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Oliver Hardy was born Norvell Hardy on 18 January 2023 in Harlem, Georgia; died on 7 August 1957. Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on 16 June 1890 in Ulverston, England; died on 23 February 2023
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| Any honor roll of comedy favorites would have to include Woody Allen, Lucille Ball, Charlie Chaplin, Bill Cosby, Fernandel, W.C. Fields, Louis de Funès, Bob Hope, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, the Marx Brothers, Toto, Mae West and others. Cults have arisen around these supremely funny artists, who have all left lasting marks on 20th-century popular culture. |
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Yet no one has brought the world more laughter than the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Nor is anyone more beloved than these two funny, gentle men - the thin one and the fat one. The wry-faced, dim-witted Stan Laurel, with the natural fright-wig hair, and the courtly, portly Oliver Hardy, with his bangs and expansive gestures. |
| "Stan and Ollie" or "The Boys" complemented each other
perfectly. They were geniuses without showing it, without knowing it. They
made their artistry seem effortless and completely natural. Their comedy
style is unique and timeless, their appeal basic and universal. They were
first and foremost visual comedians, who let us see ourselves - and laugh.
The Boys were then able to punctuate their physical and visual comedy with catch phrases such as: "Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" |
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Laurel & Hardy also utilized a whole inventory
of pantomimic mannerisms, devices and props which distinguished their work:
the derbies, the cry, the hairstyles, the long- suffering camera looks,
the eye-blink, the back-breaking pratfalls, the white magic, the tie-twiddle
. . . Yet all these things are mechanical. At the heart of their appeal,
underlying all their behavior, is one simple concept. Love. These films
were made with love, and they reflected love. Stan and Ollie are nice people.
Lovable people.
Their active partnership lasted a quarter century; their legacy will last forever. |
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Laurel
and Hardy Central
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