Biography

Stan Laurel came from a theatrical family, his father was an actor and theatre manager, and he made his stage debut at the age of 16 at Pickard's Museum, Glasgow. He traveled with Fred Karno's vaudeville company to the United States in 1910 and again in 1913. While with that company he was Charles Chaplin's understudy, and he performed imitations of Chaplin. On a later trip he remained in the United States, having been cast in a two-reel comedy, Nuts in May (1917) (not released until 1918). There followed a number of shorts for Metro, Hal Roach Studios, then Universal, then back to Roach in 1926. His first two-reeler with Oliver Hardy was 45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926). Their first release through MGM was The Wedding Wring (1927) and the first with star billing was From Soup to Nuts (1928). Their first feature-length starring roles were in Pardon Us (1931). Their work became more production-line and less popular during the war years, especially after they left Roach and MGM for Twentieth Century-Fox. Their last movie together was The Bullfighters (1945) except for a dismal failure made in France several years later (Atoll K (1951)). In 1960 he was given a special Oscar "for his creative pioneering in the field of cinema comedy". He died five years later.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on the 16th of June in Ulverston, Lancashire in England, 1890. His father was a vaudeville performer and this led Arthur to being a stage performer too. He didn't get much schooling and this led to the joining of Fred Karno's Troupe where Arthur understudied the future star, Charles Chaplin. In 1912 they went on a tour to America where Chaplin remained, but Stan went straight back to England. In 1916 he returned to the States and did an impersonation of Charlie Chaplin and the act was called "The Keystone Trio" and it was quite successful.

In 1917 Stan made his first movie entitled Nuts in May (1917) and at the first screening among the people in the audience were Chaplin himself and producer Carl Laemmle who were both impressed. This led onto more short comedies with such greats as Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, and Hal Roach. Stan now changed his surname to Laurel thus given the name Stan Laurel. In 1917 Laurel had in fact appeared in a film called The Lucky Dog (1921) with an actor in the cast by the name of Babe Hardy. They formed a friendship but not a very good one. Stan later said they did not see each other for another 2 or 3 years.

It was in 1925 that Hardy and Laurel had met again at the Hal Roach studios and at that point in time Laurel was directing movies at the studio with Hardy in the cast for a couple of years. Among these films were Yes, Yes, Nanette (1925) and Enough to Do (1926) written & directed by Stan Laurel and starring Babe who now acted under his real name, Oliver Hardy. In 1926 they began appearing together but not yet as a team. One of the directors at the Hal Roach studio known around the world as director of such great movies The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and Going My Way (1944), Leo McCarey joined these comic geniuses and an immediate partnership unfolded. Laurel & Hardy had appeared as funny as they could be in Putting Pants on Philip (1927) which led them to stardom. They made films for another 20 years. Laurel & Hardy are now known as one of the best comedy teams. They retired from films in 1950 but Stan & Oliver went on a tour of England and appeared in many stage shows for years.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Daniel Dopierala

On 18 March 1917, nearly a decade before he would become a prominent comedic figure Stan Laurel played a four day vaudeville engagement at Seattle's Palace Hip (short for hippodrome) Theatre. Having visited the city on four previous stage tours in minor comedy roles with the Chaplin led Karno troupe this was his visit as a solo vaudeville act aided by Mae Laurel (nee Dahlberg) his common law wife in a skit called 'raffles the Dentist'. The playlet centred on the plight of a burglar who breaks into an apartment only to find it's occupant, a lovely young woman with a toothache, who mistakes him for the dentist she'd sent for earlier. Occupying a featured position on the bill the sketch, according to reviews, was a variety show in itself for into the basic scenario the pair somehow managed to weave comedy, music and dance. it was an odd mixture from the sounds of it but was nonetheless greeted with applause by the Seattle audiences. Stan's association with Chaplin, which press notices mentioned frequently, had a double edged aspect. Early on the the association helped assure audiences of Stan's talents but it also drew obvious and sometimes unflattering comparisons between the two. In deed Stan's act at the time seems to have been more in line with the Chaplin style of comedy (more precisely the Karno style of comedy) than the type he would perfect in later collaborations with Oliver Hardy. Reviews of the 1917 production of 'Raffles the Dentist' tended to bear this out. Although he wasn't the headline attraction (a high wire act took that honor) Stan's sketch was greeted favourably. The Daily Times noted 'Laurel was not long ago the understudy for Chaplin and is an expert at the latter's kind of acrobatics' As a paIr Stan and Mae Laurel continued to tour for several years with their vaudeville act (which was eventually renamed 'No Mother to Guide Her') and they returned to Seattle on no fewer than three occasions at the Palace Hip in 1918 and the Pantages in 1919 and 1921. After leaving Hal Roach in 1940 Stan and Ollie performed in a special benefit for the Red Cross in a sketch written by Stan. They did a 4 month tour covering 12 cities starting on the 27th September in Omaha and ending in Buffalo in mid December. The show was called The Laurel and Hardy Revue with the Driving Licence sketch as the finale. In Buffalo they were given the key to the city. In 1941 they did a show at Camp Roberts, California Military Base for the Field Artillery troops appearing with Red Skelton, Jane Withers, Joan Leslie, Larry Adler and Chico Marx. The show was a great success for The Boys showing that they were still a great comedy team. Following the film Great Guns they joined The Flying Showboat, a revue that toured the U.S. military bases in the Caribbean for two weeks with John Garfield, Ray Bolger and Chico Marx with The Boys doing the Driving Licence sketch again. In 1942 after filming A Haunting We Will Go they joined The Hollywood Victory Caravan on a cross country fund raising tour with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, James Cagney, Groucho Marx, Cary Grant and many others. the tour called Hell -A - Balloo began in Washington D.C. at the end of March '42

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5

Stan made his stage debut at the sage of 7 in 'Lights of London, and at 15 toured Europe on his own as a song and dance act. In his teens her became an understudy to Charlie Chaplin with the Fred Karno Comedy Company in London, In 1910 the company sailed from Liverpool to America for an engagement .after which Stan stayed in America and 10 years later he met Oliver Hardy when they were cast in a 2 reel film, becoming a well known partnership that was loved all round the world and continues even now (2021} with branches of the 'Sons of the Desert' (their fan club) pretty much all round the world.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5

Stan attended the King James Grammar School in Bishop Auckland briefly as a boarder in 1902/03 but spent more time entertaining the teachers in the staff room so his father had him sent to Gainford Accademy for about a year, The King James School had stood empty and boarded up since about 2000 when 7 years later two youths, who were later caught, broke in and set it on fire, Despite the insurance company paying out the County Council did nothing costing them well over £600,000 a great deal more than the insurance payout. It's only now in 2021 that new housing is starting to be built on the site which will be called Laurel Court

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5