Stan Laurel - ©Theda Bara

The name I present to you in this post is that of the British comedian who became famous in the United States, Stan Laurel, who formed, alongside Oliver Norvell Hardy Jr. (1892-1957), the notorious and long-lasting duo: “Laurel & Hardy” (from 1926 until the mid-1950s), one of the most popular in American cinema, acting from the silent film era to the beginning of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Stan Laurel has a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Motion Picture category.

Unlike his film partner Oliver Hardy, who never received an Oscar, Stan Laurel received an Honorary Statuette from the Academy of Motion Pictures in 1961.

Arthur Stanley Jefferson, born on June 16, 1890, Ulverston, United Kingdom, died on February 23, 1965, Santa Monica, California, United States, at the age of 75.

Stan Laurel was married six times: first to Australian vaudeville actress Charlotte Dahlberg, also known as Mae Laurel (1888–1969) from 1919 to 1925; his second wife was American actress Lois Neilson Laurel (1895–1990) from 1927 to 1934. The couple had two children, comedian Lois Laurel (1927–2017) and Stanley Robert Laurel (1930–1930), who was born prematurely and died nine days later; his third wife was American actress Virginia Ruth Rogers (1907–1976). They married twice: the first time was in 1935 and divorced in 1937, and remarried (Stan’s fifth marriage) in 1941, divorcing definitively in 1946; His fourth marriage was to Russian actress Vera Ivanova Illeana Laurel, formerly Vera Ivanova Illeana Shuvalova (1910–2022) who lived to an incredible 112 years. She was married to Stan Laurel for less than two full years, from 1938 to 1940; the actor’s last wife was another Russian actress, Ida Kitaeva Rafael (1899–1980) from 1946 to 1965.