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Stan Laurel was born June 16th, 1890 and died February 23rd, 1965.
Oliver Hardy was born January 18th, 1892 and died August 7th, 1957
Off screen Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were much the opposite of their movie characters. Laurel was the industrious idea man while Hardy was more easy going.
Final yrs.
September 9th, 1953, their boat arrived in Cobh, Ireland. Laurel recounted their reception: The love and affection we found that day at Cobh was simply astounding.
There was hundreds of boats blowing whistles and mobs and mobs of people screaming on the docks. We just couldn't understand what it was all about.
And then something happened that Ill never forget.
All the church bells in Cobh started to ring out our theme song Dance of the Cuckoos and Babe Oliver Hardy looked at me and we cried.
I'll never forget that day.
Never.
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The humor of Laurel and Hardy was generally visual with slapstick used for emphasis. They often had physical arguments with each other, which were really complex and involved cartoon violence, and their characters preclude them from making any real progress in even the simplest endeavors. Much of their comedy involves milking a joke, where a simple idea provides a basis from which to build several gags without following a defined narrative.
Laurel and Hardy had an inherent physical contrariety. Stan Laurel was of average height and weight, but appeared small and slight next to Oliver Hardy, who was 6 ft 1 and weighed about 280 lb in his prime. Laurel kept his hair short on the sides and back, but let it grow long on top to create a natural "fright wig". At times of shock he would simultaneously cry while pulling up his hair. In contrast, Hardy's thinning hair was pasted on his forehead in spit curls and he wore a toothbrush moustache. To achieve a flat footed walk, Laurel removed the heels from his shoes. Both wear bowler hats, with Laurel's being narrower than Hardy's, and with a flattened brim. The characters' normal attire also called for wing collar shirts, with Hardy wearing a standard neck tie which he would twiddle and Laurel a bow tie. Hardy's sports jacket was too small for him and done up with one straining button, where Laurel's double breasted jacket was loose fitting.
A usual routine the team performed was a tit-for tat fight with an adversary. This could be with their wives often played by Mae Busch, Anita Garvin or Daphne Pollard or with a neighbour, often played by Charlie Hall or James Finlayson. Laurel and Hardy would accidentally damage someone else's property, with the injured party retaliating by ruining something belonging to Laurel or Hardy. After calmly surveying the damage they would find something else to vandalize and conflict would escalate until both sides were simultaneously destroying property in front of each other. An early example of the routine occurs in their classic short, Big Business (1929), which was added to the Library of Congress as a national treasure in 1992, and one of their short films, which revolves entirely around such an altercation, was titled Tit for tat from 1935..
One of there mostt remembered dialogue routines was the "Tell me that again" routine. Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he had come up with, and Hardy would reply, "Tell me that again." Laurel would attempt to repeat the idea, but jumble it into utter nonsense. Hardy, who found it hard understanding Laurel's idea when expressed clearly, would understand perfectly when hearing the jumbled version.
Oliver Hardy was born January 18th, 1892 and died August 7th, 1957
Off screen Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were much the opposite of their movie characters. Laurel was the industrious idea man while Hardy was more easy going.
Final yrs.
September 9th, 1953, their boat arrived in Cobh, Ireland. Laurel recounted their reception: The love and affection we found that day at Cobh was simply astounding.
There was hundreds of boats blowing whistles and mobs and mobs of people screaming on the docks. We just couldn't understand what it was all about.
And then something happened that Ill never forget.
All the church bells in Cobh started to ring out our theme song Dance of the Cuckoos and Babe Oliver Hardy looked at me and we cried.
I'll never forget that day.
Never.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The humor of Laurel and Hardy was generally visual with slapstick used for emphasis. They often had physical arguments with each other, which were really complex and involved cartoon violence, and their characters preclude them from making any real progress in even the simplest endeavors. Much of their comedy involves milking a joke, where a simple idea provides a basis from which to build several gags without following a defined narrative.
Laurel and Hardy had an inherent physical contrariety. Stan Laurel was of average height and weight, but appeared small and slight next to Oliver Hardy, who was 6 ft 1 and weighed about 280 lb in his prime. Laurel kept his hair short on the sides and back, but let it grow long on top to create a natural "fright wig". At times of shock he would simultaneously cry while pulling up his hair. In contrast, Hardy's thinning hair was pasted on his forehead in spit curls and he wore a toothbrush moustache. To achieve a flat footed walk, Laurel removed the heels from his shoes. Both wear bowler hats, with Laurel's being narrower than Hardy's, and with a flattened brim. The characters' normal attire also called for wing collar shirts, with Hardy wearing a standard neck tie which he would twiddle and Laurel a bow tie. Hardy's sports jacket was too small for him and done up with one straining button, where Laurel's double breasted jacket was loose fitting.
A usual routine the team performed was a tit-for tat fight with an adversary. This could be with their wives often played by Mae Busch, Anita Garvin or Daphne Pollard or with a neighbour, often played by Charlie Hall or James Finlayson. Laurel and Hardy would accidentally damage someone else's property, with the injured party retaliating by ruining something belonging to Laurel or Hardy. After calmly surveying the damage they would find something else to vandalize and conflict would escalate until both sides were simultaneously destroying property in front of each other. An early example of the routine occurs in their classic short, Big Business (1929), which was added to the Library of Congress as a national treasure in 1992, and one of their short films, which revolves entirely around such an altercation, was titled Tit for tat from 1935..
One of there mostt remembered dialogue routines was the "Tell me that again" routine. Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he had come up with, and Hardy would reply, "Tell me that again." Laurel would attempt to repeat the idea, but jumble it into utter nonsense. Hardy, who found it hard understanding Laurel's idea when expressed clearly, would understand perfectly when hearing the jumbled version.
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