Oliver Hardy(1892-1957)
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Although his parents were never in show business, as a young boy Oliver
Hardy was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with
minstrel shows. In 1910 he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to
studying law. In 1913 he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company
in Florida and began appearing in a long series of shorts; his debut
film was Outwitting Dad (1914).
He appeared in he 1914-15 series of "Pokes and Jabbs" shorts, and from
1916-18 he was in the "Plump and Runt" series. From 1919-21 he was a
regular in the "Jimmy Aubrey" series of shorts, and from 1921-25 he
worked as an actor and co-director of comedy shorts for
Larry Semon.
In addition to appearing in two-reeler comedies, he found time to make westerns and
even melodramas in which he played the heavy. He is most famous,
however, as the partner of British comic
Stan Laurel, with whom he had played a bit
part in The Lucky Dog (1921). in
the mid-1920s both he and Laurel wee working for comedy producer
Hal Roach, although not as a team. In
a moment of inspiration Roach teamed them together, and their first
film as a team was
45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926).
Their first release for Roach through MGM was
Sugar Daddies (1927) and the first
with star billing was
From Soup to Nuts (1928). They
became a huge hit as a comedy team, and after several years of
two-reelers, Roach decided to star them in features, their first of
which was Pardon Us (1931).
They clicked with audiences in features, too, and starred in such classics
as Way Out West (1937),
March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)
and Block-Heads (1938). They
eventually parted ways with Roach and in the mid-1940s signed on with
Twentieth Century-Fox.
Unfortunately, Fox did not let them have the
autonomy they had at Roach, where Laurel basically wrote and directed
their films, though others were credited, and their films became more
assembly-line and formulaic. Their popularity waned and less popular
during the war years, and they made their last film for Fox in 1946.
Several years later they made their final appearance as a team in a
French film, a troubled and haphazard production eventually, after
several name changes, called
Utopia (1950), generally regarded to be
their worst film. Hardy appeared without Laurel in a few features, such
as Zenobia (1939) with
Harry Langdon,
The Fighting Kentuckian (1949)
in a semi-comedic role as a frontiersman alongside
John Wayne and
Riding High (1950), in a cameo role.
He died in 1957.
Hardy was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with
minstrel shows. In 1910 he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to
studying law. In 1913 he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company
in Florida and began appearing in a long series of shorts; his debut
film was Outwitting Dad (1914).
He appeared in he 1914-15 series of "Pokes and Jabbs" shorts, and from
1916-18 he was in the "Plump and Runt" series. From 1919-21 he was a
regular in the "Jimmy Aubrey" series of shorts, and from 1921-25 he
worked as an actor and co-director of comedy shorts for
Larry Semon.
In addition to appearing in two-reeler comedies, he found time to make westerns and
even melodramas in which he played the heavy. He is most famous,
however, as the partner of British comic
Stan Laurel, with whom he had played a bit
part in The Lucky Dog (1921). in
the mid-1920s both he and Laurel wee working for comedy producer
Hal Roach, although not as a team. In
a moment of inspiration Roach teamed them together, and their first
film as a team was
45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926).
Their first release for Roach through MGM was
Sugar Daddies (1927) and the first
with star billing was
From Soup to Nuts (1928). They
became a huge hit as a comedy team, and after several years of
two-reelers, Roach decided to star them in features, their first of
which was Pardon Us (1931).
They clicked with audiences in features, too, and starred in such classics
as Way Out West (1937),
March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)
and Block-Heads (1938). They
eventually parted ways with Roach and in the mid-1940s signed on with
Twentieth Century-Fox.
Unfortunately, Fox did not let them have the
autonomy they had at Roach, where Laurel basically wrote and directed
their films, though others were credited, and their films became more
assembly-line and formulaic. Their popularity waned and less popular
during the war years, and they made their last film for Fox in 1946.
Several years later they made their final appearance as a team in a
French film, a troubled and haphazard production eventually, after
several name changes, called
Utopia (1950), generally regarded to be
their worst film. Hardy appeared without Laurel in a few features, such
as Zenobia (1939) with
Harry Langdon,
The Fighting Kentuckian (1949)
in a semi-comedic role as a frontiersman alongside
John Wayne and
Riding High (1950), in a cameo role.
He died in 1957.