- published: 02 Aug 2015
- views: 42717
Oliver "Ollie" Hardy (born Norvell Hardy) (January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted 25 years, from 1927 to 1951. He was credited with his first film, Outwitting Dad, in 1914. In some of his early works, he was billed as Babe Hardy, using his nickname.
Oliver Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Georgia. His father, Oliver, was a Confederate veteran who was wounded at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862. After his demobilization as a recruiting officer for Company K, 16th Georgia Regiment, the elder Oliver Hardy assisted his father in running the vestiges of the family cotton plantation. He bought a share in a retail business and was elected full-time Tax Collector for Columbia County, Georgia. Norvell's mother, Emily Norvell, was the daughter of Thomas Benjamin Norvell and Mary Freeman, descended from Captain Hugh Norvell of Williamsburg, Virginia, who had arrived in Virginia before 1635. Hardy and Norvell had married March 12, 1890; it was the second marriage for the widow Emily, and the third for Oliver. He was of paternal English American descent and maternal Scottish American descent.
Laurel and Hardy were a comedy double act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. The team was composed of thin Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and heavyset American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). They became well known during the late 1920s through the mid-1940s for their slapstick comedy with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous Hardy. The duo's signature tune, which is known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku" or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", was played over the opening credits of their films and has become as emblematic of the duo as their bowler hats.
Prior to their being teamed up, both actors had well-established film careers. Laurel had appeared in over 50 films while Hardy had been in more than 250 productions. The two comedians had previously worked together as cast members on the film The Lucky Dog in 1921. However, they were not a comedy team at that time and it was not until 1926, when both separately signed contracts with the Hal Roach film studio, that they appeared in a movie short together. Laurel and Hardy officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared together in the silent short film Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with the Roach studio until 1940 and then appeared in eight "B" movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their movie commitments at the end of 1944 they concentrated on performing in stage shows and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland and Scotland. In 1950, before retiring from the screen, they made their last film which was a French/Italian co-production called Atoll K.
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy County Hospital
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy in 1956
Best of Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy #5
The Flying Deuces - Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (best quality version)
Goodbye Babe: A tribute to Oliver Hardy from Stan Laurels perspective
1939 - The Flying Deuces - STAN LAUREL & OLIVER HARDY - A. Edward Sutherland | FULL MOVIE
Oliver Hardy Funeral
Oliver Hardy Interview (1950)
Laurel And Hardy - Clumsy Oliver
Laurel and Hardy in 'The Flying Deuces'
Actors: Arno Paulsen (actor), Hal Roach (actor), Chuck McCann (actor), Walter Bluhm (actor), Stan Laurel (actor), Léo Joannon (actor), Jerry Lewis (actor), Oliver Hardy (actor), James Finlayson (actor), Ottfried Fischer (actor), Buster Keaton (actor), Charlie Hall (actor), Booth Colman (actor), Larry Semon (actor), Michael Habeck (actor),
Genres: Documentary,Actors: Arno Paulsen (actor), Hal Roach (actor), Chuck McCann (actor), Walter Bluhm (actor), Stan Laurel (actor), Léo Joannon (actor), Jerry Lewis (actor), Oliver Hardy (actor), James Finlayson (actor), Ottfried Fischer (actor), Buster Keaton (actor), Charlie Hall (actor), Booth Colman (actor), Larry Semon (actor), Michael Habeck (actor),
Genres: Documentary,Actors: Richard Fell (producer), Trevor Cooper (actor), Lorelei King (actress), Jim Norton (actor), Dearbhla Molloy (actress), Emma Fryer (costume designer), Annie Kocur (editor), Neil Brand (writer), Neil Brand (writer), Neil Brand (writer), Howard Kingston (miscellaneous crew), Tristin Norwell (composer), Nick Green (composer), Ben Evans (producer), Jon Sen (director),
Plot: Based on the Neil Brand's critically acclaimed radio play of the same name, the drama follows Stan Laurel's last visit to his dying friend and comedy partner Oliver 'Babe' Hardy and Stan's subsequent coming to terms with the ghosts of his past.
Keywords: based-on-playActors: Brigitte Nielsen (actress), Massimo Boldi (actor), Gino Bramieri (actor), Pippo Franco (actor), Brigitte Nielsen (actress), Pamela Prati (actress), Natalia Estrada (actress), Gerry Scotti (actor), Giorgio Ariani (actor), Lorella Cuccarini (actress), Carlo Pistarino (actor), Gigi Sabani (actor), Claudio Lippi (actor), Claudio Lippi (actor), Paola Barale (actress),
Genres: Comedy,Actors: Bing Russell (actor), Rod McCary (actor), John Dennis Johnston (actor), Dermot Mulroney (actor), Dakin Matthews (actor), Joe Dallesandro (actor), Malcolm McDowell (actor), Grant Heslov (actor), Richard Fancy (actor), Peter Jason (actor), Richard Bradford (actor), James Garner (actor), Castulo Guerra (actor), Vernon Wells (actor), M. Emmet Walsh (actor),
Plot: Whilst making a silent film about the life of the legendary lawman 'Wyatt Earp (III)' (qv), veteran actor 'Tom Mix' ('Bruce Willis' (qv)) discovers that the real Earp ('James Garner') is on the film set as a technical advisor. The two become friends, but when a murder takes place, the two become partners and set about tracking down the killer.
Keywords: academy-awards-ceremony, action-violence, bare-chested-male, blood, boxer-shorts, broken-vase, celebrity-look-alike, childbirth, crotch-grab, ex-convictActors: Carl Reiner (actor), Whoopi Goldberg (actress), Tommy Chong (actor), Bob Gale (actor), Norman Wisdom (actor), Thys Ockersen (director), Thys Ockersen (writer), Wendie Jo Sperber (actress), Rob van Steensel (editor), Antoinette Grote Gansey (producer), Nellie Kamer (producer), Bevis Faversham (actor),
Genres: Documentary,Actors: Nelson Riddle (composer), Audrey Totter (actress), Karl Tunberg (writer), Carol Lynley (actress), Barry Sullivan (actor), Ginger Rogers (actress), Frank J. Scannell (actor), Hermione Baddeley (actress), Lloyd Bochner (actor), Harry Holcombe (actor), Nick Dimitri (actor), Jack Kruschen (actor), Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (actor), Celia Lovsky (actress), Ron Gans (actor),
Plot: One of two "Harlow" film biographies that appeared in 1965, this one stars Carol Lynley in the title role that begins as Jean Harlow, a bit player in Laurel and Hardy comedies, is invited to test for director Jonathan Martin for the lead in Howard Hughes's "Hell's Angels." She is an instantaneous sensation, and in a series of films devoted more to her body than her talent, she becomes Hollywood's "Platanum Blonde."
Keywords: actress, blonde, death-of-young-woman, director, dying-young, face-slap, family-relationships, hollywood-california, husband-wife-relationship, impotenceActors: Frank McClure (actor), Stephen McNally (actor), Bobby Burns (actor), Sam Ash (actor), Charles Coleman (actor), Brooks Benedict (actor), Jules Cowles (actor), Howard Freeman (actor), King Baggot (actor), Oliver Hardy (actor), Edward Hearn (actor), Russell Hicks (actor), Edgar Kennedy (actor), Stan Laurel (actor), Donald Meek (actor),
Plot: Turned down when they try to enlist, the boys do the next best thing and become air raid wardens. They uncover and foil a Nazi plot to sabotage a magnesium plant.
Keywords: abandoned-building, alarm-bell, anger, army-major, auditorium, bank-president, bankruptcy, barber, bed-ridden, bicycleActors: Wilfred Jackson (director), Clarence Nash (actor), Walt Disney (producer), Sara Berner (actress), Sara Berner (actress), Sara Berner (actress), Sara Berner (actress), Dave Barry (actor), Dave Barry (actor), Dave Barry (actor), Dave Barry (actor), Dave Barry (actor), Dave Barry (actor), Dave Barry (actor), Dave Barry (actor),
Plot: Various Mother Goose rhymes are portrayed by Hollywood stars for example, Old King Cole's fiddlers three are the Marx Brothers, and Humpty Dumpty is W.C. Fields, who falls while tormenting Charlie McCarthy; Simple Simon and the Pieman are Laurel and Hardy.
Keywords: 1930s, animal-in-title, anthropomorphic-animal, anthropomorphism, blackface, cartoon-duck, celebrity, celebrity-caricature, character-name-in-title, chefActors: Buster Keaton (director), Warner Baxter (actor), Edgar Bergen (actor), Don Brodie (actor), Charles Butterworth (actor), Bing Crosby (actor), Lester Dorr (actor), Stuart Erwin (actor), Oliver Hardy (actor), Al Jolson (actor), E. Alyn Warren (actor), Dorothy Lamour (actress), Irene Rich (actress), Louis Lewyn (producer), Edmund Lowe (actor),
Plot: A group of stable hands is given a race horse when its owner retires from the business. (The group is played by the "Original Sing Band," which uses their mouths to sound like musical instruments.) They raise money to run the horse in the Hollywood Derby at Santa Anita race track. Many Hollywood personalities attend the event.
Keywords: african-american, announcer, auction, band, city-in-title, dancing, horse, horserace, movie-star, musicianI just want a send a special, special thank you today
Anyone who donated a little of something in the collection can
God won't forget you
Now this next song is a song about writing this song
Now I'm not some profound visionary
But this specific incision didn't particularly take too long
I was just running up this back stage stairs
And suddenly it dawned to me
What a good idea, true inspiration
But with no pen or paper to record the creation
I aborted the plans of grand innovation
And stood bored pacing on the wood floor waiting for more wars to
Gore for my planning and
Maybe I'm not cut out for this writing game
I thought for a brief second
But then it was like the lightning hit through me in a complete head spin
And kept punching me with raising concepts rhyme patterns and song interruptions
With long floods that dropped fire struck until I was finally finished
And in a matter of minutes consciousness is linked with being inventive infinite
And one of my friends happened to have a pen
So I wrote it all down on my hand
That was that
Thank you
We're just gonna
Thank you thank you
We're just gonna pass the collection around one more time
Try to find it in your pockets and your hearts to donate all your money