Stan Laurel

Born in Ulverston, Lancashire, on June 16, 1890, Arthur Stanley Jefferson (his real name) was the son of a wealthy stage comedian couple. Fascinated by his father’s profession, at the age of 16 he was already on stage, and at 20 he joined Fred Kamo’s company, where his job consisted of substituting an illustrious member of the group, Charles Chaplin , for which he studied thoroughly until imitating him perfectly. The ‘troupe’ went on a tour of the United States, but Chaplin decided to stay. Some of his classmates imitated him, like Laurel himself.

There he associated with Mae Dahlberg, with whom he began to perform in vaudeville theaters, and with whom he would marry in 1919. It was she who suggested that he adopt the stage name of Stan Laurel, which would never leave him. In 1924, film producer Joe Rock offered him a contract for several films on the condition that he part ways with Dahlberg, a bad-tempered woman who was hurting him. She agreed to let Rock pay for a ticket back to her native Australia.

In 1926, he began working as a director for one of the key impresarios in silent comedy, Hal Roach. But one day, one of the stars, Oliver Hardy , got burned while he was preparing the food, so Stan Laurel was chosen to replace him as an actor. The results were so satisfactory that he began to lavish himself more and more frequently in front of the cameras.

Both coincided for the first time in the same film in 1926, with 45 Minutes From Hollywood , where they were not yet a comic couple. However, they made people laugh just by getting close, one being so bulky and the other so scrawny, so renowned screenwriter-later-director Leo McCarey ( You and Me ) suggested they team up. They debuted with The Second Hundred Years , from 1927, where they played two inmates who shared a cell.

After numerous shorts, they perfectly defined their characters on screen. Stan Laurel wore clothes that were too baggy, and with his clumsiness he caused tremendous disasters, while Oliver Hardy endured everything with stoicism. Eternally optimistic, they were always dressed in bowlers. Titles like the prehistoric Flying Elephants, Leave ‘Em Laughing, What a Pair of Sailors and An Eye for an Eye were increasingly hilarious and drove the public crazy.

With the advent of sound, most actors –especially serious ones– had to retire, giving way to a new generation. But they combined their usual sight gags with funny conversations that made their products more hilarious, so they continued to enjoy success. In fact, between 1929 and 1935 they starred in their best works, among them Haciendo de suyas , which won the Oscar for best short film in 1932. “Nobody knows how comedy works,” he explained in an interview. “But I’ve learned what makes people laugh, and I proceed accordingly.”

Since the shorts became unprofitable, because they stopped showing before the main program in the cinemas, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy ended up specializing in features, from Boating , directed by James Parrott , in 1931, followed by great films. Works such as The Creature’s Grandfather , by  George Marshall  and  Leo McCarey,   Fra Diavolo , by  Hal Roach ,  Forced Sailors , by  Gordon Douglas ,  Laurel and Hardy in the West , by  James W. Horne ,  Fools in the Air , by  A. Edward Sutherland, or  Partymates , by  William A. Seiter , one of the most appreciated by his fans. The animated version of him appeared in the Mickey Mouse films.

First they shot versions in other languages ​​themselves. Later, the dubbing sector developed, but in Spain they were so popular that the actors who gave them their voices kept their accent, an Anglo-Saxon accent that pronounces Spanish with difficulty. They came to start a tour of England, Hardy’s country, with such good acceptance that they ended up traveling all over Europe.

In the 1940s, they left Roach’s studio and shot for Fox and MGM, which placed more restrictions on them. Titles like What a couple of crazy people! o Thief who steals from another thief are not up to their past jobs. Also, Laurel was diagnosed with diabetes, so she temporarily left Hardy alone. It was very difficult for him to find emotional stability, so he successively paired with Lois Nelson, with Virginia Ruth Rogers twice, and with Vera Ivanova Shuvalova, until he found Ida Raphael, the most stable, since he remained by his side for 20 years, almost until his death.

Laurel’s health failed again in 1956, when he suffered a massive stroke that left him inactive for a long time. But she was most affected by the death of her partner, Oliver Hardy , in 1957. “What can I say? He was like a brother to me, ”said Laurel, who could not even attend the funeral due to a medical prescription. Shocked, he did not act again, although he occasionally wrote gags and scripts for other comedians. During the last years of his life, he was visited by his successors in the field of comedy, such as Jerry Lewis , Danny Kaye and Dick Van Dyke . “With Charlie ChaplinI can always see the technique”, affirmed the latter. “God knows it’s a great technique and I admire it so much, but with Stan the technique never shows. Never.”

In 1961 he was awarded an honorary Oscar for his lifetime, although he was unable to attend the ceremony, so it was collected by Kaye. He died of a heart attack on February 23, 1965. “If any of you cry at my funeral, I will never speak to you again,” he had warned, in one of his most ingenious phrases.