- Stan Laurel - Public Domain
Arthur Stanley Jefferson, more commonly known as Stan Laurel, was not always the partner of Oliver Hardy. Laurel was born into a family of struggling actors on June 16, 1890. Charlie Chaplin was born a year earlier than Laurel, yet both shared the pain of being raised in alcoholic families. Fathers that were philanderers and sickly mothers were facets of life both young boys shared.
Laurel was seventeen when he hit the road with the Levy and Cardwell Juvenile Pantomimes. The company consisted of a group of young actors that did parodies of famous plays. The company performed in a number of variety halls, back before the days of no-smoking rules. The audiences tended to be quite raucous and if they did not like the act the insults and jeers would be forthcoming without restraint.
Laurel and Chaplin—Clogging Together
On his free Sundays Laurel would engage in clog-dancing competitions. The first occasion for Chaplin and Laurel to share the stage was one such competition in Sunderland, England. Chaplin had a background as a clog dancer having toured with an act known as the Lancashire Lads.
While performing in a variety hall in 1910, Laurel was discovered by the most successful music-hall producer of the time, Fred Karno. Kano had previously hired Charlie Chaplin a couple of years earlier. The first pairing of Chaplin and Laurel occurred in the Mumming Birds. The lead went to Chaplin as a drunk in the audience and Laurel was his understudy. Although Laurel was to play every other part in the show he was never able to play the drunk as Chaplin never missed a performance.
Coming to America
Karno’s troupe was invited to play in the Hammerstein Music Hall in New York and in 1910. Chaplin and Laurel sailed over together on the Cairnrona. Karno was known to be cheap when it came to paying his company and because of their relative poverty Chaplin and Laurel roomed together in a West 43rd Street Brownstone house. The basement of the house contained a cleaning and pressing business and the fumes would permeate the house. Although Chaplin wrote about the house in his autobiography he neglected to mention Stan Laurel was his roommate.Chaplin was always wary of rivals and in Laurel, he saw competition.
The Karno troupe was a success in vaudeville and they did a six week tour in New York followed by a twenty week tour of the west. While on tour Laurel and Chaplin continued to share cheap boarding-house rooms. They ate in inexpensive restaurants and spent a lot of their time together. Laurel would practice his act in their room at night and Chaplin would be his critic. Despite the time spent together the men never grew close, perhaps because of Chaplin’s fierce ambition to succeed. Laurel and Chaplin never talked about their time together to reporters, but Laurel did tell his many wives stories about the time he spent with Chaplin.
One incident back in England had affected Laurel’s trust of Chaplin. Karno offered Stan the lead role in a production called Jimmy, the Fearless, after Chaplin had turned down the part. Chaplin sat in the audience for a week and watched Laurel’s performance. Chaplin liked what he saw and told Karno he had changed his mind and wanted the lead. Karno promptly said yes and fired Laurel from the production. Laurel never forgot that incident and it would affect his dealing with Chaplin the rest of his life.
Chaplin Goes to Hollywood
In 1912 Chaplin was lured away from the Karno troupe by Max Sennett. Laurel took over the lead role in the act; however Karno and his troupe had not counted on Chaplin’s popularity. Despite Laurel’s talent the audience’s wanted to see Chaplin and the Music Hall owners were not happy. Within a few weeks the Karno act was no more and Karno paid for most of the act to return to England. Laurel decided to stay and he continued to act in small venues.
Laurel and Chaplin meet in Hollywood
Laurel’s travels eventually took him to Hollywood where he was playing at the Hippodrome. Laurel was “discovered” by the owner of the Hippodrome, Adolph Ramish, and Ramish arranged for a friend of his to make a one-reeler staring Laurel. Ramish had a showing of the film at his theater and Charlie Chaplin attended. After the screening Chaplin told Laurel to come see him. Laurel waited a few days and sent a message to Chaplin while they were at a deli. Chaplin sent a message back with the waiter that said, “I’m sorry, but I’m just tied up at the moment. But we’ll get together.” Stan never pursued the matter. Chaplin’s wariness of Laurel’s talent may explain why he never offered to help Laurel in his career. Chaplin went on to make millions and enjoyed great success. Stan Laurel also enjoyed great success, although not as much monetarily, with his partnership with Oliver Norville Hardy.
Although Chaplin did not help Laurel while they were in Hollywood it is undeniable that Chaplin was a huge influence, if not the major influence, on Stan Laurel’s comic ability. Laurel would acknowledge Chaplin’s influence during his remaining years, yet Chaplin could not even bring himself to acknowledge Laurel’s existence. Perhaps we should be grateful for Chaplin’s indifference to Laurel, for without his support the team of Laurel and Hardy was born and theirs is a lasting legacy.
Reference:
Guiles, Fred Lawrence. Stan: the Life of Stan Laurel, Scarborough House, Briarcliff Manor, New York, 1980. 240pp
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