Happy reunion: scene from AIR RAID WARDENS with Oliver Hardy cautioning old friend Edgar Kennedy as Stan Laurel (who signed this still photo in 1964) looks on. FROM THE FORTIES FORWARD reveals a tantalizing 1949 internal studio document contemplating that Hardy would be a suitable replacement for Kennedy, who had just died, in his long-running "Mr. Average Man" series of domestic comedy two-reelers at RKO. Photo courtesy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.