“All I know is just how to make people laugh” – Stan Laurel

Born on 16 June 1890 in Ulverston, Lancashire, England, Arthur

Stanley Jefferson, known later to the world as Stan Laurel, was the son of a

theatre manager from Bishop Auckland called Arthur Jefferson and an actress

from Ulverston called Margaret. He was born in his grandparents’ house and

spent a lot of time with his grandmother Sarah growing up as both of his

parents were very busy with theatre life.

Stanley was initially educated at King James I Grammar

School in Bishop Auckland before he moved with his parents to Glasgow, where he

attended Rutherglen Academy.

Growing up around the theatre, it was natural for him to become

involved and at the age of 16, he gave his first professional performance in pantomime

and music hall, during which he adopted one of his famous comedy devices, the

humble bowler hat.

By the time he turned 20 Stan Laurel joined the acting troupe of Fred Karno, the pioneer of slapstick, and toured the USA. During this time he was, for a short time, an understudy to one of the other actors in the troupe, the one and only Charlie Chaplin.

The First World War had begun whilst Stanley was in the USA and

although he registered for military service on 5 June 1917, he was never called

up due to deafness and his status as a resident alien.

In 1921, he met his future long-term comedy partner, Oliver Hardy when they both appeared in the film The Lucky Dog. At this point in time though, neither of them knew what the future would hold for them.

Around the same time, Stan Laurel met Mae Dahlberg and the pair stayed together for around six years although they were never married. It was she that suggested that he change his stage name, which at the time was Stanley Jefferson. She said that it was unlucky due to it having thirteen letters, and so Stanley settled on the name Laurel. Shortly afterward, he landed his first film contract and appeared alongside Mae in the film Mud and Sand in 1922. The contract didn’t last long due to a reorganisation at the Universal studio, but it was enough for Stanley to decide to leave the theatre and concentrate on film making.

His next contract was for 12 films with Joe Rock although

one stipulation was that Mae Dahlberg was not allowed to be in any of them as

Rock thought that she was having a negative effect on Laurel’s career. She wasn’t

going to go away lightly though, and her meddling prompted Rock to offer her

cash and a one-way ticket back to her home in Australia, which she accepted in

1925. The 12 films were all 2-reelers. Produced during 1924 and 1925 they

included West of Hot Dog, The Snow Hawk and The Sleuth.

On 13 August 1926, Stan Laurel married his first wife Lois

Nelson and their daughter, also called Lois was born on 10 December the

following year. The couple would then go on to have a son whom they called

Stanley in May 1930 but unfortunately, he was born two months premature and

only lived for nine days. Laurel and Lois would go on to divorce in December

1934.

Stan Laurel’s next contract was with the Hal Roach studio where he met up again with Oliver Hardy who was working on a film called Yes, Yes, Nanette under the name of Babe Hardy. Stan Laurel had initially signed with Hal Roach with the intention of writing and directing but when Oliver Hardy was injured and hospitalised, Stan filled in for him. When Hardy returned to work,