Trivia and Quotes
Quotes
 [about the eight films he and Oliver Hardy made at 20th Century-Fox in the 1940s] We had no say on those films, and it sure looked it. Crazy humor was always my type of humor, but it`s the quiet kind of craziness I like. The rough type of nut humor like The Marx Brothers I could never go for.
[on Oliver Hardy`s death] The world has lost a comic genius. I`ve lost my best friend.
A friend once asked me what comedy was. That floored me. What is comedy? I don`t know. Does anybody? Can you define it? All I know is that I learned how to get laughs, and that`s all I know about it. You have to learn what people will laugh at, then proceed accordingly.
If any of you cry at my funeral, I`ll never speak to you again!
Trivia
Is portrayed by Jim Plunkett in Harlow (1965/II).
(imdb.com)
He was voted, along with comedy partner Oliver Hardy, the 45th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
(imdb.com)
Portrayed by Matthew Cottle in Chaplin (1992).
(imdb.com)
He and Mae Laurel lived as a common-law couple, as Mae was legally married to someone in her native Australia when she met Stan in 1918. They parted in 1925 by mutual consent and Mae returned to Australia.
(imdb.com)
Father of Lois Laurel, who appeared with him in The Chimp (1932).
(imdb.com)
He and Oliver Hardy have been and continue to be very popular in Germany under the name of "Dick und Doof" (Fatty and Stupid).
(imdb.com)
Suffered a nervous breakdown on the death of his long time film partner and friend, Oliver Hardy, and according to his friends, never fully recovered.
(imdb.com)
Suffered a stroke in June 1955.
His partner Oliver Hardy was an inveterate golfer, often setting up his own little putting green on the set so he could practice between takes. Laurel once joked to a reporter interviewing him that golf was Hardy`s only "bad habit". When the reporter asked if he had any bad habits, Laurel--who had been married and divorced five times--replied, "Yes, and I married them.".
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, and responding to his fan mail personally.
While rarely credited as a writer or director, he was the driving creative force behind the team of he and Oliver Hardy--whenever Hardy was asked a question about a gag, story idea, plot line, etc., he always pointed to Laurel and said, "Ask Stan." Laurel often worked well into the night, writing and editing their films.
Stan was greatly admired by Peter Sellers. Sellers claimed that the "Laurel" character was his inspiration when he created the "gardener" character in Being There (1979).
He was greatly admired by Jerry Lewis. When Lewis had his own production company in the early 1960s, he repeatedly tried to hire Stan for his creative team. Stan refused, despite the impressive salary. According to Lewis, he would send scripts to Stan who would read them and write suggestions in the margins.
Dick Van Dyke delivered the eulogy at Laurel`s funeral.
An extra named John Wood from the film Babes in Toyland (1934) sued him and his stunt double, Ham Kinsey, claiming back injuries after Laurel and Kinsey threw him in the ducking pond on the set. The lawsuit specified $40,500 in damages, but was settled out-of-court.
Fell off a platform and tore ligaments in his right leg during the filming of Babes in Toyland (1934).
The death of his partner Oliver Hardy left him a broken man, so much so that he fell into a deep depression and swore never to do comedy again. He didn`t. In the eight years between Hardy`s death and his own, he repeatedly turned down offers to do public appearances.
His and Oliver Hardy`s films had and still have great success in Italy, where they are known as "Stallio and Ollio.".
Had said that out of all the impersonations done of him, he liked actor Dick Van Dyke`s the best. Van Dyke even got to perform that impersonation on one of the episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961) and after it premiered, he called Laurel to ask his opinion. Laurel said he liked everything but one detail, the hat wasn`t right. Van Dyke said he found Laurel`s number in a Santa Monica, CA, phone book.
At the time of Oliver Hardy`s death in 1957, Stan was too ill to attend his late partner`s funeral.
Appears on sleeve of The Beatles` "Sgt Pepper`s Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.
Subject on one of five 29� US commemorative postage stamps celebrating famous comedians, issued in booklet form 29 August 1991. He is shown with his partner Oliver Hardy. The stamp designs were drawn by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The other comedians honored in the set are Edgar Bergen (with alter ego Charlie McCarthy); Jack Benny; Fanny Brice; and Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.
He had always been a fan of westerns, and after he became a success, his company, Stan Laurel Productions, financed a series of low-budget musical westerns starring singing cowboy Fred Scott. The films were made for and released by the independent Spectrum Pictures rather than Hal Roach Studios, which made Laurel`s and Oliver Hardy`s films, or MGM, which released them. The Scott westerns seldom, if ever, made any money, but Laurel`s enthusiasm for them never waned until his accountants showed him that they were getting to be a major drain on his finances, at which time he reluctantly dropped his participation.
Turned down a cameo part in Stanley Kramer``s gigantic farce It`s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963).
Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA.
He always thought that his "whining face" was humiliating, but the producers forced him to do it in most of his movies since the public loved it.
Laurel first apeared with his future partner, Oliver Hardy, in The Lucky Dog (1921), which was filmed in 1919, but not released until 1921.
Only son died 9 days after birth in 1930.
His light blue eyes almost ended his movie career before it began. Until the early 1920s, filmmakers used black-and-white Orthochromatic film stock, which was "blue blind." Hal Roach cameraman George Stevens (the same George Stevens who would later become an acclaimed producer/director) knew of panchromatic film and was able to get a supply of it from Chicago. This new film was sensitive to blue and recorded Laurel`s pale blue eyes in a more natural way. Stevens became Laurel`s cameraman on his short films at Roach. When Laurel teamed with Oliver Hardy, the team made Stevens their cameraman of choice.
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