Editing Oliver Hardy (section)

==Career==

===Early career===
[[File:A Day at School.jpg|thumb|upright|Advertisement with Hardy for ''[[A Day at School]]'' (1916), part of the Plump & Runt series]]

In 1910, The Palace,<ref name=":0" /> a motion picture theater, opened in Hardy's hometown of Milledgeville, and he became the projectionist, ticket taker, janitor and manager. He soon became obsessed with the new motion picture industry and was convinced that he could do a better job than the actors that he saw. A friend suggested that he move to [[Jacksonville, Florida]], where some films were being made, which he did in 1913. He worked in Jacksonville as a cabaret and vaudeville singer at night and at the [[Lubin Manufacturing Company]] during the day. It was at this time that he met Madelyn Saloshin, a pianist, whom he married on November 17, 1913, in [[Macon, Georgia]].

The next year, he made his first movie, ''[[Outwitting Dad]]'' (1914), for the Lubin studio, billed as O.&nbsp;N. Hardy. In his personal life, he was known as "Babe" Hardy and was billed as "Babe Hardy" in many of his later films at Lubin, such as ''[[Back to the Farm]]'' (1914). He was a big man, standing 6&nbsp;feet 1&nbsp;inch (1.85 m) and weighing up to 300 pounds ({{circa|136}} kg), and his size placed limits on the roles that he could play. He was most often cast as the villain, but he also had roles in comedy shorts, his size complementing the character. By 1915, Hardy had made 50 short one-reel films at Lubin. He moved to New York and made films for the [[Pathé]], Casino and [[Edison Studios]]. He returned to Jacksonville, where he made films for the [[Vim Comedy Company]]. That studio closed after Hardy discovered that the owners were stealing from the payroll.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Creator: Bletcher, Billy, 1894-1979, Title, Dates: Billy Bletcher's Vim Southern Studio motion picture photographs, 1915–1917|url=http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/rediscovery/default.asp?IDCFile=/fsa/DETAILSS.IDC,SPECIFIC=483262,DATABASE=SERIES|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726073759/http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/rediscovery/default.asp?IDCFile=%2Ffsa%2FDETAILSS.IDC%2CSPECIFIC%3D483262%2CDATABASE%3DSERIES|archive-date=July 26, 2011|access-date=October 12, 2010|website=dlis.dos.state.fl.us}}</ref> He then worked for the King Bee studio, which bought Vim, and worked with [[Billy Ruge]], [[Billy West (silent film actor)|Billy West]] (a [[Charlie Chaplin]] imitator), and comedic actress Ethel Burton. He continued playing the villains for West well into the early 1920s, often imitating [[Eric Campbell (actor)|Eric Campbell]] to West's Chaplin.
[[File:The Guilty Ones.jpg|thumb|''[[The Guilty Ones]]'', one of ten shorts directed or co-directed by 'Babe Hardy']]
Between 1916 and 1917, Hardy experienced a brief directorial career. He is credited for directing or co-directing ten shorts, all played by him.

In 1917, Hardy moved to Los Angeles, working freelance for several Hollywood studios. He made more than 40 films for [[Vitagraph]] between 1918 and 1923, mostly playing the "heavy" for [[Larry Semon]]. In 1919, he separated from his wife, ending with a provisional divorce in November 1920 that was finalized on November 17, 1921. On November 24, 1921, he married actress Myrtle Reeves. This marriage was also unhappy, and Reeves was said to have become an alcoholic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.meandmypal.be/EN/oliver-hardy.html |title=Oliver Hardy |work=Meandmypal.be |access-date=July 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828013245/http://www.meandmypal.be/EN/oliver-hardy.html |archive-date=August 28, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stanlaurelandoliverhardy.com/olly.htm |title=Oliver Hardy |work=Stanlaurelandoliverhardy.com |access-date=July 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712061306/http://www.stanlaurelandoliverhardy.com/olly.htm |archive-date=July 12, 2017 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

[[File:Laurel and Hardy in Lucky Dog.jpg|thumb|left|With Stan Laurel in ''[[The Lucky Dog]]'' (1921), six years before they became a team]]

In 1921, he appeared in the movie ''[[The Lucky Dog]]'', produced by [[Broncho Billy Anderson]] and starring [[Stan Laurel]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Heatley|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiQGEAAAQBAJ&dq=The+Lucky+Dog%2C+produced+by+Broncho+Billy+Anderson+and+starring+Stan+Laurel&pg=PA1869|title=Laurel & Hardy: Essential Hollywood|date=October 30, 2020|publisher=Character-19|publication-date=October 25, 2011|pages=1869|language=en|asin=B005BYBZKY|access-date=September 30, 2021|archive-date=March 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327035247/https://books.google.com/books?id=hiQGEAAAQBAJ&dq=The+Lucky+Dog%2C+produced+by+Broncho+Billy+Anderson+and+starring+Stan+Laurel&pg=PA1869|url-status=live}}</ref> Hardy played the part of a robber trying to hold up Stan's character. They did not work together again for several years. 

In 1924, Hardy began working at [[Hal Roach Studios]] with the ''[[Our Gang]]'' films and [[Charley Chase]]. In 1925, his old boss Larry Semon hired him to play the Tin Man in Semon's feature-film adaptation of ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1925 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''. That same year another former colleague, Billy West, recruited Hardy to appear opposite mild-mannered comic [[Bobby Ray (actor)|Bobby Ray]] in four slapstick comedies. These shorts, with Hardy and Ray as fat-and-skinny characters in derbies, were prototypes for the later Laurel and Hardy comedies. As Hardy recalled in 1954, "Bobby was always the fall guy; I was the wise guy just as I am in Laurel and Hardy, only in Laurel and Hardy, ''I'' always am the fall guy. I think of [those pictures] once in a while as being the start of the Laurel and Hardy idea as far as I was concerned."<ref>Oliver Hardy to John McCabe, ''Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1966, p. 61.</ref>

He continued to work in the Hal Roach comedies, like ''[[Yes, Yes, Nanette]]!'', starring [[Jimmy Finlayson]] and directed by Stan Laurel. (In later years, Finlayson frequently was a supporting actor in the Laurel and Hardy film series.)<ref>{{harvnb|Louvish|2001|page=182}}</ref> He also continued playing supporting roles in films featuring [[Clyde Cook (actor)|Clyde Cook]], including ''[[Wandering Papas]]'' (1925, directed by Laurel).
[[File:Isn't Life Terrible01.jpg|thumb|Hardy played a supporting role in ''[[Isn't Life Terrible?]]'' (1925) with [[Charley Chase]] and [[Katherine Grant (actress)|Katherine Grant]].]]

In 1926, Hardy was to appear in ''Get 'Em Young'', but he was unexpectedly hospitalized after being burned by a hot leg of lamb. Laurel had been working as a gag man and a director at Roach Studios, so he was recruited to fill in. Laurel continued to act and appeared in ''[[45 Minutes from Hollywood]]'' with Hardy, although they did not share any scenes together.

===With Stan Laurel===
{{Main|Laurel and Hardy}}

[[File:Another fine mess 1930 poster.jpg|thumb|upright|Movie poster for ''[[Another Fine Mess (1930 film)|Another Fine Mess]]'' (1930)]]

In 1927, Laurel and Hardy began sharing screen time together in ''[[Slipping Wives]]'', ''[[Duck Soup (1927 film)|Duck Soup]]'' (no relation to the 1933 [[Marx Brothers]]' [[Duck Soup (1933 film)|film]]), and ''[[With Love and Hisses]]''. Roach Studios' supervising director [[Leo McCarey]] recognized the audience reaction to the two and began teaming them together, which led to the start of a Laurel and Hardy series later that year.

They began producing a huge body of short comedies, including ''[[The Battle of the Century]]'' (1927) (with one of the greatest pie fights ever filmed),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/culture/2015/06/laurel-and-hardys-battle-of-the-century-pie-fight-reel-is-found.html|title=The Greatest Pie Fight in Cinematic History Has Been Found|last=Dessem|first=Matthew|date=2015-06-17|website=Slate Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302024918/https://slate.com/culture/2015/06/laurel-and-hardys-battle-of-the-century-pie-fight-reel-is-found.html|archive-date=March 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Should Married Men Go Home?]]'' (1928), ''[[Two Tars]]'' (1928), ''[[Unaccustomed As We Are]]'' (1929, marking their transition to talking pictures) ''[[Berth Marks]]'' (1929), ''[[Blotto (1930 film)|Blotto]]'' (1930), ''[[Brats (1930 film)|Brats]]'' (1930), ''[[Another Fine Mess (1930 film)|Another Fine Mess]]'' (1930), ''[[Be Big!]]'' (1931), and many others. In 1929, they appeared in their first feature, in one of the revue sequences of ''[[The Hollywood Revue|Hollywood Revue of 1929]],'' and the following year they appeared as the comic relief in a lavish [[Technicolor]] musical feature entitled ''[[The Rogue Song]]''. This film marked their first appearance in color, yet only a few fragments of this film survive. In 1931, they starred in their first full-length movie ''[[Pardon Us]]'', and they continued to make features and shorts until 1935. The 1932 film ''[[The Music Box]]'' won an Academy Award for best short film, their only effort to receive such an award.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Rawlings|first=Nate|date=July 20, 2010|title=Top 10 Across-the-Pond Duos – Laurel and Hardy|url=https://time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2005073_2005072_2005121,00.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821083423/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2005073_2005072_2005121,00.html|archive-date=August 21, 2013|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>

[[File:The Flying Deuces (1939) 1.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|Laurel and Hardy in ''[[The Flying Deuces]]'' (1939)]]

In 1937, Hardy and Myrtle Reeves divorced. He made ''[[Zenobia (film)|Zenobia]]'' with [[Harry Langdon]] in 1939 while waiting for a contractual issue to be resolved between Laurel and Hal Roach. Eventually, however, new contracts were agreed upon and the team was lent to producer [[Boris Morros]] at General Service Studios to make ''[[The Flying Deuces]]'' (1939). While on the lot, Hardy fell in love with Virginia Lucille Jones, a [[Script supervisor|script girl]] whom he married the next year. They enjoyed a happy marriage for the rest of his life.

In 1939, Laurel and Hardy made ''[[A Chump at Oxford]]'' and ''[[Saps at Sea]]'' before leaving the Roach Studios. They began performing for the [[United Service Organizations|USO]], supporting the Allied troops during [[World War II]].

In 1941 Laurel and Hardy were signed by [[20th Century Studios|20th Century-Fox]] (as well as [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] in 1942). These studios produced films on a larger scale, and initially the comedians were hired only as actors in the [[B-picture]] division, forced to leave the writing and editing decisions to the production teams. The films proved very successful, and gradually both Laurel and Hardy were allowed more creative input. Laurel and Hardy completed eight features during the war years, with no loss of popularity. M-G-M's two-picture pact expired in August 1944, and Fox's series of six Laurel & Hardy pictures ended when the studio discontinued B-picture production in December 1944.<ref>[[Scott MacGillivray|MacGillivray, Scott]]. ''Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward''. Second edition: New York: iUniverse, 2009 {{ISBN|978-1440172397}}; first edition: Lanham, Maryland: Vestal Press, 1998.</ref>

In 1947, Laurel and Hardy went on a six-week tour of the United Kingdom. They were initially unsure of how they would be received, but they were mobbed wherever they went. The tour was lengthened to include engagements in Scandinavia, Belgium, France, and a [[Royal Command Performance]] for [[George VI|King George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]]. Biographer John McCabe writes that they continued to make live appearances in the United Kingdom and France until 1954, often using new sketches and material that Laurel had written for them.

[[File:The Fighting Kentuckian Oliver Hardy.jpg|thumb|right|''[[The Fighting Kentuckian]]'' (1949)]]

In 1949, Hardy's friend [[John Wayne]] asked him to play a supporting role in ''[[The Fighting Kentuckian]]''. Hardy had previously worked with Wayne and [[John Ford]] in a charity production of the play ''[[What Price Glory? (play)|What Price Glory?]]'' while Laurel began treatment for his diabetes a few years previously. He was initially hesitant, but he accepted the role at Laurel's insistence. [[Frank Capra]] invited him to play a cameo role in ''[[Riding High (1950 film)|Riding High]]'' with [[Bing Crosby]] in 1950.

During 1950–1951, Laurel and Hardy made their final film ''[[Atoll K]]'' (also known as ''Utopia''). It was a simple concept; Laurel inherits an island, and the boys set out to sea where they encounter a storm and discover a brand new island, rich in [[uranium]], making them powerful and wealthy. However, the film was produced by a consortium of European interests, with an international cast and crew that could not speak to each other.<ref name=NA>Aping, Norbert. ''The Final Film of Laurel and Hardy''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3302-5}}.</ref> In addition, Laurel had to rewrite the script to make it fit the comedy team's style, and both suffered serious physical illness during the filming.

Laurel and Hardy made two live television appearances: in 1953 on a live broadcast of the BBC show [[Face the Music (British game show)|''Face the Music'']], and in December 1954 on NBC's ''[[This Is Your Life (American franchise)|This Is Your Life]]''. They also appeared in a filmed insert for the BBC show ''This Is Music Hall'' in 1955, their final appearance together. The pair contracted with Hal Roach Jr. to produce a series of TV shows based on the [[Mother Goose]] fables in 1955. According to biographer John McCabe, they were to be filmed in color for NBC, but the series was postponed when Laurel had a stroke and required a lengthy convalescence. Later that year while Laurel was recovering, Hardy had a heart attack and stroke from which he never recovered.