His name was Norvell and he was born in Harlem.
By his late teens, he was a popular stage singer and manager of his town's first movie theatre.
In 1925 he starred as the Tin Man in the silent film, “The Wizard of Oz.”
Today he is known as a classic American comic actor
and half of one of Hollywood's greatest comedy teams of all time, Laurel and Hardy.
This world-famous duo began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1927 to 1951.
Introducing Oliver Hardy! Next on Marking History.
This is the historical marker for Oliver Norvell Hardy, located here in Harlem, Georgia.
You can find the marker at the Laurel and Hardy Museum in downtown Harlem.
Every year on the first Saturday in October, tens of thousands of loyal fans
come to Harlem Georgia from around the world to share in the memories at the Laurel and Hardy Festival.
Norvell was born in Harlem, Georgia on January 18, 1892 to parents Oliver and Emily Hardy.
He was the youngest of five children.
Sadly, his father died that same year in November.
In 1903, his mother moved the Hardy family to Georgia's former capital of Milledgeville, so she could manage the Baldwin Hotel.
As you can imagine, Norvell was constantly bullied and teased about his weight growing up.
But he was able to compensate by sharing his wonderful singing voice with his local audiences.
Norvell Hardy had been preordained for a military career, like his father,
but destiny stepped in after he became manager and projectionist at “The Palace Movie Theater” in Milledgeville, Georgia in 1910.
It is possible that Norvell found inspiration after viewing the films of John Bunny,
the world famous fat man of the day and the first comedian of the motion picture era.
Norvell soon became obsessed with the new film industry and was convinced
that he could do a better job than the actors that he viewed up on that silver screen.
A friend suggested that he move to Jacksonville, Florida, where some of the films were being made.
So Norvell changed his first name to Oliver, in honor of his dad,
and moved to Jacksonville in 1913 to follow his acting dreams.
Oliver was a big man, weighing 300 pounds at 6 foot one inch tall.
Restricted by his size when it came to casting, he was almost always the big villain
or the clumsy fella in the films for the Lubin Manufacturing Company.
His very first film was called “Outwitting Dad”, produced in 1914.
By the end of that year Oliver had made 39 short films
billed as Babe Hardy.
Because of his weight, his height and his “menace face”
Oliver became the heavy in many silent films during his time on the East Coast.
In 1917 Hardy moved to Hollywood.
As a freelance actor, Hardy worked for several Hollywood studios including Sun-Lite Pictures
who released a two-reel comedy called “The Lucky Dog” in 1921.
In a magical moment captured on film, this was the first time that Oliver Hardy
played opposite an English actor who would become his lifelong friend and partner.
Though they appear in scenes together, Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel play independently of each other
and not as the comedic team that they would later to become.
Of course, Oliver played the heavy again.
As you can see in this clip from the film, Stan's eyes looked kinda funny.
It was discovered that his pale blue eyes showed up as white on orthochromatic film of the time.
Film producers tried to fix the problem with eye makeup but it was not well received.
Stan Laurel had to step behind the camera, working as a gag man and a director
at Hal Roach Studios, home of the Our Gang series.
Meanwhile Babe made appearances with the Little Rascals.
Later panchromatic film was developed and Laurel began acting in front of the camera again.
Hal Roach saw comic potential between Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
so he put them together as a double act in their first short,
called “Putting Pants on Philip” in 1927.
The results are hilarious!
So began a long career for the best-loved comic duo in America cinema history.
By the way, Oliver picked this film as his favorite comedy short.
It is interesting to note that Stan Laurel was a big part of their behind-the-scenes success,
helping craft the team's slapstick films and writing and directing some of their best material.
In another Hal Roach silent film shot that year, the “Battle of the Century”
had one of the greatest pie fights ever filmed.
Guess who gets the first pie in the face?
Yep, it was Ollie!
Of course it escalates soon after.
Over 3,000 creme pies died in the making of this movie!
which were thrown, not with abandon but with slow burn precision, heightening the comedic effect.
Oliver Hardy developed many mannerisms as his career grew.
Of course, there was the tie twiddle and the finger waving.
But his signature gag was breaking the “fourth wall,” as they say in the theatre.
In order to break the fourth wall, the character communicates directly to the audience.
Oliver Hardy often broke the fourth wall in his films with Stan Laurel,
where he would stare directly at the lens.
It was his way of connecting with the audience through the camera.
His close-up glares often showed disbelief over his fate while looking for sympathy.
He also stared at the camera during one of his famous and hilarious “slow burns.”
During the course of their career, the duo appeared as a team in 106 films,
starring in 34 short silent films, 45 short sound films, and 27 full-length feature films.
It never gets old.
Their comedic genius was finally acknowledged with the 1932 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject
for their film, “The Music Box.”
The simple plot revolved around the pair lugging a piano up a seemingly endless flight of steps
before, eventually, it's smashed to smithereens.
The next year, Laurel and Hardy starred in the now famous feature film
“The Sons of the Desert”.
The 1933 film begins with a group of men in fezes singing Auld Lang Syne.
It is a California meeting of the Sons of the Desert,
a fraternal lodge of which both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are members.
“I repeat. This, the oldest lodge in the great order of the Sons of the Desert,
must be represented 100 percent in our annual convention at Chicago next week.”
So what does Ollie's wife say?
“You're NOT going.”
Stan is reluctant to ask for fear that his wife Betty won't allow the trip,
but decides to sneak away after Ollie persuades him.
I guess what happens in Chicago doesn't stay in Chicago.
Predictably, they pay the price for deceiving their wives.
“I've got my gun and I've never missed yet!”
During their shenanigans Ollie gives the famous movie quote,
Well here's another nice mess you've gotten me into.”
The Sons of the Desert International Laurel and Hardy appreciation society
was formed to keep the works of Stan and Ollie before the public, and to have a good time while doing it.
Worldwide, there are well over 100 active chapters today, whose members meet regularly
to enjoy Laurel & Hardy movies in a casual atmosphere.
It turns out Babe Hardy was good friends with golfing buddy and brother Free Mason John Wayne.
So when Wayne asked Oliver to co-star with him in “The Fighting Kentuckian” in 1949 he said yes,
but only after making sure it was OK with his partner, Stan Laurel.
Hardy delivered a memorable light comedy performance with the Duke.
As the team aged, health problems began to crop up.
“Well here's another nice mess you've gotten me into.”
It didn't help that both men were heavy smokers.
Hal Roach said that they were a couple of "freight train smoke stacks".
Oliver Hardy suffered a mild heart attack in May 1954,
and he began looking after his health for the first time in his life.
He lost more than 150 pounds in a few months, which completely changed his appearance.
Unfortunately, his health declined over the next two years, suffering several debilitating strokes.
Oliver Norvell Hardy finally died on August 7th, 1957 at age 65.
Today the Sons of the Desert and other Laurel and Hardy aficionados can still visit Harlem Georgia
to experience the festival, the museum and to honor Oliver Hardy.
Although the comic duo has passed on, their memories will live on in films as long as an audience wants to laugh.
If history can be taught with stories
they can never be forgotten.
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