NightMoves Online | Art’s World – They Were Two of the Best

With all we have been through the last six weeks with disastrous visits from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, there has not been much to smile about. The past couple of “Art’s World’ segments have been about the hurricanes, damage, and the help that has come our way. But the people of Tampa Bay and Florida are fighting back to get their lives back to some normalcy. We are also going to try and bring some humor, fun and enjoyment your way this week. Here are some fun facts about two of the best comedy duos to ever appear in movies or in person, Laurel and Hardy.

Many people have assumed that because both men worked together as a comedy team that they were both from the UK. Fact is it was Stan Laurel who was a Brit. Oliver Hardy was a born and bred southerner from Georgia.

They both worked separate careers until 1927 when they were paired together. From that point on as a team Laurel and Hardy appeared in 107 films. There were 32 silent shorts, 40 sound shorts and 23 full-length features.

The Beatles used cut-outs of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the cutout celebrity crowd for the cover of their 1967 album ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’. The Fab Four were huge fans of the duo.

For all their popularity, Laurel and Hardy’s first and only American television appearance took place on December 1, 1954. It was when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live TV program ‘This Is Your Life’.

Oliver Hardy got a chance to show off his dramatic side when he appeared as John Wayne’s sidekick Willie, in the 1939 film “the Fighting Kentuckian”.

In 1909, during his early years in show business, Stan Laurel worked for Britain’s leading comedy impresario, Fred Karno, as a supporting actor and also as an understudy for Charlie Chaplin.

Oliver Hardy did his signature ‘tie twiddle’ gesture for the first time in the 1927 film ‘Sailors Beware’. Although it became one of his trademarks it happened accident. Hardy, while acting, had been met with a pail of water in the face and just started to twiddle his tie, “to show embarrassment while trying to look friendly.”

With all their popularity there was a proposed radio series: The Laurel and Hardy Show (which did result in a pilot episode being recorded) but the networks didn’t think it would be hit so it never aired.

Despite his large size, Oliver Hardy was a very accomplished ballroom dancer specializing in the waltz, quickstep and fox trot.

When it came to their films, it was Stan Laurel who wrote most of the script and story lines. It was also common for both of them to rarely rehearse scenes and improvise on the spot.

Oliver Hardy died of a stroke on August 7, 1957 at the age of 65. Laurel was too ill to attend his funeral and said, “Babe would understand”. Stan Laurel died from a sudden heart attack on February 23, 1965 at the age of 74.

If you get the chance try and find the film “Stan and Ollie” that starred John C. Reilly as as Oliver Hardy and Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel. They nail the characters perfectly in a very honest, touching story about these two and the bond they shared throughout their lives.