What's On Stan's Desk? - Part 1

“I was born in Ulverston, in the area of Lake
Windermere – Barrow-in-Furness.”
—April 24, 1928

Arthur Stanley Jefferson was born in Ulverston, Lancashire, England, on June 16, 1890. Stan's father, Arthur J. Jefferson managed a group of theaters in the northern part of England, where he also acted and directed. Showing an early inclination to follow in his father's footsteps, Stan built a theater in the attic of his home when he was nine years old, putting on plays of his own.

At the age of 16, Stan joined Fred Karno's comedy company. Charlie Chaplin was its star, and Stan was his understudy. He traveled with Karno to the United States in 1910 and again in 1913. The troupe eventually split up when Charlie left to star in motion pictures. Stan went on to play American vaudeville houses and then entered the world of motion pictures himself.

“Glad you liked ‘The Finishing Touch,’ we were
kind of disappointed with it here, felt that it wasn’t up to
our standard – maybe it’s good that we feel that way
sometimes – makes us try to do better.”
—April 24, 1928

At first there was no real effort to form a "team." They appeared in a number of films together, but their first as a comedy team was 1927's "Putting Pants on Philip." That collaboration made a partnership inevitable. Skilled as a writer as well as a director, Stan quickly became the driving force behind the Laurel and Hardy phenomenon. He worked late nights, writing and editing their films.

“What do you think of the Talkies? It is a wonderful thing,
but I like the silent ones better.”
—September 6, 1928

When audiences first heard Stan's English accent and Babe's Southern American accent, they accepted the duo without reservation. Their voices fit their now familiar characters. In a stroke of genius, the team skillfully included a mix of visual and verbal humor—adding dialogue that enhanced rather than replaced their popular sight gags. Finding themselves even more popular in "talkies," Laurel and Hardy rose to the occasion and starred in the classic short "The Music Box" (a reworking of their silent film "Hats Off"), which won the first Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Comedy in 1932.

“I had a slight stroke and was in hospital
several weeks for treatment. However, pleased to tell
you I made a wonderful recovery and am nearly
back to normal again.”
—December 24, 1955

Stan finally found true love when he divorced Virginia and married Ida Kitaeva in 1946. Ida brought Stan stability and remained by his side for the rest of his life. After making several "B" movies after their contract with Hal Roach expired, Stan and Babe retired from films in 1950 and went on to tour England, where they were greeted at each stop with tumultuous applause. In May of 1954, Oliver Hardy suffered a slight heart attack, which cancelled their final tour.

Upon returning to the United States they embarked on a project to produce a series of films for television. On April 25, 1955, Stan had a stroke. He recovered slowly, but then Ollie had a severe stroke, from which he did not recover.

“I’m very thrilled to receive such a wonderful
tribute. I only wish poor old Babe had been here to share
this great honor, which he helped make possible.”
—December 10, 1956

In his later years he was arguably the most approachable of all movie stars, keeping his phone number in the phone book, welcoming all sorts of visitors—treating celebrities and non-celebrities like V.I.P.s—and responding to his fan mail personally. He hosted many visitors at his modest seaside apartment, including Dick Cavett, Jerry Lewis and Dick Van Dyke.

Stan Laurel passed away on February 23, 1965, a few days after suffering a heart attack. Dick Van Dyke delivered the eulogy at his funeral saying, "The halls of Heaven must be ringing with Divine laughter." Amen.