiming he was indeed Oliver Hardy. The fan then asked whatever happened to "the other guy". Laurel tellingly replied "Oh him? He went barmy." Life after Laurel and HardyIn 1961, Laurel won a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award for his pioneering work in the field of comedy. He had achieved his lifelong dream as a comedian and had been involved in nearly 190 movies. He spent his final years living in a small apartment in the Oceana Hotel in Santa Monica. Always gracious to fans, he spent much of this time meticulously answering fan mail. His phone number was listed in the Santa Monica telephone directory, and fans were amazed that they could simply dial the number and find themselves talking to Stan Laurel. He died on 23 February 1965, several days after suffering a heart attack. A comedian until the very last, Stan Laurel, just minutes away from death, told to his nurse he would not mind going skiing right at that very moment. Somewhat taken aback, the nurse replied that she was not aware that he was a skier. "I'm not," said Stan, "I'd rather be doing that than have all these needles stuck into me!". A few minutes later the nurse looked in on him again and found that Stan Laurel had quietly slipped away. Dick Van Dyke, a friend and protege of Laurel's during his later years, gave the eulogy at his funeral; the great silent screen comedian Buster Keaton was overheard at Laurel's funeral giving his assessment of the comedian's considerable talents: "Chaplin wasn't the funniest, I wasn't the funniest, this man was the funniest". Laurel even wrote his own epitaph; "If anyone at my funeral has a long face, I'll never speak to him again." He was buried at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 1989 a statue of Laurel was erected in Dockwray Square, North Shields, where he lived at No. 8 from 1897 to 1902, and where 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. Filmography
In popular culture
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