Did You Know, That ... (I)

 
Did You Know, That ... (II)

 
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· How did Stan and Ollie get together in the first place? They had appeared together by chance in an earlier film called THE LUCKY DOG, but it was not until each had joined Hal Roach that their teaming began. They were appearing in the same films at Roach when director/supervisor Leo McCarey recognized the comic contrast between them and encouraged their teamwork. They first appeared in something resembling their eventual format in a 1927 release called DUCK SOUP.

· Including quest appearances, Laurel & Hardy made 106 films together. This number does not include films in which Laurel directed Hardy, newsreels, home movies or TV.

· A few times, Stan and Ollie appeared together on TV: They were guests on a BBC show hosted by bandleader Henry Hall in 1953 and in the following year they were the subjects of THIS IS YOUR LIFE in America. In 1955 - in what was to be their last engagement as a team - they contributed a filmed insert for another BBC show, THIS MUSIC HALL.

· THE MUSIC BOX (1932) brought Laurel & Hardy an Oscar. The idea of steps was also used in one of their silents, HATS OFF, no copy of which is known to exist.

· Laurel & Hardy did not always do their own stunts. By the time of their teaming, they were approaching middle age and of course were becoming too valuable to risk. Stan Laurel was sometimes doubled by Ham Kimsey; Oliver Hardy's usual double was Cy Slocum, though a still from SWISS MISS shows Charlie Phillips performing this task.