GB125SL Stan Laurel 125th Birthday

[IK0ZCW]

GB125SL

Commemorating 125 years since the birth of Stan Laurel

Furness Amateur Radio Society are celebrating what would have been Stan Laurels 125th birthday in June 2015 with the special call sign GB125 Stan Laurel.

Stan Laurel (AKA Arthur Stanley Jefferson) was an English comic actor, writer and film director, and most famous for iconic comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He was born in his grandparents house on 16 June 1890 at 3 Argyle Street, Ulverston, Lancashire (now Cumbria).



The son of a British showman, Stan Laurel had been raised in British music halls. In 1910 he made his first trip to America as a member of the Fred Karno musical-comedy troupe, which also included Charlie Chaplin. Both He and Chaplin arrived from the UK on the same ship. Laurel stayed in the United States, touring in vaudeville and landing an occasional movie job. By 1924, Stan Laurel had given up the stage for full time film work, under contract with Joe Rock for 12 two-reel comedies.

The 12 two-reel comedies were Mandarin Mix-Up (1924), Detained (1924), Monsieur Don't Care (1924), West of Hot Dog (1924), Somewhere in Wrong (1925), Twins (1925), Pie-Eyed (1925), The Snow Hawk (1925), Navy Blue Days (1925), The Sleuth (1925), Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925), Half a Man (1925).

Laurel next signed with the Hal Roach studio, where he started sharing screen time with Oliver Hardy (who had already been in over 200 films at this point).

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy officialy teamed at the Hal Roach studios in the mid / late 1920's (although had been in films together ealier) and one of the best love film comedy duos was created.

Together, the two men began producing a huge body of short films, including The Battle of the Century, Should Married Men Go Home?, Two Tars, Be Big!, Big Business, and many others. Laurel and Hardy successfully made the transition to talking films with the short Unaccustomed As We Are in 1929. They also appeared in their first feature in one of the revue sequences of The Hollywood Revue of 1929, and the following year they appeared as the comic relief in a lavish all-colour (in Technicolor) musical feature, The Rogue Song. In 1931, their first starring feature, Pardon Us was released. They continued to make both features and shorts until 1935, including their 1932 three-reeler The Music Box, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject.

Laurel and Hardy made over 100 films together between 1921 and 1951, some of the most famous being Way out West, Tit for Tat, Sons of ther Desert, A Chump at Oxford, Saps at Sea and Swiss Miss.

In 1961, Stan Laurel was given a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award for his pioneering work in comedy. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

He had achieved his lifelong dream as a comedian and had been involved in nearly 190 films. He lived his final years in a small flat in the Oceana Apartments in Santa Monica, California. Always gracious to fans, Laurel spent much time answering fan mail. His phone number was listed in the telephone directory and fans were amazed that they could dial the number and speak to him directly... always the sign of a true gentleman !

Stan passed away on 23 February 1965 and remains one of Cumbria's most famous sons!