Laurel and Hardy If you're naming famous duos in comedy, who could supplant Laurel and Hardy? By the time Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy produced their first real Laurel and Hardy film, Ollie was thirty-five years old, and Stan was thirty-seven.
Here are some interesting tidbits of information that even the most avid fan might not know: Stan's daughter Lois was once under consideration for the orphan girl role in "Pack up Your Troubles".
When they began filming, it was decided that she looked too old for the part.
Lois disliked Hardy when she was young, since he was a bully to her dad in their films.
Jerry Lewis wanted Laurel to write for him part time.
Stan was too busy with his own work with one of the comedy world's most famous duos to accept the offer.
Ollie's favorite sport was golf.
He often golfed with such celebrities as Chico Marx, Babe Ruth, W.
C.
Fields and Bing Crosby.
Stan loved fishing, particularly salmon fishing.
Stan also enjoyed gardening, and raising ducks.
Laurel was married a total of four times.
He had only the one daughter, Lois, whose mother was actress Lois Neilson.
Stan's first wife occasionally served as his business manager.
His most embattled wife was Illiana Shuvalova, who was a Russian opera star.
That marriage only lasted one year.
Hardy was married three times, himself.
His last marriage was to a script girl that he met when he was filming The Flying Deuces.
That marriage lasted 17 years, until he passed away in 1957.
A monkey played the role of Mickey Mouse in the Laurel and Hardy film "Babes in Toyland".
This is one of the very few times that any Disney® character was seen in a film not produced by Disney®.
Walt Disney loved watching Laurel and Hardy.
Laurel was an integral part of the career of Marcel Marceau.
He saw Marceau perform in Paris, and he thought he was an unsung genius, so he helped him get attention from the French press of the time.
Hardy played the role of the Tin Man in a 1925 silent-film version of "The Wizard of Oz".
Stan and Ollie first appeared together in a film entitled "The Lucky Dog", but were not teamed together permanently until they met Hal Roach.
Their first film together that was similar to the work they are famous for was "Duck Soup".
The movie "The Music Box", in 1932, brought Laurel and Hardy an Oscar award.
If you include guest appearances, the duo made 106 movies together.
This is not including films in which one directed the other, or newsreels, TV or home movies.
Laurel and Hardy appeared together on TV as well.
As one of TV's most famous duos, they were guests on a show presented by the BBC and hosted by Henry Hall, in 1953.
They also did an insert for "The Music Hall", another BBC show, in 1955 - in what would be their last work as a team.