Welcome to our
US Store

For our Canadian Store CLICK HERE

Laurel and Hardy Celebriducks

Laurel and Hardy are, without doubt, the best-loved comedians of all time. No small statement, but then these were no small-time comics. Happily slapstick and endearingly put-upon, Stan and Ollie have always been the very definition of universal humor.

Stan Laurel actually learnt his comic trade as an understudy for Charlie Chaplin. His performance was so good that many of the audience weren't aware that they weren't watching the real Chaplin when Stan stepped in. He initially performed on stage in England and Los Angeles in vaudeville comedy theatre, heavily influenced by the big turn of the century names, Little Tich, George Robey, Vesta Tilley and Dan Leno. In fact, a typical Stan Laurel mannerism was, er, 'borrowed' from Leno's stage act. Stan would say something logical and intelligent, and then, when asked to repeat it, mess it up terribly.

Oliver, on the other hand, was a typical day-to-day actor who spent much of his early career playing archetype silent comedy characters. In his spare time, though, he would sit in hotel forecourts and just watch the world go by, creating the on-screen Oliver Hardy from the characteristics he spotted every day.

Today, Laurel and Hardy's influence is felt in the majority of physical comedy. "I loved them," says Steve Martin. "As a kid, I'd see whatever movies they made. Laurel and Hardy are very dear to me". "They were magnificent", enthuses Stephen Fry, while John Cleese insists that "Laurel and Hardy remain a source of real joy".