Born: June 16th, 1890 (England)
Died: February 23rd, 1965 (heart attack)
Marriages: Lois Neilson (1926-1934), Virginia Ruth Rogers (1934-1937), Vera Ivanova Shuvalova (1938-1940), Virginia Ruth Rogers (1941-1946) & Ida Kitaeva (1946-1965).
Children: He had two children: a girl named Lois, after his wife at the time, and a son named Stanley Robert Laurel who died after nine days.
Awards: In 1961, Stan received his first and only Academy Award for his pioneering work in the cinema of comedy. Though he was unable to attend, it was received in his honor by Danny Kaye. He also won a Life Achievement Award in 1964, and has a star on the Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures.
Interesting Fact: In an epitaph that he wrote for his own funeral he stated: "If anyone cries at my funeral, I will never speak to him again."
My Favorite Movie: "The Music Box" (1932) is my favorite of theirs. I do not know what makes a piano going up and down the stairs so funny, but it cracks me up every time. There is also a collection of scary shorts that I love called the "Laurel & Hardy Spooktacular," which is still only on VHS.
Stan was the inspiration for so many comedians who followed him. Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers and others looked to him as an example and even met with him a few times to ask for advice. Though he was the understudy of Charlie Chaplin, the first most successful comedian, he set his own standard in the world as the character of a childish adult. He was also one of the most gracious of comedians by adding his number in the phone book and personally responding to fan mail.
Though it may not seem this way, he was the brains of the team. He was the director & writer of many of his films with Oliver Hardy. That was what made their partnership successful. This duo withstood the test of time better than any other partnership in Hollywood history. They were close friends and received awards and achievements as a team most of the time. They were in more than 300 movies together and are commonly mimicked to this day.
From his ear to ear smile to his puffed out bottom lip he became the Laurel that America would never forget. We have never seen anything like him since and were sure we never will. He gave us so much laughter and tears that there is hardly room for anyone other comedian to do the same. What a beautiful "mess we've gotten into!"
Here are some scenes from my favorite film of theirs "The Music Box."
This is a touching interview with Laurel about his fan mail.
Comments from Jerry Lewis on his idol Stan Laurel.
This is a fan made compilation of his funeral.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?
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