Stan Laurel

Stan Laurel

Stan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer, and film director. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. He was given an Academy Honorary Award for his pioneering work in comedy. In 2019, Laurel topped a list of the greatest British comedians compiled by a panel on the television channel Gold.

About Stan Laurel in brief

Summary Stan LaurelStan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer, and film director. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. He began his career in music hall, where he developed a number of his standard comic devices, including the bowler hat and nonsensical understatement. He was given an Academy Honorary Award for his pioneering work in comedy. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2019, Laurel topped a list of the greatest British comedians compiled by a panel on the television channel Gold. A bronze statue of the duo was unveiled in Laurel’s home town of Ulverston, Lancashire, in 2009. Laurel was born on 16 June 1890 in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, to Arthur Jefferson, a theatre manager, and Margaret, an actress. He moved with his parents to Glasgow, Scotland, and completed his education at Rutherglen Academy. He joined Fred Karno’s troupe of actors in 1910 with the stage name of \”Stan Jefferson\” The troupe also included a young Charlie Chaplin. He and Chaplin arrived in the United States on the same ship from the United Kingdom with the Karno troupe. In 1912 Laurel worked together with Ted Desmondon tour in Netherlands and Belgium as a comedy double act known as the Barto Bros. Their act, which involved them dressing as Romans, finished when Laurel was offered a spot in an American touring troupe, and they split up in the spring of 1914.

Between 1916 and 1918 he teamed up with Alice Cooke and Alice Cooke, who became his lifelong friends. He started to do his character as an imitation of Chaplin in the silent comedians Chester Conklin and Mabel Mabel Normklin. In 1960, Laurel was given a star in Hollywood for his work as a comic actor and writer. He is buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and three children. He died of lung cancer at the age of 89 in 1998. He had a son, Stan, with whom he had a daughter, Anne, and a son-in-law, David. He also had a stepson, David, who died of cancer in 2002. He wrote a book about his experiences in the Second World War, which was published in 2005. He later wrote a biography, The Stan Laurel Story, about his life in Hollywood and his time in the music hall. His final appearance in 1951 was in the film The Lucky Dog, which he co-starred in with Oliver Hardy. Laurel and Hardy were ranked top among best double acts and seventh overall in a 2005 UK poll to find the Comedians’ Comedian. In his biography Laurel stated, “Fred Karno didn’t teach Charlie and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it’”. He was one of five children. His parents were both active in the theatre and always very busy. His father managed Glasgow’s Metropole Theatre, where Laurel began work.