given birth on June, 16 1890 in Ulverston, England, he had very early contact to the theatre, his father was a famous actor and playwright, he had leased several Theatres in the north of England, his mother was a very talented actress. Although his father had prefered to have Stan working in the administration of the theatres, the Theatreblood was in his veines and that brought him to the stage, he made his debut at the age of 16 in the Panopticon Theatre in Glasgow and toured then England with several Music Hall troups.
The stage producer Fred Karno recognised his talent and brought him as unterstudy for Charlie Chaplin 1912 to the USA. After Chaplin went to Sennet and his film career, the show folded, Stan stayed in the States and toured the vaudeville circuits and was hired by some studios to make his first experiences with film, it did not last and always he had to go back to vaudeville. He came 1926 to the studio of Hal Roach als Gagwriter and director, he never wanted to be before the camera again, that should change when he met there that famous "heavy" "Babe" Hardy.

Oliver Norvell Hardy was a son of the American south, given birth 1892 in Harlem, Georgia. He observed as child the numerous guests in the hotel of his mother, among them are a lot of travelling actors and members of the showbusiness, he learned a lot in this time. Hardy had a boy soprano and sang gladly before audience in the local cinema, he got later a job in that cinema and saw on the canvas the famous people of the movies and thought by himself : " What they can do I can do " and went 1913 to the flourishing film studios in Jacksonville, Florida.
From then on he always had work as an character actor, playing the parts of an "Heavy"-actor in several studios and later in Hollywood too. Until 1926 he made close to 300 silent pictures, his type and skills were always wanted. In 1926 he got a contract by Hal Roach to act as the same type as he did all those years before, there he met Stan Laurel and with the help of skilled directors and writers at Roachs the legend startet.