1957 Letters
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
I received a beautiful letter from President Wilson begging me to join up and personally kill the Kaiser (with my bare hands). Well, I accepted.
April 1st.'57.
Dear Mrs [Marie] Hatfield:-
Thanks yours 28th.ult.
I remember quite well the letter you mention sending me around the end of February, & was under the impression I had acknowledged it, if I'm mistaken, please pardon my delinquency - am probably in my 2nd teen-age & do'nt know it!
Interesting to hear Mr Hatfield soldiered over seas in Europe, reminds me of my experience in World War 'I', I received a beautiful letter from President Wilson, begging me to join up & personally kill the Kaiser (with my bare hands). Well, I accepted - Woody was so delighted he sent me a lovely card of thanks & marked it Clean Al & asked me to get in touch with General Pershing right away - you can imagine how thrilled I was! I immediately cancelled a years vaudeville bookings & reported for induction & do you know what happened? Some screwball looked at my card, tore it up & gave me another marked 9F, rating me among the blind & crippled!! Was I sore! I wrote to Woody again & asked him to fire that guy - & to help me to get my vaudeville booking back - can you imagine, the bum did'nt have the decency to answer me!
Anyway, I later thought it over & figured maybe they were right, they did'nt want to take the chance of losing the war.!
Think I'll take my derby hat off now - enough of this persiflage.
You were fortunate to have missed the quake in San Francisco during your trip, must have been very frightening - I experienced the one here in Long Beach in '33, I was then living in Beverly Hills & we felt it pretty bad, really scaring. I guess you are looking forward to your visit to Carmel & Monterey, its beautiful there, at least Amiee Semple McPherson thought so - remember that case?.
Well, all for now, thanks again for your nice letter, enjoyed hearing you again. Mrs L. joins in kind regards & best to Mr Hatfield & self, will look forward to the pleasure of meeting you in November.
Bye now.
Sincerely:-
Stan Laurel.
Note from the Editor
Aimee Semple McPherson was an evangelist and media sensation in the 1920s and 1930s. On May 18, 1926, McPherson went to Ocean Park Beach, north of Venice Beach to go swimming. Soon after her arrival, McPherson disappeared. It was believed that she had drowned. After 35 days, McPherson stumbled out of the desert and claimed that she had been kidnapped, drugged, tortured, and held for ransom in Mexico, then had escaped and walked through the desert for about 13 hours to freedom. Lots of theories surfaces as to what really happened, but no conclusive evidence was ever uncovered.
ARTHUR STANLEY JEFFERSON’S DRAFT REGISTRATION CARD - 1917
Note from the Editor
As indicated in the above letter, Stan did register for the draft toward the latter half of World War I on June 5, 1917. His classification indicates that he is an alien (born in Great Britain) and is deaf!
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 2nd.'57.
Dear John [Austin]:-
I recd. a card from Alf Goulding a few weeks ago, since then, I wrote him a couple of letters to which he has'nt answered as yet. Due to the fact that he mentioned he was in some kind of trouble, I am rather concerned as to what has happened, so would appreciate your letting me know the details. I sincerely hope it is nothing serious.
I unfortunately mislaid your phone number, otherwise I would have called you. I too am interested to know how your picture turned out - trust it was successful.
Please remember me kindly to your Dad & Mother & my kindest regards to your Wife & Self.
Best wishes always:-
(EXbrook 4-1397.)
Note from the Editor
John Austin (1906-1997) was a set decorator who worked on more than 100 films between 1947 and 1979.
Alfred John "Alf" Goulding (1896-1972) was an Australian-born vaudevillian who became a Hollywood screenwriter and director, and helmed one of Laurel and Hardy's best known films, “A Chump at Oxford” (1940).
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 3rd.'57.
Dear Betty [Healy]:-
Thanks yours 1st.inst.
Glad to know you arrived home safely, you must have been tired out fighting traffic all the way, especially with that pain in your leg, I really think it was caused by your driving so long at one time, too much of a strain on you after your accident trouble, thats a pretty hard trip to make in one day. Anyway, pleased to know that you're feeling OK again.
I certainly enjoyed seeing you & Wayne again after all these years, thought you both looked wonderfully well & happy. Eda too was delighted to meet you & your kind expressions towards her are mutual, she liked you both very much & hopes to have the pleasure of seeing you again next time you are in L.A.
We sure got a laugh over your insisting that Wayne should visit his ex wife, we thought it was a gag - have you ever met her?
Thanks for the Notary Public Seals etc., quite impressive, looks like you're in Big Business! paper staples & everything! hope your License arrived by now & your already to GO. Do'nt forget, the Brooklyn Bridge is still for sale! a lot of money has been made on that.
Kidding aside, once you get started, am sure you will be a big success in this business, with your personality & showmanship you can't miss.
We both wish you all the luck in the World & will look forward with deep interest to news of your progress. Main thing, take good care of your health Betty - thats a must.
Eda joins in kind thoughts & every good wish to you & Wayne.
Bye & God Bless.
As ever:-
Stan Laurel.
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 5th.'57.
Mr John Austin,
2170, No. Commonwealth,
LOS ANGELES. 27. CALIF.
My Dear John:-
Many thanks for your prompt reply - much appreciated. Needless to tell you how shocked & disappointed I was, to hear of Alf's behavior towards you & yours after all you did for him, I just can't understand him being so ungrateful - am really amazed by his actions & treatment, its hard to believe that a guy would do this to you, after giving him such a wonderful opportunity to make a come-back here with your help & backing. Too bad this had to happen, certainly unfortunate.
Was sorry to hear the Texas deal did'nt materialize, however, it may be for the best, as I think your idea of a Musica1 Western is too good for a 'quickie' production anyway - it would take too long to get the bloody horses to sing!!
Thanks John for your invitation to drop by sometime, would enjoy the pleasure of seeing you all again, but frankly, am not able to get around much, due to the effect of the lousey stroke I had, it tires me to even get in & out of the car - know you'll understand. Anyway, if ever you happen out this way, please give me a call, both Eda & I would be delighted to have you pay us another visit - this includes your Mother & Dad too, & Jean of course.
I know Guido Orlando very well, we stayed at the same hotel with him in Paris for several months (The "Prince de Galles") he's a character all right - even knows the name of the unknown soldier! how in hell can you disprove a statement like that!.
Was surprised to hear that Alf was back with Diana, especially after telling me of his bitterness towards her for having him deported etc. strange is'nt it?
Well, think thats all for now John. Trust your picture deals in Europe will prove successful, wish you lots of good luck with them & hope to see you before you leave.
My kindest regards to you all.
Bye & God Bless.
Sincerely always:-
(EXbrook 4-1397.)
Note from the Editor
Guido Orlando (1908-1988) was a flamboyant press agent, charlatan and bemedaled publicist for dozens of the wish-to-be-famous. Mr. Orlando, who said he had influenced the careers of Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman, was a consummate publicist who concocted outlandish stunts to sell products or to get the names of his clients into the newspapers.
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 5th.'57.
Dear George Draper:-
Thanks yours 1st.inst.
Note you are going to advertise for members to join the club, does this mean they will have to pay fees or dues? I think you had better send me a copy of your AD before putting it in the paper, as both Mr. Hardy & myself do not wish or permit you to commercialize on this project in any way. Please let me know where you intend holding these meetings twice monthly & by what means you are going to view our films, by home projection or TV? I asked you about this a while ago but you omitted to let me know. I will appreciate your giving me full details regarding these things at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely:-
Stan Laurel.
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 5th.'57.
Dear Elmer [Westover]:-
Thanks yours 2nd.inst.
Pleased to know the tapes arrived OK & that you enjoyed them. Yes I was born in England but Mr Hardy in the U.S.A. somewhere near Atlanta, Georgia. I came to this Country in 1910 in a show with Charlie Chaplin - hence my British accent you noticed.
Thanks for your suggestion to send a recording of some Gilbert & Sullivan songs by Martyn Greene, am afraid they would'nt be of much interest to me Elmer, never cared for opera, operettas etc. does'nt appeal to me for some reason. Probably because I can't sing or play any instrument - most singers bore me to death in fact, but again thanks for the kind thought.
Bye now,
Regards & best,
Sincerely:-
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 6th.'57.
Dear Gary Arnold:-
Thanks yours 5th.inst.
Regarding your wish to start a Laurel & Hardy Club. We have no objections to this, but before we give you permission, we would like to have more details on the matter, as to the purpose & manner you intend to operate the club.
The reason is Gary, we do not want to get ourselves involved in anything of commercial value by the use of our names in connection with it. I trust you fully understand & will advise me accordingly.
Regards & best wishes,
Sincerely:-
Stan Laurel.
POSTCARD - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
4-7-57.
Thanks [Gary Arnold] your card 1st.inst. Pleased to know you finally heard from Mr Wade. I mailed a letter to you last Monday - guess you have recd. it by now. Am enjoying the new place very much the weather is wonderful - just right, beig near the ocean.
Bye & good luck.
Regards & best wishes,
Sincerely:-
Stan Laurel.
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 16th.'57.
Dear Gary [Arnold]:-
Thanks yours 15th.inst.
I was very interested to read the details of your purpose to start a L&H club & we appreciate being honored by the use of our names in connection with it – we are pleased to give you full permission, & wish you lots of luck & success in your venture.
If you intend to issue membership cards to your members, I shall be glad to send you some of our little stickers to put on the cards, also an autographed picture for each one.
Again thanks & best wishes,
Sincerely:-
Stan Laurel.
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 17th.'57.
Dear Ernie [Murphy]:-
Thanks yours 4th.inst.
Congratulations on getting a vacation trip to Spain!. Thats wonderful Ernie, am sure you'll enjoy that very much - have never been there, but any place on the Continent is interesting. I imagine you will spend a little time in France & Italy too. Are you flying or going by Boat? thats good that your friend speaks several languages, it will make your trip much easier in getting around.
Sorry to say Babe is still the same - no improvement, poor guy, really a sad situation (over 7 months now)
All here as usual Ernie so not much to tell you. Eda joins in love & best, & wish you Bon Voyage & safe return. Drop us a line from over there if you get a chance, will enjoy hearing of your experiences, am sure you will have a great time & lots of laughs.
Bye Lad, lots of good luck & God Bless.
As ever:-
STAN LAUREL NOTECARD - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - HANDWRITTEN
April 18th.'57.
Dear Mr [Bob] & Mrs [Marie] Hatfield:
Many thanks for your nice card - much appreciated. We too wish you both a very Happy Easter - lots of eggs & Red Cross Buns! & that goes for Summerfield too!!
Regards & best.
Sincerely:-
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 19th.'57.
My Dear Mr & Mrs Short:-
Thank you for your very nice letter of the 13th.inst. - a pleasant surprise to hear from you, which brought back a happy memory of our last appearance in Newcastle.
Sorry to hear of the loss of some of your valued possessions, hope it was'nt too serious an accident & will be able to replace most of them.
With pleasure I am sending you herewith another photograph, & also a copy of the letter I sent you from the Royal Station Hotel in '53. Sorry that Mr. Hardy is unable to sign it on account of his illness - as you know he had a stroke, & his right side is paralyzed also his speech is affected (unable to talk). Poor fellow is in bad shape & still confined to bed (7 months now) its certainly distressing.
I too had a slight stroke two years ago which paralyzed my left side but fortunately I made a wonderful recovery - thank God, & am able to get around quite well again. However, I doubt if I shall ever be in shape to work again - strange that this should happen to us both is'nt it?
I note you posted your letter to Blyth - is the old Theatre Royal still there? I remember when my Dad (Arthur Jefferson) built the place in the early 1900's. I was going to school at the time in Tynemouth, it was just after the Boer War, he also ran the Theatre Royal in North Shields & the "Boro", also had theatres in Jarrow, Hebburn & Wallsend - what memories!
Well, all for now, trust alls well & happy with you.
Bye, good luck & God Bless.
Sincerely as ever:-
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 22nd.'57.
Dear Earl [Shank] Jr.:-
Many thanks for your nice card.
Appreciated your thoughtfulness. Hope you all had a very Happy Easter, I imagine Cindy got the whole works - Easter eggs, Bonnet & Bunny! By the way, did you ever get a picture of her yet?
I had a pleasant surprise last week, a good frind of mine from England was in Town on Business & dropped in to see me a couple of times. We first met & worked together in a juvenile pantomime show in 1907 - can you imagine, exactly 50 years ago.
Needless to tell you we had a wonderful time together remeniscing. He became quite a big Star in England & finally retired from that bus. He now travels around the World as a Foreign correspondent for some London Newspaper, his columns deal with purely theatrical news - he naturally has a great knowledge of show bus. & very interesting - plus a wonderful sense of humour, I sure had a grand time with him - brought back many happy memories, it really was a tonic for me. He flew to New York last Friday & is leaving there for London May 1st, sailing on the "Queen Elizabeth".
Think thats all for now Earl.
My kindest regards to Mrs S. & self " love to Cindy - trust alls well & happy.
Bye, Good luck & God Bless.
Sincerely always:-
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
April 26th.'57.
Dear Gary [Arnold]:-
Thanks yours 24th.inst.
Enclosed are the stickers I promised you. Regarding the pictures, please send me a list of the members names (not initials) so they can [be] signed to each one personally, then I can mail them to you all at one time.
Looks like you're off to a good start Gary, wish you all lots of success.
Bye & good luck,
Sincerely:-
Stan Laurel.
VINTAGE LAUREL AND HARDY STICKER ENCLOSURE
RUBBER STAMP - 1111 Franklin St., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN
Glad you enjoyed “The Bullfighters.” Frankly, I was very unhappy with it.
April 29th.'57.
MDear Earl [Shank] Jr.:-
Thanks your nice letter 24th.inst. with enclosure of clippings - certainly a sad picture of Eric Von Stroheim - really pitiful to see such a great artiste end up like this - in his pose he still retains his showrnanship, am sure he must have directed this dramatic picture, the salute has a great touch of pathos. Am returning this in case you would like to keep it, knowing that you are a great admirer of him.
Thanks for returning the other clipping I sent you of the home projection room, there was no hurry to send it back, you should have kept it to show your Dad. Incidently, you can keep the snap of it Earl I do'nt want it.
I just found out that Felix Knight is with the New York Met. Opera I imagine the reason nobody hears of him is on account of his poor acting ability - probably playing minor parts due to that. A shame, with a wonderful voice like that.
Glad you enjoyed "The Bullfighters" - frankly, I was very unhappy with it, it was composed of a lot of cut-outs from "Blood & Sand" & news-reel shots of Bull Fights in Madrid - in fact I wore Tyrone Powers costume. He quit 20th. Century Studio on account of this film, did'nt like the idea of being used to get rid of a lot of cut-outs from another picture & trying to make a story out of them. Consequently it was a very cheap affair & certainly did'nt do us any good.
The chap that played Mr Hot Shot was Richard Lane, he is now doing announcing for wrestling matches & Roller Skating Derbies out here - he's quite a character!.
No, we never had happy endings to our pictures, we thought it best to keep us in constant trouble & get the sympathy of the audience each time.
No change in Babe's condition - I too wish a miracle would happen if only he got his speech back again, this must be very distressing to him - more than anything else.
I never did appear with my Mother & Dad, as my first professional show was after my Mother died in 1907. (exactly 50 years ago)
No the fight game is'nt as colorful as it used to be, but I still enjoy watching them, in fact I never miss one on TV, local & National, am looking forward to the Robinson-Fulmer scrap next Nednesday May 1 middleweight championship bout (15 rounds) I'm pulling for Robinson.
Yes, I visited the old Metropole theatre in Glasgow in '47. the press made quite a big thing out of it, they photographed me in all parts of the theatre - you'd have thought I'd built the joint! anyway I had a wonderful time.
The Command performance was a thrilling experience - do'nt know if the Royal family laughed or not as we were not permitted to look at the Royal Box - only at the finish you are allowed to look at the King & Queen & make a special final bow to them. After the show all the artistes meet & are introduced to the Royal Family in a suite adjoining the Royal Box & are entertained buffet & cock-tails etc. Unfortunately we could'nt accept the invitation as we had leave right away to return to Paris, where we were appearing at the famous "Lido" night club - we came over to London especially for the Command show. Naturally we were disappointed having to rush away. However, we did get a nice letter of thanks from Buckingham Palace.
Note re the anniversary celebration coming up - after its over, why do'nt you open up a barber shop for a couple of weeks in the drug store - you'd clean up!!! shave your customers in the front window & draw the crowd.
Getting back to your enquiry re the Command show. There is no remuneration for the appearance, it is considered a high honor to be invited. The normal theatre prices are raised for this occasion, as high as £50. (One Hundred & 40 Dollars), which is donated to charity.
I think the London Palladium seats over 4000 people & more on these affairs - everybody is in formal dress, both black & white tie, its quite an impressive sight from the stage - when you first see all the white shirt fronts, it looks like a house full of Yule Brunner.
I guess by now you have got settled in your new home, am sure you will be more confortable there than in a motel. I too hate that moving business, that really is a problem.
Congratulations on finally getting Cindy photographed - do'nt think you'll have any more trouble in that dept.
Think thats all for now Earl. Mrs L. joins in kindest regards & best to you all.
Bye & God Bless.
Sincerely as ever:-
Note from the Editor
Richard Lane (1899–1982) was an American television announcer and actor who is best known as an announcer for wrestling and roller derby shows on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California.
Gene Fullmer (1931-2015) won the world middleweight championship on January 2, 1957, when he upset the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson by soundly winning a unanimous 15-round decision. On May 1, 1957 they fought a rematch, which Robinson won with a knockout punch in the fifth round.
