SUPPORTING PLAYERS | Early To Bed Tent

James Henderson Finlayson was born in Falkirk, Scotland on August 27, 1887. He arrived in America in 1912 after a stint in the British music halls, starring in "Bunty Pulls The Strings". His early film appearances included work at Thomas Ince and L-KO studios. Mack Sennett was also one of Jimmy's employers before he joined the Hal Roach Studios in 1923. In addition to appearing in 33 films with Laurel & Hardy, he could also be seen in several Our Gang and Charley Chase two-reelers. After his days with Stan and Ollie, he went on to appear in such films as To Be Or Not To Be with Jack Benny and Carol Lombard in 1942, The Perils Of Pauline in 1947 and Royal Wedding in 1951. He died on October 9, 1953 of a heart attack in Hollywood, California at the age of 66. His squinty eye and catch phrase "Dohhhhhh" is still bringing many laughs to L & H fans.

1927 - Love ‘Em And Weep, With Love And Hisses, Sugar Daddies, The Second 100 Years,

Call Of The Cuckoo, Hats Off, Do Detectives Think?

1928 - Flying Elephants

1929 - Liberty, Big Business, Men O' War, The Hoose-Gow

1930 - Night Owls, Another Fine Mess

1931 - Chickens Come Home, Our Wife, Pardon Us, One Good Turn

1932 - Any Old Port, The Chimp, Pack Up Your Troubles

1933 - Me And My Pal, The Devil's Brother

1935 - Thicker Than Water, Bonnie Scotland

1936 - The Bohemian Girl, Our Relations

1937 - Way Out West, Pick A Star

1938 - Block-Heads

1939 - The Flying Deuces

1940 - A Chump At Oxford, Saps At Sea

Charlie Hall was born in Birmingham, England on August 19, 1899. Before arriving in America in 1918, he toured the British Isles with the Albert Decourville and Fred Karno troupes. Along the way, he formed a close friendship with Stan Laurel that would eventually lead to Charlie's appearance in 47 Laurel and Hardy comedies. While at the Hal Roach Studios, Charlie also appeared in some of the Our Gang and Charley Chase comedies. His other comedic credits include work with Thelma Todd, Leon Errol, Wheeler & Woolsey and Abbott & Costello. Charlie's additional film appearances include The Gay Divorcee, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Dressed To Kill. Charlie also made two guest appearances on Groucho Marx's TV program, You Bet Your Life. On December 7, 1959, Charlie Hall passed away at the age of 60 in Hollywood, California and is buried in Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California.

1927 - Love 'Em And Weep, Sugar Daddies, The Second 100 Years, Call Of The Cuckoo,

The Battle Of The Century

1928 - Leave 'Em Laughing, You're Darn Tootin', Should Married Men Go Home?, Two Tars

1929 - Wrong Again, That's My Wife, Big Business, Double Whoopee, Berth Marks, Men O' War,

They Go Boom, Bacon Grabbers, The Hoose-Gow, Angora Love

1930 - Blotto, Below Zero

1931 - Be Big, Laughing Gravy, Pardon Us, Come Clean, Beau Hunks, On The Loose

1932 - Any Old Port, The Music Box, Pack Up Your Troubles

1933 - Twice Two, Me And My Pal, The Midnight Patrol, Busy Bodies, Sons Of The Desert

1934 - Oliver The Eighth, Them Thar Hills, Babes In Toyland, The Live Ghost

1935 - Tit For Tat, Thicker Than Water, Bonnie Scotland

1936 - The Bohemian Girl, Our Relations

1937 - Pick A Star

1940 - A Chump At Oxford, Saps At Sea

Mae Busch was born Annie May Busch on June 18, 1891 in Melbourne, Australia. For years, her birth date was listed as January 20, 1897. Nearly 50 years after her death, her birth certificate was discovered, revealing the actual true date of her birth. Her acting experience in vaudeville and legitimate theatre led to Mae's film career, which began in 1912 when she appeared in "The Agitator". She would go on to work with Mack Sennett as one of the "Bathing Beauties" in his silent films. Among her most notable roles were co-starring with Erich von Stroheim in "Foolish Husbands" and with Lon Chaney in "The Unholy Three". She is best remembered by Laurel & Hardy fans as Mrs. Hardy in "Sons Of The Desert" as well as Charlie Hall's wife in "Them Thar Hills" and "Tit For Tat". After a long illness with cancer, Mae Busch died on April 19, 1946 in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 54.

1927 - Love 'Em And Weep

1929 - Unaccustomed As We Are

1931 - Chickens Come Home, Come Clean

1932 - Their First Mistake

1933 - Sons Of The Desert

1934 - Oliver The Eighth, Going Bye-Bye, Them Thar Hills, The Live Ghost

1935 - Tit For Tat, The Fixer Uppers

1936 - The Bohemian Girl

Edgar Livingston Kennedy was born on April 26, 1890 in Monterey County, California. His acting career dates back to high school as well as touring with various musical troupes. Edgar made his film debut in a one reel short titled "Brown Of Harvard" in 1911 for the Selig Polyscope Company. In his youth, Kennedy also had a successful stint as a boxer. His movie career accelerated when he joined Mack Sennett and became one of the original Keystone Kops. Edgar appeared in 11 films with Charlie Chaplin during Chaplin's only year at the Sennett Studio. In his years at Sennett, Edgar also began directing comedies. By 1927, Kennedy had moved over to the Hal Roach Studios and became a regular member of the stock company for the Roach comedies, including those of Laurel & Hardy. Known as the "Master Of The Slow Burn", Edgar Kennedy appeared in over 400 films. He died on November 9, 1948 at the age of 58.

Actor

1928 - Leave 'Em Laughing , The Finishing Touch, Should Married Men Go Home?, Two Tars

1929 - Unaccustomed As We Are, Perfect Day, Bacon Grabbers, Angora Love

1930 - Night Owls

1943 - Air Raid Wardens

Director

1928 - From Soup To Nuts, You're Darn Tootin'

Anita Frances Garvin was born on February 11, 1907 in New York City, New York. By the time Anita was 12 years of age, she was able to get a job in a Mack Sennett bathing beauty stage show. A short time later, Anita was a Ziegfeld Girl on tour in his Follies. Her interest in films led her to California in 1924 where she soon got work in comedies produced by the Christie Film Company and Educational Pictures. Producer Joe Rock hired her as leading lady in 1925 for a young comic actor named Stan Laurel, who admired her dedication to comedy and introduced her to Hal Roach. From then on, she appeared in the films of Charley Chase, Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy. Anita married band leader Clifford 'Red' Stanley in 1930 and retired briefly from films to raise her two children. She returned to acting in 1938 appearing in “Swiss Miss” with Stan and Ollie. A few years later, Anita made her final film appearance with The Three Stooges in “Cuckoo Cavaliers”. She spent her last years living at the Motion Picture Country House in Woodland Hills, California. Anita Garvin passed away on July 7, 1994 at the age of 87.

1927 - Why Girls Love Sailors, With Love and Hisses, Sailors Beware, Hats Off,

The Battle Of The Century

1928 - From Soup To Nuts, Their Purple Moment

1930 - Blotto

1931 - Be Big, Los Calaveras (Spanish version of Be Big), Les Carottiers (French version of Be Big)

1938 - Swiss Miss

1940 - A Chump At Oxford

Billy Gilbert was born William Gilbert Barron on September 12, 1894 in Louisville, Kentucky. He began his show busines career working in vaudeville at the age of 12. In 1929, Stan Laurel was sitting in the audience of Billy Gilbert’s show, Sensations. After an impressive meeting with Billy backstage, Stan introduced him to Hal Roach, where he was hired as a gag writer, actor and director. His film career was on its way by 1929 appearing in films by the Fox Corporation and Vitaphone. While at the Hal Roach Studios, Billy worked with Charley Chase, Todd & Pitts, Our Gang, The Taxi Boys and Laurel & Hardy.

Billy was also teamed up with Billy Bletcher in their own series as the "Dutch" Schmaltz Brothers. Of the many films he appeared in with “the boys”, Billy’s best remembered role is that of Professor Theodore von Schwarzenhoffen in Laurel & Hardy’s Academy Award winning film, The Music Box. Billy worked with the Three Stooges at Columbia Studios, plus he made short films with RKO and Monogram Pictures. Additionally he was the voice of Sneezy in Walt Disney’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. In Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, Billy Gilbert played the part of Herring, the Minister of War to Chaplin’s character of Adenoid Hynkel. Some of his other notable roles were in A Little Bit Of Heaven with Gloria Jean, His Girl Friday with Cary Grant and Million Dollar Legs with W. C. Fields. In television, Billy appeared on such programs as My Little Margie, Make Room For Daddy and The Red Skelton Hour. Billy Gilbert’s final film appearance was in the 1962 feature Five Weeks In A Balloon with Red Buttons. In 1960, his contributions to motion pictures were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame located at 6263 Hollywood Blvd. Billy Gilbert died on September 23, 1971, shortly after his 77th birthday.

1931 - One Good Turn

1932 - The Music Box, The Chimp, County Hospital, Pack Up Your Troubles, Their First Mistake,

Towed In A Hole

1933 - Sons Of The Desert (voice only)

1934 - Them Thar Hills

1938 - Block-Heads

Baldwin Gardiner Cooke was born on March 10, 1888 in New York City, New York. In 1915, while performing a stage act with his wife, Alice, in St. Thomas, Ontario, “Baldy” (as he was known) met Stan Laurel. All three became friends and the Stan Jefferson Trio was created as a result of this union. When the trio broke up in 1918, the Cookes continued in vaudeville until the end. After moving to California, they met up once again with Stan Laurel, who insisted they come to work with him at the Hal Roach Studios and his parnter, Oliver Hardy. Baldy appeared in 30 films with Laurel & Hardy. His most memorable role was that of the next door neighbor in Perfect Day. Baldy also had parts in films with Charley Chase, Our Gang, Todd & Pitts and Todd & Kelly. His final film role was an uncredited appearance in 1942‘s Ship Ahoy starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell. He died on December 31, 1953 at the age of 65.

1928 - Two Tars

1929 - Berth Marks, Men O’ War, Perfect Day, The Hoose-Gow

1930 - Night Owls, Blotto, La Vida Nocturna (Spanish version of Blotto) Below Zero,

Tiembla y Titubea (Spanish version of Below Zero)

1931 - Be Big, Chickens Come Home, Pardon Us, One Good Turn, Beau Hunks, Any Old Port

1932 - The Chimp, County Hospital, Scram, Pack Up Your Troubles

1933 - Twice Two, Sons Of The Desert

1934 - Hollywood Party, Going Bye-Bye, Them Thar Hills, The Live Ghost, Babes In Toyland

1935 - Tit For Tat, Thicker Than Water

1936 - The Bohemian Girl, Our Relations

1938 - Swiss Miss

Walter Long was born on March 5, 1879 in Milford, New Hampshire. His silent film career began in 1909. His most memorable screen appearances were in D. W. Griffith's "Birth Of A Nation", playing the part of Gus, and "Intolerance". He was also in "The Yankee Clipper" with William Boyd and Frank "Junior" Coghlan and "The Sheik" with Rudolph Valentino. In the 1930's, Walter also appeared in westerns with Ken Maynard and again with William Boyd. Other films with Walter Long include "Six Of A Kind" with W. C. Fields, George Burns and Gracie Allen and "Naughty Marietta" with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Walter had the distinction of serving in World Wars I and II. In World War I, he was a Lieutenant Colonel serving his duty in France. During World War II, Walter was in the Army serving with the Military Police in Washington, D. C. His military duty ended at the age of 63.

Walter appeared in only five Laurel and Hardy films, but he definitely made his presence known in all of them. When his film career ended, he returned to the Broadway stage, where it all began for him. He died of a heart attack on July 4, 1952 at the age of 73 in Los Angeles, California and is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

1931 - Pardon Us

1932 - Any Old Port

1934 - Going Bye-Bye, The Live Ghost

1937 - Pick A Star

Stanley John "Tiny" Sandford was born on February 26, 1894 in Osage, Iowa. His show business career began in the stock company headed up by Daniel Frawley. Sandford entered into films in 1910. He appeared in many of the early Charlie Chaplin short comedies. Next, Sandford went to work at the Hal Roach Studios, where among his many film roles, he appeared in 23 comedies with Laurel & Hardy. Among his most memorable roles with Stan and Ollie were as the policeman in Big Business and as the foreman in Busy Bodies. Tiny's other film work include the Charlie Chaplin features, The Circus and Modern Times as well as The Iron Mask. Ironically, Sandford appeared in the 1936 version of Show Boat with Stanley Fields, who replaced him as the sheriff in Laurel & Hardy's Way Out West. He died on October 29, 1961 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 67.

1926 - 45 Minutes From Hollywood

1927 - Sailors Beware, The Second 100 Years

1928 - Leave 'Em Laughing, Flying Elephants, From Soup To Nuts, Their Purple Moment

1929 - Big Business, Double Whoopee, The Hoose-Gow

1930 - Blotto, Below Zero, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case

1931 - Pardon Us, Come Clean, Beau Hunks

1932 - Any Old Port (deleted scene), The Chimp

1933 - The Devil's Brother, Busy Bodies, The Midnight Patrol

1934 - Babes In Toyland

1936 - Our Relations

Arthur Housman was born in New York City on October 10, 1890. He began his film career with the Edison Stock Company around 1910. Some of his early film work includes Red, White and Blue Blood (1917) with Francis X. Bushman, Back To The Woods with Mabel Normand (1918) and Sunrise with Janet Gaynor (1927). In 1931, playing the part of an inept burglar, Arthur teamed up fellow Hal Roach actors Edgar Kennedy and Daphne Pollard in the comedy short Help Wanted, Female. His most memorable roles were those as a "lovable drunk" appearing in such films as The Way To Love, The Thin Man and the 1934 version of The Merry Widow. Laurel and Hardy fans loved him in his five film appearances with Stan and Ollie. Sadly, his on-screen performances as a drunk reflected his off-screen way of life. Arthur Housman died on April 7, 1942 at the age of 51.

1932 - Scram

1934 - The Live Ghost

1935 - The Fixer-Uppers

1936 - Our Relations

1939 - The Flying Deuces

Vivien Oakland was born on May 20, 1895 in California. Her show business career began as a child star. Vivien's film appearances started sometime in 1915 with the film "Destiny" also known as "The Soul Of A Woman". The stage was also home to Vivien in such productions as "Over The Top", "Betty Be Good" and "The Midnight Rounders Of 1920". She also performed in films and on stage with her husband, John T. Murray (1886-1957). Her most notable film appearances were in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1927) and "Oh Sailor Behave" (1930) with Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson. She can also been seen in several Edgar Kennedy short films as Edgar's wife.

During her days at the Hal Roach Studios, in addition to her work with Laurel & Hardy, Vivien appeared in comedies with Charley Chase. One of her funniest roles with Charley was in "Mighty Like A Moose", playing Mrs. Moose, Charley's wife. Her most memorable appearance with Stan and Ollie was in "Scram" where she played the judge's accidentally inebriated wife. Her final film appearance was in a 1951 Leon Erroll short titled "Punchy Pancho". Vivien Oakland passed away on August 1, 1958 at the age of 63.

1927 - Love 'Em And Weep

1928 - We Faw Down

1929 - That's My Wife

1932 - Scram

1937 - Way Out West

1940 - A Chump At Oxford

Thelma Todd was born Thelma Alice Todd on July 29, 1906 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1925, she won the title of Miss Massachusetts. During this time after being spotted by a talent scout, her career in film began at Paramount Studios. During the silent film era, Todd appeared in numerous supporting roles that made full use of her beauty. Then with the arrival of talkies, producer Hal Roach signed her to appear with such comedy stars as Harry Langdon, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy. By 1931, in Hal Roach’s attempt to create a female version of Laurel and Hardy, Todd was starring in her own series of slapstick comedy shorts teaming her with ZaSu Pitts. When Pitts left the series in 1933, she was replaced by Patsy Kelly. Thelma was also loaned

out to other studios to play opposite Wheeler & Woolsey, Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown and the Marx Brothers. In August of 1934, she opened Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Cafe on the Pacific Coast Highway in the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. It attracted many Hollywood celebrities as well as many tourists. Her final film was with Laurel & Hardy in The Bohemian Girl playing the part of the Gypsy Queen. Unfortunately, all of her scenes in this film were deleted (with the exception of a musical number where her voice was dubbed) as a result of her untimely death on December 16, 1935.

1929 - Unaccustomed As We Are

1930 - Another Fine Mess

1931 - Chickens Come Home, On The Loose

1933 - The Devil's Brother

1936 - The Bohemian Girl

James C. Morton was born on August 25, 1884 in Helena, Montana with the birth name of James Carmody Lankton. His career began in vaudeville and eventually transitioned into films in 1931. Cast as a policeman with Laurel & Hardy in comedy shorts such as Tit For Tat, Saps At Sea, Pack Up For Troubles and The Fixer Uppers, James also appeared in comedies with Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, Our Gang, W. C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin and The Three Stooges. During their 1940 and 1942 tours on stage, James worked again with Laurel & Hardy. While appearing in over 200 films, he was also suffering with chronic myocarditis for the last 11 years of his life which ended on October 24, 1942 at the age of 58.

1932 - Pack Up Your Troubles

1933 - Me And My Pal, The Devil's Brother, The Midnight Patrol

1935 - Tit For Tat, The Fixer Uppers

1936 - The Bohemian Girl, Our Relations

1937 - Way Out West, Pick A Star

1938 - Block-Heads

1940 - Saps At Sea

According to Randy Skretvedt in his book Laurel & Hardy - The Magic Behind The Movies, Harry Bernard was born on January 13, 1878 as Frederick Owen Salmon in Kensington, England. He began his career in vaudeville with his wife and eventually found his way to the film industry at the Mack Sennett Studios in 1915. Over the next 25 years, Harry appeared in over 150 films including 26 with Laurel & Hardy. He can also be seen in various roles with Our Gang and Charley Chase in several comedies from the Hal Roach Studios. Harry Bernard passed away on November 4, 1940 just six months after the release of his final film, Saps At Sea with Stan and Ollie. He was 62 years old.

1928 - Two Tars

1929 - Liberty, Wrong Again, That's My Wife, Berth Marks, Men O' War,

Perfect Day, Bacon Grabbers, Angora Love

1930 - Night Owls, The Rogue Song, Noche de duendes (Spanish version of Berth Marks and The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case combined), Another Fine Mess

1931 - Laughing Gravy, Pardon Us

1932 - Any Old Port

1933 - The Devil's Brother, The Midnight Patrol, Sons Of The Desert

1934 - The Live Ghost

1936 - The Bohemian Girl, On The Wrong Trek (Laurel & Hardy in cameo role of this

Charley Chase short film), Our Relations

1937 - Way Out West

1940 - A Chump At Oxford, Saps At Sea

Hollywood Party Tent Meeting

Laurel & Hardy On The MOVIES! TV Network

Early Saturday morning, May 22, 2021 beginning at 5:00AM The Movies! TV Network will be showing Laurel & Hardy in one of their funniest feature films from the Hal Roach Studios, Block-Heads (1938). More information is on the link below to Laurel & Hardy On The Movies! TV Network.

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