(At the time Hal Roach more often used Stan as a comedy director and writer than a comedian.) It was Roach’s supervising director, the brilliant Leo McCarey, who spotted the easy on-screen by-play between Laurel and Hardy. Until 1926, Stan was successful as a second-tier comedian and comedy writer, and Ollie was stuck as a utility player. In 1917, Babe decamped the South for Hollywood, where he appeared in films, most notably supporting Larry Semon, as well as Billy West, Clyde Cooke, Bobby Ray, Charley Chase, Jimmy Finlayson and the Our Gang kids, the latter three at Hal Roach’s studio. Oliver ‘Babe’ Hardy (1892–1957) began as a boy singer in small-time entertainments, operating a movie house (manager, ticket seller, projectionist and janitor), and acting films for small studios in Georgia and Florida (Lubin, Vim, King Bee and Vitagraph), often playing villains. Others in the company also signed with American film companies, but none, including Stan Laurel, reached the heights that Chaplin did. Stan Laurel (1890–1965) had come to the USA in 1910 and again in 1913 as a member of the touring British mime troupe, the prestigious “Fred Karno’s Speechless Comedians.” Heading the 1913 company was Charlie Chaplin, who was hired in 1914 by Mack Sennett’s Keystone studio, and rocketed to a lifetime of stardom, riches and honors. It was not until Hal Roach teamed Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy, that both men became famous stars of comedy films.
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