LAUREL & HARDY

FORMATION: For years it was believed that the one responsible for teaming up these two was Hal Roach. In fact, it was Leo McCary who noticed the reaction of the audience when they performed together, and recommended they be teamed up later on. Even though Leo discovered them, the story of what caused them to be in the same picture is even more interesting.

Hardy was cooking a leg of lamb and got his arm burned so badly that they cut down his part in another picture. This forced the studio to put him with a skinny comedian in a new picture, "The Lucky Dog" (1921), and the rest is history.

STUDIOS: Teamed up at Hal Roach Studios, they made a majority of their films there. After a disagreement with Hal Roach they moved over to 20th Century Fox & MGM in 1940.

ENDING: Though their last film was "Utopia" (1951) aka "Atoll K," they never stopped being Laurel & Hardy. It was a friendship that lasted even when the money wasn't rolling in. Hardy died of a stroke on August 7th, 1957 and Laurel followed on February 23rd, 1965. Since Laurel had lived a little longer, he was able to see the new popularity of their partnership flourish into the inspiration of new comedians. These new comics had watched them as kids and created a legacy in honor of these two great men.

I love these two men for what they taught the world about comedy and about friendship. As a boy, my mother showed me a few of their short films and I was hooked. When I grew older, I could see the effect they had on the comedians of the sixties like: Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis and others. They made their films through two world wars, yet they are more popular than any tyrant or any world leader. They were the world's best friends.

Here is a clip from "Flying Deuces" (1939) that presents

Hardy's singing and Laurel's dancing.

This is a scene that you can't watch without laughing.

Dick used to sneak away from home to watch Laurel & Hardy films

as a kid. When he got home he would show off something new

he had seen Laurel do. Not only could he move like him, his face

also held a close resemblance. In this clip, on the Dick Van Dyke show,

he plays the part of his idol. After the show, he called up Laurel

out of the phone book and asked for his thoughts on it.