Doll-A-Day 2023 #115: Oliver Hardy

   Yes, I missed a day again. By the time I got the book post up last night I was too tired to do the regular post. The book post was farther behind, so it had priority. Now I'm EIGHT days behind for the year! I'll catch up some day. Hopefully I'll at least get this week's late post up in a few days.

  Emma is still in the hospital. She has a drain in her side because she has a tear in her liver, and bile would otherwise be draining into her body. She also has an antibiotic IV drip. She is supposed to be transferred to another, bigger hospital where they can put a stent in her side to drain the bile, while her liver heals. She is feeling better though, other than some leftover pain from all she's been through. They have no idea when they'll be moving her, as they have to wait until there is a bed free at the other hospital. Good thing she didn't have to go there to get the gall bladder out!

  Today's doll is Oliver Hardy, of Laurel and Hardy.

"Chin up! No,no, no! Both of them!": Stan, (who thinks he is 'Lord Paddington', and Oliver is his butler), to Ollie, in "A Chump at Oxford". 

  As you may have guessed from the multiple Laurel and Hardy dolls I've posted HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE, I do love me some Laurel and Hardy. This guy was found at a yard sale or thrift store years ago. I had never washed him, even though I love to wash any second hand thing I can, because I was always afraid he would fall apart. His insides are at least partially styrofoam I think, so I was worried that wasn't going to stand up to the washing machine. Well, poor Ollie was in the Room of Water, so when he came here to be rehabilitated, a trip in the washing machine was his only recourse. He survived quite well, and looks wonderful.

  He's about 22 inches tall, but that's just eyeballing it.

Either he has unnaturally pale hands, or he's wearing white gloves, neither of which Oliver Hardy was known for.

  He's made by a company called  Toy Network. I think he's like a claw machine toy or fair prize. That type of thing.

He was made in 2004. 

To answer the question as to why Laurel and Hardy's likenesses are owned by something called Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation, well, allow me to rant. Larry Harmon was best known for, (other than his various Laurel and Hardy projects), playing Bozo the Clown, which he began doing in the late 1940's. He bought the rights to that too. (He's the guy to blame for all the local Bozo TV shows in the 60's. I hate that guy.) Heck, let me quote myself, from a previous Laurel and Hardy post:

 If you ever check the copyright on a Laurel and Hardy item made from the 60's onward, you'll notice that it says   'Copyright Larry Harmon". Larry Harmon obtained the rights to Laurel and Hardy's images from Stan and his wife, and Oliver Hardy's widow Lucille. Harmon was a friend of Stan's, and was known as the owner and portrayer of Bozo the Clown. (In spite of Harmon's frequent claims to have invented Bozo, Bozo was created by Alan W. Livingston in the 1940's,and was first portrayed by Pinto Colvig. Bozo even served as the mascot for Capitol Records, before Harmon bought the rights from Capitol in 1956.) 

And to complete that thought, here is my answer to a comment on the same post: 

  Oliver Hardy never had any children. Stan had a daughter, Lois Laurel Hawes, who is still alive.(She has passed since that post.) I'm not sure if Lois gets anything, but probably not, since Harmon owned the rights to the names and images. Sad really. Harmon was a friend of Stan's, but I kind of always felt he pulled a fast one on him somehow, getting those rights that way. Why would they sell them? It's like Jim Henson selling the Muppets. I know he sold them because he wanted to (so they would carry on after he was gone.), but it still irritates me when I hear "Disney's Muppets". They're not Disney's, and they never will be to me. Same with Star Wars. That and the Harmon thing reminds me of the scene in Jurassic Park where Jeff Goldblum's character tells 'John Hammond', "...it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you wanna sell it. Well..." It irks me that 'Bozo' made, and Disney is making, a fortune on the hard work of others, and all they had to do was buy someone else's legend.

  I still stand by that opinion of Larry Harmon and the whole situation. I think Harmon took advantage of his friendship with Stan, and the whole opportunity to befriend Stan in the first place. Stan left his number and address in the phone book until he died, so a lot of people made their way to his door, including Dick Van Dyke, who became a good friend and gave the eulogy at Stan's funeral, and Jerry Lewis, who considered himself a comic genius and wanted to probably discuss comedy with Stan, who was much better at it than he was. (Personal opinion!) Larry Harmon was one of those people who trekked to Stan's door, and ingratiated themselves. Oliver had already  passed away, so it was undoubtedly Stan's influence that allowed Harmon to buy the rights from Oliver's widow, Lucille.

  I'm sorry, but Larry Harmon really, to quote my dad, "Gripes my a**"! 

  And now back to Oliver! He has his classic tie, for 'twiddling'...

The famous 'tie twiddle'.

...and bowler hat...

  and of course, his little bangs and tiny mustache.

  Sorry he's very cat hairy. The culprit is this gentleman right here:

The long arm of the Cowboy.

His name is Cowboy, and he keeps me company most of the time. I think a lot of that is to get away from his stepbrother, Arthur, who loves to annoy him, more than a desire to hang out with me. But I'll take what I can get. He does leave his calling cards behind though, and they are hair.

For being cheaply made, and a bit cartoony, this doll does resemble Oliver quite a bit. 

  That's the doll for today. Hopefully we'll see you again tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 63: Oscar Week: Laurel and Hardy

  Today's doll is really two. Laurel and Hardy by Hamilton.

These dolls were made in 1991. They're about 12" tall. The clothing is really well made, and all removeable---unfortunately! Oliver Hardy's pants keep falling off!

If they only talked these dolls would be just about perfect.

I really love these dolls. They really look like Laurel and Hardy.

Laurel and Hardy's 1932 short "The Music Box", a classic comedy about the pair trying to get a piano up a massive flight of stairs on a hill side, won the first Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film (Comedy). You can watch "The Music Box"  HERE.
  Incidentally, the stairs were real, and are still there. They're in Los Angeles, and connect Vendome Street (at the base of the hill) with Descanso Drive (at the top of the hill), and are located at 923-925 Vendome Street near the intersection of Del Monte Street. A  plaque commemorating their use in the film is located on one of the steps near the bottom, and a sign at the top of the hill reads "Music Box Steps". Contrary to popular belief, they are not the same steps used by the Three Stooges in "An Ache in Every Stake", although both are in the Silver Lake district. (The Stooges try to deliver ice to the house at the top of the steps, but by the time they reach the top the huge block has become an ice cube.) The Stooges steps are about 2 miles away from the Laurel and Hardy steps, on Fair Oak View Terrace.
  In 1961 Stan Laurel won an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. (Oliver Hardy had died in 1957.)

Stan at home with his Oscar.

  Arthur Stanley Jefferson was born in Ulverston England in 1890. His father was a theatre manager, and eventually moved the family to Glasgow, where he managed the Metropole Theatre when Stan was very small. Stan longed to take to the stage himself, and worked up a comedy act as a boy. His father however, refused to put him on stage at his theatre. As a teenager Stan finally took his talents to a rival theatre, where he did his act, full of stolen jokes, and also stolen pants: Stan had stolen a pair of his father's best checked trousers and cut them down to fit him for his act, a typical 'baggy pants comic' act of the era. (The baggy pants, bowler hat and cane were all popular comic accoutrements. They were not only copied by Stan, but by another comic we'll talk about in a minute.) Unbeknownst to Stan, his father had come by to visit his friend and rival theatre owner only moments before Stan was to take the stage. When Stan finished his act he found his father waiting for him. He was so frightened by the sight of his father that he dropped his hat, (also his father's.), and proceeded to kick it into the orchestra pit, where it was stepped on by the orchestra leader, who had tried to retrieve it. Stan then rushed off stage, catching his father's frock coat on a hook and tearing it in half. The audience thought it was part of the act, and loved it. Afterward, the senior Mr. Jefferson had to admit that his son had talent, and Stan was encouraged to be an actor. In 1910 Stan joined the famous Fred Karno theatre troupe, working as understudy to that other 'baggy pants comic' who had stolen the bowler hat and baggy pants look, and who beat Stan to stardom in Hollywood: Charlie Chaplin.

Stan kneeling on the left, and Charlie Chaplin in the life preserver.

   

  Stan later changed his name to 'Laurel' because 'Stan Jefferson' had 13 letters and might be bad luck! Stan's name and number were in the phone book, and in his later years many fans, (which included the famous, such as Dick Van Dyke and Jerry Lewis.), called, or even stopped by to talk. Stan answered all his fan mail. He typed his letters himself, on his home typewriter.
   Stan passed away in 1965. Dick Van Dyke, who had become a good friend, gave the eulogy. Dick performed his Stan Laurel impression many times on his own TV show and others. Stan said that "if they ever make a movie of my life, and I hope they don't," that he wanted Dick to play him.  

  Oliver Norvell Hardy was born in Harlem, Georgia in 1892. His friends called him Babe. Originally it was thought Oliver was destined to be a  singer. He began singing professionally as a boy. In 1910 he worked as a manager (and every other job) at a local movie theatre and eventually decided acting was for him. He continued to sing throughout his career though, and sang in quite a few Laurel and Hardy films. (Laurel and Hardy even had a hit record in England in 1975, years after both had died, with "Trail of the Lonesome Pine", from their 1937 film "Way Out West". It got to number 2 on the charts.)

  In 1913 Oliver ended up traveling to Florida, which was a huge film making center in those days. He started working for the Lubin studios, usually playing the villain. In 1917 Oliver moved to Los Angeles to work in films there. In 1921 he appeared as the robber in a short called "Lucky Dog". The short starred Stan Laurel. You can watch "Lucky Dog" HERE.

Oliver robs Stan in "Lucky Dog".

The two didn't work together again for several years, and then only in separate scenes in the same film. Oliver even appeared in a film Stan directed. But it wasn't until 1927 that they were put together intentionally as costars. From then on they were a team.

  Oliver appeared solo in only a couple of films after their teaming. Stan never appeared solo again, although he had had his own series of shorts before their work together.
  Tomorrow we'll continue with Oscar Week.