大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - Laurel and Hardy鈥檚 special bond: how even a devastating stroke couldn鈥檛 stop the comedy legends from communicating

Laurel and Hardy鈥檚 special bond: how even a devastating stroke couldn鈥檛 stop the comedy legends from communicating

24 October 2018

Laurel and Hardy are one of cinema’s best-loved comedy duos.

They made their first movie together in 1921 and continued their successful partnership into the mid-1950s.

Such was their popularity that, on the Glasgow leg of their 1932 tour around Britain – where Stan Laurel began his career – several members of the huge assembled crowd required hospital treatment after a stone balustrade collapsed.

‘Gentleness and tenderness’

The pair’s close friendship lasted to the very end.

In 1956, Hardy suffered a major stroke which left him bedridden and unable to speak.

Author John Connolly explained to 大象传媒 Radio Ulster’s The Arts Show how Laurel’s compassionate side shone through.

“Stan Laurel, so that Oliver Hardy wouldn’t feel self-conscious about this [the inability to speak], wouldn't speak either.

“They had come out of the silent film era, so they had learned to communicate with signs and gestures and with their eyes.”

Hardy died the following year, after which Laurel’s approach to his career changed for good.

“In his final eight years,” said Connolly, “Stan Laurel refused to work [despite needing the money]. And he did it because he couldn’t work without Oliver Hardy.

“He would write routines every day for Oliver Hardy that would never be performed — a way of keeping that extraordinary relationship alive.”