Stan Laurel–Comedy Genius
Stan Laurel is best known for being the “lesser half” of the great comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy. Stan was the thin one who always inadvertently set up Oliver Hardy, sometimes literally, for a fall. Laurel was much more than just an actor in Oliver and Hardy comediesâÂ?¦
Born in England in 1890, Arthur Stanley Jefferson loved the theater even as a child. He started acting in English music hall groups when he was in his late teens, eventually signing up with the Fred Karno theatrical troupe. In 1910, this group, which also included the soon-to-be famous Charlie Chaplin, went to tour America. When the troupe broke up, Jefferson, as he was still known, stayed in the United States and successfully went into vaudeville.
By 1917, Jefferson was well known enough to be asked to work in a film comedy. The film, a two-reeler named “Nuts in May,” did well enough for Universal to offer him a contract. It was during this period that Jefferson changed his name to Stan Laurel. During his Universal stint, Laurel developed his first character, Hickory Hiram. Unfortunately, Universal ended up canceling his contract due to a company reorganization. Laurel’s life might have been completely different if his contract with Universal had been completed and the “Hickory Hiram” persona had taken off.
Interestingly, Laurel and Oliver Hardy co-starred together in “A Lucky Dog,” which was filmed in 1919 and released in 1921, long before they became an official “team.”
In 1924, Stan Laurel signed a contract for twelve two-reel comedies with Joe Rock. Laurel completed his contract for the twelve movies early and in 1926, signed up with Hal Roach Studios to be a director and writer. Stan Laurel was on the path to bigger fame than he imagined.
During the 1920’s, Laurel directed ten films and wrote twenty-seven. Oliver Hardy acted in a few of them before Laurel and Hardy teamed up. Hardy was directed by Laurel in “Yes, Yes Nannette” (1925), “Wandering Papas” (1926), and “Madame Mystery” (1926) (co-directed with Richard Wallace). Hardy also appeared in several films that Laurel either wrote or was one of the contributing writers, including “Along Came Auntie” (1926) and “Why Girls Say No” (1927). Other actors and actresses in these movies who were famous during the period or destined for fame were Fay Wray in “Moonlight and Noses” (1925) and “Don Key (Son of a Burro)” (1926), Theda Bara in “Madame Mystery” (1926), Lionel Barrymore in “Wife Tamers” (1926), Mabel Normand in “Raggety Rose,” (1926), and Boris Karloff in an un-credited role in “The Nickel Hopper” (1926). On top of all of this work, Laurel also acted in over ninety movies during the ’20’s.
The first movie in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were officially paired was “”Duck Soup” (1927). As their film characters developed, the duo became more and more popular. The team was very fortunate and made the transition from silents to sound easily, unlike many of their contemporaries, including Charlie Chaplin. Their first “talkie” was “Unaccustomed As We Were” (1929). Laurel and Hardy’s best work was yet to come.
The Hal Roach years in the 1930’s were prolific years for Stan Laurel. Laurel and Hardy acted in over sixty-five movies together, including “Another Fine Mess” (1930), “The Music Box” (1931) for which they won an Oscar for “Best Comedy Short Subject” in 1932, “The Sons of the Desert” (1933), “Babes in Toyland” (1934), and “Way Out West” (1937), one of the seven movies that Laurel produced during the 1930’s. Laurel also continued writing comedies, both credited and un-credited. But Laurel wanted more creative control over his movies, and Roach was not going to allow it. Laurel ended up leaving Hal Roach Studios and forming his own production company, the Stan Laurel Productions Company.
Despite their rocky relationship, Laurel produced movies for Roach on a non-exclusive basis. Laurel produced films for other companies as well. One of his favorites was a series of westerns starring the singing cowboy, Fred Scott. Laurel loved westerns.
Eventually, Laurel’s relationship with Roach exploded, and his contract was terminated. But, since this was the movie industry, everyone made up, and Laurel and Hardy ended up doing a few more movies for Hal Roach Studios, including the very successful “The Flying Deuces” (1939). Their final contract with Hal Roach expired in 1940. While they went on to make ten movies during the 1940’s, none were really successful. Even though they were still popular in the United States, their time as movie makers was over. However, Laurel and Hardy were welcomed adoringly during tours of Europe during the early 1950’s. Europeans loved them.
Stan Laurel’s personal life was not particularly tranquil and often spilled over into business. He was married six times. His first marriage was to Mae Dalberg, who suggested he change his name to Stan Laurel. She and Laurel actually started living together before she had divorced her Australian husband. Dalberg was such a problem that Joe Rock basically bought her off and gave her a one-way ticket to Australia to leave town. Laurel next married Lois Nielson, an actress, in 1926. They had two children together, Lois, born in 1927, and Stanley, who was born in 1930. Sadly, little Stanley was born two months premature and only lived for nine days. By 1933, Laurel’s marriage to Nielson was in trouble. Laurel had already started seeing Ruth Rogers by the time that his divorce from Nielson was final during the fall months of 1933. Laurel married Rogers in 1934. Tensions were high between Laurel and Hal Roach Studios during the two years that Laurel and Rogers were married and the marriage ended in divorce in 1936. In the meantime, Mae Dalberg came back to the United States and tried to sue Laurel for alimony for the six years that they lived together prior to their marriage. Laurel opened Stan Laurel Productions not only to fulfill his desire for more autonomy, but because Hal Roach Studios put a morals clause in Laurel’s pending contract due to all of his marital hubbub.
The marital strife was not over. Laurel married Vera Illiana Shuvalova, another bad choice in women. To make matters worse, Ruth Rogers, wife number three, paid them a visit during their honeymoon, causing trouble at the hotel at which they were staying. . This was the period when Hal Roach terminated Laurel’s contract. Laurel was tried twice for a drunken driving arrest, and he sued and was countersued by Hal Roach Studios. Eventually all was forgiven and Laurel and Hardy resumed working for Roach until their contracts expired in April, 1940. Laurel’s marriage to Shuvalova also ended in divorce in 1940. Laurel got back together with Ruth Rogers and they remarried in 1941. His marriage to Rogers must have been tumultuous, because they separated the year that they married, and Ruth filed for divorce twice before the divorce was granted in 1946. Laurel’s last marriage, made soon after his divorce from Ruth, was to Ida Kitaeva Raphael, a Russian opera singer. This marriage stuck and was to be his last.
In 1949, Laurel was diagnosed with diabetes. During a Laurel and Hardy European tour in 1953, Laurel became ill and unable to do the show for several weeks. In 1954, what ended up being their last European tour was canceled after Oliver Hardy had a heart attack. In 1955, Laurel had a minor stroke and when the duo was planning on going back to work in 1956, Hardy had a major stroke. Oliver Hardy was not able to bounce back and died in August, 1957. Laurel was devastated by his partner’s death and never really recovered from the loss.
During Stan Laurel’s last years, he wrote gags and sketches for other comedians, although he never actually “worked” again. He was given a Special Oscar in 1961 for “Creative Pioneering in the Field of Cinema Comedy,” an award that Danny Kaye accepted for him. Stan Laurel died after a heart attack in February, 1965.
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy continue to have an active following today. Before Laurel’s death, John McCabe, a writer who had penned a biography of Laurel and Hardy, asked Laurel about setting up a Laurel and Hardy society. Thus, the “Sons of the Desert,” named after the 1933 movie, was born. Laurel lived long enough to contribute to the group’s “Constitution,” but died before the first meeting. Today, “tents” or chapters of the “Sons of the Desert,” extend from the United States and Canada into Europe, and on to New Zealand and Australia. Meeting may include speakers, discussions, and of course, Laurel and Hardy movies.
