A look back at Laurel and Hardy; interesting facts, trivia about the duo

Putting Pants on Philip the first film to feature the legendary comedy duo Laurel and Hardy as a pair was released today December 3 in 1927 On this occasion we present some popular and lesserknown facts about Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardygtgt Oliver Hardy was actually born Norvell Hardy He chose the fathers first name calling himself Oliver Norvell Hardy during his career as a stage singer Hardys offscreen nickname Babe was coined by an Italian barber near the Lubin Studios in Jacksonville Florida He would rub Hardys face with talcum powder and say Thats nicea baby After this Hardy was billed as Babe Hardy in his early filmsStan Laurel and Oliver Hardy PicYouTubegtgt Putting Pants on Philip is not the first time that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were paired up Both were cast as separate performers in the 1921 silent short The Lucky DOg After signing with Hal Roach film studio to individual contracts they were cast together once again although in different roles in the 1926 film 45 Minutes From Hollywoodgtgt The popular Simpsons catchphrase Doh has its origins in the Laurel and Hardy films Scottish actor James Finlayson who appeared in 33 of their films would utter the now famous line in all his appearancesgtgt Both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were accomplished actors before teaming up Laurel had appeared in over 50 films while Hardy had been in more than 250 productionsgtgt Stan Laurel made his big screen debut with the 1917 silent comedy short Nuts in May He was billed as Stan Jeffersongtgt As a team Laurel and Hardy have appeared in 107 films with the pair starring in 32 silent shorts 40 sound shorts and 23 fulllength featuresgtgt The Indian comedy duo comprising of actors Nazir Ahmed Ghory and Manohar Janardhan Dixit collectively known as Ghory and Dixit who were active in Indian cinema in the 1930s and 40s were called the Indian Laurel and Hardygtgt The Sons of the Desert the official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society which was founded in New York in 1965 by the comedy duos biographers John McCabe Orson Bean Al Kilgore Chuck McCann and John Municino with the sanction of Stan Laurel has over 150 chapters across North America Europe and Australia The organisation was named after a fraternal society in a 1933 Laurel and Hardy film of the same namegtgt Members of the legendary English band The Beatles used cutouts of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the cutout celebrity crowd for the cover of their 1967 album Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Bandgtgt The signature Laurel and Hardy theme song known variously as The Cuckoo Song KuKu or The Dance of the Cuckoos was originally composed by Roach musical director Marvin Hatley as the onthehour chime for the Roach studio radio station Stan Laurel requested it be used as the their shows theme song after hearing the tunegtgt Laurel and Hardys first and only American television appearance took place on December 1 1954 when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live TV program This Is Your Life Stan Laurel was apparently angered by being tricked into making the appearance without proper intimationgtgt Oliver Hardy was rejected for enlistment by the Army during the First World War due to his weightgtgt Laurel who was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson legally changed his name to Stan Laurel in 1931 He was collaborating with Australian actress Mae Dahlberg at the time and they were living as common law husband and wifegtgt From May 1925 until September 1926 Stan Laurel received credit in at least 22 films and starred in over 50 films for various producers before teaming up with Oliver Hardygtgt In 1909 during his early years in showbusiness Stan Laurel worked for Britains leading comedy impresario Fred Karno as a supporting actor and as an understudy for Charlie Chaplingtgt Stan Laurel found it hard to find diverse film roles as producers writers and directors found it taxing to write for his character with American audiences knowing him either as a nutty burglar or as a Charlie Chaplin imitatorgtgt Oliver Hardys first onscreen appearance was in the 1914 comedy film Outwitting Dad He was billed as Babe Hardy in the creditsgtgt Oliver Hardy was inspired to become a comic actor after viewing film comedies and joined the Lubin Motion Pictures in Jacksonville Florida in 1913 He started by helping around the studio with lights props and other duties gradually learning the craft as a scriptclerk for the companygtgt In total Oliver Hardy has starred or costarred in more than 250 silent film shorts of which roughly 150 have been lostgtgt Oliver Hardy did his signature tie twiddle gesture for the first time in the 1927 film Sailors Beware Although the action would later become one of his trademarks he apparently came up with it by 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 friendlygtgt Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardys final onscreen apperance was in the 1951 film Atoll KgtgtStan Laurel had once famously quipped If anyone at my funeral has a long face Ill never speak to him againgtgt Stan Laurel outlived frequent friend and collaborator Oliver Hardy When the latter diedof a stroke on August 7 1957 Laurelwas too ill to attend his funeral and said Babe would understand Hardy was 65 at the time of his passinggtgtStan Laurel was a heavy smoker until suddenly quitting around 1960 five years before his death from a sudden heart attack which took place on 23 February 1965 He was 74gtgt The duomade 12 guest or cameo appearances that included the 1936 promotional film Galaxy of Stars Following a resurgance in popularity in the late 1950s merchandiser Larry Harmon who claimed ownership of the comedy duos likenesses coproduced a series of Laurel and Hardy cartoons in 1966 with HannaBarbera Productions His animated versions of Laurel and Hardy gueststarred in a 1972 episode of HannaBarberas The New ScoobyDoo Movies A directtovideo film titled The AllNew Adventures of Laurel and Hardy For Love or Mummy starring actors Bronson Pinchot and Gailard Sartain who played lookalike nephews of Laurel and Hardy named Stanley Thinneus Laurel and Oliver Fatteus Hardy was released in 1999gtgt Numerous colorized versions of copyrightfree Laurel and Hardy features and shorts have been reproduced by a multitude of production studios